Receta FRUITY APPLE SPIRAL SWIRLS ... for Monthly Mingle
“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.”
Henry James
It’s time for Monthly Mingle, Meeta’s little baby that she so lovingly created in 2006. It’s being hosted this time by Aparna @ My Diverse kitchen. The Monthly Mingle call this month is for high tea snacks, something I used to find quite challenging not so long ago. No longer though since blogging has opened untold avenues. ‘Don’t know what to make’ is passe! Now it’s more like, “shall I make this, this, this, or, oooooh this”!
The call was for ‘High Tea Treats’, & I immediately got transported to the Ritz, a hotel we oft halted outside often while wandering around Central London. Never did we step in, for in those days the pockets were empty, and so The Ritz intimidating! Known for it’s afternoon tea service, the picture in my mind of The Ritz is a whimsical one … well laid tables, dainty linen, polished silver, fine china, delicate pastries, elegant petit fours, scones, clotted cream, jam … !
Reading Indulge-100 Perfect Desserts by Claire Clark led me into the kitchens in the basement of The Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly where she worked as a pastry chef in 1984. I quote from her book, “I dreaded the run up to the weekend, when the hotel held its famous tea dances. We would slave away all week constructing the intricate, delicate and elegant pastries to give ourselves time to make, roll, cut and bake vast amounts of scones on the day.”
I associate British cuisine with high tea, a tradition as elegant as it is beautiful. My first exposure to this lovely tradition was back in the 80′s when a bunch of us girlfriends had gone over to stay in a castle up in North England that was being restored by a Scottish lady. The memories are quite faint now, but I vividly remember a couple of things … the huge gate-posts made of stone with carved lion heads, early morning mist, beds of lavender, the beautiful guest rooms in hues of pastel pinks & lilac, interiors daintily done up in hand-made lace and linen made by Irish nuns … & fresh scones for tea!
I made ‘Coffee-glazed Chocolate chip scones’ almost exactly a year ago from Ari‘s Baking & Books, and some ‘Dark Chocolate, Craisin & Walnut Scones’ from a David Lebovitz recipe more recently. So this time, for the Monthly Mingle, I explored BBC Good Food for tea snacks, and found plenty of eye candy there. Beautiful options from the Olive Magazine amongst others, but I eventually settled for this rather rustic roll … Fruity Spices Swirls. I had all the ingredients on hand, & the recipe seemed simple, allowing me room for change. It’s very difficult for me to stick to a recipe to the T, as my mind tends to wander off marking its own path. These fruity swirls are something like an apple strudel, but sans the hard work of rolling paper thin pastry. Then again, something like a Swiss roll, but with rustic pastry. The pastry isn’t flaky & buttery, but is still light & full of apple, raisin & nuts tossed in a spiced sweet butter… These are an entry for the episode of Monthly Mingle that you are hosting Aparna. No eggs is just how I know you’ll love these. I even substituted the egg yolk wash for a glaze with milk to make them a 100% vegetarian! This was a fun recipe, and the resultant swirls were delicious eaten warm with tea. Big hit with the hub & kids too. I sliced 15 portions as against the 10 in the original recipe as one of the reviewers said that the portions were big. I stored the leftovers in the fridge, and the daughter devoured them back from her camping trip. I was told they tasted good cold too!
Fruity Apple Spiced Swirls
Adapted from this recipe at BBC Good Food
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp pie spice
- 3 tbsp demerara sugar
- 4 tbsp soft butter
- 1 eating apple , peeled and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup dried black grapes
- 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 350g flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 85g cold butter , cut into cubes
- 4 tbsp demerera sugar
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp milk, to glaze
Method:
Toss chopped apple in lime juice & add raisins, black grapes & walnuts.
Beat 1 tsp pie spice and 2 tbsp demerara into the butter, then stir in the apple and raisins.
Mix the remaining spices in with the flour.
Put the flour mixture, 1 tsp pie spice, salt and baking powder into a food processor, then whizz in the butter until it disappears. Pulse in the sugar, tip into a large bowl, then make a well in the middle. Warm the yogurt, milk and vanilla together in the microwave for 1 min or in a pan; it should be hot and may well go a bit lumpy-looking. Tip into the bowl and quickly work into the flour mix using a cutlery knife. As soon as it’s all in, stop.Put a flat baking sheet in the oven at 220C. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, then roll to about 40 x 30cm. Spread with the fruity butter, then roll up from the long side, tucking the ends over neatly. Cut into 1″ slices. Brush with milk and scatter with 1 tbsp demerara. Flour the baking sheet, then bake for 14 mins until golden and risen.
Eat warm, with more butter if you dare. (We didn’t!)
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥
As I wrap up, I’d like to thank 2morrowknight for the including my name is his list of 10 top foodies tweeters in his article on The Huffington Post here – 10 World Class Chefs on Twitter Who Make it Sizzle. Thank you!!
Posted by Deeba @ PAB