Apples are absolutely fantastic during the Autumn months, with the Australian apple harvesting season runs from February to May, make sure you get around to your local grocer and try some of Australia’s beautiful apple varieties! Apples are grown in all Australian states, but the Victorian climate is the best!
Best apples in May
Braeburn – sweet & tart, great in pies, salads and sauces
Pink Lady – sweet & crisp, excellent in pies, salads and sauces
Granny Smith – crisp & tart flavour, perfect for baking, salads, sauces or pies
Jazz – tangy and sweet flavour
Sundowner – a great snacking apple and perfect for baking
Jonagold – perfect apple for cooking
Fuji – sweeter variety which is great in salads, pies and sauces
Apple Baklava with Fig Puree
Recipe by Linda Wells
2 medium size, good shaped apples
½ cup Brazil nuts
½ cup Pecan nuts
2 Tablespoons Agave, Maple Syrup or Honey
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon powder
1/8 teaspoon Clove powder*
Syrup
1 Teaspoon Agave, Maple Syrup or Honey (whatever you used above, use here)
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
Fig Puree
1 cup Dried Figs, soaked and hard stem removed
1 cup orange juice
blend together and store in fridge
*Clove Powder is made by placing 1 Tablespoon of whole cloves into a rocket blender and blending into a powder.
Slice Apples on a Mandolin for even sized slices – you will need 4 slices per plate, as in picture above. Using a food processor with an ‘s’ blade, process Nuts, Cinnamon and Clove Powders until mixture is like breadcrumbs. Add the sweetener and process to combine.
In a large pyrex glass dish, start to put together your Baklava stacks. A slice of apple, followed by a spoonful of nut mixture, spread out to the rim of the apple and pressed down, topped with a slice of apple etc until you have used the four apple slices.
Mix the syrup ingredients until combined and pour over the apple stacks. Place completed stacks in the fridge until needed, or if it is a cold day, you might like to dehydrate these for an hour before serving to warm and soften the apple, or in a gentle warm oven. Serve with a spoonful of the Fig Puree.
Linda also has a fabulous recipe for a raw apple pie which you must check out, download Linda’s Windfall Apple Pie with Cranberries & Ginger here!
About Linda
Linda Wells is a raw fooder on the NSW mid north coast who teaches raw food classes and provides an Eat Right At Work class to organisations who focus on healthy employees. www.itsuptoyou.com.au
