Rick Stein’s Cornwall episode 1: In this episode, Rick takes us to the place where his passion for Cornwall began – his family home at Trevose Head on the north Cornish coast, where as a child he would go fishing with his father.
He explores the wild yet beautiful landscape of the Land’s End peninsula with the artist Kurt Jackson before heading to the tranquillity of an heritage apple orchard preserved by head gardener John Harris. Here Rick picks some apples to make his mother’s Apple Charlotte pudding.
In this new series Rick Stein reveals the Cornwall that he knows and loves: a unique part of the British isles with a strong sense of identity and a history rooted in its Celtic past. With his famous natural inquisitiveness, Rick shares the road less travelled – championing the food, history, music, art and culture of the county many locals argue should be a country in its own right.
Rick Stein’s Cornwall episode 1 recipe:
Rick Stein’s apple Charlotte
Crisp baked bread filled with spiced apples makes a perfect autumnal dessert. If you’ve been blackberry picking, feel free to add a few to the stewed fruit.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Generously butter a 600ml/1 pint pudding basin.
- Rinse the apple slices in cold water and put them in a saucepan with the sugar, cloves, lemon zest and 30g/1oz butter. Cook over a low heat until the apples break down. Beat to a purée using a wooden spoon. Leave to cool.
- Melt the remaining butter. Cut each slice of bread into rectangles and brush both sides with the butter. Alternatively, you can dip the bread into the butter. Line the pudding basin sides and base with about three-quarters of the bread, overlapping the bread slightly to ensure there are no gaps.
- Beat the egg yolk into the cooled apple purée and spoon into the bread-lined basin. Cover with the remaining buttered bread and push down. Cover tightly with kitchen foil.
- Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 7–10 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
- Leave the pudding to rest for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve with custard, clotted cream or ice cream.