Apple and Banana Crumble, with Cinnamon

A simple crumble, made with four apples (diced and cored, but not peeled), and one small peeled banana. Stewed in a lidded pot for a couple of hours at a low heat, along with one cinnamon stick (powdered cinnamon will do just as well).

The crumble mix was made with four dessert spoonfuls of spelt flour, four dessert spoonfuls of sugar (in this case preserving sugar, but any granulated sugar will do, including demarara). Mixed together with around 75g of salted butter (best done with your fingers, for around fifteen minutes).

After removing the cinnamon stick, the stewed apple was spooned into a pie tin, and the topping was laid on top. Cooked on the middle shelf of an oven heated to 180 deg. C for forty minutes. Judge progress by eye! Served with several spoonfuls of Greek yoghurt.

Apple and Fig Salad, with Pomegranate Molasses, and Single Cream

A straightforward fruit salad, with chopped apple and figs, soused in pomegranate molasses for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally. You can add some white wine also, if you wish.  Once decanted into the serving bowl, add the single cream, and stir. Delicious!

Apple and Fig Salad, with Pomegranate Molasses,  and Single Cream

Scottish Strawberries with Single Cream

The first strawberries of the season. This is essentially a take on Strawberries Rombauer, which appears in the pages of the compendious recipe collection,  'The Joy of Cooking'. The strawberries were topped to remove the green collar, then each was sliced in two, at an angle, rather than straightforward halving. This increases the surface area of the strawberries. 

After cutting, they were decanted into a glass bowl, and given a coating (two table spoons worth) of ordinary refined sugar (caster sugar does just as well). A large dash of blended Scotch whisky was added also (as opposed to Cointreau, which is the Joy of Cooking suggestion, if I remember correctly). The mixture was stirred for a couple of minutes, to dissolve the sugar and spread it evenly through the strawberries. 

A Scottish twist is the addition of a couple of shakes of white or black ground pepper, which gives the final flavour a little edge. American friends who saw me do this for the first time were a little nervous at the addition, but did not complain about the result. 

The bowl was set aside and covered with a plate, and left altogether for four hours, to allow the osmotic pressure of the sugar to extract some of the juices in the strawberries. The mixture was stirred at least once an hour. If the bowl is placed in the fridge, the process will take place more slowly. Outside the fridge, the dish will be ready to eat after four hours, at room temperature. 

Serve with Single Cream. Delicious!

Scottish Strawberries with Single Cream