A beautifully fragrant,dish, light and elegant, with an amazingly sophisticated flavour of apples, vanilla and Eau de Vie, and a lovely melt-in-the-mouth texture. This is a great autumn dish, we use local apples such as Pippins which are ready this time of year; we've also used apples from our own garden. It can also be made with good soft pears. You will need a blender and an electric whisk to make this. It can be served either chilled or as a frozen sorbet/granita

1 kg dessert apples

3cm long strip of lemon zest

110g caster sugar

150ml water

1 teasp vanilla paste or seeds from one vanilla pod, split lengthways

1 tbsp pear or apple Eau de Vie (Kirsch also works very well)

pinch of ground cinnamon

4 egg whites

pinch of sea salt

• Make the sugar syrup by putting sugar, water and vanilla paste/vanilla pod in a small saucepan, and bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly to ensure the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and set aside

• Peel and core the apples, and chop quite roughly. Place in a large pan, and add the sugar syrup and lemon zest. Bring to the boil and cook for 6-8 minutes so the apples are cooked but not falling to bits. Take off heat and allow to cool. (Putting the pan in the fridge can speed this up)

• When cool, take out the lemon zest and vanilla pod (if using). Remove apples with a slotted spoon and put them in a blender, with about 2 tbsp of the sugar syrup and the cinnamon, and blitz until very smooth and frothy. Add more syrup to taste if not sweet enough. Then add Eau de Vie/ Kirsch.

• Whisk the egg whites in a bowl with a pinch of salt until they form peaks. Fold in the apple mixture until completely combined. You can now do one of two things -

  • return the mixture to the fridge to chill it for at least an hour. The mixture may need stirring a little before serving as the apple tends to sink towards to bottom of the bowl

  • place the mixture into the freezer and serve as a granita. Allow to defrost for 15-20 minutes before serving. If you have an ice cream maker, this makes the process much easier