Читать книгу Entertaining at Home - Rachel Allen - Страница 48

Apple snow with shortbread biscuits

This fantastically light meringue dessert is very quick to prepare, especially if you make the purée in advance and then just fold it into the whisked egg whites at the last minute. Eat on its own or with the shortbread biscuits. Once made, you can store these in a tin-if there are any left over! This recipe contains raw eggs, which should be avoided by pregnant women, the very young and the very old.

SERVES 6 VEGETARIAN

450g (1lb) cooking apples, such as Bramley, peeled, cored and cut into chunks

175g (6oz) caster sugar

2 egg whites

Shortbread biscuits (see below), to serve

1 Place the apple chunks and sugar in a large saucepan with 100ml (3½fl oz) water, cover with a lid and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes or until the apples are quite soft. Remove the lid and continue to simmer for another 3–4 minutes or until the apples are quite mushy and all the liquid has evaporated.

2 Remove from the heat, allow to cool a little, then whiz in a blender or food processor for a few minutes to make into a purée. Taste the purée to make sure it is sweet enough, adding a little more sugar if needed. It should be slightly sweeter than you want it to be eventually as its flavour will be diluted by the egg whites. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool.

3 When you are ready to serve, whisk the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the apple purée. Serve in glass bowls or glasses with the shortbread biscuits on the side.

Shortbread biscuits

MAKES ABOUT 25 BISCUITS VEGETARIAN

150g (5oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g (2oz) caster sugar

100g (3½oz) butter, softened

Icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4.

2 Place the flour and sugar in a large bowl, rub in the butter then bring the mixture together to form a stiff dough, or just whiz all the ingredients together briefly in a food processor until almost combined.

3 Pat out the dough into a round about 2cm (¾in) thick, then cover with greaseproof paper or cling film and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes. On a work surface lightly dusted with flour, roll out the dough to about 5mm (¼in) thick and cut into shapes — round, square, rectangular, heart-shaped, whatever takes your fancy. Place carefully on 2 baking sheets (no need to grease or line) and cook in the oven for 6–10 minutes or until pale golden.

4 Take out of the oven and allow to sit on the baking sheets for a few seconds to firm up slightly (don’t leave them any longer or they will stick). Transfer to a wire rack to cool, then dust with icing sugar if eating with the Apple Snow.