Bramley Apple And Wensleydale Cobbler Recipes

BRAMLEY APPLE AND WENSLEYDALE COBBLER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7/fan oven 200C. Put the flour, baking powder and salt into a food processor. Whizz for a few seconds, then add the butter and whizz until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Tip in 100g/4oz of the wensleydale and briefly pulse to combine, then pour in the buttermilk and whizz until the mixture has formed a soft, claggy dough. Remove the blade, leaving the dough in the bowl.
• Quarter the Bramley apples, then remove the core and peel each wedge. Depending on how quickly you work, drop the peeled apples into a bowl of cold water acidulated with the juice of a lemon, to stop them going brown; drain and dry the apples before proceeding with the recipe.
• Butter a 1.2 litre/2 pint ovenproof dish that's about 23-25cm/9-10in in diameter and 6-7.5cm/21⁄2-3in deep. Thickly slice the quartered apples and pile them into the dish. The apples collapse when they are cooked, so if there isn't a good mound, add some more. Combine the sugars and ginger, and dredge the apples evenly. (I like to use two sugars: the muscovado has a bullish toffee flavour and the refined is just sweet, sweet, sweet.)
• Using your fingers, plop 5 tangerinesized balls of dough on top of the apples in a circle, plus one in the middle: they'll look untidy but that's okay. Carefully sprinkle the remaining cheese over the cobbler scones. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 190C/Gas 5/fan oven 170C and continue baking for 20 minutes until the apples are tender and the cobbler is beautifully brown. Serve with a generous dollop of mascarpone.

DEEP-FILLED BRAMLEY APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Tip the sultanas into a bowl with the brandy, microwave on high until warm and plump, then set aside. If the pastry is in two blocks, squish it together, then cut off a third and set aside. Roll out the rest of the pastry into a large circle, about the thickness of a £1 coin. Use it to line a 23cm shallow springform cake tin, making sure that it overhangs the rim all the way round. place in the fridge.
• Tip the apples into the bowl with the sultanas, all but 2 tbsp of the sugar and the spices. Toss everything well to coat the apple. Roll out the rest of the pastry, then cut into a circle, using the base of the tin as a guide. Using your fingers, arrange the apple slices in the cake tin. Cover the apples with the circle of pastry and tuck down the sides. Brush the lid with egg, then fold back and pinch the overhang to seal. Brush the top generously with egg, then pierce 2 slits in the top and scatter on the remaining sugar.
• Bake for 30-35 mins until golden. Leave to cool in its tin for a good hour, until the bottom is cool enough to touch. Run a knife around the pie's edge, then open the side of the tin and remove the pie. Serve sliced with ice cream or clotted cream.