This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Miranda has had a lot to take on lately. Her step-father has recently died after an illness, meaning his wife, two daughters and step-daughter are having to deal with grief in their own personal way. His last request was to have his ashes scattered in the sea by the home they used to own in Cornwall. It has been twenty years since the family were last there but Miranda organises a house and off they drive, the urn rolling around in the boot every time they go round a bend.
As the eldest child, Miranda appears to have taken on the role of troop leader. She is helping her mum, looking after her two children – as well as supporting her sister through her boyfriend dramas. Miranda has her own business, a deal she desperately needs to close, an unhelpful ex-husband and so far on this holiday she has got very little time to herself. She certainly doesn't have much time for meeting new people. Maybe Cornwall will provide a chance to make new friends? Or even, find people she knew from her teenage years…
On one occasion Miranda is out with someone from her past (I'm being deliberately vague. Spoilers!) Initially feeling a little guilty for abandoning her family, she's had a lovely meal at a restaurant next to the beach in St Ives and enjoyed catching up. Miranda ordered crab linguine and a rocket salad and alongside the salt from the shoreline you can practically smell her Cornish holiday wafting right off the pages.
For pudding the apple tart comes highly recommended. And finally Miranda is not thinking about family, deals, children or ex-husbands. She is just focusing on the food and the company.
This apple tart is adapted from the BBC Good Food website.
Equipment
Baking tray, saucepan, pastry brush
Ingredients
375g pack all butter puff pastry
6 eating apples – I used braeburn – peeled, cored and sliced, tossed in lemon juice
knob butter, diced
3 heaped tablespoons caster sugar combined with 1tsp vanilla powder (I used ndali organic)
2 tablespoons apricot jam
Method
- Heat oven to 200 degrees fan.
- Roll out pastry and use a large dinner plate to cut out a circle. Turn up the edges.
- Sprinkle over the apple slices and diced butter
- Then sprinkle over the vanilla sugar.
- Cook in the pre-heated oven for fifteen minutes.
- Spoon jam into saucepan and heat gently.
- Remove tart from oven then use a pastry brush to gently brush on the jam, starting with the pastry edge first.