Apple Crumble

This is one of the easiest desserts to put together and it never fails to impress! You don't need to confine yourself to apples only. I have used bananas, plums, peaches and pears with great success.

                          

The crumble

Flour                    1 cup

Butter         (cold)          ½ cup, cut into pieces

Demerara sugar    ½ cup

The filling

Apples                 4 nos, peeled, cored and sliced

Brown sugar                  ¼ cup if the apples are tart.

2 Tbls should suffice if the apples are sweet.

Cinnamon            ¼ tsp

Nutmeg                ¼ tsp

Raisins (opt)                  2 Tbls

Method

Butter a 9x12” glass dish lightly. Arrange the sliced apples in the dish and sprinkle the sugar and spice powders over the apples. Sprinkle the raisins on top.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Rub in the butter along with the sugar into the flour, using the tips of your fingers only, in order to keep the mixture light, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

You can use a pastry blender as well.

Spread the crumble mixture evenly over the apples in the dish and press down lightly.

Bake in a moderately hot (375°F, 190°C) preheated oven for about 45 mins to an hour or until the crumble starts to brown on top.

If you find that your crumble topping is browning too quick, cover the dish with aluminium foil until the apples are cooked when poked with a skewer.

Serve either warm or cold with fresh cream or ice cream.

Crumble tip: You can use oats along with the flour as a variation. 1:1

                     Cornflakes and flour 1:1 along with 2 Tbls of chopped walnuts works well too.

Stewed guavas with a difference!

A good way to eat stewed guavas. Simple to make and full of flavour!

Image by BeautifulFreePictures.com

Guava cups

Guavas                          4

Water                            2 ½ cups

Sugar                             1 ½ cups

Custard powder             4 Tbls

Milk                               1 cup

Seedless grapes and or dried fruit

Method

Wash and peel guavas. Cut each guava horizontally to get two hemispheres. Cover the guavas with the water and sugar in a stewing pan.

Bring to a gentle boil, stirring carefully until the sugar dissolves. Cook until the guavas are fork tender. This might take about 20 mins.

Remove from heat and cool completely.

Lift the guavas carefully out of the stewing liquid. Reserve the liquid. Scoop out the seeds from the guavas and discard. Arrange guava cups in a dish and set aside.

Blend together the custard powder, milk and the reserved liquid and bring to a gentle boil. Cook until the mixture thickens to coating consistency.

Remove from heat and cool a bit.

Fill the guava cups with the grapes or dried fruit if you wish and pour the custard over. Chill. Serve with a dollop of cream or ice cream.

The heat is on. It is Mango time in India!

These pages seem almost alien to me. No excuses! Just got caught up with everyday living kind of activities. Summer has set in with a vengeance. Temperatures are soaring and no AC seems cool enough. Food prices have hit the roof and to top it all , there is a water shortage. My biggest preoccupation these days seems to be lecturing my hundred year old mother about conserving water. I am fighting a losing battle! She is convinced that I am bonkers!  Our water bill is amongst the highest in our building. So be it. My mother is happy!!

The light at the end of the tunnel though, is the appearance of the ubiquitous mango in the markets. Of course, the best is yet to come but what we have now is enough to set ones taste buds racing. The best way to gorge on mangoes is just that, as they are.  It goes without saying that they have to be of premium quality to get the best out of them. However, one can still enjoy the early birds in various ways.

I like to make a Mango Fool with the first of the season. The elders in our family have always maintained that the first mangoes of the season should be consumed along with milk, in order to avoid upset stomachs. Mango Fool is definitely the answer.

Mango Fool                 Serves 5 - 6 

Mangoes                        5 med will yield about 4 cups of puree

Sugar                             1 cup.

You might need a bit more if the mangoes are not sweet.

Milk / Cream                  ¾ cup.

More if you want to make this dessert like a smoothie.

I like to make mine mousse like.

Since I make this dessert very often during the mango season, I use milk most of the time. Cutting calories being the obvious reason!!

It goes without saying that a special occasion definitely calls for cream!

A sprinkling of Cardamom powder if the mangoes are not flavourful enough.                                                             

Method

Wash and peel the mangoes. Remove all the flesh from the kernel. Discard the kernel. Blend together the mango pulp and the sugar until smooth. If you are using a fibrous variety of mango, you will have to pass the puree through a fine sieve.

Return the sieved puree to the blender and add the milk or cream a little at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved.

You need to flavour the mango fool with cardamom powder only if you use a non descript flavourless mango. Hard to come by in India!

Serve chilled. Enjoy!

Mock Orange Bavarian Cream.

Have you ever heard of a Bavarian Cream without Crème Anglaise as one of the main ingredients? Well you have now because I have tried to demystify this classic!

The idea was born when I was trying to get together recipes for egg less desserts. I chanced upon this old cookbook where I found a recipe that hinted at something that might have tasted like a cross between a blancmange and a soufflé. Therefore, I decided to tweak it. This is what emerged!

Serves 6-8

Gelatin                                                            4 1/2  level tsps

Orange juice                                                   1 ¾ cups

Fanta *                                                            1 ¾ cups

Lime or lemon juice                                         2 to 3 Tbls

Condensed milk                                              1 tin (400 gms)

Fresh cream                                                   200 ml

Orange segments with skin removed, for garnishing

Method

  

Soften the gelatin in ½ cup of orange juice and dissolve this over a pan of hot water until it reaches the consistency of egg white. Set aside.

Combine the orange juice, Fanta and the lemon juice along with the condensed milk. Whisk the dissolved gelatin into this mixture until well blended and refrigerate, until the mixture thickens and begins to set.

Whip the fresh cream over a bowl of ice until it holds its shape. Fold into the orange mixture gently. Pour into a glass dish or an oiled aluminum mould and place inside the fridge until set.

Decorate with orange segments and rosettes of cream. If set in a mould, unmould onto a wet plate in order to be able to center the dessert. Pipe rosettes of cream around it. Set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.

* Any aerated orange drink will do.

For easy unmoulding of any gelatin-based dish: Dip a kitchen towel in hot water. Squeeze dry and wrap the hot towel around the mould for about 30 seconds. Invert a serving plate over the mould and turn the plate along with the mould over. The dessert should slip out with ease. 


Note on gelatin: Ensure that the temperature of the gelatin and that of the mixture to be set is about the same.
If the mixture is much colder, the gelatin will form unpleasant glutinous strands on contact with the mixture.
If however, the gelatin is colder than the mixture, it will sink to the bottom and form a separate layer.