Baking Heaven April 2020

70 baking heaven APRIL WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM

Glazed apple-raisin

fritters

MAKES AROUND 20

140g (5oz) plain flour

1½ tsp baking powder

30g (1oz) caster sugar

a pinch of ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

1 large free-range egg

140ml (4¾fl oz) milk

3 large apples (choose a good tart-

sweet variety)

2 tbsp golden raisins, very roughly

chopped

sunflower or vegetable oil, for

deep-frying

For the apple glaze

140g (5oz) icing sugar

40ml (1¼fl oz) apple cider (or apple

juice or, at a pinch, lemon juice)

1 Sift the flour and baking powder into a

mixing bowl. Add the sugar, cinnamon

and salt and whisk together briefly.

2 In a different bowl, whisk the egg

with the milk. Tip into the dry

ingredients and whisk everything

together well to make a smooth batter.

Set aside while you prepare the apples.

3 Peel the apples. Cut them into halves

and remove the core (this is easiest with

a melon baller). Cut into 5mm (¼in) thick

slices, then cut the slices into 5mm

(¼in) matchsticks.

4 When ready to cook, pour vegetable

oil into a heavy-based saucepan or a

deep-fryer to a depth of 5cm (2in) and

heat to 170°C (325°F).*

5 Add the apple matchsticks and raisins

to the batter and mix well. Drop small

spoonfuls of batter into the oil, ensuring

you include a few raisins and 4-5 pieces

of apple. You could also use a fork to do

this. Don’t worry about the shape – the

more free-form, the better! Add more

fritters to the pan, but do not overcrowd

it. Fry for around 5 minutes, turning the

fritters around in the oil from time to

time, until they are evenly golden brown

and crisp. Use a slotted spoon to lift

them onto a plate lined with kitchen

paper to drain.

6 Whisk the sugar and cider together to

make a fairly thick glaze. Drizzle onto the

fritters while they are still hot, then

serve straightaway.

*Note The key thing when cooking

these fritters is not to heat the oil to

too high a temperature, so it’s best to

use a sugar thermometer. If you

don’t have one, the oil will have reached

the correct temperature when a cube of

bread browns lightly in about

30 seconds. Any faster and it will be

too hot.

2 Preheat the oven to 190°C/Gas

Mark 5.

3 In a small bowl, mix together the

cornflour, sugar and lemon zest.

Set aside.

4 In another bowl, coat the berries

with lemon juice. Sprinkle with the

cornflour mixture.

5 Roll out the dough to 3mm (^1 / 8 in)

thickness. Cut out circles using an 11cm

(4in) cutter. Fill the centre of the dough

circle with a dessert spoon of the

berry filling.

6 In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk.

Brush the edge of the dough circles

with the egg and fold in half, then seal

the edges with a folk.

7 Brush with egg wash and cut a

small slit in the top of each pie to let

out steam.

8 Bake for about 20 minutes, or until

golden brown. Cool to room

temperature and dust with icing sugar.

Mini berry pasties

MAKES 8 -10

For the pastry

200g (7oz) plain flour

100g (3½oz) butter

¾ tbsp ice-cold water

1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

For the filling

150g (5½oz) blackberries

125g (4½oz) raspberries, cut in half

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp cornflour

1-2 tbsp caster sugar, depending

on taste

1 free-range egg yolk

icing sugar, for dusting

1 Rub the butter into the flour and

cinnamon until the mixture resembles

fine breadcrumbs. Add the water and

combine to make a dough. Refrigerate

for 1 hour before making the pasties.

By Love Fresh Berries (www.lovefreshberries.co.uk)