Jazz it up with Apple dishes, this winter...

Winter is here and I am sure if you are from this part of world, you have already felt the chill in the wind. Last few days, it has been freezing cold especially waking up in the morning and taking  the first bold step out of the comfy doona.  My body clock is so used to getting up early in the morning that I start to feel restless staying up in the bed and not having enough courage to step out and gearing up for my daily walk. Honestly just getting the warm cuppa brewed and clasping the mug does great justice to the clattering teeth and my freezing Palm.

My house is north facing and is blessed with loads of sunshine but it gets colder  because of the fine gaps between the floor boards. Honestly I cannot complain... as Sydney's winter is 100 % more bearable than our previous stay in China during winter months with mercury levels often plunging below freezing point.  Although it is freezing cold outside but houses are warm and cosy because of the uniform heating supplied by the government during peak winter months. Where as in Sydney, not all the houses are well equipped with heating and insulation. Thankfully we had installed the ducted heating soon after we moved from China, having felt  the horrific winter chill of Sydney weather in our very first year. 

Coming to my today's post the  seasonal produce like Apples, Oranges and sweet potatoes are best during winter. Last week I picked up some Apples and they were amazingly sweet and crunchy and bursting with flavours. These naturally sweet apples do not require any makeover at this time of the year but some of the warm desserts made from these beauties definitely add comfort and jazz. Apple crumble is one of our favourite dessert, or at times as an after school treat because one it is simple to prepare and secondly I make a heathy twist to the basic crumble by substituting almond meal instead of plain flour and of course the rolled oats has it own story to spin. If you are regularly following me, you would have come to know my obsession with almond meal. I simply love the texture and the nutty flavour. My boys have also developed a liking for it over  a time.

Here is an another interesting recipe that I made with Apples, adapted from Coles Free mag. This frangipani tart has a delicious base and I was so tempted to try it because of the way the thinly sliced apples flowers were arranged on the tart,  it was so inviting and irresistible. I reckon I was totally impatient to try out the recipe and so the flowers are not uniformly formed. This was my first time and I am sure if you follow the video link below and bit of patience will turn your tart as inviting it looked in magazine.

This Video has clearly shows the steps to make the apple flowers. The trick is slicing the Apples thinly and  use the recommended variety of Apples as not all of the varieties are flexible enough to hold that shape. You can find the Recipe from Coles free mag April issue or follow the link below, if you rarely miss to grab them like I do .... or check this video.

The  Apple frangipani tart recipe can be found in this link.

print recipe

Apple and Berry Crumble

by By Shibani Mishra of Pearlsofeast June-2-2016

Crunchy sweet Apples and berry crumble

Ingredients

2 to 3 Apples
50 g Butter
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup Almond meal/plain flour
1 cup mixed berries frozen or fresh 
2 tbsp slivered almonds

Instructions

1. Core and dice the apples. In a microwaveable bowl, cook the Apples with 1tbsp of sugar for about 1 to 2 minutes until they are slightly tender. 
2. Use a separate bowl mix to all the dry ingredients. Add soften butter to it and mix together till it resembles a crumbly texture.
3.  Pour the cooked apples and berry equally into 4 ramekin dish and top it with the crumble    mixture and slivered almonds. 
4.  Bake  it in the pre heated oven at 180'C for 20 minutes or until golden and crunchy.

If you like the above recipes, please feel free to share among your friends.