I used one of the enormous Bramleys and cooked the slices to soften them before stirring in the unused berries. A regular two-egg all-in-one sponge topped the fruit and the finished pud was delicious.
I really should make this as an intended pudding, not just one that uses up stuff that needs using up!
The sponge itself would be lovely flavoured with orange or lemon zest, or maybe a Black Forest version, using a chocolate sponge and my tin of cherry pie filling (another rogue internet purchase) would be nice. As would a pear and almond version using almond essence in the sponge. I could even ice it with a water icing. Hmmm....maybe those large packs of pastry could be useful after all. Or I could, of course, make my own!
Ingredients1 large or 2 small cooking apples
a handful of blueberries and raspberries
2 tblsp granulated sugar
a pack of ready made, ready rolled shortcrust pastry (brought to room temperature)
4ozs self raising flour
4 ozs caster sugar
4 ozs soft margarine (I used Stork)
2 eggs
(a splash of milk if needed)
Method
Peel and slice the apple into a small saucepan. Add a splash of water and heat gently until the slices are softened, not quite completely mushy. Remove from the heat, stir in the berries and granulated sugar and set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180C / 160 fan. Grease a 20cm round flan dish or deep pie dish. Line the dish with the pastry, patching as needed, trim and crimp the edges.
To make the sponge topping, put all the ingredients into a bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until nice and smooth. Add the milk to loosen it if it's too stiff.
Tip the fruit into the pie dish and spread out evenly with a spoon. Spoon the sponge mixture on top and level it, making sure there are no gaps.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until the sponge is golden brown and cooked.
Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar if you like, with cream, ice cream or custard.
Cuts into 8 slices.
Wonderful. If truth be known I am not a great lover of pastry as it often gives me 'heartburn', so a pie with a sponge topping is my idea of heaven.
ReplyDeleteWe stopped buying our usual berries after Christmas unless I walk to M&S where I can look them over carefully. We are concerned with food miles, but also with taste. If we are going to accept the miles then the taste has got to be worth it.
Gaynor, you hit the nail on the head there!
DeleteI meant to add that when the Scottish raspberries ran out and were replaced by Spanish ones the taste was ok. The Moroccan ones are not as nice and not worth the food miles.
DeletePie and cake in the same dish sounds just like the ultimate temptation to me. I love the thought of it and it's just perfect for using whatever fruit you have. I'm usually fine with internet shopping but my mind does wander when it comes to pack sizes. My last order had the smallest pack of peas known to man and a pack of carrots that would feed the entire neighbourhood.
ReplyDeletePhil, the problem is that the difference in pack sizes is not obvious on the website. I can't envisage what 250g peas look like as opposed to 1kg but I bet if either of us was standing in front of them we'd have got the bag we needed!
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