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To celebrate World Apple Day, we’ve created 4 apple recipes that are a little bit different…

With apples in season throughout Autumn, this is the best time of year to cook and eat them. Whilst apples are a brilliant baking staple (our minds immediately stray to our seriously special apple crumble with a twist) they shouldn’t be forgotten when you’re making savoury dishes.

But with so many different varieties out there, it’s often difficult to know which apple is best for different kinds of recipes.Whether it’s sweet or savoury you’re after, a warming cocktail or an afternoon treat, we’ve got apple recipes for every occasion…

Lunch: Kale, Jazz Apple and Goat’s Cheese Salad

Jazz up your lunchtime salad with an autumnal twist of apple, goat cheese, toasted pumpkin seeds and cranberries. If you’re looking for a salad that will leave you feeling satisfied, this is the one.

Jazz Apple Recipe: Kale Salad with Apples and Goat’s Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch of kale
• 1 Jazz Apple
• 1 bulb of fennel
• 80g chilled goat cheese, crumbled
• 40g dried cranberries
• 30g pumpkin seeds
• 85ml olive oil
• lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Remove the tough parts from the kale and discard. Chop the kale leaves into small pieces. Transfer the chopped kale to a big salad bowl. Sprinkle a small pinch of sea salt over the kale and massage the leaves with your hands by lightly scrunching big handfuls at a time, until the leaves are darker in color.
2. Chop the apple into small, bite-sized pieces, and thinly slice the fennel. Transfer the prepared apple and fennel to the salad bowl. Use a fork to crumble the goat cheese over the salad. Roughly chop the cranberries and add them to the bowl.
3. In a non-stick frying pan, toast the pumpkin seeds, tossing frequently, until fragrant and starting to make little popping noises. Transfer the pepitas to a bowl to cool.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients.
5. Add the cooled pumpkin seeds to the salad bowl. Drizzle dressing over the salad, just enough to lightly coat the kale once tossed (you might have some leftover dressing). Toss the salad well.

 

Teatime Treat: Granny Apple Fritters

These apple fritters are so good we almost kept this recipe a secret. Lucky for you, we were feeling generous. A tea time treat like no other.

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Ingredients:

For the apple filling:

5 Granny Smith apples

2 tsp lemon juice

3 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tsp ground cinnamon

30g brown sugar

30ml  apple cider vinegar

For the dough:

1 packet of active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

420g plain flour

40g sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

60ml whole milk

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

70g unsalted butter, softened

Vegetable oil, for frying

For the glaze:

150g icing sugar

3 to 4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Method:

1. Prep the apples: Core, peel, and chop apples into small pieces. Submerge them in ice-cold water with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to prevent them from browning. Set aside or refrigerate (for up to 24 hours) until ready to use.
2. Make the dough: Whisk together the yeast, 380g  of the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer. With a dough hook and the mixer on low speed, mix in the milk, followed by the eggs. Continue mixing until the dough gathers into a ball around the dough hook, 2 to 4 minutes.
3. Continue mixing the dough, and add in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Allow each tablespoon of butter to combine into the dough before adding another. If the dough starts to fall away from the dough hook, add the remaining flour 1 tablespoon at a time until dough comes back together before adding in next butter piece.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
5. Make the apple filling while the dough rises: Heat the butter for the filling in a skillet over medium-high heat until butter turns brown and smells nutty. Drain the apples and add them to the pan with the butter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and cook until tender. Add in vinegar and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Set aside to cool.
6. Assemble the fritters: Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Starting from the end closest to your body, scatter 3/4 of the apples over the surface of the dough, then roll it up into a long tube.
7. Now rotate the tube of dough so it’s perpendicular to your body. Flatten the tube slightly, then scatter the remaining apples over the surface. Roll up the tube like a snail’s shell — the finished dough will look like a large ball.
8. Using a rolling pin, roll out the apple-filled dough ball to a 1/2-thick rectangle. Some apples may pop out — don’t worry if they do, just set them aside and pop them back in where you can. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough into 2 1/2-inch squares to make 12 fritters. Use your hand to and pull the four corners of each square towards the centre. Again, don’t worry about any apples falling out or if they are exposed. Pinch dough together if necessary to create a rough circle.
9. Place the shaped fritters on a parchment-lined baking sheet and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 30 minutes or until the fritters puff and almost double in size
10. Make the glaze: Sift the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Stir in the milk and vanilla until smooth. Set aside; warm in the microwave in 10-second bursts if the glaze starts to harden.
11. Deep-fry the fritters: Heat 6 to 7 inches of oil to 180°C in a large Dutch oven. Meanwhile, line a wire rack with paper towels.
12. Carefully lower 3 to 4 fritters into the hot oil. Fritters will float and not sink. Fry on one side for 30 to 60 seconds or until golden brown, then flip the fritter and fry the other side for 30 to 60 seconds or until golden brown. Remove fritter with a spider or slotted spoon and drain on prepared wire rack. Repeat with the remaining fritters. (Between batches, make sure the oil temperature returns to180°C and remove any floating pieces of dough or apples.) Let fritters cool slightly, then brush the glaze on top. Serve warm.

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Cocktail Hour: Spiced Braeburn Apple Gin

Squeeze a little fruit into cocktail hour with this warming spiced apple cocktail. Bottoms up!
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Ingredients

50ml ounces gin

20ml apple juice

Ginger Beer

1 Braeburn Apple for garnish

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Method:

1. Put a glass into the freezer to chill. Combine gin and apple juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and pour into an ice-filled glass.
2. Top with ginger beer, stir and garnish with an apple slice and freshly grated nutmeg.

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Dessert: Baked Oatmeal Bramley Apples

Simple, warming, and utterly delicious, these baked oatmeal apples are the perfect way to end an evening.  Any leftover apples make a great breakfast the next day.

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Ingredients:

4 Bramley Apples

55g brown sugar (dark or light)

20g old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

1 tbsp butter, divided in four

1 cup hot water

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Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C with a rack in the lower-middle position.
2. Remove the core of the apples, cutting to within a half-inch of the bottom of the apple and creating a well roughly 3/4-inch wide. This is easy to do with an apple corer, but can also be done with a melon baller, grapefruit spoon, or a paring knife.
3. Mix the brown sugar, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and any extras in a bowl. Divide this mixture between the apples, packing the wells firmly.
4. Arrange the apples in a baking dish (like an 8×8-inch Pyrex dish), and top each one with a pat of butter. Pour the water into the bottom of the dish and cover loosely with aluminium foil.
5. Bake for 20 minutes and remove foil. Continue baking uncovered until the apples are soft and the brown sugar has melted into a syrup, an additional 20 to 30 minutes. You can test the apples by poking a paring knife through the oatmeal mixture and into the interior of the apple; it should slide into the apple easily with no resistance. The skin on the apples will also become wrinkled and soft by the end of cooking.
6. Serve with a scoop of ice cream, crème fraîche, or yoghurt.

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