Apple financier with butterscotch, cider and russet apple jelly and cinnamon clotted cream
Ingredients (Serves four)
For the crispy sugar roll with raisin cream (makes about 10 sugar rolls) 250g sugar
200g glucose, optional
80g cocoa powder or chocolate, as available
20g raisins soaked in cider
100g whipped cream
30g butterscotch sauce
For the butterscotch sauce 110g sugar
170g cream
20g unsalted butter
For the cider and Russet apple jelly 2 Russet apples, peeled and finely diced (use any apple trimmings to flavour the cider jelly)
300ml cider
80g sugar (adjust to taste depending on the cider used)
1 egg white for clarifying, if needed, depending on the cider used
1 gelatine leaf
For the clotted cream for Russet apple jelly 100g clotted cream
10g sugar
20ml dark ale (optional)
Pinch of cinnamon
For the apple compote 2 Cox apples, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
60g honey
50ml cider
For the apple financier 100g unsalted butter, browned
70g almonds, ground
150g icing sugar
90g egg whites
Pinch of cinnamon powder or mixed spice
1 apple, cut into batons and caramelised with honey
Method
To make the crispy sugar roll filled with raisin whipped cream, cook sugar and glucose to 156°C then add cocoa or chocolate (small pieces) and beat it very fast. Allow to cool, set and harden. Place the hardened sugar into a liquidiser and blend to a very fine powder. Sprinkle this powder on to a Silpat mat and bake in the oven at 180°C until it bubbles and turns golden. Remove from the oven and shape while still hot into cylinders using a stencil or steel and allow to cool. Whip the cream stiff and fold in some of the butterscotch sauce and add the soaked raisins. Pipe this into the cylinders.
For the cider and Russet apple jelly, bring the cider and apple trimmings to the simmer and gently reduce to two-thirds. If it turns cloudy, whisk in the cold egg white and strain to clarify. Dissolve the gelatine in it, and just before it starts to set add the peeled and diced apple and set this in the glass three-quarters full.
Mix the clotted cream with a little sugar, dark ale and a pinch of cinnamon. Top the apple jelly with this.
To make the apple compote, peel and dice the apples into perfect 1cm cubes. In a hot frying pan, caramelise the honey and add the apples. Deglaze with a little cider.
Finally, for the apple financier, mix the almonds, icing sugar, cinnamon and egg whites and then add the cooled brown butter. Pour this mixture into a buttered and sugared 9cm x 3cm rectangular mould till about two-thirds full, then press the caramelised batons of apples lengthways into the mixture and bake at 180°C for about 8-10 minutes. Let it rest for a short time, then cut around the edges with a small knife to loosen the baked financier. Arrange on a plate and spoon on the apple compote.