Apple Crumble

One of my all-time favourite desserts - just the smell of it is enough to take me back to my childhood (LOL when mum would roll her eyes at me for eating the topping raw!)

Ingredients

1lb apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I like to peel them, cut into quarters and take out the core, then slice the quarters into chunky slices - about a quarter inch thick).  In Scotland I'd use Bramley 'cooking' apples, but since they seem hard to find here, Granny Smith apples work just as well.

3-4oz white sugar

Cinnamon (no set amount - just a good heavy shake LOL - to taste.  Which also means you don't have to use it if you don't want to)

6oz all purpose/plain flour

3oz butter/margarine

2oz white sugar

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Prepare apples and tip into a 2lb baking dish.  Pour on the sugar and cinnamon and mix evenly.  Smooth apples in dish and set aside.

Sift flour into a bowl and add butter.  Rub in with fingertips until like fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in sugar.

Cover apples thickly and evenly with topping (if your baking dish is a bit bigger than 2lb, increase topping amounts accordingly - I had to use 'plus half' last time I made it).

Smooth the topping a little and press down slightly with your palm.

Place dish in middle of oven and bake 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 350 F and bake a further 45 minutes, until topping is nicely browned.

Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.  Serve with ice cream or just some heavy cream poured over.  

Carrot Cake

This recipe is an old favorite of mine, and so far I haven't found anyone who didn't like the result!  It's a really simple recipe and can either be made in loaf form or as a traybake.  Both versions work really well - if you choose to traybake, just use half the amount of everything (also if you decide to just make one loaf to start with, just use half, as the recipe makes 2 two pound loaves).  Another bonus of this recipe is that you can mix it by hand, using a wire whisk and any large spoon - so less washing up!

Enough timewasting - here's the recipe!

Ingredients

10fl oz / 300ml sunflower or vegetable oil

8oz / 225g soft dark brown sugar

4 eggs

6oz / 175g golden syrup / dark karo

12oz / 350g self-raising flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp ground ginger

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

8oz / 225g grated carrots 

2oz / 50g desiccated coconut

Preheat oven to 180deg C / 350deg F / Gas 4.

Butter or line 2 x 2lb loaf tins (or one traybake/brownie pan).  I like to use the store-bought shaped loaf tin liners made of greaseproof paper - all you need to do is pop them into the loaf tin and you're ready to go!

Grate carrots finely - make sure to peel and 'top and tail' them before you weigh them!  Set carrots aside (try to grate them into a bowl or container where you can keep as much of the juice as possible in the carrots).

Whisk together oil, sugar, eggs and syrup until well blended.

Beat in flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda).

Add carrots and coconut; stir until thoroughly mixed.

Pour into prepared tins and bake for 40 minutes (traybake takes around 25-30 minutes), or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Cool in tins for a few minutes, then turn onto wire rack to cool completely.

I like this cake just as it is, but it can be topped with your preferred frosting - cream cheese frosting I think is fairly traditional (though I don't like it).  Try homemade buttercream frosting - put a generous dollop of butter/margarine into a bowl and beat with a knife until creamy.  Add a few drops vanilla essence, then beat in sifted icing/confectioners sugar in batches until mixture reaches a thick and 'just spreadable' consistency (tip:  taste it before you put it on the cake - it should taste very sweet, and not at all like butter!)

Feel free to let me know if you try the recipe/if you like it (or if you don't!).