World Cup Food Challenge - Appel Taart, Holland.

It's hard getting back into this blogging lark after a period of absence, a fairly lengthy period of absence looking back at the date of the last post. I have had stuff to blog, but little time or motivation to do it. I needed a challenge....

Fortunately the second greatest show on earth, The FIFA World Cup kicked off just under two weeks ago now and a team of crazy bloggers have been rounded up by @ewanmitchell to cook dishes from the all the participating countries, sound familiar? The good news this time, is there is only 32 countries and each blogger is responsible for 4 of them to cook with them through the tournament.

My Teams:

Group B

Australia

Holland

Spain

Chile

 

Lets start things off with my team of the tournament and my tip for World Cup glory; The Dutch.

 

The Dutch have had a blinding start so far, 3 wins out of 3 and Van Persie and Robben on blistering form. While wondering what to make for this country I was told to give their apple tart a go and they didn't have to tell me twice when it comes to baking or pies.

 

It's an interesting recipe this one, a bit of a cross between a pie and cake, with a bread style crust. it's very simple to make, far easier than the English apple tart and taste delicious with slightly tart apple, spicy cinnamon and sweet bread/cake holding it all together.

 

 

Ingredients

 

175g butter

175g plain flour

175g self raising flour

1 egg

1tbsp water

zest of one lemon

 

Filling

3-4 large slightly tart apples, think Braeburn not Royal Gala, cut into small pieces

50g sultanas

1tsp cinnamon

50g sugar

juice of one lemon

2 tbsp Apricot Jam

 

Method

Make the filling, add the juice of the lemon to a bowl

Core the apples and slice into small chunks, add to the lemon and stir to make sure they don't colour.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix together well, set aside.

Beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the flours, the egg, water and zest of lemon. mix together to make a soft, not sticky dough.

Remove a third of the dough and set aside. press the remaining dough into a lined 20cm cake tin, making sure it is even and goes up the sides of the cake tin.

Fill the tin with the apple mixture.

With the reserved dough, make a lattice effect over the top of the cake and then place into a preheated oven at 170C for 45-50 minutes until golden on top.

Melt the jam in a small saucepan and stir until smooth, brush the top of the cake once removed from the oven

Serve with sweetened cream or vanilla ice cream

 

Genieten!