A glut of apples is easily transformed with a little brown sugar and pinch of nutmeg. 

Words: Jane Wrigglesworth

Baked Apple Dumplings

Time: 90 minutes
Serve: 1 apple per person

INGREDIENTS

apples (as many as you like)
ready-made, sweet short pastry (1 sheet per apple)
brown sugar
cinnamon

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Peel and core as many apples as needed.

Cut ready-made sweet short pastry into squares about 18 x 18cm, depending on the size of your apples.

Place each apple on a pastry sheet. Fill the cores to the top with brown sugar and cinnamon – I use a ratio of ¾ cup of brown sugar to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Wrap the apples with the pastry, bringing the corners of the pastry to the top of the apple. Use slightly wet fingers to pinch the pastry edges together.

Place the dumplings on a greased baking tray and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.

Drizzle over honey and serve with ice cream.

Frying pan apple crumble

Time: 20 minutes
serves: 4

This is an easy, quick, delicious apple crumble, It’s especially handy when apples are in full production. I mostly use cooking apples if I’m baking them in the oven, but for this recipe, the sweeter dessert apples are best.

For the crumble, I used Homebrand muesli with seeds and nuts for added crunch. You can double the recipe if you are feeding a crowd.

INGREDIENTS

Filling
3 large dessert apples, chopped (no need to peel)
4 tbsp butter
icing sugar, for dusting
maple syrup (optional)

Crumble
100g unsweetened, untoasted muesli
or rolled oats
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon powder

METHOD

Mix all crumble ingredients together.

Heat two non-stick frying pans over a medium heat and add 2 tbsp of butter to each pan.

Add the chopped apple to one pan and the crumble mix to the other. Cook both for 3-4 minutes, until the apple is soft and the crumble is lightly golden.

Divide apple into four serving bowls and top with crumble. Sprinkle with icing sugar, and drizzle with maple syrup if desired.

Apple fritters

Time: 2½-3½ hours

This recipe is from Elizabeth M. Hall’s book Practical American Cookery and Domestic Economy from 1860. Note, you’ll have to work out ratios in Step 2 as Elizabeth doesn’t give any.

INGREDIENTS

apples
white wine
sugar
nutmeg
4 eggs
1 tbsp rosewater
1 tbsp wine
1 tbsp milk
flour
icing sugar
extra nutmeg

METHOD

Pare and core some fine, large pippins, and cut them into round slices.

Soak them in a mix of wine, sugar, and nutmeg, for two or three hours.

Make a batter of eggs, rosewater, wine, and milk. Thicken with enough flour, stirred in by degrees, to make a batter. Mix two or three hours before it is wanted, that it may be light.

Heat some butter in a frying pan. Dip each slice of apple separately into the batter and fry them brown. Sift pounded (icing) sugar, and grate nutmeg over them.

Love this story? Subscribe now!