APPLE DESSERTS

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32354, 21 July 1970, Page 4

APPLE DESSERTS

(By

CELIA TIMMS)

Apples served as hot or cold desserts are always acceptable and there are innumerable ways of cooking them to please any family. What could be more appetising than a Steamed Apple Pudding on a winter’s night, Baked Apples topped with marshmallow and served with a wine sauce or cold Cider Apple Snow with a hot custard sauce? Now is the time to use apples, while they are so plentiful.

STEAMED APPLE SUET PUDDING For six you will need: 1 cup finely shredded suet 2 cups breadcrumbs 1 cup raisins i cup chopped walnuts 1 cup closely packed brown sugar i cup milk 1 beaten egg i teaspoon bi-carbonate of soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon i teaspoon cloves i teaspoon allspice i teaspoon salt 5 medium Granny Smith apples One-third cup rum (optional) Method: Peel, core and finely slice apples and combine with suet, breadcrumbs, nuts, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and salt. Add beaten egg and lastly the milk in which has been dissolved the bi-car-bonate of soda. Pour batter into a generously buttered basin or mould and cover it closely, tying foil or greaseproof paper over top or with a fitting lid. Place in a saucepan containing boiling water sufficient to come half way up the side of basin, place lid on saucepan and ensure that the water boils gently for two hours. Turn out on to a heated serving dish, pour over the rum and ignite this at the table. Serve with whipped cream or a custard sauce. Note: the spices may be replaced by grated lemon rind.

Creaming Butter and Sugar. When creaming butter and sugar for a cake, add a tablespoon of cooked rice. This makes the creaming job easier and helps the cake to remain fresh longer.

APPLE HORSESHOE For four you will need; 2 cups self-raising flour 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar 2 tablespoons butter } cup milk 2 apples 2oz chopped dates 1 tablespoon brown sugar i teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon lemon rind Method: Mix flour, salt and sugar and into this rub the butter. Make into a soft scone dough with milk. Turn out on lightly floured board and form into oblong shape. Peel apples and grate on a coarse grater, then combine with chopped dates, brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon rind. Spread mixture over dough. Moisten edges with milk and roll lengthwise. Place on a greased oven slide and bend into horseshoe shape. Slash with a sharp knife at regular intervals and brush with milk to glaze. Bake at 400-425 for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm with cream or custard. APPLE SOUFFLE For four you will need: 4 cooking apples 1 dessertspoon butter

4 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind 2 eggs. Method: Peel, quarter and core apples and stew in a very small quantity of water until soft. Beat to a pulp with a wooden spoon and press through a sieve. Add sugar, lemon rind and butter, beat well and leave to become cold. Separate whites from yolks of eggs and add the yolks to the apple mixture, blending thoroughly. Whip whites until stiff and fold into mixture. Pour into a greased, ovenproof dish and bake at 375 until set and lightly browned, about 20-30 minutes. Serve immediately with boiled custard.

Apple Rice Meringue, crowned with a little red currant jelly, makes a simple but very effective party dish. Ingredients given here make enough for about eight servings. You will need: 1 cup rice 2j cups milk 6 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt Vanilla 1 tablespoon butter 3 eggs 6 medium cooking apples 2 cups water 1 cup sugar Juice f lemon Vanilla i cup icing sugar Red currant jelly Method: Wash rice in cold water, put in saucepan and cover well with water. Bring to boil, then turn off heat and allow to stand for five minutes. Drain and rinse under running cold tap. Return to the top of a double saucepan, pour over the milk which has been heated to

boiling point, add six tablespoons sugar, salt, a few drops of vanilla and cook in the top of the double saucepan for about 45 minutes until rice is done. Toss with a fork to separate the grains and combine with the lightly beaten eggyolks. Spread on a serving dish and allow to become cold. Peel and halve the apples, removing cores and stew them in a syrup made from two cups water and one cup sugar to which the juice of half a lemon has been added and a little vanilla essence, or preferably, a vanilla bean. When soft, drain and arrange on top of cooled rice. Beat the egg-whites until stiff but not dry. Sprinkle over the sieved icing sugar, a little at a time, and fold in with a spatula, to make a stiff meringue. Spread over apples. Sprinkle with a little icing sugar and bake at 400-450 until delicately coloured. Dribble melted red currant jelly over the top before serving.