I hadn’t been doing much baking lately, but I re-sparked my love for baked goods with my recent banana oat loaf, so when I found myself with some apples sitting in my fruit bowl I decided they needed to find their way into something baked as well, so cookies it was! With cinnamon as the natural partner to apples I knew it needed to be part of the plan, and then threw in some walnuts for their crunch factor, and then I was away!
Mother’s Day coincided with my Nan’s birthday this year so I played host to my nan and parents for lunch, which of course required cake! Our family isn’t one for fancy, cream-filled cakes so I decided to keep it simple and take advantage of all the delicious apples in the fruit shop at the moment, so whipped up an apple cake. It was so well received that even after a big lunch my Nan went back for seconds!
For as long as I can remember, whenever I would order a freshly squeezed juice at a cafe it was always a combination of apple, pineapple and orange juice. As I got older I’d sometimes add ginger, maybe a carrot, but those three key ingredients never changed. I still standby it as a great flavour combination, but over time I have expanded my horizons somewhat, and now my freshly squeezed juices are more guided by whatever fruit and veggies I have on hand (which unfortunately rarely includes pineapple!) as opposed to habit!
There’s something about adding a crumble top to muffins that makes them that much more delicious. The combination of soft, fluffy muffin and a crunchy top turns these simple muffins into something worth serving to friends for morning tea (if they last that long!). The best part is the crumble top is super simple so there’s no reason you couldn’t use it as on top of all your muffins! Unless of course you ate so much you got sick of it, that would be terrible! Maybe moderation is the key…
I found myself with a pile of apples at home so decided I should turn them into something to share with my housemates. I ummed and ahhed for a while and eventually decided to make a batch of apple slice. I kept it light on the sugar front so the fruity flavour of the apple could be the star of the show, with the light pastry happily holding it all together. Despite the fact I’m not very confident with pastry (so I keep avoiding making it, thus remaining not confident making it!) this turned out really nicely and was a simple, delicious way to use a pile of apples.