English Apple Cake

Nothing beats a homemade apple cake with chunks of sweet fruit. Try this hearty recipe and surprise your kids with a scrumptious afternoon tea treat when they arrive home after school.

Ingredients:
225r self-raising flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
115r unsalted butter, diced and chilled, plus extra for greasing
115r light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
6-8 tbsp milk
225r Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
100gr raisins
2 tbsp brown sugar with some cinnamon (optional)

Preparation:
Heat the oven to 180C.
1.) Grease and line a deep 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
2.) Mix the flour and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
3.) Add the butter and rub into the flour using your fingers, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
4.) Stir in the light brown sugar.
5.) Beat in the egg followed by 6 - 8 tbsp of milk – you want to achieve a smooth, thick batter.
6.) Add the apples and raisins and mix to combine.
7.) Scrape the batter into your prepared tin and gently level out.
8.) Sprinkle over the brown sugar and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool further. Best served still warm with a little custard.

Apple & Cinnamon muffins

Can you smell the autumn? Nothing beats the fragrance of brown butter, cinnamon and baked apple. Well, maybe chocolate cake but that's for another day.

Ingredients:
1 cup self raising flour
½ cup almond meal
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger, ground
½ tsp nutmeg, ground
½ tsp cardamom, ground
140gr unsalted butter, browned
⅓ cup caster sugar
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 eggs
1 large apple, grated

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 180°C.
1.) Place the butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the milk solids start to turn brown on the bottom of the pan and smells nutty. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
2.) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cardamom.
3.) In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla bean.
4.) Add the cooled brown butter and stir until combined.
5.) Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until combined.
6.) Fold in the apple.
7.) Spoon the batter into lined muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and cooked.

Parisian Hot Dog

This Hot Dog is a long way from your ordinary American sausage and bun. It's the Parisian version and it's très chic. What do you think?

Ingredients:
2 hot dogs
2 red radishes
1 Paris mushroom
½ Granny Smith apple
1 lemon
1 shallot
1 tablespoon of chiseled parsley
1 tablespoon of mascarpone
1 tablespoon of mustard
1 tablespoon of honey
⅔ of baguette bread

Preparation:
1.) Preheat your oven to 200 °C.
2.) Wash and slice the radishes, cut the mushroom in thin slivers and the washed but unpeeled granny smith apple into thin sticks. Slightly sprinkle the apple sticks with lemon. Peel and chop up the shallot, chisel the parsley.
3.) In a small salad bowl, mix the mascarpone, mustard, shallot, parsley and honey. Halve the baguette lengthwise and heat for 5 minutes in the oven.
4.) Garnish the baguettes with sauce and the sausages (boilt in water), then top with mushroom slices, apple sticks and radishes.

One bowl apple cake

This cake is so moist and rich and just perfect for this time of year. Supereasy to make!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup oil
6 medium Gala or Fuji or Honey Crisp apples
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.

1.) In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cinnamon and oil.
2.) Peel and slice the apples and add to mixture in bowl (coating as you go to keep apples from turning brown.)
3.) Mix together the baking powder and flour and add to the ingredients in the bowl.
4.) Mix well (best with a fork) until all of the flour is absorbed by the wet ingredients.
5.) Pour mixture into a greased one 9x13 or two 9″ round pans.
6.) Bake for approximately 55 minutes.

Birchermüesli

Birchermüesli is as Swiss as it gets. It can be eaten for breakfast, brunch or light dinner. It is a healthy alternative to cereals and the kids love it.

Ingredients: 
200 g Birchermüesli flake mix with no added sugar
4.5 dl milk
1-2 apples
other fruit, e.g. berries, grapes, bananas, kiwi etc., according to taste/season
1 red fruit yoghurt
some orange juice or mixed fruit juice
0.25 dl cream (or more )

Preparation:
1.) Mix the Birchermüesli flake mix with the milk.
2.) Grate the apples or cut them into small pieces. Add them to the Birchermüesli.
3.) Finely chop your other fruit, add it to the Birchermüesli and mix well.
4.) Add the yoghurt.
5.) Stir in some orange/mixed fruit juice to make it more refreshing.
6.) Add the cream.
7.) Optional: before serving whip some cream and decorate onto the Birchermüesli for nicer presentation.

Note: The consistency should be more “liquid” than solid. To adjust the taste if the consistency is too thick, add additional orange juice and/or milk.

French Apple Pie

Yet another delicious apple pie recipe, you might think. If you were in France you could purchase this delicious treat from any number of patisserie stores from Paris to Provence.  If not, this recipe is as close to the taste and texture of what you would enjoy in France and it’s so simple to make.

Ingredients:
1 puff pie pastry
3 - 4 apples
50 gr powdered sugar
200 ml or 1 brick of liquid cream
2 eggs
1 table spoon vanilla sugar
1-2 table spoon dark rhum

Preparation:
1.) Preheat your oven to 180 ° C
2.) Take a puff pastry base and lay it out in a pie dish
3.) Cut apples into strips and drop nicely onto pastry until the pie is filled
4.) Sprinkle apples with powdered sugar
5.) In a bowl you mix liquid cream, two eggs and vanilla sugar (you have to taste to know if you have to put more or not)
6.) Add a cap of dark rhum (optional)
7.) Pour mixture into pie.
8.) Bake pie in the oven for 25 minutes.

You can lower the temperature to 150°C, and sprinkle your pie again with a little bit of sugar to caramelise it and let bake it for 15 minutes.