Currently most of the world is preparing for my favourite season, the days are drawing in and the light is changing. Cooler mornings and darker evenings.
Autumn.
There is something magical about this word isn't there?
The word alone just fills me with such joy and comfort after a hot sticky summer. A time to gather indoors, sleep a little later and curl up in cosy flannelette pyjamas, endless cups of tea or hot chocolate. A time to light the candles and enjoy the warmth of a soft glow from carefully placed lamps. Time to rest more and work less ( outdoors ). It's the season of comforting food, slow cooked and warm.
I believe that in a world that is increasingly becoming more and more unstable, stepping back and creating a safe and warm environment that we can come home to, is evermore important. Home has always been a safe haven for most people. Our own space from whatever is happening outside. Housewives of WWII had so much going on in their lives and their time was often spent outside of the home doing voluntary work and and taking on jobs that prior to the war had been done by men, but with a lot of the men serving overseas, someone had to step up. Imagine how tired and busy they would have been and to come home at the end of the day, it must have been a relief to step through the doorway and leave the day behind and find some peace and comfort in your own surroundings. Even if you still had to do cleaning and cooking and looking after your family.
Home cooked meals were the order of the day, no such thing as ready made meals and takeaways. Puddings and treats were most likely left for the weekend when there was more time to bake and tend to things more slowly.
Therefore, in the name of all that is cosy and comforting, here are two delicious recipes for you to try.
In keeping with the theme of autumn ( even though it is spring here in the southern hemisphere, it is still cold and rainy ), I have chosen two comforting recipes that are similar but one is my own adapted recipe which is a gluten free apple crumble and the second recipe is an old vintage one from the New Zealand Country Women's Institutes Cookery Book.
Apple Crumble
8 medium size apples or two 400gram cans of diced or sliced apples or one large jar of home preserved apple
1 cup flour ( gluten free or regular white flour )
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar or raw sugar ( white is also acceptable )
125-150 grams of butter, melted
If using fresh apples, peel, core and slice apples. If you want your apples pre-cooked, place in a saucepan with 1/4 cup of water and cook on low medium until soft but still holding shape. Add a little more water at a time if apples are sticking to the pan.
In a medium bowl add the remaining ingredients and mix together. Sometimes I don't need the full 150 grams of melted butter, it depends on the flour mix and if I have juggled the measurements around or added less gf flour and a little ground almonds. As long as it all comes together and is a little sticky and not dry.
Place cooked or canned apples into a pie dish or any casserole dish suitable and sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of sugar. Pour crumble mixture over the top of the apples and spread out.
Bake on 180 degrees celsius ( 350 Fahrenheit ) for approximately 30 -40 minutes until lightly golden brown and apple is starting to bubble around the edges.
When cooled slightly serve with vanilla ice cream, homemade whipped cream or custard. Or if you're feeling very greedy, all of the above!
This is my favourite dessert.
'I am very glad the new Cook begins so well. Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness.' - Jane Austen 17 October 1815
Apple Crisp Pudding - Vintage Recipe
Four apples
3/4 cup flour or wholemeal
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup raw sugar
3/4 cup water
Slice apples into pie dish. Pour over cold water, sprinkle with cinnamon, rub butter into flour and sugar till crumbly, put on top of apples and bake. No sugar is required in apples as it soaks through the crust.
( as written in the recipe book )
During wartime there was no ice cream or cream available so custard would have been the most popular choice with warm puddings.
I hope you will enjoy these apple pudding recipes and give them a try.
This post is a collaboration with a friend of mine, Harriet, from Wartime Wisdom blog. She is based in North Carolina, United States and is an enthusiast and writer of the World War Two Homefront history. She has a beautiful blog where she shares about her love of this time period with plenty of delicious recipes inspired by the housewives of the 1940's and interesting and thought provoking articles about housewives and life during world war two. Harriet is sharing an apple recipe as well so I would love it if you would go on over to her blog and take a nice visit.
Have a blessed week,
Love Fiona
"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered." Proverbs 11:25
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