Be just the sweetest thing
Spiced apple, maple & walnut slice
This is a simple recipe with stunning traditional flavours. The smell of it baking may take you back to your childhood, with its combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and butter.
Topping
cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon tsp ground nutmeg cup walnut pieces, roasted*
Filling
3 apples, peeled, cored and
thinly sliced
2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp maple syrup
Batter
250g butter, melted
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
11⁄ cups milk
2
3 eggs
21⁄ cups self-raising flour
2
1 cup caster sugar
Extra cup maple syrup
Heat oven to 160C. Grease and line a large metal baking tin, about 30cm x 20cm.
Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl. Mix all the filling ingredients in another bowl.
Place all the batter ingredients in another large bowl and whisk well to combine.
Pour half the batter into the prepared tin then arrange the apple filling over it. Spread remaining batter mixture on top. Sprinkle topping mixture over top then pour over the extra maple syrup.
Bake 50-55 minutes, or until cooked. Cooled slightly then cut into pieces and serve warm with cream or icecream. Serves 10-12.
* To roast the walnuts, spread them on a baking tray and bake at 150C for 10-15 minutes. Cool completely before using.
Rose & almond rocky road
This is the perfect treat to give as a gift. It delivers so much more than you imagine three ingredients could. The trick is to roast the almonds to bring out their best flavour.
750g chocolate (half milk and
half dark is good)
300g rose-flavoured Turkish
delight 160g raw almonds, roasted*,
or bought roasted almonds Dried edible rose petals for
decoration
Grease and line a 20cm-square slice tin.
Place chocolate in a double boiler or small bowl set over a pot of boiling water and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Slice Turkish delight into chunks and roughly chop the roasted almonds. Place half the Turkish delight and nuts into the prepared slice tin and pour over half the chocolate. Shake the tray to allow the chocolate to spread evenly, then repeat with the remaining Turkish delight, nuts and chocolate. Give it a shake again to smooth it over then sprinkle with rose petals.
Place in the fridge for a few hours to set before cutting. Makes about 30 pieces.
* To roast the almonds, spread them on a baking tray and bake at 150C for 10-15 minutes. Cool completely before using.
Lemon custard shortcake
There is nothing lovelier than the perfect sweet-tangy lemon slice. This version includes custard powder, making it melt in your mouth that little bit more.
2 cups plain flour, plus 2 tbsp extra for topping
cup custard powder
1 tsp baking powder
cup sugar
200g butter, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
11⁄ cups lemon honey, bought 2 or homemade (see below)
Heat oven to 180C. Grease a slice tin, approx. 27cm x 17cm.
Place 2 cups flour, custard powder, baking powder, sugar, butter and lemon zest in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles rough crumbs.
Add eggs and process until mixture forms a ball. Press twothirds of the mixture over the base of prepared tin. Spread lemon honey evenly over top.
Mix 2 tbsp flour into remaining mixture and, using your hands, roughly crumble this over the curd. Bake 25-30 minutes or until slice is cooked through.
Allow slice to cool and set before cutting. Makes about 18 pieces.
Quick Lemon Honey
Whisk together 4 eggs and 11⁄ cups
2 sugar in a large pot. Add 100g butter, cut into small pieces, and the zest and juice of 2 lemons. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth, thick and creamy. Cool completely before using.
Makes 3 cups.
Frost zones
In areas prone to frosts, have frost cloth ready to place over susceptible plants, such as young citrus, passion fruit and hibiscus. Failing frost cloth, a few sheets of newspaper, or an old sheet (the thinner and more worn the better) may be thrown over for the night. Put on just before the sun leaves the area to trap in any heat from the ground and remove in the morning to let the plants get maximum sunlight and warmth.
Frost-susceptible plants growing in containers should be moved to shelter – under eaves or a tree.
Get to know your garden’s frost zones, such as dips in the land or spots enclosed by fences and hedges. Anywhere cold air gets trapped increases the risk of damage, so avoid planting tender species there. Such species do best against a north-facing wall, anywhere sunny. Feijoas, for example, will stop ripening after a frost, so choose their position with thought.
Some plants need the cold. Apricots, for example, fruit way better in cooler zones. And a decent cold snap will help kill off pests such as thrips.
Those in frost-prone zones might do well to put their hoses away under shelter, preferably in a shed or garage. Repetitive freezing will shorten the hose’s life.
Edibles
Rhubarb may be divided and replanted now. Lift crowns and chop into pieces with a sharp spade, ensuring each piece has at least two buds and some roots. Add plenty of manure (fresh is fine for rhubarb) and compost into soil before replanting. Top dress existing rhubarb plants with manure and compost.
Broad beans may still be sown in soils that are not too heavy.
After fruiting, cut raspberries’ old fruiting canes to ground level.
Ornamentals
Keep weeding. The warm autumn has meant weeds have continued to grow. After weeding, mulch with organic matter. It will not suppress all weeds but any that make their way through are easy enough to pull out. Or, try reaching under the mulch and brush the soil surface with your hand or a hand trowel to disrupt weed seedlings.
Do not weed out all stinging nettles as they are a good food source for two of our native butterflies, the red and yellow admirals.
Plant roses.
– Mary Lovell-Smith hospital, everything that her parents had ever told her of their past lives had been false.
Everything is Lies is well told, although the characters are a little wooden. The novel’s main strength, however, rests in the way it shows how easy it is to be drawn in by charm and charisma and to lose one’s personal integrity to the power of a cult. Then comes the near-impossibility of breaking away from it.
Put this together with a cleverly surprising ending, and Helen Callaghan’s second crime novel is likely to be as successful as her first: Dear Amy.
– Ken Strongman