Done That!

On Saturday 20th October, Ely celebrated her (his? its?) annual Apple Festival. It was a brilliant affair. The weather was fabulous - sunny, not a cloud in the sky, perfect late October conditions - and the atmosphere was friendly and delightful. Numerous agencies mounted displays, Churches Together in Ely (CTiE) included. I helped out with preparing CTiE's display on the theme of Send a Cow (www.sendacow.org.uk). Send a Cow helps African farmers become more self-sufficient by teaching organic farming methods and supplying livestock and other practical support. They work in Ethiopia encouraging the apple growers in the temperate Highlands, hence it was a appropriate theme for an Apple Festival display.

Myself, Nally and a Christian brother named Dave made some toffee apples for sale on the stall. Here is the recipe used (adapted from Marguerite Patten's recipe in Cookery In Colour).

Ingredients:
20 Local Orchard Apples
1 lb of White Granulated Sugar
2 oz Salted Butter
1 tablespoon Golden Syrup
1 teaspoon Malt Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1/4 pint Water
1/2 teaspoon Red Food Colouring
20 Toffee Apple Sticks (if you can get them, dinner forks
otherwise)

Method:
Wipe the apples with a moist cloth to remove any dirt (don’t soak them in water).
Push the sticks into the apples (the opposite end from the twigs is easiest).
Put all the ingredients (barring the apples and sticks) in a strong based, fairly tall saucepan.
Stir together, on a low heat, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved (about 5 mins).
Then increase the heat a little, so that the mixture starts to boil gently.
Using a sugar thermometer, monitor the temperature of the mixture until it gets to 135 º C (or you can test a teaspoon at a time dropped into cold water, it is ready when it is at hard crack stage – but it’s useful to invest in a sugar thermometer if you are doing a lot).
Moderate the heat and keep it at this temperature for about two minutes. Then reduce the heat to minimum but keep pan over the heat.
Dip/roll each apple in turn in the mixture quickly until covered, then spin it round for about 30 seconds over the boiling mixture.
Place apples on a greased metal tray (not greaseproof paper or tin foil) to cool. Serve once cooled.

I will give two caveats to this recipe: (1) if you leave the apples for a few days, the toffee flows down off the sides. It seems to react to water vapour by liquefying. However, provided you eat them quickly, you won't see this problem. (2) Some people suggest raising the temperature to 138 º C. You could try this and let me know if it produces better results.

Hawthorn Berry Wine...

...or Hawthornberry wine, if you prefer. I finally collected my gallon of hawberries (lots of tramping over fields searching for the Right Kind Of Bush) and prepared a demijohn of wine from them. I used CJJ Berry's recipe (First Steps in Winemaking, ISBN 1-85486-139-5, which can be purchased from Amazon at this link).

It is a dry, pale wine. I am surprised because, when you look at the berries, you'd imagine it was a scarlet drink. In fact the demi-john, after a couple of weeks, looks the colour of marmalade.