Apple Biscuits is a traditional British recipe, based on Robert Kemp Philp's recipe of 1859, for a classic biscuit (cookie) made from apple pulp combined with sugar and lemon or clove flavouring. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Apple Biscuits.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Apple Biscuits that's derived from Robert Kemp Philp's 1859 volume, The Dictionary of Daily Wants. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction. This recipe is for that forgotten Victorian dish, the 'Savoury' which typically came at the end of a meal.
Original Recipe
Boil a dozen fine apples until they become pulpy, then take them out and rub them into a mortar through a hair sieve; add two pounds of powdered loaf sugar, and two or three drops of oil of lemon or cloves; mix thoroughly together, then roll the mixture into separate masses of the size and thickness of a bun, and cut them into any shape desired; they may then be dried in a very slow oven, care being taken that the sugar does not melt.
Apples, 12; sugar, 2lbs.; oil of lemon or cloves, 2 or 3 drops.
Modern Redaction
Rather than being biscuits these are actually candies... very ancient types of candy in fact that hearkens back to the Spanish candy of the Elizabethan age, though this version is made without the flowers that seem to have been included in the historical mixtures.
Ingredients:
12 apples
900g powdered sugar
2 or 3 drops of lemon extract or oil of cloves
Method:
Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add the apples and continue boiling for about 80 minutes, or until pulpy. Drain the apples then rub through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and flavouring then beat thoroughly to form a dough. Take large pieces of the dough and shape into rounds about the size and thickness of a bun.
Use a sharp knife to cut these bun shapes into slices. Place on a baking tray then set in an oven pre-heated to 110°C and cook for about 80 minutes, or until completely dried out (be careful that the sugar does not melt during the drying process).
Apples, 12; sugar, 2lbs.; oil of lemon or cloves, 2 or 3 drops.