Today is British Apple Day! I’ve never heard of this – but then, I’m not British. This information and the recipe comes from Elaine Lemm, About.com.

Today is British Apple Day – Celebrate
Wednesday October 21, 2009

Today is British Apple Day, a day to celebrate that simplest and most delicious of British food, the apple. It is a day to celebrate our 1200 native British apples because if we don’t cherish and support them, they may not be around much longer. The Romans first brought the apple to the Britain and how hard it is to imagine our landscape without apple trees but the arrival of cheap, imported, supermarket fruits – polished impostors with their EU imposed shape and size – has led to a rapid decline of many orchards with the loss of old apple varieties.

British apples have enchanting names like Acklam Russets, Barnack Beauty, Nutmeg Pippin, Knobby Russet…and many more and Apple Day is a celebration of these wonderful fruits, so in support I shall be cooking with them and I also have a lovely polished apple from the tree in my garden which I am about to eat for my morning snack. Yum.

This easy recipe for apple mousse is a wonderful way to use cooking apples or sharp-flavored eating apples. It is a light yet delicious dessert and also useful for lunchboxes or picnics.
Prep Time: :10
Cook Time: :20

Ingredients:
3 medium sized cooking apples or Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered and cored
3 ½ fl oz/100ml water
½ oz/15g white sugar
Dash of lemon juice
10 fl oz/300ml scrumpy (farmhouse cider) or dry cider
3 gelatine leaves softened in a little cold water, or 1 ½tsp powdered gelatin
½ pt/300 ml whipping cream

Preparation:
1). Place the apples in a saucepan, add the water, sugar and lemon juice. Simmer for 10 minutes until the apples are tender and just starting to break up.tender. Liquidize and then push through a fine sieve to create a fine sauce.
2). Place the cider into another saucepan, boil until reduced to about 5tbsp. Remove from the heat then add the softened gelatin leaves or sprinkle over the powdered gelatin, stir until dissolved and leave to cool.
3).Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and fold in the apple purée and cider. Divide between 4, 3 ½ “/9 cm ramekins, smooth the surface and leave to set in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Serve immediately garnished with a sprig of fresh mint.