Apple Puree

I am including this today, which is more a method than a recipe, because I fear it is so old fashioned that it will die out in due course with me! It comes from the English peasant folk side of my family who needed to ensure that nothing was ever wasted and that all the possible goodness was extracted from any food source. My mother brought us up on it and my children loved it. But whether they will ever think it worth it themselves is another matter. At least one owner of an apple orchard, who I passed this onto with confident enthusiasm, thinks it is a mad way to go.

This is how you use apple windfalls, which have lain on the grass and seem to be bruised, or mouldy, or eaten into by birds or bugs. (Of course you can do it with shop Bramleys or any good apples you buy or are given. But it is intended for what could be wastage under the tree.)

It is a source of vitamins and deliciousness; it can be used on cereal, with yogurt for a pudding, under a caramel topping, put into a cake, eaten as a snack or a comfort stop. It is very good for small children and invalids.

Now see if you think you might be bothered..

1. Fill a sink with cold water.
2. Put all your windfalls into it.
3. Have a large saucepan ready - this is only worth doing when you have a lot of apples to deal with - your own or beg them from careless tree owners.
4. Using a small sharp knife, cut each apple one through the core, cutting out any bruises or nasty bits but saving all the good pieces however small. Do not peel or cut out the core or stalk.
5. Put all the good bits into the pan.
6. Add a little water - how much depends on the apples you have as they give out liquid as they cook. If you don't know, start with enough to cover the base and just check that the apples do not stick as they cook..
7. Cook over a medium heat, making sure that they are simmering fast until it is all soft. Stir around so that the top ones get cooked through too.
8. Now comes the work - with a sieve over a bowl, push the apples through with a wooden spoon, squeezing the debris as much as you can before you discard it for the compost heap and put some more in. My mother says her father used to check that she had got all of the possible moisture and puree out of each batch before she was allowed to throw anything away - the habits of careful husbandry.
9. While the puree is still warm, sweeten cautiously, If you have had mostly eating apples, it will not need much sugar adding. A little powdered cinammon is a good addition if you like it and livens any apples that have not got the real bite you are looking for.
10. Chill (or eat warm) and freeze any excess.

And you can use it in a cake


Apple Spice Cake

• 5oz soft butter
• 8 oz castor sugar
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1 oz raisins and 1 oz chopped walnuts - or 2 oz of one
• 1/2 pint unsweetened cool apple puree ( you need a batch that is thick and not too liquid)
• 9oz P flour
• 1&1/2 tsp cinammon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp bicarb

1. Beat it all together for 2/3 minutes till you have got a soft light mixture.
2. Put into a greased lined 7'' tin

3. Cook No 4 1 hour plus - up to 1&1/2 hours checking after the first 60 minutes. It is ready when risen and golden, and a skewer comes out clean from the centre.