Slow cooker gingerbread spiced apple butter

Apple butter is a largely American preserve - Pinterest is full of recipes at this time of year. For me it's an ideal way to use up apples from our tree, we love it. Put simply it's a cross between a very soft jam and a thick apple sauce. Oddly apple butter is completely dairy free - the butter is a nod to how you use this preserve; spread thickly on toast, heaped onto drop scones, fluffy, American style pancakes or waffles or even dolloped generously onto porridge.

I last made apple butter when I was pregnant with Harry - I spent a weekend making apple butter, chutney and anything else I could use up the harvest from our two apple trees, giving them away to everyone that helped with the mammoth move into our then new home. The last couple of years have found me up to my eyes in a newborn, and then a toddler so apples have been given away. But this year I'm feeling a little more like I've found a balance between my role as Mama and a blogger so it felt like the right time to revisit my love of preserving.  This recipe is ideal when trying to find a balance - once the apples are peeled, cored and chopped all you have to do is add them to the slow cooker and leave it on low for 12 hours. The smell of the cooking apples fills your house like an advert for autumn.

I prefer my apple butter to be on the tart side of things, and this kind of preserve is much more forgiving of an adjustment to the spicing or sweetness without impacting on the final product.



Dressed up sweetly, jars of apple butter make a lovely autumnal gift, or just a glorious addition to your fall breakfast table.



Slow cooker gingerbread spiced apple butter
Yield: 6 half pint jars

6lb cooking apples
1 cup date syrup
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 and a half teaspoons ground cloves
1 and a half teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
1 pint of water

Peel, core and slice your apples - I borrowed this amazing gadget from a dear friend which made the whole process much quicker.
Put the apples into your slow cooker
Add the date syrup, lemon juice, spices and water
Put the lid on and leave on low for 12 hours, to start with stir every hour or so, to mix everything up. I did this every time I remembered so it's not something to set an alarm on your phone for.
Use a stick blender to puree the now thick, fragrant apple mixture
Take the lid off the slow cooker and leave on high for another hour to thicken up - you want the apple butter to be spreadable rather than pourable.

Sterilise some jars, I needed 6. I pop the jars into the oven on low for about 10 minutes, then add the hot apple butter before putting on the lids.
Then, if you're me, it's time for labelling and generally prettifying any you want to give away.

Apple butter doesn't keep like jams or jellies so you're looking at a month or so, kept in the fridge, once opened.

I'm adding this to  Farmersgirl Kitchen and BakingQueen74 monthly Slow Cooked Challenge.

I'm also adding this to A Mummy Too's Recipe of the week link up

Maple, apple and banana bites - dairy free treats for a CMPA baby (and mummy)

This dairy free bake came about from a hormonal 'need' for something sweet but equally the need for it to be healthy enough so that I could kid myself it was good for me. Dairy free bakes are not easy (or affordable) to come by in the shops - I've always baked at home, but since going dairy free for Harry, if I want sweet things then my baking cupboard is my first port of call.

I've read a lot of healthy blogs since Harry and I have gone dairy free - and more still since we started trialling egg free. What strikes me as odd is how people fill bakes or makes up with 400g dates, tablespoons upon tablespoons of maple syrup and declare how healthy it is. Well, yes it's not refined sugar, but surely fructose is still a sugar of sorts? Anyway, who am I to question - the thought just occurred to me as I was planning to buy more dates. I love dates. How did I not know this before now?

These maple, apple and banana bites were my first go at using pureed apple as an egg replacer - they were nowhere near as light as they would have been if I'd used eggs. Chewy and dense, they were more like a sweet bread than a cake. Hence rebranding them as a 'bite'. Harry loved them, and as a side to a strong coffee (the sort you need when the neighbour leaving for work at 4.45am wakes the baby up 6 days a week) they certainly hit the spot.

Maple, apple and banana bites - makes 10 little or 4 little and 4 big

1 dessert apple, peeled, cored and stewed in a little water (no need to add any sugar) - you want this to cook down to a mush
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 ripe banana
120g ground almonds
1 tablespoon chia seeds
175g plain flour
25g custard powder
1/2 tsp sweet mixed spice
Handful of sultanas
60 - 100ml almond milk (or your dairy substitute)
Oil to grease your tins

Muffin tin/ individual pie tins

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Using a stick blender - whizz up the stewed apples, maple syrup and banana (resist the urge to eat this with a spoon)
Sift in the flour and custard powder
Stir in the almonds, chia seeds, mixed spice and sultanas.
You want this to be slightly thicker than a dropping consistency so add almond milk and stir to loosen if necessary
Grease your muffin tin/ pie tins with oil - I used coconut
Add about 2 - 3 tablespoons of mix to each muffin space. This is a dense bite so you don't want them to be too thick

Bake for about 30-40 minutes - the top should be lightly browned and should bounce back gently if you press it, and a skewer/ knife needs to come out clean

I found the little muffin sized portions were ideal for Harry - and as it set nicely it worked well as a baby led weaning pudding. I preferred the ones in the individual pie tins.

 

Pumpkin soup? No, pumpkin and apple traybake

It's definitely that time of year again - there's a distinct chill in the air, it's getting dark earlier and the shops are filled with oranges, greens and blacks - offering you your opportunity to dress as a witch, wizard or goblin.

I love that pumpkins make much more of an appearance in the shops now, a short time spent in America as a child mean I have memories of those very traditional Halloween celebrations. There are photos of me and my sister, hand in hand in our nurse and cookie monster costumes. And no, you don't get to see them.

I've not tried my hand at pumpkin carving - I'm not entirely sure my knife skills are anywhere near good enough to create the kind of result that I want in my head. So, I'm going to stick with baking. I'd bought a pumpkin to roast and use for this recipe that I've been thinking bout for a while. My plan was to split and roast it, then scoop out the warm insides - but then... I found pumpkin puree in Waitrose! Hurrah! Quick and easy and now I can add pumpkin and ginger soup to next weekends cooking.

I'd a pumpkin traybakes with a cream cheese frosting on Pinterest. I wanted to make it slightly more British so decided to use an idea from an old Delia book and layer the sponge with raw, finely sliced Bramley apples. In the Delia book it's plums layered in flapjack mix but I wanted to try it with the pumpkin sponge. I was worried it would be too wet, so cooked it for an extra 10 minutes from what I thought, and then left it to cool in the hot tin.

Spiced apple and pumpkin tray bake

1 tin pumpkin puree - or 400g of cooked and blitzed pumpkin/ butternut squash
350g of Bramley apples (that's when weighed whole, before you skin and slice them)
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
225g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
275g caster sugar (if you wanted a more toffee-ish flavour, then use soft brown sugar)
4 eggs
350g self raising flour
2 tsps baking powder
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Grease and line a small roasting tin (I used the same one as in the Snickerdoodle blondies)
Roast the pumpkin for about 45 minutes in the oven, until its soft enough to spoon out - blitz this in a food processor if you have one, if not then mash it with a potato masher
Peel, core and finely slice the apples - if you want to do this ahead of time, toss them in some lemon juice to stop them from browning

Using a mixer - or strong arms, beat the butter and sugar together
Add in the eggs, one at a time, with a spoonful of the flour each time
Add in the flour, ginger and baking powder
Beat in the pumpkin puree (this makes the mixture a beautiful colour, a soft orangey pink)
Spread half the batter into the tin, and cover with half the apple slices
Add the rest of the cake batter, smooth the top and then sprinkle the rest of the apple over
Sprinkle your sugar over the top and then put in the oven for 45 minutes

This is a beautifully soft sponge, the tartness of the apples cutting through the sweet, slightly moist cake. The top has a little crunch from the sugar - I might switch this out for a more granulated brown sugar to add some flavour as well as texture.

I've cut this into slices rather than squares, and that gives you 16, but you could easily make it into squares and double that.

Preserves part 4 million and twelve: mint and apple jelly

More preserves... yes there are more things I can be given free (or nearly free) and turn into jams, jellies and cordials. I just tweeted Jules of Butcher, baker to say how satisfying I'm finding it being able to turn free (or nearly free) food into something that will last me long after the fresh ingredients would have found their way into the compost bin.

Last time Mark went home his Mum sent him back with a pillowcase, bag of crapapples, a large bunch of mint and the instructions for 3 different types of preserves. I've already blogged the plum jam, and so this is my first experience of a jelly. It's very similar to a jam except that you strain the fruit after you've cooked it down, so that when you boil it up with the sugar, it's a clear liquid. What you end up with is beautiful, an amazing amber colour in the case of the crabapples and an almost clear set with tiny flecks of mint for the apple and mint. Just gorgeous, as the sunlight catches them they actually twinkle.

I made this with Bramley apples, that had been epically reduced in Sainsburys - I am such a fan of the reductions in their fruit and veg departments for preserving - the other week it was strawberries for 19p and this was 9p for 4 huge Bramley apples (the last 2 I've just stewed up with some spices and a little sugar, then frozen to have on porridge as it gets colder).

Apple and Mint Jelly

Ingredients

2.5 lbs cooking apples
1 pint distilled white vinegar
Sugar
3-4 taablespoons chopped mint


Equipment

Preserving pan
Pillowcase
Chair
Bowl
Measuring jug
Wooden spoon
Saucer
Jam jars

Method

Wash and chop the apples (don't bother to peel or core) then put in your preserving pan with 1 pint of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 45 minutes - until they're soft
Add the vinegar and boil rapidly for another 5 minutes (beware, it smells really really strong)
Spoon the pulp into the pillowcase - which you've suspended intricately on an upturned chair over a bowl and allow the pulp to strain for at least 12 hours. You mustn't squeeze the pillowcase no matter how much you want to or feel like no liquid is coming out as that'll make your jelly cloudy.  I was incredibly restrained and managed not to.

After the 12 hours, put your saucer in the fridge
Now measure the strained liquid into a measuring jug and for every pint of liquid add 1lb of sugar to your preserving pan. I ended up with 1lb and 12oz of sugar in mine.
Heat the liquid and sugar gently, stirring all the while until the sugar has dissolved
Now boil it rapidly for about 10 minutes until the setting point is reached - test using your saucer
Stir in the chopped mint, jar up promptly and there you have it - apple and mint jelly. Ideal with your next roast pork (personally, I'm planning a roast shoulder of pork just so I can try it)

Ripe! Gooseberries ripe! No wait that's not right... More jam basically

It's been said, more than once that I have a tendency towards obsessiveness, some things have to be 'just so' others are seen, done, experienced over and over until I either get it out of my system, or move on. I'm like that with many things, *cough*Musicals*cough* as well as food. At the moment, as a result of my new found confidence I'm all about the jam. Throw me a packet of sugar and some fruit, and I'll make it work. Which was exactly the position I found myself in on Tuesday night. Exempt from Guides owing to the med changes leaving me decidedly queasy, clearly the natural thing to do is to cook. Oh and tweet whilst doing so. I am woman, watch me multitask.

I had in my fridge a punnet of the Riverford gooseberries, a fruit which I am not too fond of as I just find them too tart. I also had some once lovely, now slightly soft Granny Smith apples lurking at the bottom of the fruit bowl. Having tweeted for suggestions, and discarded all of them - sorry folks - but I think my heart was already set on jam. I googled for some recipes. Ignored those, and just went on proportions. Yes folks I'm living life on the edge here in North London. I invented a jam recipe. Of my own. By myself. Surely I deserve a badge? Guiding folks, did there used to be a jam maker badge? Please say there did!

So, this is roughly how my recipe went - and I halved the amount I have made both for marmalade and strawberry jam as a) I wasn't sure I had enough jars and b) I don't have a decent preserving pan, just a bog standard thing from Ikeas basic range. Which I have to say, did the job beautifully, although I didn't dare stop stirring the molten sugar and fruit for one second. Thank God I can touch type is all I can say.

Gooseberry and apple jam

500g fruit - roughly half and half apples and gooseberries. I peeled cored and finely diced the apples, and just topped and tailed the gooseberries.
225ml water
650g sugar (again, I'm just using regular sugar, not preserving sugar)

Put a saucer in the fridge
Wash out some jars in hot soapy water, rinse and dry and put in a low oven to sterilise

Top and tail the gooseberries and put them in a large pan with the water. I know I've talked about using Lakeland's preserving pan previously, but I just used the Ikea 365 stockpot for this, and it was fine, no spitting or catching.

Bring to a rolling boil and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the sugar and let it dissolve over a low heat, whilst stirring constantly. I found that the sugar dissolved quicker in this recipe than in the strawberry jam or marmalade - but again that could just be down to the nature of the fruit.

Boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until setting point is reached. Do the wrinkle test, using the cold saucer, if the jam hasn't set then put it back on the heat and boil for another 5 minutes. My batch needed the extra 5 minutes.

Pour into sterilised jars. When cool put the lids on, and label up. More jam! For your jam cupboard!

I talked to Mark's mum about this - Mark's mum being the authority on all things jam related, and she reckons that this would go well with cold meats or cheeses as well as a traditional jam.

Spiced Apple Cake

Now, I know it's Thursday and to still be cooking things from my "Things to cook this weekend" list from last weekend is incredibly slack, but bear with me, I have awful tendonitis at the moment and am struggling to type, let alone cook.. so to try and bake today was a bit of an adventure.

I always make cakes by hand, not least because no one has ever seen fit to give me a Kitchen Aid mixer, just because they love me and feel they should, but also because I love to bake and I love to bake how I was taught by my mother. So I do it all by hand. And I thoroughly enjoy it too. However, this does mean that this week (and any week my wrists and arms are bad) baking is out of the question. Today, I have had the day off for a hospital appointment, so while I was working from home this afternoon decided to have a bash at my cake.

It's the Waitrose recipe I linked to the other day. The only alterations I make are to soak the sultanas in either tea or alcohol, today it was in honeyed rum; this is something I nearly always do when I cook with sultanas now, I first started doing it with Nigella's banana bread, and whenever I make barm brack (exact recipe provenance unknown; my mother wrote it down for me before I went to uni) soak the fruit in cold tea. It does just make a wonderful difference to the squishiness of the fruit, and you don't get any strong pervading alocoholic or tanniny taste, just a sweetness. I also add nutmeg to this cake as well as the cinammon. I just decided to try it that way last time I made it, and really liked the combination of flavours. I'm thinking for the winter of adding a tiny bit of something like allspice, but I need to investigate that further. I must say I do wish that you could buy spices locally to me from a market where you can smell them, because that way when I'm baking or making up a curry paste I could follow my nose and not just be limited to a recipe.

Anyway, the alterations to the recipe were made for my arms sake, so I melted the butter in the microwave and then used the whisking attachment on my food processor (this wins the prize for the least used attachment I think) to beat the butter and sugar up together. I mixed the flour and spices in by hand, as that and the rest was fairly straightforward. An hour and 10 minutes later... Spiced Apple Cake... which is currently being sampled with tea, before I sally forth into the dark, cold and wet.

Oooh I'm thinking blogging may be a good excuse for a cake plate...

Welcome to my Pantry

Well firstly I should say hello, and welcome to my pantry.

I'm sat typing this, my first ever blog, in my pyjamas, drinking coffee while a celeriac and carrot soup is simmering on the hob and making the flat smell fabulous and homely. In front of me is my shopping list for the weekend, as I need to stock up the freezer with some batch cooking for those cold winter evenings when anything apart from sinking into the sofa with a glass of wine seems too much work. As always on the weekends I am embracing my inner domestic goddess and spending my time making casseroles and soups of hearty, healthy ingredients.

Things to cook this weekend:

Celeriac and carrot soup
Spiced apple and pecan cake
Sausage and bean casserole

The soup and casserole are my favourite type of cooking; recipes I've made over and over again, that change each time depending on what I have in cupboards and veg box. The cake is a new favourite of my colleagues in the office, and as I have a friend coming over for tea tomorrow I'm sure it will go down well with cups of tea aplenty. (I'm quite old-fashioned in lots of things, and afternoon tea with cake is one of those institutions I love. Proper leaf tea, cups and saucers, home-made cake, and a warmed pot are all essential ingredients)