Apple and Cinnamon cake

Yet another way of using up all those apples from the harvest.  We've still used less than a big bowlful after 2 dishes and that only scratches the surface of the crop.  Ah well, this cake is nicked from a Mary Berry recipe and altered to suit my taste by using larger quantities, large chunks of apple and replacing her almond essence with cinnamon and it's going down extremely well - and quickly!

Ingredients
750g self raising flour
750g golden caster sugar
375g butter, melted
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 eggs
800g apples
Flaked almonds to top it off

Method
Pre heat the oven to 160C.  Lightly butter a 9inch (22.5cm) springform baking tin.  Add all the ingredients except the apples and the flaked almonds to a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until well combined.

Peels the apples and cut them into large slices leaving the cores behind.  Next, take half of the cake mixture and add it to the springform tin.  Next, layer the apples evenly across the tin, leaving a small space at the side.  Add the rest of the cake mixture over the top of the apples and make sure all the apples are covered.  Smooth the top of the cake as much as you can then scatter the almonds over.

Bake in the middle of the oven for around 2 hours until a skewer placed in the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Serve warm or cold, with or without tea or coffee, it's delicious whichever way you like.

Tarte tatin

It's September and we have plenty of apples on our tree.  What better way to use these than to make the classic French Tarte tatin?  This worked really well, in Suzanne's words "Seriously good tarte tatin. Looks like I'll have to get the step-ladder out!"

Ingredients
7 medium apples - I used ours, they're closest to Coxes Orange Pippin
200g white caster sugar
50g butter
pinch of salt
1 packet of ready-made, ready-rolled puff pastry

Method
Peel, halve and core the apples, then cut them into largish slices (I got 6 slices per apple). 

Put the sugar into a 20cm deep sided non stick baking pan (ours is the double skinned variety, this probably helps with the caramelization) with 50ml water and stir to wet the sugar evenly, then cook over a high to medium heat until golden.  This takes some time and you have to be careful not to burn the caramel.  I adjusted the heat quite a bit and also moved fro one burner to another to make sure there was an even caremelization.  Also, take it off the heat slightly before it's done and stir it as it will continue to cook.

Stir in the butter, and a pinch of salt and combine well, then carefully arrange the apples pieces in the pan, round-side down to fill as much of the pan as possible.  Remember, the caramel will be seriously hot so be careful.

Put the apples and caramel back back on the heat and cook for 5 more minutes, then take off the heat and allow to cool to warm..

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Cut out a circle slightly larger than your pan, then put the pastry on top of the pan and tuck in the edges around the fruit. Bake for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden, then remove from the oven.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then place a plate, slightly larger than the pan, on top and then, very carefully, using oven gloves, invert the tart on to the plate.  This is best done quickly, trust me!

Best served with crème fraîche.

Red pepper and tomato pasta sauce

Here's one I made for Naomi as she loves her peppers.  This is a rich, summery sauce and is a great with most types of pasta.

Ingredients
3 red peppers
1 medium white onion
2 sticks celery
1 carrot
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes
A pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C and put a foil lined baking tray moistened with a little olive oil in the oven.  Remove the seeds and the white veins from the peppers and slice them into 1cm strips.  Place them on the baking tray and roast for about 20-30 mins until the peppers are starting to brown.  Remove and chop them into 1cm squares  Alternatively, if you're pushed for time, you can chop them into squares firts then fry them in a saucepan for 5-10 mins until they are nice and soft.

Peel the onion, celery and carrots, chop them finely.  Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a high heat, add the vegetables, reduce the heat to medium and fry in the olive oil until softened, it should take between 5 and 10 minutes.  You can also do these as you go along, start with the carrot as this takes longest, then the celery and finally the onion.  Finally, once these are all cooking, peel and crush the garlic and slice finely, adding this to the pan.

Add the peppers you cooked earlier, the chilli if using and the tinned tomatoes.  Heat through, season to taste and then cook over a low to medium heat to reduce the sauce.  It can be eaten now, but if you can reduce the sauce for longer you can intensify and sweeten the flavours.

While the sauce is reducing, cook the pasta of your choice and serve the pasta with the sauce poured over the top.