The last of the Feijoas - with Granny Smiths in a shortcake

Feijoa's can be a little divisive: people tend to either love or hate them in equal measure. It is no secret that Little Miss and I love them. In a world where you can buy any kind of imported fruit and vegetables at any time of year, there is a great joy in these completely seasonal, utterly New Zealand, green treats. I'm sure if they were available all year round they wouldn't have such an appeal. Anyway, as the season comes to an end, I'm doing my best to make the most of these fabulous fruit before they disappear again for another 10 months.  

This recipe makes the most of another couple of seasonal treats, the walnut and the Granny Smith apple. I've put walnuts in the pastry to add texture and a nutty flavour, and the Granny Smiths make a great tart dessert apple. 

Feijoa and Granny Smith Shortcake with Walnut Pastry. 

for the pastry:
300g plain flour
200g butter
100g brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
4 tablespoons cold water

for the filling
3 Granny Smith apples
6 to 7 medium sized feijoas
the juice of half a lemon
3 tablepoons caster sugar
3 tablespoons raw sugar - for sprinkling on top of the shortcake

Using a kitchen whizz, blend the flour, butter and brown sugar until well mixed. 
The mixture will resemble crumbs. Add the walnuts, and briefly blend - you don't want to cut the walnuts up too finely. 

With the motor of the kitchen whizz running, add the water and blend until it starts to come away from the sides of the bowl - as shown.


This can be made by hand: mix the dry ingredients together, rub in the butter using your fingertips. Add the finely chopped walnuts, then blend together with the water. 

Either method, don't overmix! Wrap the pastry in plastic food wrap and chill for at least half an hour. The pastry will keep quite happily in the fridge for a couple of days, so it is easily made in advance. 

Preheat the oven to 190deg. C. 
Line a medium sized baking dish with baking paper. 

Roll the pastry out before preparing the fruit as both the feijoas and apples will brown once peeled. 

Roll the pastry between two large sheets of plastic food wrap. You may need to use a couple of sheets overlapped. It should be about 5 to 6mm thick once rolled. 

Take the plastic wrap from the top of the pastry and invert it into the lined tin. Ease it into the corners, then trim around the top of the tin. Cover and chill in the fridge while preparing the fruit. 

Peel, quarter and slice the Granny Smiths. 

Prepare them one at a time and immerse in a bowl of water with the lemon juice added. This stops them going brown. 









Prepare the feijoas by cutting the tops and tails off, then parring the skin off each one. 

Slice into rounds, then place in a small bowl with the caster sugar to prevent browning. 









Arrange the apple slices and feijoa rounds onto the chilled pastry. It doesn't have to be super neat, just squeeze them all in. Spoon the left over feijoa sugar and juice over the apple slices. 








Cut the pastry that was trimmed from the tin into strips and arrange them on top. 

Sprinkle with the raw sugar crystals and bake for 40 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. The pastry needs to be baked quite brown to ensure the bottom is cooked and not soggy!

We took half the pie over to share with our neighbours as a thank you for lending us their trailer. It was getting late, so our Little Miss put a dress on over her pyjamas!

Apple, Feijoa and Raspberry Crumble Recipe

The leaves are turning and the easterly wind is getting bitey. My summer wardrobe and I are in denial, and it's down to the few rays of bright sunlight that grace us each day to keep the winter at bay. Time to turn to the warmth of a more substantial autumnal pudding and the last of the summer raspberries. 

Apple, Feijoa and Raspberry Crumble

The fruit:
4 granny smith apples
4 feijoas
1 cup frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

The crumble:

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats - use the whole ones rather than the quick oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

100g butter - melted

Make the crumble topping first: Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, spice and salt in a bowl. Mix in the melted butter. The mixture should look like sandy crumbs.

Now prepare the fruit: Peel, core and slice the apples. Sprinkle the fruit with the caster sugar and cinnamon. 

The sugar will sweeten the fruit and stop it from discolouring. 

Peel and slice the feijoas, and mix them into the apples and sugar with the frozen raspberries. 

Place the fruit into an oven proof dish and top with enough crumble mixture to form a generous coating. Any left over crumble mix can be frozen for later use. It doesn't require thawing so can be used as a quick and tasty dessert solution. 






Bake in a hot oven - about 190deg. C - until it starts to turn golden and the fruit is bubbling at the sides of the dish.

We served ours with cream and ice cream. 

At last, a great Feijoa Cake!

I'm the first to admit that sometimes a recipe just doesn't turn out the way I intended. My first attempt at formulating a feijoa cake wasn't much to write home. Despite the kind and forgiving assurances of my friends, I just knew I wasn't going to be making that one again. And so, after a little digging in the recipe archive - an old folder I've had since I was a teenager, I found an old apple cake recipe I could convert. I added crystallised ginger for a little zing and walnuts for texture.

Feijoa, Ginger and Walnut Cake
1 cup peeled and sliced feijoa
1 cup caster sugar
120g butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 cup walnuts - sliced
1/2 cup sultanas
1/4 cup crystallised ginger - finely sliced



Preheat the oven to 180deg. C and line a 20cm round, loose bottom tin with baking paper. 

Place the freshly peeled and sliced feijoas into a bowl and mix in the caster sugar. Leave for a few minutes, then add the melted butter and beaten egg into the feijoa mixture.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir until just mixed. Add the fruit and nuts and gently combine. 

 

Place into the lined tin and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and the cake is beginning to brown.The cake takes some cooking as the feijoas make it quite a wet mixture.Cool in the tin, then turn out.

No icing is required, but a dusting of icing sugar looks really good.

This cake makes a really good dessert served warm or an afternoon tea cake served cold.

Happy baking!

Delicious Feijoa Crumble

Feijoas are a much anticipated seasonal treat in our house. So much so, that having eaten all the ripe ones, we have had to hide the harder ones from Little Miss 4 else she gobble them up as well.
Last night I made Feijoa Crumble for pudding at Nana and Poppa's house. Although often mixed with other fruits, this time I opted for the straight feijoa fix. This topping can be used on any fruit. The fruit doesn't have to be cooked first, just put in the dish, top with the crumble mix and put it in the oven.

Crumble Topping

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

100g butter - melted

Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, spice and salt in a bowl. Mix in the melted butter. The mixture should look like sandy crumbs.



Prepare the feijoas by peeling and slicing into bite sized pieces - I used about 8 good sized feijoas. Sprinkle the fruit with 2 tablespoons of white sugar and 1 teaspoon of mixed spice. The sugar will sweeten the fruit and stop it from discolouring. 

Place the fruit into an oven proof dish and top with enough crumble mixture to form a generous coating. Any left over crumble mix can be frozen for later use. It doesn't require thawing so can be used as a quick and tasty dessert solution. 

Bake in a hot oven - about 190deg. C - until it starts to turn golden and the fruit is bubbling at the sides of the dish.

We served ours with Deep South ice cream.

If feijoas are not your thing than any combination of apples, pears and a sprinkling of frozen berry fruit is equally delicious. Any left over fruit crumble can be stored in the fridge and reheated later. I ate the left over Feijoa Crumble for breakfast this morning. It was delicious!
Happy cooking!