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Yummy Winter Desserts
Winter nights just call for delicious hot desserts and these three really fit the bill. They all go very well on their own or with ice-cream, whipped cream or custard - whatever takes your fancy really.
Cinnamon Dumplings
Ingredients:
1-½ cups plain flour
2-¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
125g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
1-½ tbsp milk
4 cups apple cider
Custard or whipped cream
Method:
Sift together the flour, cinnamon and salt and set aside. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the ¾ cup of water and the sugar. Cook over low/medium heat without stirring for 10 to 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cut the butter into the flour until it’s crumbly. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, 1 whole egg and only the yolk from the other egg. Make a well in the flour and pour in the milk/egg mixture. Stir gently with a fork until blended.
Back at the stove, once the sugar syrup has been cooking for at least 10 minutes, stir well and cook another 4 or 5 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cider until well blended. Return to the heat and bring just to a good simmer.
Divide your dough into 12 parts and roll each into a ball. Drop these into the simmering cider syrup. Turning the dumplings once or twice, cook them until they triple in size. It may take up to 20 minutes to cook all twelve.
Place each dumpling in an individual serving bowl and drizzle with the remaining cider syrup. Top with crème and serve at once.
Cinnamon Dumplings
Ingredients:
1-½ cups plain flour
2-¼ tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
125g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large eggs
1-½ tbsp milk
4 cups apple cider
Custard or whipped cream
Method:
Sift together the flour, cinnamon and salt and set aside. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the ¾ cup of water and the sugar. Cook over low/medium heat without stirring for 10 to 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cut the butter into the flour until it’s crumbly. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, 1 whole egg and only the yolk from the other egg. Make a well in the flour and pour in the milk/egg mixture. Stir gently with a fork until blended.
Back at the stove, once the sugar syrup has been cooking for at least 10 minutes, stir well and cook another 4 or 5 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cider until well blended. Return to the heat and bring just to a good simmer.
Divide your dough into 12 parts and roll each into a ball. Drop these into the simmering cider syrup. Turning the dumplings once or twice, cook them until they triple in size. It may take up to 20 minutes to cook all twelve.
Place each dumpling in an individual serving bowl and drizzle with the remaining cider syrup. Top with crème and serve at once.
Apple Pancakes
Pancakes take a while to make so they are often only fixed during the weekends. If you’re tired of plain pancakes, why not try Apple Pancakes as an alternative instead? This recipe is easy to make, and with a little effort, can look wonderful on the plate with scrambled eggs and sausage links. Use your imagination when plating. Here we’ve added fresh blueberries, pink lady apple slices along, mint with a sprinkle of cinnamon and syrup.
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2 cups SR flour, sifted
1/3 cup sugar for the recipe plus 2 tablespoons sugar (or more) for cooking
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it, but pre-grated will work)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
60g unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 peeled Granny Smith apples, 1 cored and finely grated, 1 thinly sliced on a mandolin (Note: Be careful about how finely you try to grate the apple, it may turn out looking more like applesauce.
Method:
Begin by preparing your apples. Sprinkle a little lemon juice on the apples to keep them from turning brown after cutting or grating. Core both apples. Cut one apple into uniform thickness slices (a mandolin works well for this step). These will be used with the pancake batter.
The other apple should be peeled and grated for inclusion in the batter. Please note, in the first picture, when trying finely grate the apple, it turned out more like applesauce.
Now you’re ready to start on the batter itself. Melt the butter over medium heat being sure not to scorch it.
In a medium to large size bowl, beat two large eggs until frothy.
Add the flour to the beaten egg.
Then add the 1/3 cup of sugar. Reserve the rest of the sugar for actual cooking.
Next add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
Add the buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter to the mixture and then stir to incorporate everything.
Add the grated apple. Stir until just combined. The mixture will be thick.
Preheat the frying pan over medium-high heat. Lightly spray with cooking spray or add a little butter.
Add about 1/2 cup batter to the fry pan. Place 2 lightly sugared apple slices on top.
Cook the pancake until bubbles form (about 2 minutes). Flip the pancake with a spatula and cook until golden brown on each side for a total of about 4 minutes cooking time per pancake. You may need to spray the spatula with cooking spray between pancakes to ensure the pancake doesn’t stick to the spatula.
Place the cooked pancake on a plate. Serve with other favourite breakfast items such as bacon, turkey sausage or scrambled eggs. Garnish with apples slices other fruit and a sprig of mint, if desired.
Pancakes take a while to make so they are often only fixed during the weekends. If you’re tired of plain pancakes, why not try Apple Pancakes as an alternative instead? This recipe is easy to make, and with a little effort, can look wonderful on the plate with scrambled eggs and sausage links. Use your imagination when plating. Here we’ve added fresh blueberries, pink lady apple slices along, mint with a sprinkle of cinnamon and syrup.
Ingredients:
2 large eggs
2 cups SR flour, sifted
1/3 cup sugar for the recipe plus 2 tablespoons sugar (or more) for cooking
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it, but pre-grated will work)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
60g unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 peeled Granny Smith apples, 1 cored and finely grated, 1 thinly sliced on a mandolin (Note: Be careful about how finely you try to grate the apple, it may turn out looking more like applesauce.
Method:
Begin by preparing your apples. Sprinkle a little lemon juice on the apples to keep them from turning brown after cutting or grating. Core both apples. Cut one apple into uniform thickness slices (a mandolin works well for this step). These will be used with the pancake batter.
The other apple should be peeled and grated for inclusion in the batter. Please note, in the first picture, when trying finely grate the apple, it turned out more like applesauce.
Now you’re ready to start on the batter itself. Melt the butter over medium heat being sure not to scorch it.
In a medium to large size bowl, beat two large eggs until frothy.
Add the flour to the beaten egg.
Then add the 1/3 cup of sugar. Reserve the rest of the sugar for actual cooking.
Next add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
Add the buttermilk, vanilla and melted butter to the mixture and then stir to incorporate everything.
Add the grated apple. Stir until just combined. The mixture will be thick.
Preheat the frying pan over medium-high heat. Lightly spray with cooking spray or add a little butter.
Add about 1/2 cup batter to the fry pan. Place 2 lightly sugared apple slices on top.
Cook the pancake until bubbles form (about 2 minutes). Flip the pancake with a spatula and cook until golden brown on each side for a total of about 4 minutes cooking time per pancake. You may need to spray the spatula with cooking spray between pancakes to ensure the pancake doesn’t stick to the spatula.
Place the cooked pancake on a plate. Serve with other favourite breakfast items such as bacon, turkey sausage or scrambled eggs. Garnish with apples slices other fruit and a sprig of mint, if desired.
Blueberry Coffee Cake
One of the most wonderful summer fruits is blueberries. Not only can they be stored in many different ways, they make a wonderful addition to many recipes. One of my favourite blueberry recipes is blueberry coffee cake, which can add a delightful taste of summer to even the coldest winter.
Ingredients:
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
½ tsp of vanilla
½ tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 cups plain flour
1 cup sour cream (Option: use 1 cup of vanilla yoghurt instead of sour cream)
2 cups of fresh blueberries (Option: if using frozen berries, be sure to thaw before adding to mixture)
Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup plain flour
Method:
In a large bowl, add ½ cup of butter and one cup of sugar. Cream together butter and sugar until crumbly.
Add the 3 slightly beaten eggs and mix well.
Add the vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, and salt and blend until smooth.
Mix in half of the flour and half of the sour cream. When blended, add the remaining flour and sour cream and blend again.
Using a spatula or a large spoon, stir in the fresh blueberries. Mix well. The mixture will turn blue or lavender.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour in the blueberry mixture. Set mixture aside while you make the topping.
In a small bowl, cream together the brown sugar and softened butter. Using a spoon, add the flour a little at a time until the topping is crumbly.
Scatter brown sugar crumbs on top of the blueberry mixture.
Lightly tap the pan on the benchtop to make sure the batter is distributed evenly. Bake for 40 minutes.
Serve warm straight from the oven with hot coffee or cold milk, or if you want to use it as a dessert, cool and serve with fresh cream, ice cream, canned peaches or custard.
One of the most wonderful summer fruits is blueberries. Not only can they be stored in many different ways, they make a wonderful addition to many recipes. One of my favourite blueberry recipes is blueberry coffee cake, which can add a delightful taste of summer to even the coldest winter.
Ingredients:
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
½ tsp of vanilla
½ tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
2 cups plain flour
1 cup sour cream (Option: use 1 cup of vanilla yoghurt instead of sour cream)
2 cups of fresh blueberries (Option: if using frozen berries, be sure to thaw before adding to mixture)
Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup plain flour
Method:
In a large bowl, add ½ cup of butter and one cup of sugar. Cream together butter and sugar until crumbly.
Add the 3 slightly beaten eggs and mix well.
Add the vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, and salt and blend until smooth.
Mix in half of the flour and half of the sour cream. When blended, add the remaining flour and sour cream and blend again.
Using a spatula or a large spoon, stir in the fresh blueberries. Mix well. The mixture will turn blue or lavender.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 baking dish and pour in the blueberry mixture. Set mixture aside while you make the topping.
In a small bowl, cream together the brown sugar and softened butter. Using a spoon, add the flour a little at a time until the topping is crumbly.
Scatter brown sugar crumbs on top of the blueberry mixture.
Lightly tap the pan on the benchtop to make sure the batter is distributed evenly. Bake for 40 minutes.
Serve warm straight from the oven with hot coffee or cold milk, or if you want to use it as a dessert, cool and serve with fresh cream, ice cream, canned peaches or custard.