Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Nigella's Apple and Butterscotch Tart

In the excitement of the first English apples of the season I got carried away and bought more than we could munch 'au naturel' so it was time to hit the books for a recipe to use them up. Nigella Lawson's Apple and Butterscotch Tart seemed to fit the bill, in that I already had all the ingredients. There's nothing more frustrating than deciding to make something, then finding out you need to go shopping first for a missing essential.

Basically, the tart is a shortcrust pastry base, covered with peeled cored apples (Nigella says cooking apples, but I needed to use my yummy eating sort) and topped with a mixture of 150g light muscovado sugar, 4 tbsp plain flour 2 eggs and 4 tbsp cream. Whisk the bits together and pour over the apples. Bake at 210 C for 10 mins and then reduce heat to 180 C and cook for another 20 minutes or so.

Do you remember Gypsy Tart from school dinners of yesteryear? The butterscotch reminded me of that. It sort of souffles round the apples. Delish. And my resident tasting panel agreed.

Although the obligatory jam tarts made from pastry trimmings won the 'fun' award.

I googled the recipe to see if it was on-line for you, and came across 'New Nigella' the blog of a woman whose aim is to cook every recipe from all of Nigella’s books, in A-Z order. Wow, I thought I was a fan, but that's a whole new level of dedication.

Great to see so many lovely folks jumping aboard the blogging meme - I've been fascinated reading them all. If you haven't done it yet, go on, you know you want to!

13 comments:

Me and Him said...

That looks so good. Better than the store bought cookie I'm currently eating with my cup of tea.

Anonymous said...

How delicious this looks--I look forward to trying the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this.

I've not joined the meme thing because I am too new at blogging and don't have enough experience to contribute anything worthwhile. I am learning quite a lot reading everyone's posts about it.

Crabby Amy said...

oh that looks wonderfull!!! love, love, love Nigella!!! suddenly feeling the urge to bake....must be the cooler weather we have been having too!

Monique said...

mmmm yummy!

Ragged Roses said...

That's pudding sorted! Thanks!
Kim x

pink-petal-designs said...

mmm, your making my mouth water.
Saarh x

dottycookie said...

Oooh yes, that is a good one isn't it? It's been a while since I made it. I have one of her madeira cakes in the oven to which I added some cooked spiced pureed apricots - I'll let you know if it works ...

Lin said...

Oh that tart looks delightful. Anything with butterscotch is good in my book.

Bev and Ollie "O" said...

I adore Nigella.
And that tart looks fabulous!!!
I do love cooking, and baking more than anything else, my hubbie often laughs when he comes hom to find homemade jam tarts. (I am awaiting my dad's yearly homade plum and blackberry jams).
Sometimes to save myself I give Carl things to take to work which has made me very popular with the guys he works with.
They are facsinated by the baking English lady!haha (We live in Belgium)

I love your blog, I may contact you for tips and advice ;o)
Bev x

Anonymous said...

Oh Ali gypsy tart, I used to so love that at school and do you remember dutch apple pie too?

Joanna said...

we used to make jam roly poly out of the trimmings when i wa slittle

velcro said...

I love Nigella's cookbooks (have never watched any of the tv shows) especially How to Eat. And that tart looks so yummy my stomach is rumbling!

Commonplace iris said...

mmm, I definitely want to give this recipe a try. Our local co-op apple selection is starting it's autumn expansion at the moment adding lots of heirloom varieties from a local farm. I'm eagerly awaiting my chance to savour some cox's orange pippins and make crumble with some Bramleys both of which are otherwise not seen around these parts - I'm in New England. There are already some yummy varieties on offer, including some that claim to be good for cooking...