Jamie Oliver's Orchard Eve's Pudding and How to Store Apples.

We’ve never had so many apples – an amazing bumper crop.  Maybe something to do with the Indian summer…it was 30 degrees last weekend! 


But the weather is turning – still beautiful pink sunsets and blue skies, but much colder and there’s even snow forecast for this month.  We didn’t want to lose them to frost so we harvested the lot.

Just look how much we gathered.  The best Bramleys we’ve ever had.  No disease, just lovely bright green, sour baking apples.  And my favourite, which I think, may be Egremont Russet. It’s a very old variety apparently from the Victorian era.  It’s nothing much to look at. It has really thick dry skin and when they are in the apple basket look a bit more like potatoes than apples.  But they have the best flavour.  They are crunchy, and juicy, and sweet and sour and citrusy all rolled into one.  Then I think we have a Golden Delicious tree, not my favourite, not the best condition either. I bought them all when we first came here. They were little funny shaped trees in the reduced section of the garden centre.  I thing they were about £2 each

Storing Apples

It's the first time we've ever had enough to store.  Apparently, wrapped individually in newspaper, preferably sheets without any colour print, which isn't good for you ( I found Persian newspapers best for this, not too many colour adverts) and then placed carefully in a cardboard box lined with plastic, and then stored in a cool garage or shed they will keep all winter.  As long as the frost doesn't get to them and there are no bad apples amongst them. The smaller the apple the better it will keep.   I'll let you  know how they get on...

After an afternoon in the garden I wanted to make mum's Adam and Eve's Pudding recipe but couldn't find it, but Jamie Oliver's Orchard Eve's Pudding was a good substitute.  

You can find the recipe on page 301 of Jamie at Home or link to it here   or here's my quick version:

• Cook orchard fruits in butter and sugar (or substitutes) with spices like bay leaves and nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon until and tender then layer half in a buttered oven proof dish.  Reserving the fruit juices.
• Whip up a quick batter with equal parts sugar, butter and flour and an egg to each 50gms of flour.  Beat sugar and butter and then the eggs one at a time before folding in the flour.
• Place all the batter over the fruit in the dish and then top with the remaining fruit and bake 190c/350f/gas 4 for 40 t0 45 minutes.  

This is a substantial pudding, lovely and earthy great for when you've spent a few hours picking apples and cutting off branches.  I served ours with natural yoghurt and a drizzle of the fruit juices reserved from cooking.   Jamie's version is nice and pink because he also used plums in his.  I used Muscovado sugar for the batter and to cook the fruit so it has a nice deep colour...mmm...