Pages

Sunday 19 May 2013

Recipe XCIX - Apple-Vanilla-Mascarpone Dessert


I'm now on my 99th recipe. This has been a fabulous adventure for me to attempt to cook a different meal at least once a fortnight, but on average every eight or nine days. This one is so easy and yet fulfilling to make and a remarkable crowd-pleaser. You need a good hour for this, but it'll be worth it.

Ingredients:
5 apples
2 tablespoons of brown sugar (approx)
4 tablespoons of white sugar (approx)
1 carton of ordinary dessert cream
1 tub of mascarpone
3 eggs
2 vanilla pods
A handful of speculoos biscuits but shortcrust will do
A spoonful of cinnamon

Equipment:
An electric whisk
A blender


Instructions:
Cut up the apples and put them in water and tip some brown sugar over them. Some remove the skins, but I leave them on as I like a nice zesty tang to my apple purée.


Put the biscuits in a blender and give them a whiz until they're pulverised. Put them aside until later.


Take the cream, eggs and mascarpone and fold them into each other. Add the white sugar (to your own tastes) and empty the vanilla pods into it by cutting down the centre from one end to the other and scooping the vanilla out with a teaspoon. Then get the electric whisk and turn it into a creamy substance.


Meanwhile, get half the apples and scoop them out of the water and into a blender. Whiz it up until it turns to pulp. Put them in a bowl to cool.


With the other half, add some cinnamon and blend it to a pulp. So below you see the difference. The one on the right I am saving for my roast pork later, and the one on the left is going further in this story. Put it in the fridge for a while first though.


Spoon very carefully some apple purée into the bottom of a glass and smooth it down to a flat surface either with a spoon, or by gently swirling the glass. Add the mascarpone layer after this, and then the biscuit crumbs.


Use various sizes of glass depending on who they are intended for.


You can do the same thing with other fruits, such as raspberries, pineapple or blackcurrants. The vanilla would be an unnecessary, depending what you choose.

2 comments:

  1. Hmmm... I don't think we have those biscuits over here across the pond and have never seen a carton of cream. Is it just any cream? What else can I use for the biscuits? Graham crackers?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi holdtheoffice, thanks for your comment - these are called "kruidnootjes" and Belgian my in-laws gave them to me for Easter! But any quite floury biscuits/cookies will be fine. Take a look at your supermarket or bakery for some decent biscuits like gingerbread, shortbread or the like. I think Grahams might be a little too powdery after their trip to the blender. What biscuits would you use for a cheesecake base? They'd do nicely. As for the cream, yes, just a pot of pouring cream like you'd add to your tiramisu mixture :-)

    ReplyDelete