I have so many cookbooks sitting on my shelf, good cookbooks. Cookbooks you might find on a professional's shelf. Yet, somehow I always seem to come back to Bill Granger for my breakfasts and desserts. The reason for this I guess is that they are so easy. Who wants to be slaving away in a kitchen at breakfast time? Simple is all you need. As for desserts, well I suck big time in the pastry field of things, so Bills is a sure fire way to make sure I succeed 95% of the time.
This one was a little bit tricky, simply because my kitchen was so hot, it made the pastry get hot very quickly and difficult to roll out without falling apart. The trick was to put it in the freezer for about 10 - 20 mins until it's pretty hard (but not frozen!), the butter firms up and makes it much easier to roll out.
Give this one a try, it's definately worth it. Lucky me lives right near a Trampoline store, so I went and bought some of their delicious Vanilla Ice Cream to go with the cake, it was fantastic. There's even little chunks of the Vanilla Bean itself in the Ice Cream! Yum!!
Apple & Blueberry Shortcake
4 large Granny Smith Apples
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar
125g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
1 egg
185g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
155g (1 cup) blueberries
sugar, for sprinkling
Peel the apples, remove the cores & cut each apple into about 16 slices.
Put the apples, lemon zest, sugar & 2 tablespoons of water into a medium saucepan, then cover & stew over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until the apples are soft but not mushy.
Allow to cool.
Cream the butter & caster sugar together in a bowl until fluffy & smooth.
Add the egg and mix well. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir until combined.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface & knead until smooth
Divide into two and place in the freezer for 10 - 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 180c.
Roll each half of cake dough into a round approximately 22cm across.
Press one round into a 24cm non-stick springform cake tin.
Spread the apples over the dough, leaving a small border around the edge. S
prinkle with the blueberries.
Place the other round of dough on top & press the edges together.
Brush with water & sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, then allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing.
This one was a little bit tricky, simply because my kitchen was so hot, it made the pastry get hot very quickly and difficult to roll out without falling apart. The trick was to put it in the freezer for about 10 - 20 mins until it's pretty hard (but not frozen!), the butter firms up and makes it much easier to roll out.
Give this one a try, it's definately worth it. Lucky me lives right near a Trampoline store, so I went and bought some of their delicious Vanilla Ice Cream to go with the cake, it was fantastic. There's even little chunks of the Vanilla Bean itself in the Ice Cream! Yum!!
Apple & Blueberry Shortcake
4 large Granny Smith Apples
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons sugar
125g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
1 egg
185g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
155g (1 cup) blueberries
sugar, for sprinkling
Peel the apples, remove the cores & cut each apple into about 16 slices.
Put the apples, lemon zest, sugar & 2 tablespoons of water into a medium saucepan, then cover & stew over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until the apples are soft but not mushy.
Allow to cool.
Cream the butter & caster sugar together in a bowl until fluffy & smooth.
Add the egg and mix well. Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir until combined.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface & knead until smooth
Divide into two and place in the freezer for 10 - 20 minutes
Preheat the oven to 180c.
Roll each half of cake dough into a round approximately 22cm across.
Press one round into a 24cm non-stick springform cake tin.
Spread the apples over the dough, leaving a small border around the edge. S
prinkle with the blueberries.
Place the other round of dough on top & press the edges together.
Brush with water & sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, then allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing.
5 comments:
Ohhh that looks so yummy. I have to go and eat some of the mocha cake in my fridge now, that photo of the shortcake and ice cream is just making me drool.
Thanks Thanh! Even I was impressed with myself this time- I actually made pastry that worked!
We must be on the same wavelength - I also love Bill & made this exact same cake just a couple of weeks ago too - YUM!
oh my... that looks incredibly good. Amazingly good. Dammit, now I'm going to have to have some
Hi Anna, it was really good! Definately recommend trying this one!
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