Revisting Blueberry and Apple Loaf

This Blueberry and Apple Loaf has been a firm favourite in my home for many years. I first came across this recipe in an edition of Delicious magazine and it was true love all round from the first time I baked it. I decided to revisit and blog about this beautiful loaf again as many new followers would probably appreciate this lovely recipe. This loaf cake has a delicious combination of blueberry and apple within a moist and tender sponge. Perfect to have with your afternoon cup of tea.

Blueberry and Apple Loaf

Ingredients:
125g chilled butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
225g self-raising flour
175g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2-3tbsp milk
2 large eating apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
125g blueberries
2 tbsp apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 190oC/fan 170oC/gas 5. Grease a 900g loaf tin and line with baking paper or a paper loaf tin liner.

Sieve the flour into a food processor with a pinch of salt and add the butter. Whizz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, eggs and milk and whiz again to make a smooth mixture.

Pour half the cake mixture into the loaf tin, then scatter with half the apples and half the blueberries. Pour over the remaining cake mixture, then scatter with the remaining fruit. Bake for 1 hour, or until risen and firm. To test it, insert a skewer into the centre- it should come out clean.

Put the apricot jam into a small bowl and microwave the jam on high for 20 seconds to melt. Brush the glaze over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Dorset Apple Cake

When we were at the lodge a few weekends back I came home with a bag full of cooking apples from the trees in the garden. There is something really satisfying about picking your own and then using your apples to make something truly delish, rather than just buying them in your local supermarket! After much thought on what to make I decided on this Apple Dorset Cake. I love Dorset and have spent some lovely camping holidays there, 2 of my favourite haunts are studland beach and durdle door. We were hoping to have gone back there this summer but with hubby away on business a lot and family over from Miami and Oz we missed out this year. This traditional apple cake can be found everywhere in Dorset and is utterly scrumptious. Hubby brought a large wedge to work and the slices did not last long on the plate. This cake has juicy apple chunks within a soft, moist, lemony almond sponge and would work equally well as a dessert with hot creamy custard.

Dorset Apple Cake

Serves 12

Ingredients
225g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
450g bramley apples
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
225g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
3 large free--range eggs
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
25g ground almonds
1 tbsp Demerara sugar

Clotted cream to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Grease a deep 23-24cm-springform-cake tin and line with baking paper. Peel, core and cut the apples into 1cm pieces, and toss with the lemon juice.

Using an electric hand whisk, cream together the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth.

Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl and gently fold into the butter mixture with the ground almonds. Stir in the apple pieces.

Spoon the cake mix into the prepared cake tin, level the top and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well-risen, brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake starts to look a little too brown, cover with a sheet of baking paper after about 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Dredge heavily with the extra caster sugar. Cut the cake into generous wedges and serve warm with a spoonful of clotted cream, if you like.

Low-Fat Spaghetti Carbonara

What does a girl need when hubby is yet again away on business (Dubai this time)? Well this girl needs comfort to make up for missing her hubby, the food type of comfort! This month’s Delicious magazine came to the rescue with this great version of the classic spaghetti carbonara but with a slimmed-down twist. It has half the fat and 125 fewer calories compared to a typical carbonara and you’d never know the difference! This certainly delivered the comfort I needed and I could quite easily eat this everynight. I will be making this for hubby and moi when he gets back.

Low Fat Spaghetti Carbonara

Serves 4

Ingredients
400g dried spaghetti
2 tsp olive oil
6 rashers back bacon, rind and fat removed, chopped
1 garlic clove, lightly squashed
3 medium free-range egg yolks
5 tbsp low-fat fromage frais
50g Parmesan, grated
½ tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions.

Meanwhile, in another large frying pan, heat the oil and fry the bacon with the squashed garlic clove, until the bacon starts to brown. Remove the garlic clove from the pan with a slotted spoon and discard. Turn the heat off but keep the pan warm until the spaghetti is cooked.

While the bacon is cooking, mix together the egg yolks, fromage frais, half the Parmesan, the parsley and some seasoning in a bowl.

Using tongs, transfer the cooked, drained spaghetti to the pan with the still-warm bacon. Pour in the egg mixture, moving the spaghetti with the tongs to coat the pasta and thicken the egg mixture.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if need be, then serve the spaghetti carbonara sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan.

Your probably wondering why there is rainbow colours reflecting off my pasta? the reflections come from my sun-catcher crystals that I have hanging in my kitchen window. I think it looks pretty, don't you?