Apples

Having been held responsible for the downfall of womankind, when Eve tempted Adam; hailed as the first superfood, an apple a day keeps the doctor away;  the ultimate scholarly bribe, an apple for the teacher and despite not being a native to these shores, the apple has a long and cherished place in our culture and is an intriguing indicator of how our relationship with food evolves.

The National Fruit Collection at Brogdale in Kent has over 2000 cultivars of fruit trees, many of which the majority of us will never have heard of, seen, let alone tasted.
There are cookers, eating apples and cider apples, each with their own characteristics and uses.  We have 3 old apple trees in the garden and I think they are Howgate Wonders, but I can't honestly say I am 100% sure of that.

There was a time, not too long ago, when the choice of apple available to the consumer shrank and shrank and those of you of a certain age will remember when English varieties were completely overwhelmed by the demand for the insipid French Golden Delicious apples.  The supermarkets' desire for uniform, pristine fruits led to a triumph of appearance over taste and our senses became dulled as a consequence.
Fortunately we have seen a revival in interest in flavour over looks and a genuine desire to protect, preserve and promote old varieties.  
Our stockist in Dulwich, Franklins Farm Shop has the best selection of apple varieties I have ever seen on sale in one place.  Well worth a visit if you are in that part of London, a taste of the countryside in town.
If you want a fascinating read about how a new/old variety of apple was found in a hedgerow not far from us, please take a look at this lovely read from a fascinating man, Ivan Rendall, who sadly died last year.  The Wychenford Wonder lives on in the hedgerow.

So many apples, so many recipes. Just a quick reference to my recently inherited copy of Mrs Beeton came up with several pages of recipes, including 3 for apple water and there have been countless recipes written since.  What's more it is the perfect partner for blackberries, plums, oranges, dried fruit, almonds, pork, sausages, cheese .....................

I have concluded that it is impossible to come up with a completely new recipe using apples, for me at least.

And what I am going to share with you is not even a recipe, as I haven't weighed out the ingredients, so you, clever reader, will just have to take this as it is intended; an inspiration to make your apple pies a bit differently once in a while.

Cook 2 large cooking apples in just enough water to stop them burning and carefully dry off as much liquid as you can.  You want a smooth puree.
Make enough sweet pastry to line a 10" prospector pan or a pie dish;  I use 8 ounces of flour, 4 ounces of butter, 2 ounces of icing sugar, 1 egg yolk (you will be using the white for the filling) and enough cold water to bind it together.
Any leftovers can be rolled out and baked as biscuits, then iced when cold.

Grease the prospector pan and line it with around ⅔ of the pastry and set the rest aside.
Blind bake for about 10 minutes at 180ºC and then remove from the oven.  Allow to cool and then spread the base with a thin layer of raspberry or damson jam.
Sprinkle over a thick layer of ground almonds.
Whisk the egg white with 2 ounces of sugar until it forms soft peaks.  Carefully fold this into your apple puree and spread this over the almonds.
Roll out the remaining ⅓ of the pastry and carefully lay this over the apple meringue mix.  Seal the edges.
Bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes.
Serve at room temperature.

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