Fruit Harvest Recipes

Apple Pie Art Print
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2 cups (8oz) all purpose (plain) flour
4oz butter
A little cold water

About 16 to 24oz apples
Sugar to taste

1. Peel and core the apples, cut into slices, put into a pan with a little water and sugar to sweeten and cook gently until slightly cooked but not soggy or falling to pieces. Strain and leave to cool.

2. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and cut the butter into cubes and add to flour.

3. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.

4. Add the water just a little at a time and mix in with a knife in a cutting motion. Keep adding water until the pastry just holds together. If you make it too wet it the pastry will be hard and leathery when cooked.

5. Grease an ovenproof plate or pie dish.

6. Divide the pastry in half and roll out one half to the approximate size of your plate. Cover the plate and trim.

7. Put the cold apples on the pastry base leaving about 1 inch clear all the way round. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

8. Roll out the other half of the pastry to roughly the right size. Dampen around the edge of the pastry base on the plate then put the freshly rolled out lid on. Squeeze the edges together. A good way to do it is to press down with the fore finger of one hand while pinching the edges together behind your finger with the fore finger and thumb of the other hand. Make a hole in the centre of the pastry lid to let steam out.

9. Brush the top of the pie with a little milk or beaten egg.

10. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 deg F, 200 deg C or gas mark 6 for about 30 minutes.

This recipe freezes well.

Plums Art Print
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Follow the recipe for apple pie from steps 1 to 3 but substituting the same weight of plums for apples. Then stir 1/2 cup or 4oz of castor (fine grained) sugar into the flour and butter mixture.

Grease a deep dish and put the semi-cooked apples in it then sprinkle the crumble mixture over it evenly. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 deg F, 200 deg C or gas mark 6 for about 30 minutes.

Variations
When adding the sugar to the flour and butter mixture,

* stir in 1/2 a cup of ground almonds or
* porridge oats or
* crushed cornflakes or
* grated orange and/or lemon rind or
* chopped crystallised ginger

You can use the pie and crumble recipes for any fruits, eg apples, gooseberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, etc.
This recipe freezes well.

Fresh Blackberries in a Glass Photographic Print
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2 cups (8oz) cake (self raising) flour
2oz butter
A little cold water

About 16 to 24oz blackberries
Sugar to taste

Follow steps 1 to 4 of the recipe for apple pie. Note that you should use only half the amount of butter for the cobbler mixture.

Put the fruit into a pie dish. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 1/2 inch then use fluted (crinkly) pastry cutters to cut out rounds. When you have used up all the pastry, knead the remnants together and roll out again and cut our more rounds. Arrange them on top of the fruit in the dish around the edge overlapping each other slightly. Brush the tops with milk or beaten egg yolk and then bake in a preheated oven at 425 deg F, 220 deg C or gas mark 7 for about 10 to 15 minutes until the cobblers are golden brown.

Again this recipe can be adapted to many different kinds of autumn fruit.

This recipe freezes well.

Modern Apples Poster
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2 large cooking (sour) apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup mixed dried fruit, eg sultanas, raisin or cranberries
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground mixed spice
2 medium eggs
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup margarine

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and lightly flour 8in square baking pan.

1. Mix first the chopped apples, nuts anf dried fruit.

2. In a separate bowl, sieve (strain) the spices and flour together.

3. Now put the eggs, brown sugar and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer and beat them together at high speed until thick.

4. Gradually add beat in the margarine then at low speed, beat in flour mixture until smooth (if you do it at a high speed, you'll get covered with spicy flour).

5. Fold in the fruit until mixed well.

6. You will now have a batter. Don't worry, just spoon it into the prepared baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes. Press it gently in the centre when you think it's ready and it should spring back up. If you're still not sure, try inserting a sharp knife. There might be traces of apple on the knife when you pull it out but no uncooked cake mixture.


This recipe freezes well.

Canning Season Art Print
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Fruits preserved in alcohol are quick and easy to make and are lovely gifts.

If you decide to give jars of Peaches in Brandy for Christmas presents, put them into a pretty jar, buy a small piece of Christmas themed fabric or use pretty fabric you already have, cut out a circle (use pinking shears, if you can, to give a decorative edge) about an inch bigger in diameter than the lid of the jar. Put the circle on the top of the closed jar and secure around the neck with ribbon. Finish off with a decorative label on the jar, using your best handwriting, or perhaps use your computer to print the labels and use clip art of holly or another Christmas theme.

You can use almost any kind of soft fruit for this, not just peaches, and any kind of strong spirit like rum, vodka or gin. If you use other stone fruits like cherries, for example, make sure you remove the stones.

Ingredients
16oz fresh peaches
8oz (2 cups) sugar
300ml (1-1/3 cups) water
150ml (2/3 cup) brandy

Method
1. Wash the jars in clean, soapy water then rinse in clean water. The jars must have airtight lids, preserving jars with rubber seals are ideal.

2. Remove the skins from the peaches by putting them into boiling water, leave them for just a moment or two, remove them and peel off the skins. Cut in half and remove stones.

3. Dissolve half the sugar in the 300ml (1 -1/3 cup) cold water over a low heat then put the peaches into the resulting syrup and cook slowly for about 5 minutes.

4. Drain the syrup into another pan, then put the peaches into jars.

5. Put the remaining sugar into the syrup the peaches were cooked in. Dissolve the sugar over a low heat and bring to the boil. Use a sugar thermometer now because it needs to reach a temperature of 230 deg F (110 deg C). When it has reached this temperature, remove from the heat and allow to cool, then stir in the brandy. Pour over the fruit in jars making sure they are completely covered.

6. Ideally, these should be made 2 to 3 months before you use them because they improve with keeping.

Canning Season Art Print
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These peaches are absolutely delicious and can be served with any kind of cold or hot meat, especially food like lamb and pork where you need a sharper taste to counteract a more fatty meat. Be warned - once you've tasted them, you'll want more so don't try them if you intend to give them as Christmas gifts!

Ingredients
4 pounds fresh peaches
2 pounds sugar
20 fl oz white vinegar
1 tbs whole cloves
1 tbs whole allspice
Cinnamon stick, approx 3 ins long
Rind of half a lemon

Method
1. Wash the jars in clean, soapy water then rinse in clean water. The jars must have airtight lids, preserving jars with rubber seals are ideal.

2. Remove the skins from the peaches by putting them into boiling water, leave them for just a moment or two, remove them and peel off the skins. Remove stones and cut into quarters.

3. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar. Crush the spices and put them and the lemon rind into a muslin bag or onto a piece of muslin knot it (if you don't have muslin, thin, clean cotton would do). Add it to the sugar and vinegar.

5. Put the quartered peaches into the vinegar mixture and cook until soft.

6. Use a slotted (spoon with holes in) spoon to put the peaches into warmed jars. Now boil the vinegar until it has reduced and thickened a little.

7. Pour the vinegar over the peaches in jars so they are covered. Use an airtight seal on the jars. Don't let the vinegar mixture come into contact with a metal lid.