Fudge crumbles

I've been doing some more baking with my grandson, and we made these treats. He loves fudge! They looked so moreish we had to try them. I know they're calorific, but as a treat...! The recipe comes from a magazine supplement on biscuits.

50g flaked almonds and a few for the top
75g fudge, chopped
200g plain flour
1/2 tspn bicarb. of soda
125g butter
125g light muscovado sugar
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla essence

Preheat oven 180c/gas 4
Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Pur flour and bicarb. in a bowl and rub in butter till breadcrumbs. Stir in the almonds, fudge and sugar and mix together.
Whisk egg and vanilla and add to the fudge mixture and mix till blended.
Put large tbspns of mixture on sheet, leaving spaces between them. Put a flaked almond on top.
Bake for 12-15 mins.
Leave on tray for 10 mins then put onto a wire rack.

They really are moreish, but very sweet. You could taste the fudge, but I thought it would have some texture - maybe I chopped it too small.

There are lots of different types of fudge you could use; if I make them again, I'll try a honey fudge. They're quick to make and bake - a good biscuit to make with children.

Apple and almond tart

I have some apples to use up, so decided to hunt through my collection of apple recipes to find something different. This recipe is from a booklet I had many years ago in a magazine called 'Home and freezer Digest' which sadly no longer exists. I thought I'd also use this as my offering to Ruth's [of 'Pink Whisk'] October challenge -  to use apples in a recipe - which you'll find here

Pastry:

75g butter

175g plain flour

25g ground almonds

1 egg yolk

15ml cold water

1/4 tspn almond essence

Topping:

115g plain flour

1/2 tspn mixed spice

50g butter in cubes

50g light demerara sugar

50g flaked almonds

Filling:

675g cooking apples

25g sultanas

Preheat oven 190C/375F/gas5

I used a food processor to blend the flour and butter for the pastry, then stirred in the sugar and ground almonds. Whisk the egg yolk, water and almond essence together, then add them to the mixture and make into a nice soft dough. Put into the fridge for about 20 mins.

For the topping - put the flour and spice in a bowl, and rub in the butter.Add the sugar and almonds.

Roll the pastry out to fit a 23cm loose bottomed flan tin. I liked Mary Berry's advice on the GBBO masterclass last week - she took the base out of the flan tin, put it on the worktop and rolled the pastry out over it; you could see the base through the pastry so you had a good idea of the size you needed. I didn't try it! Let the pastry chill for about 1/4 hour.

Peel, core and slice the apples thinly then arrange them in circles in the pastry case. Sprinkle over the sultanas and almonds. The tart will seem very full, but the filling will drop a bit when cooking. Cover this with the topping, pressing it down lightly. Bake for 25-30 mins till top is golden and the apples are soft. Cool in tin for 10 mins. If you want, you can dust the top with icing sugar. I think it finishes it off.

We liked this very much; the contrast between the soft apple and the crunchy topping was delicious. One to add to my notebook. I also liked the slight almond flavour in the pastry.

White chocolate torte with cranberries and almonds

I first made this when we lived in France. It's a meringue mixture with an unusual combination of ingredients.

8 egg whites
200g caster sugar
250g white chocolate, chopped up
190g chopped almonds [skinned]
200g dried cranberries
40g sr flour
a little flour and fat for the cake tin

Preheat the oven 180C/350F/gas4

Lightly grease a 24cm cake tin and line the bottom with baking parchment. Flour this and shake out excess.
Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks and gradually add the sugar. Keep beating till it's firm and shiny. Put the chocolate, almonds and cranberries in a bowl and mix in the flour.
Add the egg whites to the chocolate mixture in two lots.
Spoon into the tin and bake in the oven for an hour. Half way through, if the top is getting too brown, cover it with some foil.
Turn the oven off, but leave the torte inside until it's completely cold.