Blueberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

Fruit:
4 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp lemon zest

Batter:
6 Tbsp butter
1 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar (caster)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
ground cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C. 
Slice butter into pieces and add to a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Place the pan in the oven while it preheats, to allow the butter to melt.
Once melted, remove the pan from the oven.
Add blueberries, sugar and zest to a bowl and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl mix together the batter ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir in the milk, just to combine.
Pour blueberries over melted butter in pan. Drizzle batter over the top. Sprinkle with a little bit of cinnamon. 
Bake at 165 degrees C for about 35-40 minutes, or until golden on top.
Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream.

Enjoy!

Gran's Apple Pie

Ingredients:

180g butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk (reserve egg white for glaze)
1 and 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 and 1/4 cups SR flour, sifted
6 Granny Smith apples
1 lemon, juiced and zest
butter for greasing
6 whole cloves or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 Tbsp plain flour
Extra Tbsp caster sugar

Method:

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla essence with an electric beater until smooth and creamy and increased in volume. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until well combined.

Transfer to a large bowl. Add the sifted flours and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. Place onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 even pieces. Knead each gently until mixture comes together. Wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Peel apples, cut into quarters and remove the seeds. Cut each quarter into thin slices.  Place in bowl, cover with cold water and lemon juice. Refrigerate until required.

Preheat oven to moderately hot (about 200 degrees C). Brush a 20cm x 4.5cm deep loose-bottom fluted tin or round cake tin with melted butter.

Roll out one piece of pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to fit the base and sides of the tin. Carefully ease the pastry into the tin.  Drain apples and dry well in a clean tea towel.  Place apples in a large bowl, add the grated rind, cloves or cinnamon, caster sugar and plain flour.  Mix with your hand to combine.  Pile the apples onto the pastry base.  Apples will sit about 5cm above the rim of the pastry.

Take the remaining pastry and roll out large enough to cover the apples completely. Place pastry on top and gently press the edges together. Using a sharp knife trim away the excess edges of the pastry.  Place the reserved egg white in a small bowl and beat with a fork until foamy.  Brush the top with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.  Cut a cross in the top of the pastry.

Bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees C then reduce to 180 degrees C for 25-30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and stand on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.

Serve a slice of pie with a scoop of ice cream.

NOTE: To remove pie from the tin, stand the tin on an upturned bowl and tap the edge of the tin. The tin should fall away.  

Sweet Chilli Sauce with Blueberries

Ingredients:
300g blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp celery seeds
2 tsp white pepper
4 french shallots, sliced
4 cloves garlic
320ml red wine vinegar
320g caster sugar
10 red chilli, chopped with seeds (optional how many)
2 tsp fish sauce

Method:
Add ingredients to saucepan and simmer for 40 to 45 minutes.
After taking off the heat stir in the fish sauce.
Spoon into jars with a seal and label.

Peaches and Raspberry Pudding (Fast Ed)

Ingredients:

820g can of peaches and 1/2 cup of juice
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 can of evaporated milk
2 cups SR flour
1 cup brown sugar
Frozen raspberries

Method:
Add the peaches to the baking dish along with 1/2 cup of syrup/juice.
Stir the remaining ingredients in a bowl and then add frozen raspberries at the end and then spoon mixture over the peaches.
180 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes in the oven.
Serve with custard and fresh raspberries.
Enjoy!

Rich Fruit Cake (3 Ingredients)

I have memories of spending Christmas with my family. Taking a Christmas cake for my contribution to dessert. We would serve it with custard, be that warm or cold and vanilla ice cream.

Here's a quick put together recipe for Christmas cake for cooking in the slow cooker.

Ingredients
1kg mixed fruit
750ml fluid (orange juice, apple juice and brandy)
2 cups SR flour

Method
Soak fruit in fluid for 24 hours.
Mix in SR flour and put into a greased loose bottom baking pan.
Put in slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low, with water half way up baking pan.
Remove and cool before icing.

Alternative Flavours:

750ml of iced coffee instead of the orange juice, apple juice and brandy.

750ml mix of iced coffee and baileys.

Wishing you and yours a safe and Happy Christmas and enjoy all the food you prepare.

Enjoy.

Blueberry Curd

Ingredients
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 fresh limes, juiced
3 egg yolks
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Method
In a medium saucepan lime juice, blueberries and sugar.
Heat on medium bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.
Place a strainer over a bowl, strain and press blueberries until all is in the bowl.
Mix eggs into blueberry mixture slowly while mixing continuously until all combined.
Return mixture to heat and add in the bugger and whisk until butter is melted (coats the back of the spoon).
Remove from heat, spoon into sterilised jars and seal. Turn upside down to get a full seal on the jars.

Baked Plums with Vanilla Ice Cream and Hazelnut Crumb

Ingredients
Baked plums
8 plums, halved and stone removed
150g sugar
200ml verjuice
sprinkle of thyme
lemon zest

Method
Put the plums in a baking tray, top with sugar, verjuice, thyme and lemon zest. Bake in oven pre-heated at 180 degrees for 20 minutes. Then remove foil and cook for another 10 minutes to brown up top of fruit.

Ingredients
Hazelnut Crumb
55g plain flour
55g brown sugar
55g unsalted butter
80g toasted chopped hazelnuts
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

Method
In a bowl add plain flour, brown sugar, unsalted butter and rub together until like sand.
Add hazelnuts, ground cinnamon and ground cloves. Mix together.
Sprinkle on to lined baking and bake in oven with fruit for 10 minutes in oven and make it crunchy.

Once cooked, add plums to a bowl and top with vanilla ice cream and then sprinkle over the crumb.

Spiced Pear Paste

While pears are cheap and plentiful, try making this Spiced Pear Paste to use as an alternative to Quince Paste. It's absolutely perfect for a cheese platter or used as a spread on sandwiches with cold meats.

Ingredients

3-4 ripe pears peeled and cored (you will need 500g of pear flesh)
Juice of 1 lemon
500g jam setting sugar
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground cinnamon

Method
Place pears into TM bowl and puree for 20 seconds/speed 9. Scrape down bowl.
Add lemon juice, sugar and spices to the TM bowl and cook for 15 minutes/100 degrees/speed 2 MC off.
Pour into sterilised jars and set aside overnight at room temperature to allow mixture to set firmly.