Apples that keep their form

a fruity addendum

I forgot to write about this in the newsletter I sent yesterday, even though I meant to, so am doing it now as an addendum because who knows what next week holds (probably a newborn baby, for me).

Apples that keep their form

This is a method I have been using to cook apples and pears in the last few months so that they retain their shape and do not turn to mush – apples in particular. They can be used the basis of a crumble, or a pie, or just eaten with yogurt/ice cream/custard.

What I have been doing is a lazier version of how my mother Clare cooks apples so that they retain their shape, which she documented for me on my old blog and which I have pasted below :

The method ensures that they maintain their form, while at the same time being cooked all the way through. Dad provides photography.

(NB ‘cooking apples’ cannot be eaten raw - and thus require quite a bit of sugar, if you are using other types, adjust sugar. I am not sure if cooking apples such as Bramley variety are available in the US.)

text by my mum:

“For a couple of pounds of cooking apples.

Peel and core the apples, leaving in decent sized chunks – quarters for smaller ones and eighths for the bigger ones. While doing so, put them into a pan with an inch or so of water with a good squeeze of lemon to help keep them from going brown.

Rinse and put apples back in the pan with just a little water (1 cm max); several strips of lemon peel; 4 or 5 cloves; a sprinkling of cinnamon; a handful of sultanas if you have them, and 4 or 5 tablespoons of demerara sugar.

Bring to the boil on the hob and simmer for a minute or two, then put in a slow oven (c.130 degrees celsius) with a lid on for about 30 minutes, or until properly soft when pierced with a knife, but not turned to a mush.”

Eaten with:
Mum and dad eat this for breakfast with natural yogurt. I think they would be lovely with custard too.

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Oven only method

What I have been doing is this – with various apple varieties and pears that have been in my veg box:

How to make

Pre-heat an oven to 130C fan. Into an enamel oven dish that is a size you can comfortably fit everything (but not so big that there’s lots of space around the fruits, as then things might burn) add peeled and cored chunks of apple and / or pear with a few tablespoons of soft brown sugar (sweetness to taste and depending on varieties used), 3-4 small pieces of butter, a teaspoon of cinnamon or 2-3 cloves, a few slices of fresh ginger if cooking pears, a small handful of whole peeled almonds and a handful of raisins or sultanas. To that, add a small amount of water, so it just covers the bottom of the enamel dish.

Cover loosely with foil and put in the oven and cook until tender, checking every now and then with a sharp knife to check the fruit is soft. If it dries out, add a little more water.

This method was the basis of the pear crumble I made a couple of months ago.