Nutella and banana bites

Back to the chocolate and banana combination again, I made these as a lunchbox treat for the children, but we ALL ended up eating them. After all, who can resist the lure of nutella, chocolate, bananas, marshmallows and rice krispies?! Although not included in the recipe, I added a couple of handfuls of chopped dates to the rice krispie mix, just to give a little more flavour and texture. These delights are super quick and easy to make and don't require any baking.

The recipe can be found in Edd Kimber's book The Boy Who Bakes.


Rice Krispies, marshmallows, butter and chopped dates, all packed into the tin...

A layer of chopped bananas covers the rice krispie base...

Melted chocolate and nutella...

...which is then spread over the top of the bananas...

Once the chocolate topping has set, cut into small (or in our case, large!) squares and enjoy!

Maple and pecan muffins

Maple syrup and pecan nuts are a classic combination and a match made in heaven. Both ingredients have been in existence for thousands of years, indeed the pecan nut started growing in America long before the first settlers arrived. The syrup in these muffins helps to keep them lovely and moist which means they keep well in the tin for several days.

I made these muffins, which are from the Hummingbird Bakery, a few weeks ago now and chose them because I haven't made them before. I wanted to make something that I knew we would all love and which didn't include chocolate or bananas! We'd had pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast one Sunday recently so I think it was them that really inspired me to have a go at these. We all agreed that that they were extremely delicious and the best thing about them, for me anyway, was biting the nut off the top of the cake before devouring the rest of it, and the gooey syrupy bit that could be found at the bottom of the muffin case. A perfect excuse to pick it up and lick it!


Ingredients:

350g plain flour
160g caster sugar
three quarters tsp salt
1 and a half tsps baking powder
half tsp bicarb
375ml buttermilk
1 egg
half tsp vanilla extract
70g butter, melted
240g shelled pecan nuts, chopped, plus 12 halves to decorate
200ml maple syrup

Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases


1. Preheat the oven to 170 degs C/gas mark 3.

2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarb in a large bowl and mix until well combined.

3. Put the buttermilk, egg and vanilla in a jug and combine together. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat on a slow speed until all the ingredients are incorporated.

4. Pour in the melted butter and beat until incorporated. With a wooden spoon, stir in 100ml of the maple syrup and the chopped pecan nuts until evenly dispersed.

5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and drizzle the remaining syrup over the tops. Finish with a pecan half in the centre of each one.

6. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Leave the muffins to cool for a while in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.


This recipe can be found in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

My chicken and mushroom pie

We had a huge roast chicken for lunch on Sunday and even though I'm generous with the amount I put on everybody's plates, there was plenty of meat for left overs. The children were delighted, they thought it meant they would be having chicken rolls in their Monday lunch boxes so their faces fell slightly when I announced that I would, instead, be making a chicken and mushroom pie for Monday's supper.

Pies are good at any time of the year but especially in winter. They offer comfort, warmth and bolster the senses when making and eating them. Perhaps the best part is making the pastry - even if you make it in a food processor like I do, you still need to use your hands for the last part; the rolling, the draping, the piecing together and the crimping. Very tactile and very satisfying.


Ingredients:

300g shortcrust or puff pastry,
olive oil
a large knob of butter
3 sticks of celery, chopped
3 carrots, chopped into fairly small dice
left over chicken, at least 300g, torn into large chunks
a couple of good handfuls of mushrooms, chopped into fairly large chunks
2 tbsps plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 pint of chicken stock
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten


1. Preheat the oven to 190 degs C/180 degs C fan/gas mark 5

2. Add a lug of oil and the butter to a large pan over a medium heat. Add the celery and carrots, stir to give them a good buttery coating. Add a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper and then pop the lid on, turn the heat down and let them cook away for about 15 minutes until softened.

3. When the vegetables are ready add the chicken and stir. Add the flour, mix it in well, pour in the stock and stir again. Finally add the mushrooms, turn up the heat and bring everything up to the boil. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary, then turn off the heat.

4. Pour the chicken mixture into a fairly deep pie dish...


...and roll out the pastry into a big fat disc to sit on the top. Tuck the ends under or crimp the edges, brush with the beaten egg and pop into the oven for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden.

5. Serve with potatoes of your choice and some buttery peas. Enjoy!

Nigella's Chocolate gingerbread

I haven't made a large cake since the end of November when I made our Christmas cake. In the immediate days and weeks following Christmas, I opted to make muffins, cupcakes and other small delights in order to make up for all those Christmas indulgences. However, as much as I love making small cakes, they tend to disappear very quickly and I wanted to make something that had a little more longevity. This chocolate gingerbread seemed the perfect solution. It's the "daddy" of gingerbreads, an old fashioned gingerbread...moist, dark, sticky and intensely rich, hence you have to cut it into slabs rather than small, dainty slices. It's deeply chocolatey too and the addition of chocolate chips makes it full of tiny chocolate nubs. It's topped with a gooey icing of cocoa and ginger ale which tastes better than it sounds.

For a late winter dose of heat and chocolate indulgence, you don't have to look further than this beautiful cake. The recipe can be found here.

The melting pot...

Dark chocolate chips remain crunchy and nubbly when cooked...

Ready to go in the oven...

Just out of the oven, don't worry about the cracks...

Ready for eating...

Date, pistachio and almond flapjacks

We all love flapjack in our family and it's one of those treats that you can knock up a batch of really quickly and easily. For years I have tended to use the same recipe which is just the basic oats, butter, syrup and sugar. However, after watching the fabulous Nigel Slater at Christmas, I was inspired to ring the changes and this is my take on his recipe for Festive Chocolate flapjacks.


Ingredients:

50g pistachios
60g dried, pitted dates
30g pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp ground almonds
50g butter
100g caster sugar
2 tbsps golden syrup
200g porridge oats
100g dark chocolate


1. Preheat the oven to 180 degs C/170 degs C fan/gas mark 4

2. Roughly chop the pistachios and dates then add to a food processor along with half the pumpkin seeds. Add the ground almonds and blitz together for just long enough to leave nice sizeable chunks of the fruit and nuts. Tip into a large mixing bowl with the rest of the whole pumpkin seeds.


3. In a pan, melt the butter with the sugar and syrup over a low heat.

4. Once melted, mix in the oats, and add to the fruit and nuts...

...then spread the mixture out evenly in an oven tray (mine was 25cm x 20cm and lined with baking parchment) and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.

5. Leave to cool in the tin. When cold, turn the flapjack out and cut into squares, rectangles or triangles. The size depends on how big you want your pieces to be...I made about 16 squares.

6. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water...

...and dip the flapjacks in as far as you dare. Allow to chill in the fridge for 20 minutes so that the chocolate goes lovely and crisp.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Banana and Cinnamon muffins

This is my own recipe and is a great way to use up those forlorn looking, over-ripe bananas that I always seem to have in the fruit bowl. I've made banana muffins many times before, they're a great snack to go in the children's lunchboxes, but I've usually succumbed to their chocolate cravings and added at least chopped chocolate, and sometimes cocoa too. This time, though, I wanted the muffin to be all about the banana, but to give it a little extra kick, I added cinnamon. My (sometimes fussy) nine year old son declared them a success...I take that as the ultimate seal of approval.


Ingredients:

Makes 12

175g plain flour
2 tsps baking powder
half a tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsps ground cinnamon
125g unsalted butter, melted
150g soft light brown sugar
2 large eggs
4 small ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract

FOR THE CRUNCHY TOPPING

1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsps demerera sugar


1. Preheat the oven to 180 degs C/170 degs C fan/gas mark 3

2. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and cinnamon into a medium sized bowl and combine well.

3. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar, and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then the mashed bananas and vanilla.

4. Add the flour mixture and stir well.

5. Line a muffin tin with paper cases and fill each case with the mixture, until about two-thirds full, and sprinkle the tops with the sugary cinnamon.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese

As much as I love cooking, sometimes I don't want to be spending lots of time in the kitchen on a Sunday morning preparing a roast, casserole or pie. Last Sunday was one of those days when I wanted to bask in our sunny conservatory with coffee and the papers, feeling good that my morning wasn't going to be dominated by food. The fact that I ended up sorting out my car insurance and going through my bank statement is a moot point. OK, it was papers of a different kind but still accompanied by coffee!

Flicking through Lorraine Pascale's book, Baking Made Easy, earlier in the week, I had decided to make this glammed up version of Macaroni Cheese. I haven't made the less glammed up version for years as our nine year old has always been a bit sniffy about Macaroni, but this dish looked so inviting in the book, I just had to give it a go. It's quick, easy and incredibly tasty, and the verdict from us all? A real winter warmer winner!


Ingredients:

340g macaroni
salt and freshly ground black pepper
80g pancetta, diced (I used bacon)
1 small handful of fresh thyme leaves (I used 1 tsp dried)
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
100g breadcrumbs
1 handful of chopped fresh parsley


FOR THE CHEESE SAUCE

40g butter
40g plain flour
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 tsp mustard powder
200ml milk
285ml double cream (I opted not to use any cream and used 400ml milk instead)
200g cheddar cheese
115g fresh parmesan


1. Preheat the oven to 200 degs C/gas mark 6

2. Cook the macaroni in a large pan of boiling salted water. It needs to be cooked to just under what you would normally do, as the pasta will be cooked again in the oven. Drain, return to the pan and set aside.

3. Fry the pancetta/bacon in a medium frying pan over a gentle heat, until it just starts to brown and crisp up, then add the thyme and spring onions and cook for a further 3 minutes...

...remove the pan from the heat and add its contents to the pasta.

4. To make the sauce, you can follow the proper method in Lorraine's book, but I always use the cheats method. It works brilliantly and saves an awful lot of time, and if Jamie and Delia make their sauces this way, then I'm absolutely going to as well!

Put all the ingredients, except for the cheese, in a saucepan set over a medium heat and stir (I use a small balloon whisk) until all the ingredients have incorporated. Keep stirring all the time until the sauce starts to thicken. Once it's bubbling, keep stirring until it's nice and thick, then remove from the heat. Essentially, the trick here is to stir continually from start to finish...I guarantee there will be no lumps!

Add two-thirds of both cheeses to the sauce while it is still hot and combine well. There may be a few lumps at this stage but that is fine. Season to taste and add to the pasta mix. Stir everything together and spoon into a shallow casserole dish or 4 individual large ramekins.

Sprinkle the top with the rest of the cheese and the breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and the topping goes crumbly and brown. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve while hot.

This recipe comes from Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale

Treacle Tart

I haven't made a Treacle Tart for years and I'm not exactly sure why. A great, old-fashioned treacle tart is the ultimate comfort food, especially on a chilly winter's day. Unctuous, sweet and oozing, what's not to love? So, having been bought Lorraine Pascale's "Baking Made Easy" by my husband as a sort of post-Christmas present, I set about making her Treacle Tart so we could all enjoy a rare pudding.

Ingredients:


FOR THE RICH SHORTCRUST PASTRY (Makes 400g - sufficient for a 30cm pie dish)

185g plain flour
95g softened butter
95g caster sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
30ml water


FOR THE FILLING

450g golden syrup
Finely grated zest and juice of a lemon (leave this out of you like a really sweet treacle tart)
60g butter
1 tsp ground ginger
250g breadcrumbs


EQUIPMENT

23cm loose bottomed tart tin (I used a 30cm pie dish and this worked perfectly.)


1. Preheat the oven to 180 degs C/170 degs C fan/gas mark 4

2. To make the pastry, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until the dough forms a ball. Leave in a cool place for 30 minutes.

3. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick and use to line the tart tin. Prick the base lightly with a fork.

4. Take a piece of baking parchment and cover the pastry. Top with some baking beans and "blind bake" the pastry case in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are slightly coloured and the base is dry to the touch. Remove the baking beans and paper and return the pastry to the oven for a further 5 minutes, until golden. Set aside.

5. To make the filling, put the golden syrup, lemon zest and juice, butter and ground ginger into a large pan and melt gently over a low heat.

Stir in the breadcrumbs...

...and tip the mixture into the pastry case. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned and set. Serve hot, warm or cold with clotted cream, custard, ice-cream or just on its own. Enjoy!


This recipe comes from Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale

Winter wonderland coconut cupcakes

I don't often make cakes with coconut in them, because the children have always been a bit "anti-coconut" but I had a nearly full packet of dessicated coconut in the cupboard and I didn't want to waste it. I've made Nigella Lawson's coconut cake before which my husband and I loved (the children weren't quite as enthusiatic!) so I thought I would use her recipe as the basis for my cupcakes, then dress them up with an enticing topping. Hey presto, it worked and both children are now coconut converts!

Ingredients:


FOR THE CAKE:

225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
half a tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
200g self raising flour
25g cornflour
half a tsp baking powder
50g dessicated coconut soaked in 150ml boiling water

2 muffin tins lined with paper cases


FOR THE BUTTERCREAM

225g icing sugar
120g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat the oven to 180 degs C/170 degs C fan/gas mark 4.

2. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until you have a soft batter.

3. Spoon the batter into the paper cases until about two thirds full...

and bake for 15-2o minutes or until a skewer comes out clean...

4. Leave to cool in the tin for a while before transferring them to a wire tray to cool completely.

5. To make the buttercream, place all the ingredients in a food processor, with 2-3 tbsps of milk, and blitz until smooth.

6. Pipe, or spoon, the buttercream on to the cupcakes and sprinkle with dessicated coconut and silver balls.

7. Enjoy with a cup of tea!


This recipe comes from How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.