My sister is having a few parties in NZ this month. And as I am 8,961 miles away (14,421 km) I am not sure I can make it. So I am going to join in by sending her a couple of my favourite party nibble recipes. Though I never called them parties, we had gatherings.
Mini Apple Sponge cakes have a pastry base, unsweetened apple centre and sponge on top. The tart apple hits the sweet sponge with a crunch of pastry. Perfect. I make them in the tiniest muffin tins you can find. In fact the tins I use are little round metal chocolate moulds. Very small. 
My rules with nibbles are: You only have One hand for the food! Think about it. The other hand is obviously going to be in possession of some kind of sensational sparkly beverage! So nibbles must be little. They must NOT be explosive (you know the ones) . And they should be small enough to pop into your mouth without overflow because juggling a drink, a bite, a plate and a napkin is not going to work. The drink always wins.
Make or buy some flaky pastry. Line your greased tins with little circlets of the pastry. Cover in a barely damp cloth and store in the fridge. Make little tiny leaves or shapes with your left over pastry, wrap these in a damp cloth and store in the fridge as well.
Cook 4 granny smith apples in a tiny bit of water until they fall apart then roughly mash with a fork. Allow to cool. Often I do this the night before. It is easier if the apple is cold. Do NOT sweeten. The sponge does that for you. And no cinnamon either. Let that poor apple be!
Sponge:
- 125g (4 oz) butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 1tsp baking powder
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Fold in flour and baking powder.
Now spoon a little apple sauce into the pastry. Place a small dollop of sponge on top of that (be careful not to overfill) and then top with a tiny hat of pastry. I glaze the little hat with apricot sauce or egg. Work fast so that your pastry does not get warm.
Cook at 200C or 380F for 20 minutes. 
These can be made the day before and stored in an airtight container. 
Their shapes come out somewhat random. But tasty. I would make them more often but this lot just eat them. Just eat them without thought! Snap. Gobble. Swallow. Gone!!
Maybe I should have put a guard on them.
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
74 responses to “Little Party Nibbles: Mini Apple Sponge Cakes”
How lovely 😉
Morning Mad, hope you are having a great day, c
These look delicious! Glad I found you, or you found me…which ever. Have a great Monday!
We found each other! You have a great day too. c
Brilliant – I have a small bowl of left over apple sauce in the fridge!
that will work, you only need a little.. thanks roger!! c
They seem so delicious, and so beautiful… And I loved your guard 🙂 Thank you dear Cecilia, with my love, nia
I thought he looked suitably scary.. hope you had a lovely day nia, .. c
Someone has been in a party nibble mood as of late. Good stuff there, Miss C. t
I love food for gatherings, I am not good at mingling without a plate of nibbles in my hand! c
I love homemade nibbles. So much better than the store-bought, deep-dried stuff that all the supermarkets are trying to make us buy right now. Rock-bottom prices are bound to find a few takers but I’m hoping that people take the time to do proper homemade at this time of the year. I plan on making more of Dan Lepard’s oatcakes for our stilton. Ooooh yah…
Did you post your oatcakes already, i have a feeling you did, i must go and have a look because they sound like something I WANT!! And stilton, yes i must see if I can find some..I will try and make some blue next year.. we will see c
I like the idea of gatherings, sounds so glamorous 🙂 And goo dto see you have your priorities i.e. something fizzy !
Absolutely darling, just a little bubbly! And gatherings can gather without the pressure to PARTY! c
Oooh, another yummy way to use my applesauce!
Sugar? Cinnamon?
Perish the thought!
These will be great for Christmas Eve!
I am making them for christmas eve too, i like christmas eve, it is a lovely night to gather! c
These look so cute! I’ve never seen anything like them before. And I like your philosophy of small so that you can still manage the drink. I always pass on appetizers at work functions because they’re too clunky to manage with my glass of wine. 😉
I know Kristy. One movement and into the mouth it goes. Without crumbs on the chin either! c
oh wow those look so devouring!
you can devour them too.. c
These look scrummy. And I agree with the tiny sized nibbles. Also saves on the washing up!
Yes Tanya, and you know how I feel about washing UP!! c
Such delicious little nibbles! Just perfect for a party! Or gathering!
Thank you Phylli.. have a great day.. c.
I think these are so delightful with their little “hats” brushed with apricot! We are having a gathering on Christmas Eve and I think these would be a perfect addition and something quite different, thanks, c. Your guard looks rather fierce! (I tried responding once before but it didn’t work, apologies if I come up twice!) ~Betsy
You seem do have got through OK Betsy, I could not think of a better word that hats, maybe next time i make them I will fashion real little hats that would be funny.. c
My son is thoroughly enamoured with your chickens 🙂 When he and his sister were playing Human Planet yesterday (involving hunting narwhals from kayaks and teaching eagle chicks how to catch foxes) my son shouted, “NO! Mine’s not an eagle! She’s an angry chicken!” So awesome. Thanks, C.
Oh those kids are so cute, i hope he does not think all chickens are angry. Though mine are not a sweet bunch i have to say. c
Sensible rules indeed. These look just fantastic.
Thank you greg, your lamb looked pretty good today too.. c