Apple Crumble (The Cake the Buddha Ate)

Nothing like a comforting piece of apple crumble hot from the oven with some custard or cream to warm the cockles of your heart on a cold wintry evening with aromas from the spices which are beautifully intoxicating.

I adjusted the recipe slightly by increasing the spice quantities and placing the entire crumble on top of the apples instead of mixing a portion of it in with the apples as with the original recipe in the book, The Cake the Buddha Ate.

Apple Crumble

Ingredients

500g self-raising flour
½ tsp cinnamon – I used 1 tsp
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cardamom – I omitted this as I only have pods
⅛ nutmeg – I used almost ½ tsp
½ tsp salt
250g butter, soft
2 cups brown sugar – I only used 1¼ cups
500g apples, cooked or 1 x 725 g tin – I cooked 4 large red apples in a about 2 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp brown sugar
½ cup raisins – I omitted these because I was plum out of raisins
½ cup chopped nuts – I omitted these because I was plum out of nuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and prepare a pie dish.
2. Gently work the flour, spices, salt and butter together between your thumbs and fingertips to form crumbs.
3. Add the sugar and blend with your fingers to retain the consistency of breadcrumbs.
4. Combine half the mixtures with the apples and raisins, and place in a dish, alternatively just place the apples and raisins in the bottom of the dish followed by the entire crumble mixture on top.
5. Sprinkle over the remaining crumbs and then the chopped nuts.
6. Bake for 45 minutes until golden.
7. Serve warm with custard or cream or possibly even ice cream if it isn’t too much of a wintry night.

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Grilled Sweetcorn with Sweet Chilli, Coriander & Lime (The Cake the Buddha Ate)

This is the first recipe I tried from my by birthday book, The Cake the Buddha Ate and it is divine!  An absolute must make!  Pete and I  did the corn on the braai  but you could easily grill them in the oven too.

Ready to go on the braai for 5 minutes

Grilled Sweetcorn with Sweet Chilli, Coriander & Lime

Ingredients

1kg sweetcorn ± 6
50g butter
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp cumin seeds, bruised, crushed
½ tsp coriander seeds
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp garlic, crushed
1 tbsp lime juice – you could substitute with lemon
½ cup fresh coriander, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Precook the sweetcorn in the microwave for 5 to 7 minutes until tender alternatively boil in water for ±15 minutes.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan with the oil.
3. Add the spices and sweet chilli sauce and bring to the boil.
4. Add the garlic and cook while stirring for 5 minutes until thick.
5. Add the lime juice and chopped coriander and add seasoning if required.
6. Pour the sauce over the sweetcorn and braai for 5 minutes turning while basting with the sauce.
7. Alternatively place in a preheated oven at 220°C and place on the highest rack in the oven.  Turn the mielies when they turn brown and grill to finish off.

In My Kitchen – April 2015

Eek, I have not posted since my last IMK post.  Clearly the weather has been too good to pass up on.  Oh I wish!  I have been knee deep in Neighbourhood Watch everything.  It has become somewhat of a full time job.  Must say though, we are still enjoying summerish days.  Long may it last. 🙂

I, along with so many others are so grateful to our friend Celia over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for her wonderful idea of sharing what’s in our kitchens every month.  It makes the world a little smaller and brings us all a little closer together.  Thank you Celia for the fun of being able to pop in around the world to see what everyone has to share.

In my kitchen…

Is my first attempt at icing a cake using my favourite Ateco 852 nozzle.  I made the cake to share with friends and my aunt for tea. While all the girls were thoroughly impressed, I was left a little disappointed.  No matter as I can decorate plenty more cakes.

In my kitchen…

Is an early birthday gift from my sister in law Karin and brother Greg.  I often quote Karin and what she has shared with me from this wonderful book and recently asked for her help with a few recipes for folk who were coming to stay who are vegetarian which resulted in receiving my very own copy.  Thank you Karin!  I LOVE my book.  I can highly recommend getting a copy of your own The Cake the Buddha Ate if you need inspiration for vegetarian recipes. ISBN 978-1-77009-772-8

In my kitchen…

Was a great new find at Woolies.  I have never been able to purchase panko crumbs unless from a Chinese Store and ridiculous premiums so was thrilled beyond bits and piece when I saw this pack the other day.

In my kitchen…

are more flower decorations for cupcakes.  I cannot help myself when it comes to buying anything for cupcakes.  Yellow seems to be my favourite colour.  I’m not much of a pink kind of person and don’t really think you would use blue flowers so yellow it is.

In my kitchen…

Was a brilliant find when I was visiting with my folks in Johannesburg.  Mom took me to a new baking store which opened just down the road from home and lo and behold there was exactly what every other store to date in South Africa has not been able to provide me with – various sizes of icing nails.  I have only been able to source a size 6 which does not work for me.  Now to get practising with make perfect roses.

In my kitchen…

Just in case, you know, just in case 3 spares isn’t quite enough, I got another spare icing/frosting bag – the day might come when I want to frost using different coloured icings at once, so now I am fully prep’d.

What’s in your kitchen this month?  Please remember to link back to Celia’s blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial if you partake in the fun and drop her a quick note to let her know when your post will be up and please note Celia needs all IMK posts submitted by the 10th of every month.