BLACKBERRY & APPLE PIE (UHG ON TOUR)

Blackberry and apple pie, rustic and comforting                                                                                                                UHG

The mind boggles to think that one day you can be frantically stuffing your travel kit into bags in Cape Town and the next be peacefully stuffing blackberries into your gob, while dawdling along the South Downs in Sussex.

Careful not too squish them                                                                            UHG

Blackberries are everywhere and I’m visiting at just the right time: the berries are dark, plump and mostly sweet. The odd sour one causes your face to crinkle, but the sweetness and tartness all baked in a pie with wild apples is perfect.

Jumping for apples                                                                                                                                                                   UHG  

During an idle wander ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ Laura and I filled a small tub with juicy blackberries. We also came across a surprising number of apple trees growing wild. The apples were those tart zingy ones perfect for cooking. Obviously it was PIE TIME…

WHAT YOU NEED

For the pastry

          250g plain flour

-       125g butter

-       Caster sugar to taste (I used about 1 tablespoon)

-       1 egg yolk (optional; makes the process easier)

-       A dash of cold water; only if pastry feels a little dry

-       A little milk for painting over the pastry

-       A sprinkle of sugar

Pastry takes a delicate touch                                                                                                                                                   UHG

For the mix   

3 large apples; peeled and cut into little chunks

-       About a cup and a half of England’s finest freshly picked blackberries

-       A shake of sugar

-       A few knobs of butter

WHAT TO DO

For the pastry

Cut cold butter into small cubes and rub into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs (use a mixing bowl). Because I’m a rubbish outfit when it comes to making pastry, I use an egg yolk to bind the dough; if you are using a yolk, mix it into the ‘breadcrumbs’ using a fork until it is incorporated. Tip the mixture onto a flat surface and gently knead until you can form a smooth ball, but be careful not overwork it. Flatten it into a thick disk, wrap in clingfilm and pop into the fridge to let it relax for about half an hour.

Nip and tuck                                                                                                                                                                           UHG

For the pie mix

Peel and cut the apples into small chunks and pop into a pie dish (I used a 22cm one), add the blackberries and gently mix. Sprinkle with sugar (I don’t like too much) and evenly space a few nubbins of butter on top. Gently (and I say gently!) roll out the pastry on a floured surface until it is big enough to comfortably cover the top of the dish. Wet the rim of the dish. Now do what those celeb chefs do on the telly and carefully roll up the delicate pastry on the rolling pin. Transfer to the pie dish and unroll. Trim the overhanging pastry and pinch to seal the edge and stab a hole or two through the surface to stop it exploding. Finally, brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar and pop into the oven at 200°C for about 40 minutes or until golden and crispy. Share and enjoy a quintessentially English dish.

Twenty down, only another hundred to go…                                           UHG

Laura plucking an apple along the way from one of the many apple trees growing wild                                       UHG

STICKY GREEK LEMON AND YOGHURT CAKE

I even even dusted off my Mums most Greek looking table cloth for this pic. This is a good cake                    UHG

Here’s a delicious little something you can make while the lemons are ‘lemoning’ (as they are in South Africa at the moment).

Seeing as my last blog was about how to make yoghurt, I thought it timely that this recipe has yoghurt in it and is delicious served with a lavish dollop of it.

This recipe has been on a grubby sheet of paper that somehow, unlike my keys, refuses to get chucked or lost.  After posting consecutive lemon and yogurt blogs I decided: that’s it, I’m going to make this bloody cake and if it’s any good, I’ll write it up and toss the skanky piece of paper once and for all.  So I followed Chef Brigitte Hafner’s ‘Sticky Greek Lemon and Yoghurt Cake’ and the result was a delectably sinful cake.

Shiny, moist and rustic, too warm still…. patience                           UHG

It was so yummy that I made it few times in quick succession and tweaked it a little every time. Not because I thought I was cleverer than Chef Brigitte, but because I didn’t always have the necessary ingredients at hand.  I ran out of butter once, so used olive oil as a top up. This made our Greek cake all the more Greeky. I don’t have Grand Marinier, but do have my homemade Limoncello, so in that went. Another time I roughly ground whole almonds, coz there was no more almond meal about: this gave the cake a more rustic look and a pleasing texture. I must say that I was rather happy with the net result of these enforced tweaks, so this is my take on a jolly good recipe.

Zested, juiced and ready for the mix                                                                                                                                      Mans

WHAT YOU NEED

For the cake

150g butter, soft

100ml olive oil

200g castor sugar

4 eggs

Zest of 2 lemons

250g fine semolina flour

150g ground almonds

100g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

150ml yoghurt

3 tbsp lemon juice

For the syrup

150g sugar

2 tbsp honey

250ml water

1 stick cinnamon

1 or 2 tots of limoncello (depending on how boozy you feel)

WHAT TO DO

For Cake

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C (if you have got a fan turn it off or if you can’t, pop a bowl of water into the oven to stop the cake from drying out). Beat butter and castor sugar until pale and creamy, now mix in the olive oil. Gradually add the eggs in one at a time until they are fully incorporated, then mix in the zest.

In another bowl sift in the semolina, the flour and baking powder. Add the ground almonds and gently mix these dry ingredients. Fold the dry mix through the egg mix, then fold in the yoghurt and the lemon juice. Pour the batter into a well-greased baking tin (about 20cm). Pop into the oven for 50-55 mins or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when stabbed in the middle.

For Syrup

Meanwhile, get going on the syrup. Bring sugar, honey, water and cinnamon to the boil. Let it simmer for a few minutes, add the limoncello and remove from the heat.

Homemade limoncello the obvious substitute                                                                                                                     Mans

To Serve

Take cake out the oven and let it cool slightly before carefully ladling over the hot syrup. Serve with a creamy mound of yoghurt.

Now that I have finally written up this recipe, I’m going crumple up that ugly piece of paper that has been lowering the tone of my kitchen and ‘basketball’ it into the bin, first go I hope…

Check out other relevant blogs

http://theurbanhuntergatherer.blogspot.com/2012/07/limoncello.html
http://theurbanhuntergatherer.blogspot.com/2014/07/how-to-make-yoghurt.html