Tatty old apples

At this time of year I often have an empty fruit bowl. This may sound somewhat alarming but it is because it is soft fruit season and soft fruit doesn't store well in a fruit bowl. My family gorge themselves on the raspberries and strawberries often before they even reach the kitchen so they have little need for a banana shipped halfway across the world. Having an empty fruit bowl does have its downside, however, as when I'm in the middle of something and my girls pester me with a request for food my standard answers "Have a banana" or "Have something from the fruit bowl," cannot be used.

This happened last week and out tripped the world "Have something from the fruit bowl," without my brain even being involved in the task. A moment later they were back again, "There is nothing in the fruit bowl expect 3 horrible apples," my youngest complained. I dragged myself away from whatever I had been doing and in just a few moments had whipped up an impressive soft fruit fruit salad with a dollop of ice-cream. Then I inspected the apples in the fruit bowl and could understand why they had been rejected - wrinkly, is the word for it.

I hate food waste with a passion and although I could have dropped the apples into the compost bin with a clear conscience I decided instead to use them in a cake. So the next day when they informed me they were hungry I cut them each a slice of vanilla apple sponge and neither of them complained that the apples were horrible this time!

Vanilla Apple Sponge

9 oz (250g) unsalted butter, softened
8 oz (225g) caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 oz (250g) self-raising flour
3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C, gas 4. Line a round cake tin. Cream together the butter and sugar then stir in the egg and vanilla. Sift in the flour and mix until a thick batter forms. Dollop into the lined cake tin then push the slices of apple into the mixture. Sprinkle with the demerara and cinnamon. Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes and test with a skewer. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then cool on a wire rack.

Spread a little happiness - make flapjacks!

When I went shopping on Tuesday I came home with a big stack of stuff, mainly meat, that had been either on offer or reduced but which really needed processing in some way before freezing. That meant that most of Wednesday was spent on my feet in the kitchen making pies, sausage rolls and cooking various other dishes. However, the previous night the cake box had become empty so I also needed to refill this. As you will know, I try to keep the cake box stocked so my husband can easily find himself something for afters. To add to the need, my husband was due to be working a long day Thursday (today) and needed to take with him all the food he would need to keep him going. This meant that whatever I made for the cake box also needed to be robust enough to go in a packed lunch/tea the following day.

So, to recap, I needed to make something quick, requiring very little effort and that could go in a lunch box. There really was only one answer - Honey and Vanilla Flapjacks. Dead simple to make, very tasty, always popular and hold together well. So I whipped up a batch of these in between meat processing.

That night, as we watched TV my husband didn't battle hard with will power and ate through 6 flapjacks! So agogged was I that I commented on this feat on my Facebook page. Instantly, several friends commented back wanting to know when they would get a taste! No luck for them, Steve took the remaining 6 flapjacks with him in his lunch box the next morning.

So with the cake box empty and friends disappointed I quickly made another batch of flapjacks and when I went to collect my girls from school later in the day I handed foil wrapped parcels of flapjacks to my friends. And you know what... it really brightened up their day, as did it mine!

Honey and Vanilla Flapjacks

4 oz (110g) butter
4 oz (110g) soft light brown sugar
1 dessert spoon of honey
A few drops of vanilla extract
6 oz (170g) oats

Preheat oven to 150°C (gas 3). In a large saucepan, gently melt the butter with the sugar, honey and vanilla. Add the oats and stir thoroughly until evenly coated. Grease a small baking tray and spoon the mixture onto it. Spread out and press down with wetted fingers. Bake for 25 minutes until gold. Cut into flapjacks whilst still hot then allow it to cool in the tin.