Cider Syllabub with Apple Crisps
From The Farmers’ Market Cookbook by Henrietta Green
Serves 4-6
For the apple crisps
100g (4oz) caster sugar
1 firm eating apple
Juice of 1 lemon
For the syllabub
300ml ( ½ pint) double cream
4 tablespoons medium-dry cider
2 tablespoons cider brandy
Caster sugar to taste
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Method
Preheat the oven to 125°C/250°F/gas mark ½
As they take a long time, make the apple crisps first. Dissolve the sugar n 50ml (2 fl oz) of water over a low heat and leave to cool slightly. Cut the eating apple into very thin round slices but do not bother either to peel or to core it. Dip them immediately into the lemon juice to prevent any discolouring, then, using a pastry brush, paint them all over and on both sides with the cooled sugar solution. Lay them out on a wire rack, so that the air can circulate all around them, and put them in the oven on the bottom shelf. Leave for 4 hours or until completely dry and crips but still pale.
To make the syllabub, put all the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Spoon into glasses and chill for a couple of hours before serving. Serve the syllabub decorated with the apple crisps.
The choice of cider makes all the difference to this syllabub’s flavour. For me, medium dry strikes the right note but if you are of sharper tooth, go for out-and-out dry. Whichever, it is the essence of apple and the headiness of alcohol that gives it its ‘wow’ factor. The addition of cider brandy intensifies the syllabub even further. This comes from Julian Temperley’s Somerset Cider Brandy Company and although he will probably never forgive me for saying so, is similar to a Calvados. He has recently launched a ten-year-old that is so smooth and silky and so intensely apple that you will never need to drink the French stuff again. Auch a treasure, however, is not to be wasted in a pudding; instead make it with his cheaper three-year-old, which is still pretty good.
Check out our Little Green Book on Falling for Apples on places to buy apples
More apple recipes to try...
Main Course
Rack of Pork with Cider and Apple Butter
Side Dishes
Braised Red Cabbage with Apple
Citrus Salad with Watercress and Apple
Puddings
Apple and Quince Souffle
Apple and Walnut Tart
Baked Apples
Caramel Apple Pavlova
Apple Bread
Jelly & Preserves
Apple and Plum Relish
Apple Sauce
Sloe and Crab Apple Jelly
Drinks
Wassail Cup