Apple and caramel dumplings, I think
Sometimes, just every so often, you try out a recipe and it is just plain wrong… I had never before have that happen with a Donna Hay recipe, so I guess kudos to their team for testing most of their recipes. And I say ‘most’ because the recipe I picked for this months Donna Hay Challenge is certainly NOT right. I was alerted to the problems initially by Laura from the blog Tiramisu who had tested it to see how it would look and it turned out the caramel sauce stayed far too watery to be considered a sauce. So I tested it too and indeed, it was nowhere near the right consistency of a sauce. Plus, due to the watery nature of the caramel the dumplings became very soggy in the oven.
So I thought about it, tweeted a bit here and there with Jenn, Astrid and Alessio and I decided in the end I would split up the components of the recipe and make them separate. I still had some dough leftover from the dumplings, so I used those to make 5 small dumplings and baked them in the oven for about 25 minutes. I poached the apples on the stove in a mixture of sugar, verjuice and water with cinnamon, cardamom, staranise and cloves and made an orange caramel sauce to go over the finished product.
Too sweet!
And while all the separate components worked really well this time, the end product was too sweet. Initially I thought that I should have poached the apples in a sugarless solution but I don’t think that the apples were the problem. The caramel, while delicious, would probably be better for an creamy dessert. The dumplings soaked it up quite well so they too, became too sweet. Pfft, what to do now? I’m thinking the solution might be to change the water qty in the original caramel recipe (which was great in taste, just too soggy) and add the butter into the caramel at a later stage. Anyone any thought on how to resolve this? It’s quite a tasty recipe otherwise, it’s just too soggy, that’s all…
I will share my take on the recipe with you below but first let me get into the photo process here. Based on the original photo I used a table with backlighting as you can see in my setup. Apart from the obvious differences in props for me the biggest difference is the texture. The recipe does not state to add sugar to the dumplings but that is clearly what they did in the photo. Also I did not have small apples, so I used bigger ones and cut them. As soon as you poach apples, either in the oven or in a pan the color starts leeking out of them. So while they were quite red at the start; it soon turned rather yellow. I wish I had small apples and if I do manage to find them I might make this again.
Donna vs mine
See how the texture of the sugar on the dumplings and the more wrinkled appearance of the small apples adds a really pleasing contrast to the tin they serve the apples in? In my photo it is all too smooth. Also because I did not want to overcook the apples and have no color at all left.
To reflect some of the light back onto the apples I used my foamboard wrapped with aluminium foil plus the lid of a pan. I could not – for the live of me – find my reflector, so that is probably still in the studio.. 
See my messy table and the reflecting lid of the pan
I will now share how I prepared this, but for the original recipe best look at the Donna Hay post. I would love to hear your thoughts on the recipe and the problems you encountered while cooking it!
I used the recipe for the dumplings as per the original, but baked them separately in the oven at 180C for 25 minutes.
I poached the apples in a liquid containing verjuice and water, about 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 staranise, 5 cardamom pods (crushed) and 3 cloves. I brought the liquid to the boil, added the apples and simmered for about 15 minutes.
Apple and caramel dumplings
Yield: 4-6
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr
Ingredients:
- 300g self-raising flour (sifted)
- 45g brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 150g butter (cold, chopped)
- 125ml milk
- 12 small apples (red)
caramel sauce
- 60g butter
- 265g brown sugar
- 625ml water
Directions:
| Preheat oven to 180 C (320 F). To make the caramel sauce, place the butter, sugar and water in a large, heavy-based saucepan over high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat and set aside. | |
| Place the flour, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and stir to combine. Ad the butter and, using your fingertips, rub it into the flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add the milk, stirring until a dough forms. Divide the dough into 6 round pieces, place into the caramel mixture and top with the apples. Bake for 30 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked when tested with a skewer. | |
Note
the size of the apples used in this recipe is really fairly small. There is another image in the magazine where they show a spoon in the pan and the apple is just slightly bigger then the spoon. You can actually see it already on the spoon in the image.. Just thought I mention it!
I just received an email from Laura at Tiramisu who tested the recipe and wanted to let you know that it seems there might be some issues with the qty's in the recipe. Twelve apples seems to be too much for the recipe, as well as the size of the dumplings if making the stated amount of 6 will mean it is going to be ridiculously big. Also the sugar vs water qty's for the caramel sauce appears to be strange as Laura did not get anything resembling caramel. I will be testing the recipe this week too to see how it goes. Any changes will be reported here! Let me know if you run into issues!
PS2: I tested the recipe myself and it does seem that there is something wrong with the caramel qty's. If you still want to make this recipe (and it is quite tasty!) then I would suggest you use an alternative caramel recipe. I made 5 smaller dumplings and already halved the qty's for the dough. So you'll be having leftovers, but that's not so bad. I tried cooking the caramel separately but it just does not thicken. So if you have a caramel sauce recipe you trust; feel free to use that. You can also leave a comment here with your recipe if you want...
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Lovely Simone! Yeah I’ve never gotten such wrinkly apples by poaching, I’m thinking the apples must’ve been roasted to appear in the photo to some extent. I’m thinking in this particular image the apples were merely serving as a prop? They are not even cored which is def. not how one would serve them… And you are totally right about the dumplings being sugared. Love your interpretation with that orange caramel sauce though, yum!
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 10th, 2011 at 15:35
No I know. I would never serve an apple with core intact but it would look nicer in the photo if you would use small ones that is. The orange caramel was delicious but as mentioned, the total was a bit too sweet!
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Jenn — November 10th, 2011 at 15:37
my in-laws have a gorgeous orchard in my hometown, will have to see what kinds of apples I can get!
Interesting and really comforting! Delicious seasonal food and great shot.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 10th, 2011 at 15:35
Thanks Rosa!
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hmm, I still have no idea what to do with that recipe… but I love your photo!
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 11th, 2011 at 08:48
I know. It’s not the best recipe I could have picked. Will do better for next time!
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Astrid — November 11th, 2011 at 09:36
No! Your pick was awesome. It’s not your fault that it does not work like it says it should. ;o)
Great recipe for use of apples.And it is good when something goes wrong to elt us know so that we can try to change it;)
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 11th, 2011 at 08:49
And it keeps us on our toes so we don’t get lazy and expect all recipes to work..
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What a recipe! It looks delicious! Lovely shots too. Yum!
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 11th, 2011 at 08:49
Thanks Russel!
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I love the idea of this dish Simone and do find it odd that one of Donna Hays recipes did not work out but she does have a lot of recipes :0) so I can see how one would get away.
I think hers cooked longer than stated because her apples look so much more ‘cooked’ . Yours
does look good though. Must be that very cute little pot!
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 11th, 2011 at 20:12
I was also shocked as I have made sooo many of Donna’s recipe and each and every single one of them was always right until now. The recipe was technically not hers but still… glad she’s human after all..
I was talking to Jenn earlier and it looks more like the apples in the original are roasted rather then poached but it still is good. Although to sweet..
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Don’t you hate it when a recipe doesn’t turn out the way you want to?! I have to say: your apple and caramel dumplings look really pretty. The apples may not be wrinkled, but I like the way they look in your version!
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 11th, 2011 at 20:14
Thanks Denise; it doesn’t look one bit like the original but hey, what can you do? And yes, I hate it when a recipe is not right. It’s fairly easy to correct in cooking as you ad spices etc while cooking but with baking it’s always trickier!
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Gorgeous Simone, as always!!! Isn’t it frustrating when you try a recipe only for it to look nothing like the original. I have had this happen a few times, but not with any of Donna’s recipes I’ve tried so far.
I was thinking the same as Jenn, the apples must have been roasted to get that wrinkly texture.
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I must say that after reading your review of the recipe, I’m a little hesitant to try it out! But I think your version came out beautifully even if your apples did not turn out like the DH cover. Love learning from everyone’s experiences thus far. I just acquired 10lbs of small Pink Lady apples — will see if they get the job done.
p.s. Love the pot you used. Where is it from?
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Looks gorgeous!!! ha ha never thought of using a lid for reflector. now my lid has another use
i envy you copper pan.
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Simone (junglefrog) — November 15th, 2011 at 08:52
Haha… I just have to be careful not to use it too often!
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