How to Make Gâteau de Pommes - The Victorian Way

Finally! Let me have a look. Picked them myself, Mrs Crocombe. There won't be a bruise on them. Garden's finest. Good. They'll be perfect for my Gâteau de Pomme. I hope there's plenty more in storage. I plan to make a dish that requires whole apples, and for that one we need all the apples to be the same size. Of course, Mrs Crocombe. I must get on. Good day to you. Good day, Mrs Crocombe. I love this time of year. The orchards are full of apples. Some of the apples will be put down for next year. But at this time of year, I like to make my favourite recipe, Gâteau de Pomme, or apple cheese. In fact, I've made a copy of it in my own cookbook. For this recipe, you will need sugar, water, apples, lemons, sliced almonds, and for decoration, custard. First, you need to make a syrup out of the water and sugar, and then let it boil for about 15 minutes. Mary-Anne has already prepared the apples, so I shall add them now. There are many different types of apples, some that are very, very sweet, and some that are very, very sour. For this recipe, you need to be careful what sort you use. You don't want to use anything too tart or anything too sweet, and you certainly don't want to use anything that's bred specially for cooking. A non-such is ideal. The apples need to stew down until they're like a marmalade, which can take quite some time. But the mix needs to be really stiff. When you draw your spoon through the pan, the bottom needs to be visibly dry. Then you add your rind. Let the mix cool for a little while, and then line the mould. Now to fill the mould. What I love about this dish is that once it's in the mould, you can cover it with wax paper, and it'll keep for weeks. If you want it to keep for the winter, you just seal it with paraffin. It never lasts that long in this house. It will now sit on a shelf in the pantry, and it's perfect for those occasions when you were told there were 10 for dinner, but there are in fact 14. Now to put it somewhere cool. Once you're ready to serve it, you need to turn it out of the mould, and then decorate it. The receipt says you should use sliced almonds. I think they're the best thing. But I'm also going to use some of these flowers from this mint, because I think it's a nice contrasting colour. And there you are, Gâteau de Pomme, or apple cheese.