September 02, 2016
I don’t know where the time has gone this year and so I can hardly believe we are into the first week of September with thoughts of apple pressing creeping into my consciousness.
For the last couple of years we have cajoled our fellow villagers to save all their apple crop so that we can press a village blend, which so far has been delicious, all golden and sweet; Maya’s idea of heaven. It can seem a hassle to collect all of the new windfall and store them as carefully as possible in the boxes, to ensure they sustain as few bruises as possible, but when you come to all joining in, up at the kitchen garden of a weekend later in the fall and creating something so refreshing and unique, the effort feels worth it.
Hopefully, this year we will be as lucky as the last, for the apple juice also simmered down to a wonderful thick apple syrup, with which to poach other fruits in. From plums to blackberries, greengages to fresh figs, all of which are wonderful as a topping for ice cream. You can also use it to jazz up homemade, blousy, white meringue cases full of crème fraîche - the simplest pudding to throw together when unexpected guests arrive.
