There is nothing quite like finishing a delicious meal and asking, “What’s for dessert?” Luckily, I have two personal favourites that are guaranteed to impress and which are easy enough to try out in the comfort of your own kitchen. These recipes - crème brûlée and apple turnover - are rich, comforting, and bring a nostalgic warmth with every bite. Plus, we all know the best part of baking your own desserts is filling your home with an irresistible, sweet aroma. If you’re feeling daring, you may as well try making both recipes. Now, who’s ready for seconds?
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Read more: Spice up your family’s comfort food - Niall McKenna
Crème Brûlée
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
- 750ml of single cream
- 1 vanilla pod, split and with the seeds scraped
- 6 egg yolks
- 75g of caster sugar
- 75g of white sugar for topping
Method
- Start by preheating the oven to 160C.
- Place the cream and the vanilla seeds into a saucepan and heat on a medium heat until it is brought to the boil. Once bubbling, remove from heat.
- In a clean bowl, put in egg yolks and caster sugar and then whisk until combined.
- Add the egg yolks and caster sugar to the boiled cream mixture and then place on medium heat. Stir this continuously for 5 minutes until it becomes a custard. Then, strain into a bowl and set this aside.
- Lay out some crème brûlée dishes and pour the custard mix inside. Then, sit the dishes on a larger roasting tray. Add some hot water to the tray to create a bain-marie. Bake for 30 minutes or until the custard is set.
- Once cooked, remove the tray from the oven and place it in the fridge to set. When ready to serve, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar on top of the crème brûlées and use a blow torch to caramelise the sugar. If you don’t have a blowtorch, use the highest setting on the grill and leave it under until caramelised.
- Be careful as the dishes will be hot.
- Serve and enjoy.
Read more: Soups that will become a family staple - Niall McKenna’s recipes
Apple Turnover
Ingredients
(Serves 6)
- 1 tsp of fennel seeds
- 3 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and roughly diced
- 25g butter
- 1 lemon of finely grated zest
- 375g of puff pastry
- 75g of golden caster sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp of milk
Read more: Autumn tastes good with Niall McKenna’s seasonal recipes
Method
- Start by preheating the oven to 200C.
- Place the butter in a pot on a medium heat and let it melt, adding in the apple, the zest of lemon and a tablespoon of water. Cook this until the apples are soft, which should take approximately 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and place the pot to the side.
- Flour your work surface and then begin to roll out the puff pastry until it is about ½ cm thick. The puff pastry should then be cut into 6 squares.
- Place a tablespoon of the apple mixture in the middle of each square and sprinkle with 1 heaped tablespoon of caster sugar. Brush the edges of the puff pastry with water and fold one corner of the pastry over from one side to another. Press the ends together and make a small hole on the top of the triangle to let the steam escape when cooking. Repeat this process until all 6 pastries are ready.
- Place the apple turnovers onto a large baking sheet lined with non-stick baking paper.
- With the egg yolk beaten, add in the milk and beat again. Brush this over the pastries and dust with the remaining caster sugar.
- Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until golden and puffed. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool.
- Serve and enjoy.
- You can add rhubarb to the mix of apple to enhance the flavours, based on taste preferences.
