The Friday list and an apple curd

• The Edible Selby book will be released soon but in the meantime we have this
• Orange’s Frostfest starts in a couple of weeks! Here’s the program…don’t miss our events 
• I love Eat this Poem’s latest post 
• Classic vanilla and chocolate puddings over at Chasing Delicious 
• These honey yogurt mousse with raspberry coulis and shortbread biscuits by Tartellette would be sweet for Alice’s upcoming birthday party
• The Food Dept’s latest slow cooking post is just amazing, I can’t wait to try their 20-hour apple cake
• Mum and Dad just returned from a trip to Tasmania and a day at the incredible Agrarian Kitchen. Tim and I are now saving our pennies for a trip there too. It looks and sounds so wonderful
• I can’t get enough of Mimi Thorisson’s blog and am hoping to make this trifle for Tim’s birthday on Sunday but use poached pears and frozen berries
• Everyone loves a loaf cake, especially a rosemary one with a zingy lemon icing
• Our chickens would like a coop like this 
• This rhubarb cardamom pie would be nice for pudding tonight. 
• Anourak is a seriously awesome magazine for kids aged 6-12. I just received their Food is Fun book and look forward to reading it with Ali this weekend.

My posts elsewhere this week
An easy and tender pumpkin and beef casserole on Village Voices
Date, walnut and chocolate power balls on Justb
Slow-roasted pork and Paling Yards Grove olive oil over at the Country Style blog
A 20-minute weekend supper menu

 Apple and lemon curd

Still using up my haul of lemons from last week….this recipe comes from The River Cottage’s Preserves Handbook by Pam Corbin. I’d never heard of using apples in a lemon curd before but the results are just beautiful. The original recipe calls for Bramley apples which we can’t source here so Granny Smith’s are the next best thing. And Pam is right when she writes it’s like eating an apple custard. I love that this recipe uses the whole egg, that it always sets perfectly, and mostly how good it tastes spooned over Greek yogurt or a gingerbread loaf cake.

450g Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 unwaxed lemons (you need 100ml strained juice)
125g unsalted butter
450g granulated sugar
4–5 large eggs, well beaten (you need 200ml beaten egg)

Put the chopped apples into a pan with 100ml water and the lemon zest. Cook

gently until soft and fluffy, then either beat to a purée with a wooden spoon or rub
through a nylon sieve. Put the butter, sugar, lemon juice and apple purée into a double boiler or heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture is hot and glossy, pour in the eggs through a sieve, and whisk with a balloon whisk. If the fruit purée is too hot when the beaten egg is added, the egg will ‘split’. One way to guard against this is to check the temperature of the purée with a sugar thermometer – it should be no higher than 55–60°C when the egg is added. If your curd does split, take the pan off the heat and whisk vigorously until smooth.

Stir the mixture over a gentle heat, scraping down the sides of the bowl every few minutes, until thick and creamy. This will take 9–10 minutes; the temperature should reach 82–84°C on a sugar thermometer. Immediately pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal. Use within 4 weeks. Once opened, keep in the fridge.