Welcome to the party Winter Warmer

Happy 1st birthday Fiesta Friday! I received this invite to the Fiesta Friday block party, a two week blogger party hosted by Angie at The Novice Gardener. I’m delighted to be attending….

I’m bringing this delicious winter warmer to welcome guests as they arrive at the party. It’s fruity, spicey and can be made with or without alcohol.

I made the cocktail in one of my Christmas presents, a beautiful cast iron milk pan.

I gathered together some star anaise, cloves and cinnamon.

I popped them in the pot with some apple juice.

I brought the juice to the boil slowly to infuse the juice.

Finally, I popped in a shot of the honey vodka that I brought home from India.

Other cocktails that I’ve brought to previous Fiesta Friday partys include
Elderflower Fizz…

And a Sparkly Cosmo

I’m bringing a tray of ‘welcome to the party’ winter warmers to the party… Happy Fiesta Friday!

Melissa xx

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Sunday Cashel Apple Crumble

It’s Sunday, a day of rest…  Yea right! I’m down at Mum and Dad’s house, a place that will always be a home away from home. They live outside the town of Cashel (meaning castle or fortress) in County Tipperary. It’s home to one of Ireland’s great historical sites the Rock of Cashel.

Towering over the town from its perch on a 200 foot high outcrop of limestone, the Rock was once the seat of the Kings of Munster. It was visited by St Patrick in 450 and Brian Boru was crowned King of Ireland here in the 10th century!

Back to present day; with bramley apples waiting for some magic this morning (and Daddy hinting at a crumble), I decided to make a crumble!

I adapted Delia Smith’s Apple and Almond recipe….

Ingredients:
1 kg Bramley apples
25 g light brown soft sugar  
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 level teaspoon nutmeg
Splash of lemon juice

For the crumble:  
110 g whole almonds
75 g chilled butter
175 g self-raising flour, sifted  
2 level teaspoons ground cinnamon 110 g demerara sugar

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C).

Delia’s tip on preparing the apples “I always find the best way to do this is to cut them first in quarters, then pare off the peel with a potato peeler and slice out the cores”.

Cut chunky slices and toss them in the sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves, (I also added a splash of lemon juice to stop the apples turning brown) then place them in the baking dish and put to one side.

Use a large bowl, rub the butter into the sifted flour until it resembles crumbs, then stir in the cinnamon, sugar and almonds, which should be fairly finely chopped by hand or bung all the crumble ingredients into a food processor and whizz!

Now simply sprinkle the crumble mixture all over the apples, spreading it right up to the edges of the dish, and, using the flat of your hands, press it down quite firmly all over; the more tightly it is packed together the crisper it will be. Then finish off by lightly running a fork all over the surface.

Bake the crumble on the centre shelf of the oven for 35-40 minutes, by which time the apples will be soft and the topping golden brown and crisp.

Leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving, then serve it warm with custard (Daddy says it must be custard)!!

Melissa xx