Cakes & Bakes: Apple & sultana strudel

Some say life’s too short to stuff a mushroom, I say life’s too short to make home-made filo pastry. I’m more than happy to whizz up a quick batch of puff, shortcrust or hot water pastry – I think it tastes much better than shop bought. Filo, at least to me, is just that little bit too finicky and time-consuming to make from scratch.

That’s why I picked up a pre-made pack of filo for my apple & sultana strudel.

Yes, I know that filo (or phyllo) is Greek and apple strudel (or apfelstrudel) is German, but the former is the closest thing to the type of pastry traditionally used to encase the filling. Apparently you should be able to read a newspaper through it, it’s so thin!

The filling is quick to make, I added sultanas to my apples, but you could try adding walnuts, dates or figs instead. The trickiest part is the assembly. Place the pastry onto a clean tea towel or baking parchment before filling and use it to help with rolling.

This apple & sultana strudel is best served hot, and always with cream… or ice cream… or both!

Apple & sultana strudel

2018-01-16 20:11:50

Serves 4

Cook Time

35 min

Cook Time

35 min

Ingredients

2 Bramley apples
50g/1¾oz sultanas
30g/1oz soft brown sugar
½tsp ground cinnamon
80g/3oz butter
270g (6 sheets) pre-made filo pastry
1tbs Demerara sugar

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6 and grease a large oven tray
Peel, core and chop the apples into large cubes
Put the apples into a large saucepan with the sultanas, soft brown sugar, ground cinnamon and 50g/2oz of the butter
Cook over a medium heat for 5-8 minutes, stirring to combine well, until the apple just begins to soften
Set aside to cool
In a small microwaveable bowl, melt the remaining butter (about 5-8 seconds)
Fold the pastry sheets over in half, laying them out onto a clean tea towel or baking parchment
Unfold the pastry sheets, one by one, and brush the top of each sheet with the butter using a pastry brush
Using a slotted spoon to drain off the cooking liquid, place the apple & sultana mixture on the pastry forming a line along the long edge
Sprinkle the rest of the pastry evenly with the Demerara sugar
Using the tea towel/baking parchment as an aid, roll the pastry into a log shape, tucking in the ends so the filling doesn't fall out and place it onto the greased oven tray
Brush the top with melted butter and bake for 30-35 minutes
Serve hot

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Rhubarb, apple & cardamom crumble

In a recent post, we mentioned that Justin wasn’t a massive fan of fruit crumble – there was utter disbelief amongst some of our readers! We’ve talked through it over recent weeks – it’s good to get things out in the open. To be precise, he doesn’t like a soggy zone between the fruit & browned topping. The merest hint of uncooked, wet flour and there’s real distress.

Now we’ve identified the true cause of his phobia, we’ve been able to work through it together (with the help of a crumble counsellor) and have experimented with different methods. We don’t add any water to the fruit or pre-cook it any more – and top with thinner layers of crumble mix to produce crispy, crunchy perfection. There’s no stopping him now – strawberry, pear, plum – bring it on!

So, for this week’s Cakes & Bakes we’ve got a crumble – rhubarb, apple & cardamom crumble.

The cardamom adds a distinctive and really interesting twist…

…and chopped almonds in the topping also worked well.

So, the only decision left to make – custard, cream or ice cream. It was a custard kind of day for us!!

Second helpings for Justin – we really have moved forward from those dark, crumble-free years!

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Rhubarb, apple & cardamom crumble

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Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Servings 2

Ingredients

2 large stalks of rhubarb
1 Bramley apple
50 g/1¾oz demerara sugar
3 cardamom pods
100 g/3½oz plain flour
25 g/1oz rolled oats
10 g/⅓oz almonds roughly chopped
75 g/½oz cold butter cubed

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6
Remove the cardamom seeds from their husks and grind finely with a pestle & mortar
Slice the rhubarb into 2½cm/1inch slices
Peel, core & chop the apple into 1cm/⅓ cubes
Put the rhubarb, apple, half the ground cardamom and 2tbs of the sugar into a medium-sized bowl and mix until the sugar coats the fruit evenly
Decant the mixture into a 30cm x 15cm oven-proof dish
In a medium-sized bowl, add the flour, oats, sugar, chopped almonds, butter and remainder of the cardamom. Rub in the ingredients with your fingers until they resemble coarse, lumpy breadcrumbs
Cover the sugared fruit evenly with the crumble mixture
Cook for 20-30 minutes until the top has begun to brown and fruity syrup is bubbling up
Allow to cool slightly and serve with custard or vanilla ice cream

rhubarb, apple & cardamom crumble ingredients

Keyword apple, cardamom, crumble, fruit crumble, rhubarb

Charity Vintage: Apple Mac SE30

(Ends 1 Sept, 2014 11:30:57 BST)

We’re big Apple Mac fans at H is for Home – in fact, we never part with them. We have a vintage Apple Mac SE30, iMac G4 and MacBook stored in the loft; and currently use a MacBook Pro and iPad Mini… and that’s not to mention the iPhone, iPod and iPod Nano!

If you have the space, wouldn’t all the various models look great displayed on a long shelf, charting the history of computer technology? A veritable Mac museum!

Way back in 1989, an Apple Mac SE30 would have set you back a cool $6,500 US. This one, for sale by & on behalf of Emmaus Bristol*, is currently a mere £26.00.

Emmaus Bristol provides “A bed and a reason to get out of it”. They are a community of formerly homeless people who do not claim benefits but work full time in their own recycling workshop repairing and refurbishing donated goods such as furniture, bicycles, electrical goods and bric-a-brac and selling to the public at reasonable cost.

Charlie Brown decal

We were sent this Charlie Brown laptop decal by the folks at Vinyl Revolution.

It was much easier to apply then we thought – there’s a short, helpful video on YouTube that guides you through the process. We’re very happy with the way it looks. We love Charlie Brown – the newspaper cartoons, the TV adaptations – and of course the amazing music – various Jazz scores by Vince Guaraldi. This particular image looks like Justin & Fudge – staring at the view contemplatively – not saying much, just enjoying each other’s company. When the computer is turned on the Apple logo looks like the sun setting.

Vinyl Revolution makes decals for many MacBook models and they also produce wall art, fridgewraps, vehicle decals and are happy to take bespoke orders too.

[disclosure*]