2 Types of Fruits!

Apple and cinnamon pie! There is something about this that always tempts me when I see it in magazines... I'm not really an apple fan... but it must be the "homely" feel an apple pie expresses!!!

I took the easy way out and decided to buy the Pampus short crust pastry... good idea? No... it was okay but not as good as the sara lee apple pie pastry! However, the filling was good - it's really simple, just very finely sliced fresh green apples (core and skin it), with sultanas, sugar and ground cinnamon - and a little butter... simmer it till apples are tender, then a bit of cornstarch and water stirred to form a bit of a paste and then mix it into the mixture. Cool. Then line the tart tins with the short crust pastry and fill. It's time consuming to make the mixture - because of the slicing - but you avoid all the extra "sauce" or rather starch that often comes with storebought apple pie! Perfect with whipped cream! :)



My friend (Joey Poey) a few weeks ago surprised me by buying me the "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine - not only was it so very thoughtful (there was a section on roses!) but opened my eyes to a new set of magazine subscriptions I am contemplating subscribing to! :P Anyway, they have a range of articles from the garden to the kitchen. I have to admit I found myself reading the cooking section a lot more than the other sections, but I liked how they had sections on how to decorate your house yourself etc etc... anyhow my eyes found the recipe on "Chocolate Prune Spice Cake" - I thought... how interesting... chocolate and prune... we know anything with chocolate is fantastic... but I substituted the prunes with pitted dates and the port with rum and left out the spice as I couldnt find any in the pantry!

It was a moist cake - and I added in 1/3 of a chocolate bar just incase there wasn't enough chocolate in it (this was an addition!) - I think we could do with another 1/3... it was quite nice... I'm not sure if I would call it a favourite, not because it wasn't good because it was a good recipe, the proportions and moisture level etc was good... but I think I prefer my dates in a sticky date pudding!


Stay tuned for this weekend's food update.... there will be more! :)