Apples & pears
First published in edition 207 of The Northumbrian, Aug/Sept 2025
Bored of crumble? Here are some ideas for this year's super-glut of our favourite fruits
Apple Tart
Ingredients
225g plain flour
110g butter, cut into chunks
80g sugar
1 large egg, beaten
4 dessert apples (about 700g)
2 large eggs
100g granulated sugar, plus 2 tbsp
¾ tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
250ml double cream
2½ tbsp calvados (optional)
Method
Sieve flour into a large bowl, add the butter in chunks, and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, add the beaten egg and mix to a soft dough (add a little milk if it is too dry). Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Grease a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line with the pastry, trimming off the excess with a sharp knife. Preheat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Peel and core the apples, slice thinly and arrange over the pastry. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar, add vanilla extract and salt, add the cream and calvados (if using) and whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture over the apples and sprinkle over 2 tbsp sugar. Place in the oven and bake for 45-50 mins until golden brown.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Baked Pears & Walnuts
Ingredients
8 firm pears, halved
50g raisins
6 tbsp chopped walnuts
5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
100ml water
For the syrup:
200g granulated sugar
80ml water
A pinch cream of tartar
A pinch salt
Method
For the syrup, combine the sugar, water, cream of tartar and salt in a large pan and bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover for 3 mins. Take off the lid and cook, stirring often, until it gets to a soft ball stage (115C). You can check by dropping a little into a bowl of cold water – if you can form a ball with it in the water and it flattens again when you take it out, you have the right stage. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4, halve pears lengthwise and scoop out the cores so you have a cavity (like an avocado when you’ve removed the stone). Mix the raisins, walnuts, sugar, and lemon juice in a small bowl and use to fill the cavity of each pear.
Place pears stuffed side up in a baking dish with a lid. Mix together the syrup and the water and pour over. Cover the dish and bake for about 75 mins or until the pears are easily pierced with a fork.
Serve warm or cold with the syrup spooned over.
Apple Strudel
Ingredients
6 sheets shop-bought filo pastry
100g butter
50g fresh white breadcrumbs
600g cooking apples, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
50g raisins
50g currants
75g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
Icing sugar, sieved, to serve
Method
Melt half the butter in a pan, add the breadcrumbs and fry until crisp and golden. Add the apples, raisins, currants, sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest and stir until fully combined. Set aside to cool. Spread a clean tea towel on a table, sprinkle with a little flour and place a sheet of filo on it. Melt the remaining butter and brush over the filo, top with another sheet of filo and brush with butter again. Keep going until you have 6 buttered layers. Spread the filling over the filo to within 2.5cm of the edges. Lift the two corners of the tea towel nearest to you and roll the pastry away from you to make a strudel shape. Brush a little more butter at each end and press together to join the ends. Carefully place the strudel on a greased baking sheet and brush with more melted butter. Bake for 20 mins at 200C/Gas 6 then turn the heat down to 180C/Gas 4 for a further 30 mins. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature with cream.