Blackberry and apple cake

Everything is open now, and time has started to fly. We've had a beautiful patch of warm, sunny weather lately, but it feels like the prelude to autumn nonetheless - a touch of chill underneath. We made a couple of blackberry picking forays while still on holidays a few weeks ago... I realized now the season was drawing to a close already... I dreamed of blackberry and apple cake, and this one fitted my dream perfectly. So I went blackberry picking once more. 

 

I joined a new bee group, and there is a patch of brambles around the beehives, and you need a key to access where they are, so it's a good picking spot. The key wasn't where it was supposed to be, so I had to sneak in the back way - and the brambles were almost done. But I picked half a box. Turned out when I got back, I'd picked almost exactly the right amount for the cake. I'd also picked up the apples from a box outside someone's house.

 

for the cake: 

2 small dessert apples 

half a lemon 

150 g blackberries 

150 g butter 

150 g golden caster sugar (or half caster, half muscovado) 

3 eggs 

85 g plain flour 

1.5 tsp baking powder 

100 g ground hazelnuts (whole ones, ground)

 

for the crumble: 

50 g butter

50 g plain flour 

60 g golden caster sugar 

2 heaped tbsp rolled oats 

pinch of cinnamon (optional)

 

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a big loaf tin. 

 

Peel and quarter the apples, core them and then slice them thinly. Squeeze lemon juice over them, and then mix with the blackberries. 

 

Beat the sugar and butter together until light and smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. 

 

Put the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl, add the ground hazelnuts, and mix well with a fork. Stir in to the mixture in two or three lots. 

 

Transfer the batter to the tin, smooth, and scatter the apple and blackberry mixture over the top, pushing some of the fruit lightly down into it. 

 

Make the crumble by rubbing the flour and butter together, and stirring in the sugar, oats and cinnamon. 

 

Scatter the crumble on top of the cake and bake for about an hour until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out moist but fairly clean.  Check after 30 and 45 min, and if the crumble browns on top too quickly, then cover with a piece of foil while the cake finishes cooking through.

 

Remove from the oven when done and let cool completely on a baking rack before removing from the tin and taking off the paper.

Mine took about 65 min to bake. The fruit dripped a little bit over the edge (my loaf tin was rather full) - might be worth lining the oven shelf underneath to catch sugary drips.

 

It was really really good though. The hazelnuts in the base are genius - they add so much depth of flavour and texture, and go really well with the blackberry and apple. I made a similar cake not long ago without the blackberries and hazelnuts - this one is superior (and didn't overflow my loaf tin quite as much).

Summer fruit compote

Lots of fruit in the house - cherries, currants, raspberries and strawberries from the garden, needing eating. Remembered Delia's recipe, which I used to love so much. Figured it should work with all kinds of fruit. Made a version with 1 plum, lots of cherries, pink currants, blueberries, strawberries. And then another with apple, cherries, pink currants, and a few bluebs and strawbs. Both were great, I should make this more.

3 peaches
6 apricots
6 large plums
225 g / 8 oz blueberries (half = 112.5g)
175 g / 6 oz raspberries (half = 87.5g)
50 g / 2 oz sugar (half = 25g)

Slice peaches, apricots and plums and put in an oven dish with the blueberries. Add sugar. Mix. Bake uncovered for 25-30 min at 180C, until tender. Remove from the oven and stir in the raspberries.  Check the sweetness and add more sugar if it needs it.

Made a half quantity in our smaller baking dish. Was plenty. Used coconut sugar. Tempted to try with no sugar - there is a lot of sweetness in the fruit itself, perhaps it was a little too sweet? Still love it. Ate some with rice pudding, was yum.

Kid-friendly coconutty ‘flapjacks’

I stumbled upon this 'flapjack' recipe and it sounded really like something small S and I would both like - not too sweet, lots of tasty stuff. It took me a while to get around to making it but when I did I discovered that I was so right: we both love it! I've been making a half quantity in a loaf tin (I don't have a bigger square or rectangular baking tin) and that lasts us about a week. We have been developing a little tradition of baking snacks together on Sunday mornings that small S can eat after vuggestue through the rest of the week. We've made these a couple of time now. Also, I have discovered that I love pretty much every Anna Jones baking recipe I have tried so far - she uses all my favourite things!

4 tbsp chia seeds
200g rolled oats
150g dried fruit (used a mixture of dried apricots and raisins)
1 medium carrot
1 apple
100g desiccated coconut
100g pumpkin seeds
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
70g coconut oil, melted

Heat the oven to 200C and line a 20cm × 30cm baking tin (or large loaf tin for a half quantity) with greaseproof paper. In a small bowl, soak the chia seeds in four tablespoons of water, then set aside (did 2 tbsp chia in 3 tbsp water for half recipe - the chia mixture felt too thick the first time).

Put the oats in blender and blend until you have a scruffy flour, then tip into a large bowl. Put half the dried fruit into blender and blend until broken down and a little mushy. Scrape into the bowl with the oats.

Grate the carrot and apple (no need to peel them... also ok with double apple no carrot or double carrot no apple, depending on availability) into the bowl, and add the remaining dried fruit, coconut, chia mixture, pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, vanilla, spices and melted coconut oil. Mix well.

Spoon into the tin, smooth the top with the back of a spoon, and bake for 40–45 minutes (c 30 min for half quantity), until golden brown. Leave to cool a little in the tray, then turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Slice into pieces.

Blue+white pizza with apple, walnuts and rosemary

When the fridge gets emptier, my cooking often gets better and more creative... The other day saw the highly serendipitous meeting of the last  tub of cream cheese I didn’t use for sage’s birthday cake with rosemary and apple from our veg bag and a handful of the last of our 2018 walnut harvest... and some gorgonzola for good measure... It was rather a successful experiment!

(makes 2 pizzas)

1 quantity pizza dough (must be made in advance)
1 tub cream cheese
c 1/2 cup diced gorgonzola
1 large apple (Belle de Boskoop), cored and thinly sliced
handful of walnuts
c 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Roll out half the dough, using some flour, and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half. Prepare a white sauce by mashing the gorgonzola together with the cream cheese, and then spread it evenly over the two bases. Arrange the apple slices across the pizza bases, then sprinkle with walnut pieces and chopped rosemary. Bake for 20-25 min until done, take out of the oven and let cool for a few minutes before eating.


We made this twice, and the second time I did a little variation, using thinly sliced superfresh chestnut mushrooms instead of apple, and that was really good too. And then we started speculating about all sorts of other fruits and veggies that would be good in this combo instead of apple - figs? thin potato slices? etc...

Apple galette with walnut pastry

This was one of those ideas that crystallized suddenly, and I just had to figure out how to do it. I wanted a galette, with a sticky apple filling and a crisp walnut pastry. I based the pastry on this recipe, and the filling on this one. I love a galette just now, a pie without needing a pie dish, brilliant.

(makes one galette - approx 4 portions)

For the pastry:
30 g walnuts, toasted
120 g flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
23 g chilled butter, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
c 3 tbsp cold water

For the filling:
8 small apples
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces

Grind walnuts until finely chopped. Mix with flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add butter and rub in until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in oil, then stir in water 1 tbsp at a time until it comes together. Gather into a ball, flatten into a disc, then wrap in cling film and chill for at least an hour.

While the pastry is chilling, prepare the filling. Peel, halve and core the apples, then slice crosswise c 1/4 in thick. Keep the good slices whole, and chop the ends and broken pieces, so about half the amount of apple is slices and the rest chopped. In a separate, small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.

When ready to assemble, first heat the oven to 210C / 420F. Roll out the chilled pastry on a piece of baking paper and transfer to a baking sheet. Spread the chopped apples over the pastry, leaving about a 2 in border around the edges. Drizzle with honey. Arrange the sliced apples over the top, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and dot with pieces of butter. Fold the edges over, and brush with egg (or milk, or nothing). Bake for approx. 45 min, until golden brown and pastry is crisp - cover with tinfoil if it starts to catch.


We ate with custard and it went down very well. The pastry was delicious and crisp, but the walnuts gave more texture than taste - another time maybe I'd try increasing the walnut content... and could potentially add half as much apple again and pile it high, too.

Apple muffins

Our apple tree started dropping apples already, so I wanted to make a start on some apple recipes to use them up. I fancied making muffins, even though they are not the most efficient way to use up apples. I liked the sound of this recipe, with grated, diced and sauced apple in it, and decided to give it a go even before I realized it's also a great baking-with-honey recipe - I especially like that it takes into account honey's tendency to dry out / burn.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated apple
1 cup diced (1 cm) apple
1/3 cup olive oil (or veg oil)
1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup)
2 eggs (ideally at room temp)
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 tbsp demerara sugar to go on top

Heat the oven to 163C / 325F (218C / 425F for maple syrup). Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, mix flours, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, bicarb and salt with a fork. Add grated and chopped apple and stir.

In a medium bowl, beat oil, honey (or maple syrup) together, then add eggs and beat, then add yoghurt and apple sauce and mix.

Add wet to dry and mix until just combined, adding raisins and pecans in the final few strokes. Spoon into muffin cups and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake for c 25 min (13-15 min for maple syrup), until skewer comes out clean.

Apple Butter

From 'Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables' - another use of the windfall apple pile, another dairy-based misnomer. But it is nice. Spread on bread, it makes me think of hot cross buns.

2.75 kg (6 lb) apples
1.15 l (2 pints) water
1.15 l (2 pints) dry cider
sugar
5 ml (1 tsp) ground cloves
5 ml (1 tsp) ground cinnamon

Wash and core the apples, discarding any bad bits. Peel them incompletely - I decided it best to leave about 1/8 of the peel per apple. Simmer the fruit in the water and cider until pulpy. Liquidize to make smooth pulp. Measure 350 g (12 oz) sugar for each 450 g (1 lb) pulp.

Return the pulp to the clean pan and simmer until the excess water has evaporated and the pulp is thick. Add the sugar and spices and boil, stirring frequently, until all the excess liquid has evaporated. It should be creamy. Pour into hot jars, seal at once, and store in the fridge when cool.

Pickled apples

Curious about apple pickling, since I had a suitable large jar from S's lupins, and obviously lots of apples. I liked the sound of the spices in this recipe.

700 g apples (approx. 4 med-large apples)
500 ml white wine or cider vinegar
120 g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
10 cm Carolina allspice bark or cinnamon stick (used cinnamon
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 whole cloves
½ tsp Szechuan peppercorns or black peppercorns (used black pepper)
1 star anise
Few sprigs of lemon thyme (used dried bayleaves)

Dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar in a pan over a medium heat. Add the spices, simmer for 15 min, then turn off the heat. Core, peel and thinly slice two apples as the pickling liquid cools. Place the slices in a large lidded jar and just cover the apples with spicy vinegar. Repeat with the rest of the apples. Eat within 10 days or so, or longer if the apples retain a good texture.

Spiced apple muffins with walnut streusel topping

Muffins for our new upstairs neighbours, in the hope we can start our neighbourhood sweetly. Using apples and walnuts from our garden. And a Delia recipe I've never actually tried before.

(makes 12 muffins, or one large cake)

For the muffins:
12 oz (350 g) apples (weight after peeling and coring), chopped into ½ inch (1 cm) cubes
3 oz (75 g) sugar
6 fl oz (175 ml) milk (used yoghurt mixed with water, as we never have milk)
4 oz (110 g) butter
10 oz (275 g) plain flour
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder
½ level tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
½ whole nutmeg, grated
2 large eggs

For the walnut streusel topping:
2 oz (50 g) walnuts, roughly chopped
3 oz (75 g) flour
3 oz (75 g) sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 oz (25 g) butter

Heat the oven to 190C. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a gentle heat. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and grated nutmeg in a bowl and mix with a fork.

In another large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and milk together, then whisk in the melted butter. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined, folding in the apple at the end. Spoon into muffin cups.

To make the topping, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, then rub the butter in with your fingers.Add in the nuts and 1 tbsp cold water, and press loosely together. Press the topping on top of the muffins, then bake for about 30 min, until done.

Pumpkin and apple soup

More uses for our heap of windfalls. This time in soup, with hokkaido from the veg share. I used this recipe.

For the soup:
2 kg pumpkin, cut into wedges and deseeded
2 onions, peeled and chopped into 6 wedges
3 sharp apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves in their skin
100 ml olive oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
salt+pepper
1/2 a nutmeg
2 litres veg stock

To finish:
yoghurt
raw apple sliced into matchsticks
walnuts

Heat the oven to 180C. Add pumpkin, onions, apple and garlic to a large baking tray. Toss in the olive oil. Sprinkle over the cinnamon, salt and pepper and grate over nutmeg. Toss again. Bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked and nicely softened. Remove and let cool a little. When still hot but safe to handle, take the skin off the pumpkin garlic.

Transfer the contents of the baking tray to a large pot. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce and simmer for about 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and blend until smooth. Season to taste.


Serve topped with a swirl of yoghurt, some apple and walnuts, and salt+pepper.

Apple cake

The food insert from a copy of the Guardian from February had been lying around since then, unread. I have no cutoff for how old such things have to be before I will read them. I read it a week or two ago, while drinking tea and surveying the apples on the table, and came across this apple cake recipe, which seemed so serendipitous (and a little different from anything I've made before), that I had to try it.

(makes 1 large cake)

200 g dark muscovado sugar
200 g unsalted butter, soft (or use salted and skip the salt)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
150 g plain yoghurt
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
A good grating of nutmeg
4 apples (about 500 g)
2 tbsp demerara sugar

Butter and line a large (900 g) cake tin with baking paper. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the muscovado sugar and soft butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and yoghurt and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture and beat just until incorporated.

Grate three unpeeled apples (about 375 g) and fold into the cake mixture.

Scrape into your prepared cake tin and smooth the top. Peel and slice the remaining apple and arrange on top of the cake. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake about 60 min, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.


My wholemeal flour was very coarse - this works well. Also, I was unable to resist throwing in some walnuts and raisins at the last minute before putting it in the oven, which I'd highly recommend - it introduces some interesting texture - otherwise the grated apple disappears into the cake - perhaps some diced apple would also add interest. It's dense and lovely though - cooks well but v moist.

Oven-dried apple slices

More ideas to deal with all those windfalls. Our dehydrator did not survive the transatlantic voltage change, despite moving house with us twice before I tested it... I am debating purchasing another one - it might be useful for both walnut and apple harvests - but in the meantime thought it was about time I tested oven drying instead.

apples

Heat the oven to 100C. Core the apples and cut out any bad bits. Peeling is optional - I didn't, and it was fine. If you have apples without bad bits and a corer, circular apple slices would be nice. I had neither of the above, so just made regular slices about 3 mm thick. Dunking in lemon juice solution is also optional - mine were fine without, but it will help stop them from going brown if you are concerned about that.

Lay the slices out on baking paper on oven racks or trays, then put in the oven and dry for 2-3 hours. Check them occasionally, and turn over about halfway through to ensure even drying. Test by checking for any remaining sticky- or squishy- ness. When they are thoroughly dry, remove from the oven and let cool before putting in airtight containers to store (at room temp is fine, they might last longer in the fridge or freezer but reckon they'll keep for a few months at room temp).


These are good - perhaps a bit more crispy and with a slightly more caramelly taste than dehydrator ones.

Spiced apple, raisin and walnut crumble

Our garden is overflowing with apples and walnuts at the moment, and if the windfall apples hang around indoors for too long they attract too many fruitflies. So we have been eating a lot of crumble. With apples in the filling and walnuts in the topping, this is a perfect summary of our autumn garden (slightly adapted from Delia - I have had to admit that when I improvise a crumble it is never quite as good as when I at least approximate a recipe).

Filling:
2 lb apples
1 oz light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
4 oz raisins

Topping:
6 oz self-raising flour, sifted
3 oz chilled butter, cut into small dice
4 oz shelled walnuts
2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 oz demerara sugar

Core apples, and peel if you like (also good with peel left on). Cut into thick slices and toss in a bowl with sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice and raisins, then place in a baking dish. Heat oven to 400F / 200C. To make the crumble topping, place flour in a bowl and add the butter. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs in texture. Finely chop the walnuts and stir them into the flour-butter mixture, together with cinnamon and sugar. Spread on top of the apples, smoothing out and pressing down lightly. Bake for 35-40 min, until the apples are tender and the topping is crisp. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10-15 min before eating - good with some yoghurt.


Note: I have also been enjoying this without the crumble: secretly (cake crisis alert), I often like the fruit part of a crumble the best. So I have been making this just the same - filling a baking dish with apple, raisins, spices and a little sugar, but then skipping the crumble part, covering with foil and baking at the same temperature for the same length of time. It's better than stewing the fruit as it keeps its shape and develops a richer, less watery and more delicious taste - only problem is I eat it so fast! But I guess this is good, considering the windfall mountain.

Apple cheese

Our apple tree is sick and full of wood worm. But surprisingly productive nonetheless. So far we've only had windfalls, attacked by woodlice and fruitflies so they need processing asap, but edible nonetheless. The apples are russetty, quite sour, good cookers.

S suggested making something like membrillo with them. I consulted my IFR 'Home Preservation of Fruit and Vegetables' book and decided I was pretty sure that 'fruit cheese' is the British equivalent. They said you could make it with apples, but recommended spicing them. We decided against the spicing, but went for it anyway.

The recipe is simple, similar to the membrillo / quince cheese I made before.

apples
sugar

Peel and core the apples and cut into chunks. Put the chunks in a large saucepan, cover with water and boil until the apples are soft. Drain the apples and puree them. Weigh the puree. Add the same weight of sugar to the apple puree in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Simmer for 45-60 min, stirring regularly to prevent sticking, until it is good and thick.

Line a straight-sided baking tin or mould with lightly oiled baking paper. Pour the apple mixture into the mould and put in a warm oven (50C) for approx. 60 min to dry out. Remove from the oven and let cool - it will firm up a bit as it cools. When cool, you can lift it out of the tray and slice.

Excellent with cheese - especially brie or parmesan type cheeses.

Elderberry and apple chutney

This recipe is from a little book called 'Favourite Country Preserves' that Miriam gave me a few years ago, and I'd never actually made anything from until now, although I'd browsed it with curiosity several times - it is full of interesting things, lavender chutney is most intriguing, or parsley honey.

With both apples and elderberries dripping from our garden, I remembered about this recipe and decided to give it a go. It didn't go great - it takes a looong time to remove elderberries from their stalks, and it look an interminably long time for the chutney to thicken (perhaps because I doubled the recipe below?), and it caught and burnt a wee bit. And this was on a Monday night when I just wanted to go to sleep and the whole house stunk of vinegar - I'd not made chutney for a while and forgotten quite how bad the vinegariness can get. Oh well, I think it tastes OK - moment of truth in a month or so.

1 lb elderberries, washed and stalks removed
1 lb cooking apples
4 oz raisins
8 oz onions, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp mixed spice
pinch of pepper
1/2 pint malt vinegar (used apple cider vinegar)
12 oz soft brown sugar

 Peel, core and chop the apples and put in a large pan with the elderberries, raisins and onions. Stir in the salt, spices and pepper and a little of the vinegar. Cook very gently for one hour until the fruit is soft, stirring from time to time to prevent the mixture sticking and burning. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and the remaining vinegar. When the sugar has dissolved, return to the heat and bring to the boil. Boil steadily for about 30-40 min until thick and all the vinegar has absorbed. Spoon into warm, sterilized jars and seal immediately.

Apple, apricot and walnut loaf cake

This is a Delia classic, as well as being a Sher classic and the first cake S ever made for me. I can't quite believe I didn't write it out on here but it looks like I haven't... It is simple, although it does take a little time to prepare the ingredients (nut toasting, chopping fruit etc), and a fairly long time in the oven (up to 2 hours). But it's very versatile (lots of fruit, nut, flour, sugar variations possible), and a great way of using one or two old apples. This time I actually used some marzipan instead of about 2/3 of the nuts (did not toast, obv), and that was well tasty. I also added marzipan to apple crumble topping last week (I had a whole marzipan pig begging to be eaten), which caught a little but I think is in principle an excellent and delicious idea.

For the cake:
175 g pecan nuts (used walnuts)
110 g wholemeal flour
110 g plain flour
pinch of salt
1½ tsp baking powder
2 rounded tsp ground cinnamon
110 g spreadable butter
175 g light brown soft sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
3 tbsp milk (plus a little extra if needed)
175 g ready-to-eat dried apricots, each chopped in half
175 g Bramley apples, cored and cut into 1 cm chunks with the skin on

For the topping:
2 tbsp demerara sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 2 lb loaf tin. When the oven is ready, spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast for about 8 min. Remove them to a chopping board, let cool a bit, then chop roughly.

Meanwhile sift the flours, salt, baking powder and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the fruit and nuts. Using an electric hand whisk, beat slowly then increase the speed to mix everything thoroughly til smooth. Fold in the apricots, apples and pecans. When everything’s folded in, add a drop more milk if necessary to give a mixture that drops easily off the spoon when you give it a sharp tap. Pile the mixture into the lined tin and level the top. Combine the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl, then sprinkle over the cake.

Bake the loaf in the centre of the oven for about an hour, then cover loosely with a piece of foil and leave to bake for a further 15–30 min or until the cake feels springy in the centre and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 min before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

Celery, apple and walnut salad with lemon-tahini dressing

Very simple celery salad, surprised I never wrote it up before. It is good. Tahini and lemon juice make a creamy dressing that coats everything and brings zing.

juice of 1/3 lemon
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tahini
salt+pepper
about 5 sticks of celery
1 apple
handful of crumbled walnuts
handful of raisins

Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, tahini and seasoning to make a creamy, thick but pourable dressing. Chop the celery and apple and put them in a serving bowl. Toss with the dressing, then add the walnuts and raisins and mix a bit more.

Grated Petersilienwurzel (parsley root), carrot and apple

I discovered Petersilienwurzel the first time I went to Germany with S, and was instantly intrigued: it's like parsley (+S loves parsley), but it's a root not a leaf. I didn't get to try it that time, but I bought some seeds and tried to grow them back in Norwich. No success.

While M was here we took her to Wegmans to stock up on Thanksgiving in a tin (based on a conversation with our Bostonian friend N, most traditional Thanksgiving dishes involve combinations of things out of tins). She ended up with a good selection - some things Thanksgiving-y (tin-shaped cranberry jelly, tinned pumpkin); also other American / local specialities (Boston brown bread in a tin). While there, S+I accidentally ended up in the produce section, where we came upon chestnuts (kurigohan happened, and it was fiiiinnne), elephant garlic, celeriac, and, resplendent beside said celeriac, petersilienwurzel! Wegmans truly does have EVERYTHING!

We roasted some in chunks with a mixture of other roots (carrots, celeriac, beetroot) and tofu, and it was really delicious - incredibly sweet (reminiscent of parsnip; they are quite closely related), with a delicate, slightly parsley-y / perhaps more parsnip-y taste.

After chatting with S's Austrian friend L, and eating her excellent vegetable strudel and beetroot, horseradish and caraway salad (from her grandmother's recipes), I decided to also follow her / her grandmother's suggestion for petersilienwurzel and grate it with carrot and apple. I threw in a few other things too, and it ended up a really yummy Winter salad - juicy and fresh and sweet.

5 small petersilienwurzel (parsley root), peeled and grated (celeriac is a good alternative / addition)
3 medium carrots, peeled and grated
1 medium apple, cored and grated
1-2 tbsp cider vinegar
1-2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
~1 tsp chopped chives
handful of raisins (preferably golden)
handful of pecan pieces

Grate the petersilienwurzel (and/or celeriac), carrots and apple into a medium bowl. Add the cider vinegar, olive oil and seasoning (quickly, to avoid browning) and toss. Add the chives, raisins and pecans and toss. Ideally eat straight away, but it keeps OK in the fridge for a few days (consider just adding the pecans last minute if you want to serve it later).

Bircher muesli

I've made bircher muesli before, and been totally unconvinced - it's like porridge, but without porridge's comforting warmth. And it's like muesli, but muesli that's been left overnight and lost its crunch.

Anyway, I read this article and thought maybe I'd give it another go.

(one serving)

25 g oats
handful of chopped unsulphured dried apricots
~6 tbsp fresh apple juice (fresh apple cider in American)
1 apple
almond milk (optional)
toasted flaked almonds

Put oats, chopped dried apricots and apple juice in a bowl and leave in the fridge overnight. In the morning, grate the apple into the bowl and mix it all together. If it's too thick thin with a little almond milk. Add some toasted flaked almonds (to taste) and eat.


It's nice enough, OK for a change, but didn't change my mind about any of the above. I'll stick to normal muesli.

Acorn squash with pecans and birch syrup

Ever since I bought birch syrup I had been meaning to make something with it that really let it shine. As autumn rolled around squash appeared, and reminded me of a recipe I'd seen in a leaflet that came with the birch syrup. This is an approximation, filtered through my memory, S's ideas, and what we had in the kitchen.

2 small acorn squash, cut in half and seeds removed
~ 2 tbsp chopped pecans
1 apple, cored and finely chopped (or use dried apricots, soaked for 10 min in hot water)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
~ 2 tbsp birch syrup
salt+pepper

Heat the oven to 400F. Lightly grease a baking sheet then put the squash halves on it, cut side up. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl, then scoop into the hollows left by removing the squash seeds, distributing between the four halves. Put in the oven and bake for 30-45 min, until the squash is soft right through and lightly browned. Take it out and devour.


It's somewhere between real food and a pudding, sweetly lovely.