Forgive me, it’s all gone a bit Mary Berry over here but I could do with your help. Our garden is home to several fruit trees and over the summer I’ve watched two of them flourish and harbour a huge crop of cooking apples. Admittedly after Thursday’s storms most of them are now strewn about the lawn and don’t look particularly tasty but there are still a load hanging. I’ve cupped my hand underneath the apples on the tree and gently twisted but they’re not ready to budge just yet, however with harvest season approaching I want to make sure I’m prepared to use the large glut and so I’m looking to you lovely lot for some recipe ideas.
It’s the first time I’ve ever had any fruit trees and my rose-tinted autumn glasses are filled with visions of baking crumbles and cakes, rather than slogging away on a whole load of DIY.
I’d love to hear your tried and testing crumble recipes or your tips for making apple sauce. If you’ve had a touch of the Monty Don this year what are you plans for all your fruit and veg? Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.
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Try Hairy Dieters spiced apple cake. That’s my ‘go-to-and-use-up-the-glut’ recipe!?
Oh I love a crumble. Possibly far too much and often eaten cold from the baking dish!! I stew up the apples with a sprinkling of brown sugar and cinnamon. Chuck in some blackberries too or raspberries are also yummy. Then for the crumble topping I’m afraid I don’t have quantities. I pop a chunk of butter in (about a third of a block), a good sprinkling of sugar and some plain flour. Rub it between your fingers until it comes together in a crumbly consistency. For extra yuminess add in oats or ground almonds. Also, my mum (she is the queen of crumble) grates in marzipan to the crumble topping. It is immense. When I have loads of apples I stew them up, without sugar, and then freeze in bags. It’s easier than having apples sitting around and means I’ve got a bag of fruit ready to go for anything from puddings to smoothies. xxx
I’ve made a dorset apple cake last weekend to get through some of our apples {http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/dorset-apple-cake} it’s well worth a try and uses quite a lot of apples. Failing that get some puff pastry and make some apple roses – a bit of a faff but so pretty and tasty. Most of our apples have now gone and I’m almost missing all the baking already even if I felt a bit swamped with apples at times.
We have a plum tree and every 2 years I have to stew and stash bags galore in the freezer and can only think to make jam or crumble. I mix 1-2 oz brown sugar or honey and 2 oz butter or coconut oil with 8 oz of any mix of jumbo oats, ground almonds, chopped nuts and flour… but the last few times I’ve left out the standard flour completely and love the tasty crunchy texture of just oats and nuts. Happy baking x
A lot of chutney recipes use cooking apples as a base, and I think a jar of chutney is always nice to give away and keep for, dare I say it… Christmas!
I’m afraid I don’t have the recipe but a good way to use up is to make some clove apple jelly for use over Christmas with cheese boards. Or to give as part of gifts in festive hampers. Also Apple sponge is another good alternative to crumble and can be frozen for later use. Xx
Was about to suggest apple chutney for Christmas gifts! Always a good option. Apple butter? Dried Apple rings? Or (whisper it) you could make your own cider! We did a couple of years ago and it was good fun. You can get a press for about £100 or so xx
Another chutney suggestion here! Great Christmas pressies x
My boss always brings loads of apples from her garden into the office and hands them out by the carrier bag full! My go-to is this apple butter recipe (https://expatisserieblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/autumn-apple-butter/) which uses lots of apples (you can scale up or down depending on how many you have). It is lovely canned and given as gifts like chutney, or kept in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Enjoy your harvest!
Love all these suggestions. Thanks so much x
Hi – so clearly I am super late to this post as I’ve only just discovered the blog! However, I use up loads of apples making apple puree – Ella Woodward has a great recipe and also seems to use loads of puree in her recipes instead of sugar if you are looking for ideas (eg in black bean burgers!).
The puree can then be frozen ( I do it in ice cube trays, then transfer into a food bag) and used as you like to sweeten brownies, flap jacks etc in the same way you might use banana. You can also get out a couple to use in a smoothie. For savoury food – it is fantastic with pork – if you drop a couple of cubes into the cooking juices and add a splash of cider and cream you have a quick sauce. Hope this helps – good luck this autumn!