Jan Bilton: Fruit scent from above: apples (+recipes)

Baked Pear and Ginger Cheesecake.

Yale University researchers have discovered a new route to relaxation: inhaling the scent of apples. Tests conducted with an apple fragrance in the lab showed a significantly calming response. My husband thinks sipping a cider or two has a far more soothing effect.

One of the earliest cultivated fruits, the apple has played a part in religion, magic, superstition, folklore, history and science as far back as we can go. More than 10,000 varieties have been identified internationally but only 50-60 named varieties are marketed to any degree.

Apples are high in fibre and health professionals believe that pectin - one of the excellent fibres in apples - may actually work to reduce the body's cholesterol level and help prevent heart attacks. Pectin also slows glucose metabolism in diabetics. The apple also contains potassium, which may reduce the chances of a stroke.

But when is an apple not an apple? When it's an avocado, an eggplant, a lemon, an orange, a peach, a pineapple, a potato or a tomato. All these foods were originally called "apples" simply because they were round and sized somewhere between a cherry and a pumpkin.

English food connoisseur Edward Bunyard remarked that although it is "the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption". Instant taste-bud ecstasy versus a sensual experience.

The apple is the more widely eaten fruit today but in ancient times the pear was considered to be superior. Why? Perhaps because the pear's flavour is delicate and subtle while the flavour of the apple is robust.

Pears do not ripen well on the tree and are generally picked and sold green. To speed ripening, place hard pears in a paper bag or a covered fruit bowl and leave at room temperature. Remember, the pear passes through its period of perfect ripeness in a matter of hours, and then quickly spoils.

RECIPES

BAKED PEAR & GINGER CHEESECAKE

Base: 250g gingernut biscuits
100g butter, melted
Filling: 1/2 cup caster sugar
3 tbsp finely chopped crystallised ginger
500g well-drained poached pears
750g cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence

Heat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 23cm springform cake pan. Completely enclose outside of pan with a large sheet of foil. Press it firmly on to pan.

Crush gingernuts finely, preferably in a food processor. Combine with butter and press evenly on base of pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and cool.

To make filling, place caster sugar and chopped ginger in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Add pears, whizz until smooth.

Place cream cheese in a large bowl. Whip with an electric beater, until fluffy. Beat in sour cream. Gradually add pear mixture. Slowly beat in the eggs. Add vanilla.

Pour into the pan. Place in a large roasting dish. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until centre is almost set.

Remove from oven, stand for 5 minutes then carefully lift pan on to a wire rack. Remove foil. Cool slightly then refrigerate the cheesecake covered loosely with foil. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours to set.

The top can be garnished with whipped cream or 2 brandy snaps dusted with icing sugar. - Serves 10-12.

APPLE, GOAT'S CHEESE & HERB PIZZA

A healthy pizza for two. I used new SweeTango apples.

1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp each: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar
30cm prepared thin pizza base
1 small tart apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
150g goat's cheese, broken into pieces
1/2 cup sliced spinach leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tbsp each: chopped rosemary leaves, extra virgin olive oil

Heat oven to 200C. Lightly oil an oven tray and place in oven to heat.

Gently saute onion in oil, until softened. Stir in vinegar and brown sugar. Cook on low until liquid has evaporated.

Spread over pizza base. Top with apple, goat's cheese and spinach leaves. Bake for 20-25 minutes until base is crisp. Sprinkle with herbs and drizzle with olive oil. - Serves 2.

PEAR & SALMON TARTARE

Easy and innovative starter
Sauce: 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tsp brown sugar
Tartare: 200g skinned and boned salmon fillet, finely diced
2 tsp diced chilli
1 cup peeled and diced ripe pear
1 tbsp each: lemon juice, chopped mint, extra virgin olive oil
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
small mint leaves or whole chives to garnish

Combine vinegar, orange juice and brown sugar and simmer until reduced by about two-thirds. It will be quite syrupy and will thicken as it cools.

Combine ingredients for tartare. Mould into small rings or biscuit cutters and turn out on to serving plates.

Drizzle with syrup and garnish with mint or chives. - Serves 4.

APPLE SCONES

Add texture to your scones.

2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
50g butter
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 crisp apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup milk

Topping: 2 tbsp milk
3/4 cup finely grated tasty cheese
Heat oven to 220C.

Place flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl then stir. Rub butter into flour with fingertips to make fine breadcrumbs.

Mix in sugar and apple. Pour in milk and stir to combine.

Tip on to a lightly floured board and knead gently 2-3 times. Pat into a 3cm-thick round. Using a 6cm biscuit cutter, cut into rounds. Dip cutter into flour to prevent it sticking. Pat leftover dough together and cut out more rounds.

Place on a lightly floured baking tray. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until cooked and golden. - Makes 8.