It is Apple Day tomorrow, the 21st October 2021. Apple Day was initiated by Common Ground in 1990, and was intended to be both a celebration and a demonstration of the variety we are in danger of losing, not simply in apples, but in the richness and diversity of landscape, ecology and culture too. It has played a part in raising awareness in the provenance and traceability of food and has helped with the conservation of and recognition of orchards for their contribution to local distinctiveness, including the rich diversity of wild life they support.
As apples are in season right now, we thought we’d share one of our favourite, and very easy apple recipes, using fairtrade and locally sourced ingredients.
Baked Apples in Pastry
What You’ll Need:
- Ready made shortcrust pastry, rolled out thinly (one pack wraps about 3-4 apples depending on size)
- Cooking apples, locally sourced if possible (one per person)
- Fairtrade sugar (soft brown or granulated)
- Fairtrade cinnamon
- Fairtrade sultanas
- Unsalted butter
Preparation method
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C (fan).
Peel and core (without slicing) your apples
Roll out the pastry thinly on a floured surface.
Mix together equal weights of butter, sugar and sultanas. About 50g of each makes enough for 4 apples. Add cinnamon to taste – about half a teaspoon for 4 apples.
Put one apple on the pastry. Place an equal share of your sugar, butter, cinnamon and sultana mix into the centre of the apple, then wrap the apple in pastry, cutting off any spare, and invert on a baking tray.
Do the same with the other apples, combining pastry off cuts and rolling out again if necessary.
Brush the top of each apple with egg or milk and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with caster sugar as you get them out of the oven.