Apple and Blueberry Cake

 

This cake can be served with a cup of tea, or hot with ice cream as a pudding. It can also be frozen. Really good if you get unexpected dinner guests, just take out the freezer and defrost / heat in the microwave. Make sure you freeze it in slices though to make this process easier.

Ingredients:

225 g self raising flour

½ tsp salt

125 g butter, diced

175 g granulated sugar

2 xl eggs

2 xl (granny smith) apples

125 g blueberries

175 g apricot jam

1 tbsp lemon juice

standard round cake tin, greased and lined.

1. Preheat oven 190º/ gas mark 5
2. Wash blueberries, core and slice apples
3. Mix flour and salt, add diced butter, rub in with finger tips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Add 125 g of the sugar and the beaten egg
5. Spread half of the mixture over the bottom of the tin, then add a layer of apples and blueberries (keep some for on the top)
6. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar
7. Add the rest of the mixture, spread out over the top
8. Arrange the remaining blueberries and apples, press them slightly into the mixture.
9. Bake for 45/55 minutes
10. Mix the jam and lemon juice and heat up. Spread over the top.

ANOTHER YUMMY DUTCH RECIPE:

'ARRETJESCAKE'

(chocolate & coffee refrigerated cake)

Ingredients:

400 g rich tea biscuits

250 g butter

2 eggs

200 g caster sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

1 tbsp instant coffee

3 tbsp water

a loaf tin lined with cling film.

1. Crush biscuits, but not too fine. (The crumbs should be the size of macaroni shapes roughly).
2. Whisk egg and sugar together for about 5 minutes.
3. Melt the butter
4. Add the cocoa and coffee to the egg and sugar mixture. Mix well. Add the melted butter and water.
5. Add the biscuits to this mixture and mix well.
6. Pour mixture into loaf tin, press down and put in the fridge for at least 5 hours.
7. Turn out and serve in slices.

Yummy Dutch AppleTart!

ECHTE OUD-HOLLANDSE APPELTAART

Ingredients:

300 g plain flour                                 1 kg apples

100 g caster sugar                              100 g raisins

pinch of salt                                      1.5 tbsp custard powder

220 g cold butter                                50 g ground almonds

1 egg                                                150 g almond paste *

3 tbsp apricot jam                              3 tbsp cinnamon powder

* You can either buy the almond paste or make it yourself. The consistency is 225 g ground almonds, 225 g icing sugar and 1 egg white mixed together. You will end up with more than you need though.

Use a 24cm round baking tin (greased & lined).

1. Mix flour, sugar and salt. Cut butter in small pieces and stir through the mixture. Cut even smaller with two knives or rub in with finger tips.

2. Whisk egg; add 3/4^th of it to the mixture. Knead with cool hands quickly to a dough ball.

3. Press 3/4^th of the dough all around the sides and bottom of the tin. Put in fridge to harden.

4. Preheat oven 175°. Peel apples and cut into small pieces. Mix with the raisins, custard and almonds. Loosen the almond paste with a fork and spread out in the tin over the bottom. Put the apple mixture in.

5. Use the left-over dough: roll out over a floured surface to a thickness of approx 0.5cm. Cut into strips of approx 1.5cm width. Arrange the strips over the top in a chequered fashion. Connect each strip to the dough edges.

6. Brush the remaining egg on top. Bake in the oven near the top for about 45min/1 hour till the top is golden brown. Brush with heated apricot jam.

Impress your friends with this delicious pudding!

Dark and Light Chocolate Terrine

(Do not be put off by the title, it's a fairly easy pudding to make, the recipe comes from the Good Housekeeping Step-By-Step Cookbook and is slightly adapted by me)

For the Praline:
100 g mixed nuts, chopped up
60 g granulated sugar
For the Dark Chocolate Mousse:
175 g plain chocolate
75 g unsalted butter
75 g caster sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 egg yolks
300 ml whipping cream
For the White Chocolate Mousse:
175 g white chocolate
50 g unsalted butter, softened
2 egg yolkes
200 ml whipping cream

1. For the praline, dissolve the sugar in 1 teaspoon of water in a heavy-based pan over a low heat. Stir in the nuts and boil until the syrup starts to brown. Leave aside until cold.

2. Line a normal sized loaf tin (1.1 litre) with cling film. To make the mousses, melt each chocolate seperately, either in a bowl over a pan with boiling water or I find it easier doing it in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Cool slightly.

3. To make the dark chocolate mousse, cream the butter with half the sugar until pale; beat in the cocoa. In another bowl, beat egg yolks with remaining sugar. Whip cream until it holds its shape. Beat the chocolate into the creamed butter; stir into yolk mixture, then fold in cream.

4. To make the white chocolate mousse, beat the butter into the melted white chocolate. Stir in the egg yolks. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape, then fold into the chocolate mixture.

5. Drop large spoonfuls of each mousse alternately into the tin until ful. Tap to level. Cover with cling film and chill for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight until very firm.

6. To serve, turn out and peel off cling film. Press praline over the top and sides. Serve in slices.