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Apple Crumble Pizza

There’s apple orchards all around my home town and they’ve been busy harvesting this week. My little tree has usable fruit for the first time too!

apple pizza (1 of 1)

So I have some nice fresh apples, and today I had a spare dough ball after making lunch. Apple pizza? Why not? Here’s what I used:

  • 2 large apples
  • 1 dough ball
  • 2 tbsp raw sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup flour

I didn’t have them handy but the pizza would have been even better with

  • walnuts
  • sultanas
  • cream to serve

Not that I need an excuse to use any kitchen gadget but I was glad to get a chance to use my apple peeling machine. When I first saw these I thought they were ridiculous. I was wrong. With this little baby I can peel, core and slice a kilo of apples in a few minutes.

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The apple peeling machine. You pull back the shaft and spear an apple…
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turn the handle, and a blade peels the skin and the apple is sliced and pushed through a corer…
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voila! Cored, peeled, sliced apple in seconds.

I put 1 tbsp butter in a non stick pan over medium heat and sautéed the sliced apple.

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After around 5 minutes it started to look a bit soft so I added 1 tbsp raw sugar and stirred until the sugar was all melted and caramelised. Then I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder, stirred and removed from the heat.

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Next I made a little crumble topping by mixing 1/2 cup flour with 2 tbsp sugar and 1 heaped tbsp butter. The trick is to cut the butter into little pieces and just rub it into the flour with your fingertips. It should form crumbly clumps.

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I shaped the dough ball into a base, scattered over the apple pieces and crumbled the crumble on top. If I had them I would have added a few sultanas and walnuts too.

The whole lot went onto a pizza stone, preheated for 30 minutes in a fan forced oven at 250C / 480F.

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I took it out after 6-7 minutes, when the crumble was brown and the edges of the apple nice and crispy. This was one of my best dessert pizzas – just wish I had some cream left to serve it with too!

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apple pizza (12 of 12)

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Fig, Walnut & Mascarpone Pizza with Pear

This pizza recipe is a bit of a different combination. You wouldn’t quite call it a dessert pizza, but is quite light and sweet and can definitely finish off a meal. I make my own plum sauce from our trees, and my sauce is quite light and tangy. If you can’t make your own, try an asian style plum sauce.

Ingredients

  • Plum Sauce
  • A small handful of Walnuts (freshly shelled makes a difference)
  • Mascarpone
  • Dried Figs
  • Honey (optional)
  • Thin slices of fresh Pear
  • Sugar
  • Lime juice

Method

  1. Drizzle plum sauce over your prepared pizza base. You don’t want the base totally covered.
  2. Drizzle some honey if using – just some thin swirls.
  3. Scatter the pizza with halved figs and halved walnut pieces.
  4. Finish with chunks of mascarpone – I use teaspoon sized pieces.
  5. Carefully slide into the preheated oven using your peel and bake until the crust is golden. Be careful with this one as the nuts can burn easily.
  6. While the pizza is cooking, slice your pear thinly and put the pieces in a bowl with the juice of one lime, and a teaspoon of sugar. Toss together to coat. When the pizza is cooked, finish by dressing with the slices of fresh pear and serve!