Baked Apple Dumplings

In conjunction with our 'Lost Victorian City' exhibition, we've dug into the archives to recover some of the tastes of Victorian London. Some might be familiar, others less so, but we'll have fun along the way!

The Recipe

The following recipe comes from an 1889 publication called "Instruction in Cookery" published by the School Board for London, it required some alterations to be made!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb. of Flour
• 1/4 lb. of Dripping
• 1/2 teaspoonful of Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoonful of Salt
• 6 Apples (Sugar and Cloves to taste)
• Water

Method: -

Peel the apples and core them, if possible, without quartering the apples.

Short crust: - Mix flour, salt, and baking powder in a basin, then rub in the dripping, add cold water to make it in a light, firm paste. Put it on a floured board; flour it, roll it out a 1/4 inch thick; cut it into rounds; put an apple on each round; fill with sugar and two cloves; work the paste smoothly over the apples; place on a greased tin; bake in a hot oven from 1/2 hour to 3/4 hour, according to size; when done put the dumplings on a hot dish with a slice, sprinkle with castor sugar; serve hot or cold.

Time, 1 1/4 hour.

The experience

We changed a few things in the recipe as we had very large bramley apples from the tree, so four were enough! Although we didn't keep them whole either and quartered them up. Butter was used instead of dripping. The measurements were roughly equal to 340g flour, 113g butter and half a cup of water for the pastry. Ground cloves were used instead of whole ones. The oven was set at 175 degrees and and cooked for 30 minutes with it being turned down to 160 degrees in the last 15 minutes.

Verdict

It smelt amazing whilst cooking and best served hot with cream! Upon reflection the pastry could have been made a bit thinner or might be nice to make with filo pastry. The pastry also burst open at the top on some of them!

The smell of the cloves and their taste reminded me of my grandfather when he used to bake.

Historical Context

During the 1880s the Victorians were trying to produce apples that would be suited to cooking and much debate was undertaken at the National Apple Congress at Chiswick in 1883. Bramley apples were originally produced in Southwell, Nottingham.

Blossom of the apple trees! Mossy trunks all gnarled and hoary, Grey boughs tipped with rose-veined glory, Clustered petals soft as fleece, Garlanding old apple trees!

Why not try the recipe yourself and let us know how it went on social media by using, #LostVictorianCityRecipes.