Harvesting The Fruits

At my parents-in-law's house there is a lovely old apple tree which bears an enormous amount of apples every other year. For some reason the tree has made a fruit-bearing break for two years in a row and this year we are blessed with so many apples that we truly and honestly don't know what to do with them...

We (particularly my Mum-in-law) are making jam, fruit pies, apple tarts, apple&cinnamon muffins... you name it, we make it! Or not - any new ideas?

Apart from the apples, there is an abundance of red currants, raspberries, cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes... We are truly blessed. As we share the riches of the earth with our family and friends, we get plenty in return.

The other day we got some greengages. We decided to make greengage jam. The result of our efforts can be seen in the above pics.

The bottom pic is a delicious fruit pie called 'A-la-carte tart'. It's dead-easy to make. I found the recipe in a glossy magazine (Country Living? She? Can't remember.) several years ago and I've been making it ever since. I always use whatever fruit I have at hand, but the original recipe is meant for apples or pears. The one below is made with apples & greengages. Would you like to give it a try?

A-la-carte tart

4 - 5 large ripe apples or pears & 1tbsp fresh lemon juice

For the batter:

80g self-raising flour
80g vanilla sugar
60ml groundnut oil
120ml milk
2 large eggs
pinch salt

plus: 60g butter & a little caster sugar

1. Peel, core and slice the apples or pears. Sprinkle with lemon juice, turning the slices over. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/C (400 degrees/F) gas mark 6.

2. Mix the batter ingredients in the order given. Grease a 25cm flan or shallow baking dish and pour in the batter. Arrange the apples or pears on top. Dot with butter and sprinkle evenly with a little caster sugar.

3. Bake for about 50 minutes or until golden and risen with bits of apple / pear showing through.

It's yummy!