Ginger apples with coconut biscuits and coconut cream
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Crunchy coconut biscuits, velvety ginger soaked apples and rich coconut cream. Dessert heaven.
The biscuits can be made ahead and will keep for a week in a sealed container. The apples are best made a day ahead so that they soften and absorb all the flavours. At minimum, they will need 4 hours to do this on top of the prep time.
Ingredients
For the apples
- 150g caster sugar
- 200ml water
- ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 6cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
- 4 cox apples
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
For the biscuits
- 40g caster sugar
- 125g unsalted butter, softened
- 160g plain flour
- 20g Horlicks powder, or other malted milk powder
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 40g desiccated coconut
- Salt
- 30g flaked almonds
For the coconut cream
- 120g cold coconut cream (ie, 2 x 160ml tins), water reserved for other recipes
- 50ml double cream
- 50g soured cream
Method
For the apples
- Put the sugar and water in a saucepan on a medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, swirling the pan, until the sugar has dissolved, then add the vanilla, ginger and fennel seeds, and boil for about three minutes, until the syrup thickens slightly. Set aside to cool.
- Peel and core the apples, keeping the fruit whole, then cut into 2mm-thick rounds and stir into the syrup. Add the lemon juice and leave to steep for at least four hours, and preferably overnight, to soften, stirring every once in a while.
- Set a sieve over a small pan, then drain the apples; you should end up with about 250ml of the syrup mix. Bring to a boil on a high heat and cook for about six minutes, swirling the pan often, until there is about 80ml thick syrup left in the pan. Turn off the heat and leave to cool.
For the biscuits
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Put the sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat for two to three minutes, until pale and fluffy, then add the flour, Horlicks, fennel seeds, ginger, coconut and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, and beat for a few minutes more, starting on slow and increasing the speed, until the dough holds together when you press it between two fingers. Stir in the almonds, bring the dough together in a ball, then place between two 40cm-wide sheets of baking paper.
- Gently roll into a 2-3mm-thick rectangle about 28cm x 32cm. Peel off the top layer of paper, lift the dough on to a large baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, until dark golden brown. Leave to cool a little, then break into 5cm-long shards.
For the coconut cream
- Put all three creams in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place, add a pinch of salt and whisk on high for two to three minutes, until thick but light.
To serve, divide the apples between six bowls and arrange three or four biscuit shards to one side of the fruit. Spoon a generous dollop of the cream mix alongside and serve with a tablespoon of syrup drizzled over each portion.
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