Tag: apple

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Makes about 12

1 cup  whole wheat flour
1 cup  sr flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed, divided
1 large egg
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 200c

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well. Mix in the buttermilk gently. (If you over-mix, the buttermilk will cause the mixture to curdle.) Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Put into muffin tins and sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top and bake.

Soft Cider

This stuff is great. When I was a kid at home we used to make this in a bucket and leave it in an outhouse for a few days. Once bottled up it gets it’s fizziness, but if the bottle is sealed tight it can explode! Fermentation happens in this drink, but not really for long enough to give it any great alcohol content. The longer you leave it, the more alcoholic it gets, but don’t bother, it doesn’t taste as good when it’s old. The fermentation uses natural yeast found in the fruit, so no need to add any yeast. If it’s just made, I think it’s the best time to drink it.

To make this, the apples can be rough old windfalls. Chop out the really bad bits then mince up the bits. If you have an old fashioned hand-cranked meat mincer, it works well for this, if not, coarse chopped in a food processor will do nicely.
 
Clean 3lbs cooking apples and mince up, including peel and cores.
Put in a bucket and pour on 6 quarts of cold unboiled water.
Put a cloth over the bucket, leave for a week, stirring night and morning.
Strain the liquid then stir in 2lbs granulated sugar.
Add the grated rind and juice of 3 lemons.
Set aside for 24 hours, then strain and bottle, corking lightly.
Drinkable within a week, possibly sooner, depending how warm it is.

Red cabbage – spiced & braised

Ingredients
1 large red cabbage, shredded
2 large onions, sliced
2 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground cloves
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
knob of butter
2 tbsp redcurrant jelly

Method

1. Place all ingredients, except the redcurrant jelly into a large saucepan, bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for about 1 hour or until the cabbage is tender.
2. Season well, stir through the redcurrant jelly and serve.

 

Red cabbage II – spiced & braised

1 small red cabbage
1 sliced red onion
70g soft light brown sugar
70ml cider vinegar
150ml red wine
a large knob of butter
1 cinnamon stick