Desserts

Apple and Berries Crumble

My family loves a good apple crumble, and every now and then I add some berries to add extra flavour. If you only want to use apples, just use the full fruit allocation. I use whichever apples I have in the house – they work just as well. Otherwise, add berries or even pears to change the taste slightly. This is another easy and delicious recipe with absolutely no fuss! If you are gluten intolerant, exchange the flour for gluten free flour, and for a guilt-free dish, replace the caster sugar with maple syrup or stevia and the butter with coconut oil.

Ingredients
450g apples, peeled, cored and sliced (or diced, you decide!)
225g mixed berries (if not seasonal, use frozen berries)
100g caster sugar
175g plain flour
100g butter, extremely cold and cut into little pieces
75g coconut sugar (adds a wonderful nutty flavour)

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the apples, berries and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Do not overcook. Spoon the mixture into an ovenproof dish and level out. For the crumble you can either use a food processor or your hands. Blend the flour and butter until the mixture is crumbly. Do not over blend as the butter will warm up and the mixture will turn to dough. Mix in the sugar and spread evenly over the fruit. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes and serve warm, with custard, vanilla ice cream or natural yoghurt.

Enjoy!

Malva Pudding Aka Karoo Pudding

I grew up with this delicious dessert. I do not know how old it is, how or when it started, but it is a firm favourite in many households and restaurants in South Africa. Some people call it Karoo pudding, some call it Malva pudding. It is rich and sweet with a warm sauce, totally decadent and definitely not healthy. But in a world where we are unsure of what tomorrow might bring and where we watch what we eat on a daily basis, why can’t we just throw caution to the wind once in a while? So make this once or twice a year, enjoy it and don’t feel guilty! However, if you want to make it healthier or vegan, replace the butter with coconut oil, and replace the cream with either coconut cream or oat cream (which is what I use) and oat milk. Replace the sugar with stevia. We are fortunate that we live in a world with many healthier options!

Pudding
Ingredients
158g flour
162g sugar
200ml milk
1 egg
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vinegar
15g butter
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp apricot jam

Sauce
Ingredients
125 ml cream
85g butter
1 tsp vanilla
100g sugar
100ml water
Pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 180C. Mix the flour, sugar and butter together. Beat the egg well, and add the jam to the beaten egg. Mix the egg and jam into the four mixture. Add the milk to the dough and mix well. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the vinegar and pour the foaming mixture to the dough.

Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake for 45 minutes. Just before you remove the pudding from the oven bring the ingredients for the sauce to boil in a deep saucepan. Beware – the sauce boils over easily! Remove the sauce from the hob and pour over the pudding as soon as you take it out of the oven. Make sure to pour it evenly over the pudding. Make a few slits in the pudding with a knife to ensure the sauce gets distributed throughout the whole pudding.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or Amarula Cream (a delicious cream liqueur made in South Africa).

Lemon Drizzle Cake

Everybody has their favourite lemon drizzle cake recipe, but I find this one the easiest and best so far. Ideal for afternoon tea, but just as perfect as dessert. I found it years ago in a lovely book called Food and Drink from the Nation’s Favourite TV Cookery Series, by Janette Marshall. I can’t help but share this delicious recipe with you!

Ingredients
100g soft butter (the recipe calls for margarine, but I prefer butter)
100g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
100g self-raising flour, sifted
Grated zest from 1 lemon

Glaze
Juice of 1 lemon
75g caster sugar

Pre-heat your cover to 180C (160C if you have a fan oven). Grease and line the base of an 18cm round cake tin. Place all the cake ingredients in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for approximately 30 minutes, until it is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before turning it out onto a plate.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze – dissolve the caster sugar in the lemon juice – I find it easier to do this over low heat. When you have remove the cake from the tin, spoon the glaze over the cake and allow to soak in.

If serving as a dessert, serve it with lemon curd yoghurt or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!