Pear and apple crumble

Tags

apple, crumble, dessert, fruit, Pears

My husband loves fruit crumbles, (I am more of a chocolate dessert person myself), but I do love to make crumbles all year long and use whatever fruit is in season. At the moment we have beautiful apples and pears and so I decided to quickly whip up a little dessert.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 kg / 2 pounds ripe pears
• 1 kg / 2 pounds firm apples
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 240g / 1/2 pound cold butter, cut into cubes

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 180C / 360F
Mix flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal and butter together in a bowl until crumbly
Peel, core and cut the apples and pears into chunks
Combine apples, pears, orange zest, lemon zest, the 2 juices, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a separate bowl
Lightly butter an oven proof dish
Pour the fruit mixture into your dish
Sprinkle the topping evenly on top of the fruit
Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown, about 40 minutes
Serve immediately with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Enjoy!

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Italian Pear and Mascarpone cake

Tags

cake, fruit, gouter, mascarpone, Pears, teatime

This Italian pear cake is so elegant in its simplicity. Italian cakes, homemade-every-day-cakes were very rarely, if ever, frosted. But most of the times they are dusted with icing sugar or unsweetened cocoa. The addition of the corn starch makes the cake fluffy and airy, very Italian style.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups / 200g cups flour
• 1/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons / 50g cornstarch
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup / 180g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup / 250g mascarpone
• 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 pears
• Icing sugar (to sprinkle/ decorate on cake)

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven 170°C / 340°F
• Lightly grease and flour a 9″ / 23 cm cake pan ( I used a spring-form pan)
• Peel the pears, 1 1/2 pears chop into chunks and the other pears thin slices, set aside
• Cream the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy
• Add the mascarpone and continue beating until smooth
• In another bowl, sift the flour, corn starch, salt, baking soda and baking powder together
• Stir in with a wooden spoon the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, stir gently to combine, then add the oil and stir to combine
• Fold in the pear chunks
• Pour into prepared cake pan
• Top with sliced pears and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar
• Bake approximately 45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean
• When cool sprinkle icing sugar on cake
• Serve with whipped cream or crème fraîche

Enjoy!

Strawberries in red wine with mascarpone cream

Tags

cooking with red wine, cream, dessert, fruit, mascarpone, red wine, strawberries

Fresh strawberries do not need much dressing up but these take on another flavour dimension in this incredibly simple yet elegant French dessert.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

400 g / 3/4 lb small strawberries, hulled and halved (if large)
250 ml / 1 cup dry red wine, I used a Merlot
50 g / 1/4 cup sugar
180 ml / 3/4 cup heavy cream
120 ml / 1/2 cup mascarpone
2 vanilla beans, split, seeds scraped out and reserved
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Preparation:

Place the strawberries in a large bowl and pour the wine over them
Sprinkle in the sugar and stir
Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours but not more than 12
Remove from refrigerator just before serving
In another bowl, whisk the cream, mascarpone, vanilla seeds and confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form
Spoon some cream into each bowl and top with the strawberries and wine
Enjoy!