Banana oat muffins

Sometimes, the need for something sweet just cannot be avoided. I try to side step it; dodge the craving for doughnuts, persuade myself that a juicy apple will satisfy my craving, but that only works for so long.


You might just give in and snarf down a cookie or two but if you’d like something that’s delicious and a little bit healthier too, this is the recipe for you. These muffins are packed full of slow release oat energy, calcium and all the goodness of bananas. Although they’re chock full of bananas, it’s not an obvious flavour if you’re not they’re biggest fan. They’re just sweet enough, with a touch of honey in the mix, to sate your appetite for cake. If you're sensitive to gluten or coelic, choose gluten free oats which are available in most large supermarkets.

I’ve made them for breakfast and they’ve proved to be a very popular treat but they can be dressed up any way you like. I’ve kept them plain in my original recipe but you can add all sorts; dark chocolate chips or walnut pieces would be divine. Boost their fibre and mineral content with seeds in the batter or sprinkled on top. You can substitute the oats with wholegrain flour or ground almonds if the mood takes you.

On a practical note, beware as these are very sticky as they bake. Use a lightly oiled muffin pan without paper cases otherwise you’ll end up with lots of yummy muffins that you can’t get out of the cases. You can also use lightly oiled silicon cake cases, which work really well too.

Banana oat muffins Makes 6

125g (gluten free) porridge oats
140g low fat yoghurt/fromage frais
1 egg
2tbsp honey
1tsp baking powder
1 banana, mashed
1tsp cinnamon (optional)

 - Preheat the oven to 200C and use a dab of oil to grease a muffin tin or silicon cupcake moulds.
 - Beat the egg, honey and the banana together until combined then stir in the remaining ingredients. Alternatively, place all the ingredients in a blender and whizz until smooth.
 - Divide the batter between cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until dark brown (the colour of over-ripe banana skin!) and springy to the touch.
 - Serve plain or split with a little butter.

Don't like oats? Substitute for wholegrain flour or ground almonds.
Too plain? Add dark chocolate chips and walnut pieces. Or dried fruit and your choice of seeds.

Chocolate covered coconut macaroons

The world is going mad for macarons, the multi-coloured garish almond based meringue confections popular for afternoon tea around the world. Since I started working in London, I've seen swathes of tourists clutching pastel paper bags from the likes of Laduree. They're not the kind of thing that you find in Somerset! 


I'm partial to the odd macaron; they're cute, (dare I say) girlie and wonderfully bite-sized. However, they are a bit of a pig to bake. Achieving that light and fluffy texture is rather unpredictable, much like the somewhat troublesome meringue. If you're in need of a tasty sweet snack, maybe it would be better to by-pass the chichi and look a little closer to home. 


Macaroons (note the double 'o') are easy to throw together and provide the same deliciously sweet hit without the kitchen faff. According to the wonder that is Wikipedia, English macaroons and French macarons share the same Italian word maccarone or maccherone which derives from ammaccare meaning to crush or beat. Don't run away in horror; this refers to the crushed nuts that are the main ingredient of both recipes. Both are cousins of amaretti, the crunchy Italian almond biscuit. It's a very European affair.


I adore this recipe because it really is so simple. Bung the ingredients together, shape and pop in the oven. Decoration is optional but I like any excuse to mess around with chocolate. I've made these several times and they're an ideal mid-week bake because they're quick and easy to make out of ingredients that tend to lurk in the back of the larder. Oh and they're naturally gluten free too! 

Coconut macaroons
Makes 16 – 20

2 egg whites
300g unsweetened grated coconut (or the same of desiccated coconut)
3 tbsp runny honey (omit if using desiccated coconut)

To decorate
150g dark chocolate
10 glacé cherries (optional)

 - Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray with a silicon or greaseproof paper.
 - Whisk together the egg whites and honey (if using).
 - Add the coconut and stir until coated.
 - Scoop out tablespoon dollops of mixture, compact slightly and evenly space on baking tray.
 - Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown.
 - Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool.
 - Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of boiling water.
 - Meanwhile, halve the cherries so that they’re ready to garnish.
 - Dip the flat base of each macaroon into the chocolate and place on a tray covered in silicon or greaseproof paper. If you want a particularly luxurious macaroon, allow these to cool and dip again.
 - Drizzle the top of the macaroons with melted chocolate and garnish with a half cherry, dipped in a little chocolate to act as glue.

Broccoli & Feta Potato bake

What a grim day! What happened to (the increasingly lesser spotted) Summer season? I'm certain that I haven't slept through it because I'm definitely not that well rested. Regrettably.

To banish the rainy day blues, I've been tucking into satisfying summer comfort food. This one pot meal is a great way to use up that tired looking bag of potatoes that's been hanging around for a bit too long. You could also use leftover boiled potatoes (skip the par-boiling if they've already been cooked or you'll end up with mush!) so it can be a super thrify meal too. I'm partial to a little ham or bacon thrown in but it's also delicious without if you're going meatless.

You might not have tried roasted broccoli before now but I think this will convert you. It brings out a sweet earthy flavour that shows off the little green trees at their best. Coupled with the mushrooms, you'll have a lovely rich mouthful. Don't forget a sprinkling of feta to cut through the warmth and give it a summery taste.
Broccoli & Feta Potato bake

Serves 4

300g new potatoes (or leftover cooked potatoes)
1 large head of broccoli
100g mushrooms, cleaned
handful of spring onions, sliced
50g ham or cooked bacon, roughly chopped (optional)
50g curly kale, storks removed and sliced
4 – 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
120g feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp (gluten free) soy sauce

- Preheat the oven to 180C. Add a drizzle of oil to a large roasting tray and pop into the oven to warm up.
- Boil the kettle while you half or (if they’re big ‘uns) thickly slice the potatoes.
- Prepare the broccoli. Cut bite-sized florets from the main stem, halving any trees that are too big. Cut the stem into chunks.
- Simmer the potatoes (if they need cooking) and broccoli stem for five minutes or until just tender. Throw in the spring onions so that they get a few moments in the hot water then drain the whole lot.
- Remove the roasting tray from the oven and add the potatoes, broccoli stems and spring onions – stand back as they may spit. Move them around in the hot oil so that they are nicely coated and start to colour in places.
- Add the broccoli florets, mushrooms and garlic to the roasting tin and then shove back into the oven for 30 minutes or until the broccoli starting to go a tawny golden colour and is cooked to your liking. I like it with a little bite left in it but this is up to you.
- Meanwhile, boil the kale for 4 minutes or microwave for around 3 minutes until just cooked.
- Remove the tin from the oven. Add the ham/bacon, kale and half of the feta before stirring and putting it back in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Serve generously heaped on plates and covered in the remaining feta cheese.

Low Fat Berry Banana Muffins

As the long weekend approaches, you might be on the lookout for delicious recipes. If we can’t rely on the weather, we might as well ensure that we have tasty things to eat. Whether you’re in need of something for a Jubilee street party or searching of a healthy breakfast treat, this easy muffin recipe is versatile and a great way to get a portion of fruit.

This recipe is low in fat and isn’t as sweet as the processed versions that you’ll find in coffee shops and supermarkets. It’s a great way to use up those forlorn overripe bananas too! The bananas help to keep the muffins nicely moist but don’t provide an overwhelming banana flavour which means that you can chop and change the flavour combinations.

I filled mine with cheap frozen mixed berries from the supermarket but you can add any that you fancy. Go for classic blueberry muffins or add half cherries and half almonds for a summery, seasonal twist.

I think I’ll be packing a few for a weekend bike ride for a little slow release energy!

Berry-nana muffins
Yields 12 muffins

150g whole grain flour
150g self-raising flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g light muscovado sugar
50g porridge oats, with a little more for garnishing
2 medium bananas, peeled and mashed
300ml low fat yoghurt
5 tbsp sunflower oil
2 egg whites
300g fresh or frozen berries

- Preheat the oven to 180c.
- Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper muffin cases or squares of greaseproof paper (mine were approximately 10cm x 10cm).
- Mix the flours, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and oats together.
- In a separate bowl, combine the mashed banana, yoghurt, oil and egg.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Stir quickly but gently to bring everything together. Don’t panic if the batter looks a little lumpy.
- Gently fold in the berries and divide between the muffin cases, sprinkling each one with a little oats.
- Bake for 18 – 20 minutes until golden brown.

Looking for a way to use up those unwanted egg yolks? Why not make mayonnaise for your weekend barbecues and sandwiches?

Sticky Toffee Bread and Butter Pudding

Sometimes the simplest combinations are the best. Salty Cheddar cheese paired with sweet and sour Branston pickle, for example, or sweet ripe tomatoes combined with aromatic basil leaves. Both examples are far more than the sum of their parts. Bread and butter is another classic duo which are endlessly versatile; they work as an accompaniment with all sorts from scampi to jam.

I must admit that I was never drawn to the British classic, bread and butter pudding, when I was young. I always associated bread with savoury flavours and so, the idea of adding it to a sweet dish didn't compute. How wrong I was! It's such an easy dessert to make and is very forgiving if you feel the need to bend the recipe to your culinary whims. For my recent al-fresco-feeding-of-the-many-people moment at Cronkshaw Fold Farm, I added a luxurious sticky toffee element - as a nod to another British classic - but you could omit the deliciously sticky dates and caramel sauce for dried cranberries and white chocolate instead. Raisins and nuts would work well too. Or you could go for a virgin version and revel in simple stodgy comfort food. Either way, hot or cold, this ones a winner.

One of my lovely friends (I only have lovely friends, you understand) is gluten intolerant, just like my dear Mum, so my version was made - very successfully, I might add - with gluten-free bread. The custard binds everything together so that the bread, which without gluten is usually very dry and crumbly, was soft and moreish.

Sticky Toffee Bread and Butter Pudding
Serves four (multiply at will)

For the pudding
150g pitted dates
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
50g butter
10 slices of bread (brown, white, granary – the choice is yours)
400ml milk
2 eggs
25g sugar (plus 1 tbsp to top the pudding)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the sauce
100g sugar
100g butter
100ml cream

- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Put the dates and bicarbonate of soda in a small saucepan and top up with water until just covered. Place over a low heat and simmer until the dates have broken down, stirring occasionally. Once the process is complete, they will look alarmingly like tar but fear not, as they taste amazing. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar together until creamy. Set aside.
- Once the dates have completely collapsed and you've emptied the pan, pour the milk into the saucepan and place over a low heat to warm through. This has the double benefit of infusing the milk with the toffee notes of the dates while making the pan easier to clean (as well as reducing washing up!).
- While the milk is warming, butter the bread then smear with a little date mixture and cut diagonally into triangles.
- When the milk has come to temperature, whisk slowly into the eggs and sugar.
- Place a few slices of the buttered bread into a baking tin, slightly overlapping them as you go. If you have any of the date mixture leftover, add a smear or two of that. Repeat the layers until you've used up all of the bread.
- Slowly pour the egg mixture over the bread and leave it to soak for 30 minutes or so. You might want to press the bread down into the mixture so that it soaks up all of the custard-y goodness.
- Scatter with the reserved sugar and bake for 40 - 45 minutes until golden brown and crisp on top.
- While the pudding is in the oven, melt the sugar in a saucepan over a low heat. Stay on the ball here or you’ll end up with a burnt mess. The edges will start to melt first – as soon as the first centimetre or so starts to turn golden brown remove from the heat and whisk the butter into the mixture.
- Next pour in the cream and return to a low heat, whisking constantly to remove any lumps. Add a pinch of fleur de sel or sea salt if you’re feeling fancy and want to go for a de rigueur salted caramel sauce.

Lemon muffins with caramelised white chocolate frosting

Add a hint of Springtime freshness to your tea break with this yummy lemon muffin recipe. They’re a sure fire hit with colleagues, family or friends. The basic recipe is quick to make and bung in the oven while you’re making other things. The zingy lemon flavour means that they’re not too sweet and they’re incredibly moist for a butter-free recipe. Add a tablespoon or two of poppyseeds if you’d like to add some bite if you wish.

Keep them naked or swathe them in a creamy topping of caramelised white chocolate frosting. This takes time but is well worth it for the sweet, butterscotch flavour. I'm not usual a fan of cloyingly sweet white chocolate but when Rachel over at What Rachel Ate praised it, I had to give it a try. A lower fat alternative to traditional buttercream, this icing uses soft cheese or quark to give it a silky texture without the added calories.

Lemon muffins with caramelised white chocolate frosting
Makes 12

For the muffins:
200g self-raising flour
150g Demerara sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
180g low fat plain yoghurt
150ml water
75ml sunflower oil, plus a little extra for greasing
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 egg, beaten

For the frosting:
100g white chocolate
1 tsp sunflower oil
100g low fat soft cheese or Quark
40g icing sugar

- Preheat the oven to 120c.
- Break up the chocolate and coat with oil. Spread out on a silicon non-stick sheet on a baking tray.
- Place in the oven for ten minutes. When you remove it, the chocolate should have started to melt. Mix it thoroughly, working the chocolate on the outside to the inside of the sheet, and then spread out again and repeat. You’re aiming for a golden brown caramel colour and a crumbly texture. Keep a close eye on it as it’s easy to burn.
- Once golden brown, set aside to cool and turn the oven up to 190c. Oil or line a muffin tin.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour with sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add water, oil, lemon and egg. Mix everything together to form a light moist batter.
- Divide the batter between 12 muffin cups.
- Bake for 12 – 16 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.
- Blitz the caramelised white chocolate with the icing sugar in a food processor until combined.
- Beat the soft cheese to break it up then add the sugar and white chocolate and stir well.
- Once the muffins are completely cool, dip the top of each one into the frosting or add a dollop of the mixture onto each muffin and smooth with a pallet knife.

Pineapple and mango upside-down cake - sunshine on a plate!

Do not adjust your display settings. I thought I'd bring you a little edible sunshine in Spring! It this doesn't cheer you up after the freezing, wet days that we've had, I don't know what will! When you think of seasonal food at this time of year, your thoughts might fall to comforting root vegetables but tropical fruits are in their prime right now. Admitedly, they're not grown in the UK so there are a lot of food miles involved but if you're going to buy them, you might as well have them when they are at their best!

Pineapples, mangoes and passionfruits are all in season so I decided to combine them in one tasty cake for a fund-raising event at work. I adore pineapple upside-down cake so I thought that I would go one better and marry all of these exotic beauties together with a hint of lime in this famous retro dish. Its incredibly easy but the results are fantastic plus my colleagues mentioned that it tasted virtuous because each bite was filled with fruit. I'll cast no illusions - this isn't a healthy cake but I'm glad that it felt good to eat.

I'd also like to highlight the fantastic (even if I do say so myself) glaze that gives the cake it's glossy day-glow yellow tone. This stuff is so so morish; it's unreal! It's well worth the faff of sieving the passionfruits - my top tip is to microwave the fruit for less than a minute before halving them as it helps to encourage the pulp to slide out. If I'd have been making this cake for me, I would have been tempted to keep the pips in but as it happened, I stirred them into yoghurt for pudding as they have a lot of flavour. I'm tempted to make the glaze to top cheesecakes or to drizzle on pannacota in future.

Pineapple and mango upside-down cake with lime and passionfruit glaze
Makes 10 servings

For the topping (or should that be... bottoming...?)
1 mango
1 227g can of pineapple (packed in juice) or ¼ fresh pineapple
60g butter, softened
60g golden caster sugar

For the cake
150g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
150g flour
3 eggs
1tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lime
3 passionfruits

 - Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20cm by 20cm square deep baking tin (or a 25cm round baking tin) with greaseproof
 - Start with (what will eventually be) the topping by creaming the butter and sugar together then smearing into the bottom of the pan. Skin the mango and drain the pineapple (retaining the juice for later) then arrange by pressing the pieces into the butter-sugar mix. Make a pretty pattern or go geometric... the choice is yours!
 - Next make the sponge base by creaming the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the zest of the lime and the vanilla extract.
 - Add the eggs one by one, beating well between each addition then fold in the flour and baking powder.
 - Spoon the cake batter over the fruit and gently shake the tin from side to side to encourage the mixture to get between the fruit pieces.
 - Bake for 35 minutes or until the sponge is firm and a knife/skewer comes out clean.
 - Meanwhile, pierce the passionfruits and microwave them for 30 seconds or until they are warmed through. Halve and scrape out the pulp then sieve out the seeds (you don't have to do this if you don't want to but it depends if you want the seeds to pepper your cakes caramel topping or not). Press the pulp through a non-metalic sieve with a spoon or similar for the best results.
 - Simmer the passionfruit pulp with the reserved pineapple juice and the juice from the lime until it has halved and become thick and sticky.
 - When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and set aside for five minutes before turning out onto a plate. Drizzle or brush with the glaze and ideally serve warm with coconut icecream.

Snapshot: Gail’s Bakery, Kensington

Having pigged ourselves on sumptuous salads in Islington, we unwittingly continued our Israeli trend* by meeting friends at Gail’s in Kensington. You didn’t think I could go without cake for that long, did you?
Alighting at South Kensington, we ignored the exits towards the museums and walked up the steps towards daylight. Turn right at the top of the steps and then left as you come out of the station and you’ll see a tiny Gail’s Bakery on the corner of the pedestrianized street. We wrapped up against the chill breeze and perched ourselves on the metal tables and chairs outside.

The weather was certainly cold but we warmed our fingers and faces on piping hot drinks. Gail’s is part of my London exploration as I’ve never been before but I’ve been missing out – the coffee was delish and the hot chocolate was nutty and rich. The Boy went for a slab of their famous (Great Taste Award winning!) carrot cake while I went for a slightly more virtuous chocolate and nut bite-sized confection. Our friends had already bought a mammoth sausage roll and a loaf of sour dough.

If you're searching for ideas for what to do when you've had your fill of bread and cake, why not wander over to the Science Museum. It's free and we can vouch for the appeal of the 'Launchpad' on the Third Floor. An array of fun interactive exhibits that are great fun for children and big kids alike!

*What I didn’t realise Ran Avidan, the creator of Gail’s, is also from Tel Aviv so it’s particularly apt that we went from Ottolenghi to Gail’s in one trip. (Not that we realised it at the time, of course!)

Gail's Bakery have ten branches across the city of London but you can also find them in selected London Waitrose, Ocado and in Harvey Nichols.

Peach, Pear and Almond Pavlova

Happy New Year, my foodie friends! I’m afraid that I suffered with a “festive cold” over Christmas which meant that, instead of getting online and telling you how awful I was feeling, I decided to stay in bed (apart from a few misguided days when I went to work) and concentrate on getting better. Hope you don’t mind!

Despite my illness, I enjoyed my break and loved spending a whole ten days at home (proper Somerset home! Yay!) with The Boy and our families. We were given a gorgeous pasta maker by my grandmother so we’ve been mastering fresh pasta during the holidays. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to make and am now on the lookout for pasta dishes to match our tender sheets.

We spent New Year ’s Eve with good friends that The Boy and I went to school with. Our evening characterised the simple yet successful entertaining equation of great company plus delicious food (divided by optional banter, multiplied by reminiscing) equals wonderful evening. I was tasked with providing a pudding and with a glut of egg whites leftover from festive baking, the choice was clear. It was pavlova time. I made mine slightly more virtuous by substituting the traditional whipped cream with half fat crème fraiche.

I find that whipped egg whites can be something of a wild card ingredient. My top tips for limiting egg white disasters? I would recommend using a painstakingly clean glass or metal bowl (rubbed with a lemon if you’re really superstitious) for whisking in and be sure that your whisk is really clean too. Separating eggs can require a steady hand too so I break the egg over a mug or bowl to catch the egg whites before transferring them individually to the mixing bowl. That way, if a yolk happens to break, it only affects one egg (keep it for scrambled eggs or a cake) rather than your whole bowl – sods law says that its always the last egg when all of the others have separated perfectly!

Peach, Pear and Almond Pavlova
Serves 6 – 8

4 egg whites
225g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white wine vinegar (optional)
4 pears
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla pod
1 tin of peaches in juice
200ml apple and mango (or fruit of your choosing) juice
50g almonds
300ml half fat crème fraiche
25g icing sugar (or to taste)
Dark chocolate to decorate (optional)

- Preheat the oven to 180C. Cover a baking sheet with grease proof paper or baking parchment.
- Whisk the egg whites until they are just stiff and form shiny peaks. Ideally you want to do this with an electric mixer but if you don’t have one, you can do it by hand.
- Gradually add the caster sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time, whisking gently but thoroughly between spoonfuls.
- Once all of the sugar has been added, continue to whisk for a few minutes until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Fold in the corn flour and vinegar (if using) at this stage.
- Smooth onto the prepared baking tray (using a few blobs of meringue mixture under the parchment to keep it in place if necessary). The mixture needs to be about 4cm thick and it’s best if the outsides of your chosen shape are higher than the middle – I find the easiest way to do this is to gently smooth out the middle rather than piling up the sides. Of course, you could be fancy and pipe the meringue to make it look really pretty.
- Pop in the oven and immediately turn down to 120C. Bake for one and a half hours then leave in the oven until completely cool.
- Meanwhile, peel, core and quarter the pears. Drain the peaches, reserving the canning juice and set aside.
- Put into a saucepan and pour in enough juice (from the peaches as well as your chosen juice) to cover. Add the star anise and cinnamon. Slice open the vanilla pod lengthways (scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon and set aside) and add the empty pod to the pan.
- Poach the pears over a medium heat, keeping the pan to a gentle simmer, for around 15 minutes or until the pears are pleasantly soft. Remove from the poaching liquor and turn up the heat to reduce it to a syrup – this will take another 10 – 15 minutes or until thickened.
- Mix the crème fraiche, vanilla seeds and icing sugar. Taste and add more sugar if necessary then spoon on to the meringue base.
- Pop the almonds into a frying pan over a low heat and toast for a few minutes until slightly darker. Keep a close eye on them and don’t let them burn as they’ll become bitter.
- Arrange the fruit on top of the crème topping and intersperse with the toasted almonds. Scatter with grated chocolate to decorate. Serve drizzled with the poaching liquor syrup.

Dark Chocolate and Bitter Cherry Brownies with Salted Caramel Glaze

Now that I’m London-based and taking the train every day, I’ve taken to reading the free papers and after a month, it’s now firmly in my commuting routine. Metro in the morning, Evening Standard during the post-office dash – day in, day out. But on Tuesday evenings, something beautiful happens. For Tuesday’s are the day that Stylist magazine is handed out at choice locations across the UK. It’s a fantastic free women’s weekly magazine aimed at city ladies with, well, style. As one of my lady friends described it, “Stylist rocks. I’d pay for it – it’s that good! But I don’t have to.” Even better.

I don’t pass any of the distribution points on my normal route so I am forced to divert in order to pick up my copy and get my weekly hit. This week, I didn’t manage to detour on my way to a dance class so I ended up coveting a fellow Tube travellers copy for a good twenty minutes – looking lovingly at the cover across the aisle – before she alighted and – RESULT! – left the object of my affections behind. 

This week’s copy was edited by Nigella Lawson and featured a rather emotive image of the lady herself dripping with salted caramel. This would normally be a complete turn-off for me as I can’t really stand the woman (The Boy and I have bonded over our joint disgust of her visibly sexual imagery, la-de-da tones and smug smile) but I turned the page as usual. Surely Stylist wouldn’t fail me, I thought. And I was right.

I liked the entire issue but in particular, it discussed a long-standing point of curiosity for me. Salted caramel. I’ve never been sold on the concept of sweet and savoury combined in this form, which I suppose is pretty strange when you consider that I like sweet chilli sauce, cheese and pineapple on sticks and sweet and sour stir-fries. Nigella wrote some predictably filthy prose about “her obsession” (honestly, the poor girl can’t even write one ‘clean’ page – who else could include “saliva-spurting lips” and “ménage-á-trois” in a food column?) with the stuff but the idea festered with me until I was drawn to try it out. We’d both enjoyed a hint of saltiness in  Source’s Cherry and Salted Caramel Brownie so I thought that I would attempt my own recipe.

Don’t be under any illusion about just how bad these are for you. But the odd occasional indulgence can’t do you any harm. They’re seriously gooey and sticky but can still be eaten with fingers (Nigella-style sultry digit-licking compulsory). Make them a day ahead of time to let the caramel soak in.

Dark Chocolate and Bitter Cherry Brownies with Salted Caramel Glaze
Makes 16 – 20 brownies

For the brownies
100g unsalted butter, softened
150g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs
75g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk (or cream!)
75g dried sour cherries
50g dark chocolate, chopped

For the caramel (adapted from Nigella's version)
40g unsalted butter
25g soft light brown sugar
25g golden caster sugar
25g honey
60ml double cream
1 tsp sea salt (fleur de sel if you have it) or to taste

-          - Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper

-          - First, it’s time to make the caramel. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat with the sugars and honey, stirring occasionally to encourage the sugar to dissolve.

-          - Once it is smooth, raise the temperature and let the caramel gently bubble up. Keep a close eye on it at this point as it can burn easily; I like to remove it from the heat every minute or so to and give it a good stir to stop it catching. It’s ready when it starts to thicken and darken.

-          - Remove from the heat and add the cream, stirring constantly to combine into a smooth sauce. Once you have done this, take a little caramel on a spoon and set it to one side to cool – if it completely solidifies, add a splash of milk as you want the caramel to be semi-liquid at room temperature.

-          - Scatter the salt over the caramel and stir well to combine. Taste to check the salt levels and add more if you fancy it. Beware that the caramel may be very hot so don’t burn your mouth! Set aside.

-          - Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until fluffy and then add one egg at a time, whisking well between each addition.

-          - Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into the bowl and then gently stir in. Add the milk to loosen then fold in half of the cherries and all of the dark chocolate.

-          - Spoon into the prepared tin and level. Using half of your prepared caramel, add dollops to the brownie batter in the tin. Loosely swirl the caramel into the batter but don’t overdo it as it’ll just mix in.

-          - Bake for 25 minutes or until the top has puffed up a little and has set.

-          - Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 15 minutes then stud with the remaining cherries (I like to squidge them right into the soft brownie but be more decorative if you wish) and then glaze with the remaining caramel.

Make your own Christmas cake "kit"?

On my adventures in supermarket-land, I’ve noticed that many of them are selling kits for making the traditional Christmas cake. Now, on the one hand, I’m happy that they might encourage festive cake virgins to give the stodgy fruit slabs a try, which has got to be a good thing. One the other hand, the pointless packaging (individual sachets of spices? Really?) immediately gets my back up and leaves me wondering: is it really that hard to weigh out a few ingredients? It seems like commercialised “convenience” to me. It's been quite the cookery conundrum for me.

The kits themselves aren’t cheap – convenience, after all, costs – and aren’t a complete cake package. Each “kit” contains pre-weighed flour, sugar, almonds and spices as well as ready-soaked dried fruit .You’ll need to add butter and eggs which come at an additional cost. The kit itself will set you back anywhere between £7.50 - £15 depending on if you get one when its reduced. Now that the furious run-up to the big day has begun in earnest, they are discounting them left, right and centre. Assuming that you use free range eggs, you’ll need to fork out at least an additional £3. With your average home baked cake coming in around the £7.50 mark, you’d do better to make your own from scratch if you’re watching the pre-Christmas pennies.

The only thing that these kits seem to offer is convenience in the form is pre-weighed and pre-soaked ingredients as well as a tried-and-tested recipe. I suppose it could be helpful if you really don’t know where to start and probably scores highly in the supermarket impulse buy league tables. For a few of my friends, 2011 has been the year of the first Christmas cake. Instead of turning to the supermarkets for assistance, they got together and made a night of it. All newbies together; no pressure to impress, just cake baking at its best.

Let’s face it; we all know how to weigh out ingredients and there’s nothing out of the ordinary in a Christmas cake. The most difficult part is remembering to soak the fruit before you make the cake but this could be done overnight if you’re really running short of time. As far as tried-and-tested recipes, you have the internet at your fingertips! The world is your cakey (Noro-free) oyster. Plus, I’m sure there’s someone – whether it’s a parent, grandparent, friend or kindly colleague – who would lend you their trusty recipe.

So please don’t be fooled into getting one of these kits. Sure it’s probably better than buying one readymade but making one from scratch – which, in this case, basically involved getting the scales out – isn’t much harder.

Complete first-timer? Not sure where to start? The first thing you need to do is soak your fruit!

Stir up... Friday!

Are you feeling Christmassy yet? No? Neither am I. But I have a plan! Since I was a little girl, my darling mother has made Christmas cake and pudding for us every year. I have fond memories of watching her weigh out her tried-and-tested mixture of dried fruits before grating in the zest of oranges and lemons and finishing with a generous measure of brandy. The smell of brandy still reminds me of the first rich mouthful of iced cake which I would squeeze in on top of the other sumptuous Christmas fare.

Stir up Sunday may have just passed but it's not too late to start soaking your fruit for your Christmas cake. It's a great way to get into the spirit of things, probably because all the alcohol fumes are enough to make anyone feel at least a little bit merry. You can ease yourself into what can be a marathon cooking season.

First, find a suitable vessel - a large sweet jar with a lid is ideal but a large bowl with a saucepan lid or plate over the top works too. Then pick your fruit; go for whatever you'd like and appeals to you. For a standard size cake and pudding, you'll need around 1.5kg of fruit. I adore dried and glacé cherries so I will be throwing a few of those in along with some plump juicy raisins, some snipped up dried dates, figs and peel. Pop them into your jar or bowl and fetch your chosen tipple. Generally, its sherry or brandy but again, there aren't any rules here and if there are, they are made to be broken. You don't have to go for something alcoholic as tea or fruit juice taste delish too. No matter what you choose, my tip would be to have one of whatever you're giving the fruit yourself - for research purposes, of course. My Mum always added the zest and juice of an orange or two as well. Pour over enough to cover the fruit and you're done! Simply stir the mixture every few days and keep in a cool dark place like your larder cupboard or fridge.

Happy Friday!

Super Soft Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Sometimes, just sometimes, I hate technology. Namely, when it all goes wrong. The only positive of my internet service having a major paddy and me having to spend the best part of two hours glued to the phone was that I got to catch up on some cooking. 

With the phone sandwiched between my ear and my shoulder, I managed to rustle up a huge batch of warming cauliflower soup. As the time ticked over the first hour and with hold music still ringing in my ears, I turned my hands from savoury to sweet. It was a friend’s (who also happens to be my colleague) birthday and I wanted to make something that was easy to transport but would give us a good sugary kick.

I try my best to be healthy most days – I tend to reach for fruit over biscuits and you’re more likely to see me munching through a homemade salad at lunchtimes than a cheesy Panini – but every so often, I get a cookie craving. Biscuits won’t do. I need something sweet, soft and slightly gooey… A birthday seemed like the perfect occasion to flex my cookie-making-muscles.

This recipe has the major upside that it’s very simple to make, especially if you have an electric whisk. Don’t panic if the raw mixture is thick and gooey – that’s perfect! It should stand up by itself when dolloped onto prepared baking trays. The key here is to space your cookie mixture out across your trays – you want at least 5cm gaps between each one – as they spread as they cook. If you don’t, you ‘ll end up with one massive cooking which is cool until you try to get it off the tray. Don’t over-cook them either – keep a close eye on them once they’re in the oven and make sure you whisk them out of the oven before they get brown. The outer edges should be golden and the middle should still be soft so that they are delectably gooey when they cool.

Sometimes, naughty is nice!

Super Soft Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Makes half a dozen large cookies

200g unsalted butter, softened
170g golden caster sugar
1 egg
225g self-raising flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
50g chopped dark chocolate
50g chopped milk chocolate
50g chopped dried sour (or natural glacé) cherries

-          Preheat oven to 190c.

-          Beat butter, sugar and egg together in a bowl until smooth.

-          Sift in the flour and cocoa then mix again until smooth. The mixture will be thick and sticky – I was lucky enough to be able to use an electric whisk for this bit but if you don’t have any machinery at your disposal, get your biceps ready!

-          Fold in the cherries and half of the chocolate until they are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

-          Using a dessert spoon, scoop out spoonful’s of the mixture on to lined baking sheets making sure that they are well spaced as the mixture will spread as they cook.

-          Pop a few pieces of chocolate into each cookie to make them ultra-chunky.

-          Bake for 12 minutes, turning the tray around half way through cooking time to ensure that they are evenly golden around the outside but still pale and soft in the middle. Don’t overcook; remember that they will continue to cook in their own residual heat once out of the oven.

-          Leave to cool for 5 minutes and then remove from the tray onto a wire rack. Nosh any many as you can while they’re warm and then store any leftovers in an airtight tin.

Healthy Sin-Free Fruit Flapjacks

Looking for a way to use up your egg whites after making mayonnaise or custard? You could make meringues but for a sturdier snack, try these delicious flapjacks. The great news is that these can be whipped up using store cupboard ingredients combined with glorious in-season apples. The combination of egg whites and apple purée aren't detectable in the finished flapjacks but do away with the need for butter and oil like your usual recipes resulting in a guilt-free snack.

We have tons of apples at this time of year, for which we're indebted to to our generous families and neighbours, but I do know that Sainsburys are currently selling big bags of British Bramley apples for a mere £1. One bag will do you well for this recipe as well as crumbles and cakes galore. I've taken to stewing batches in the microwave for a few minutes and then freezing batches ready for later in the year when we're craving hot apple pies when the tree branches are bare. Throw in a few hedgerow blackberries too!

Another idea for freezing or using your gluts is apple sauce or purée. Peel, core and chop your apples, stew for a few minutes until softened and either keep chunky or mash/blitz in a food processor. Add sugar and/or salt to taste and serve with roasted pork or cold cuts. This freezes really well so that you can have a tasty, healthy condiment all year round. Alternatively, make a large batch, freeze half of it and use the rest in this tasty recipe! I tend to leave out the sugar when I'm using it for baking but it depends how much of a sweet tooth you have. They're pretty sturdy bars so they're ideal for throwing into school lunch boxes and into your rucksac for a mid-ride/walk energy boost.

Healthy Sin-Free Fruit Flapjacks
Makes 16 flapjacks

175g rolled oats
85g muesli
100g dried fruit (I used apricots and raisins)
50g mixed seeds or nuts (I used pumpkin, sesame and sunflower)
5 tbsp honey
2 egg whites
175g apple purée or sauce

- Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 20cm x 20cm baking tin with greaseproof paper.
- Gently warm the honey in a saucepan or in the microwave until runny.
- Combine the oats, muesli, dried fruit and seeds in a bowl and pour in honey, egg whites and apple purée. Stir until completely combined.
- Press the mixture into the tin and bake for 20 minutes or until firm.
- Leave to cool and slice into squares.

Fancy flapjacks in with your cuppa but don't fancy these ones? Keep it fruity with Apple & Blackcurrant Crumble Flapjacks but substitute with any seasonal fresh berries that you have such as blackberries. Or maybe you'd prefer sublimely soft Banana Flapjacks which you could top with melted chocolate if you're freely really sinful!

Marmalade Cake

I made marmalade for the first time this year. It was a mixed bag of citrusy success but it did get me into the preserving mindset. It's surprisingly addictive! Consequently, we had several jars of my own grapefruit brew and some lemon too (to please The Boy who thinks that grapefruits are a favourite of the devil). Our jar tower was added to considerably by my Mother in Love who gifted us with jars of deliciously dark seville orange marmalade and a fabulous friend who gave us a sample of her first batch of orange marmalade.

With a self-catering weekend away approaching, I wanted to make some cake for those lazy afternoon tea moments where you're in need of something to tide you over until dinner and a biscuit just won't do. Usually, I'd make lemon drizzle cake as it's something that The Boy adores but my marmalade mountain was staring me down as I reached for my recipe book.

I must admit that marmalade cake isn't something that I'd normally go for. I'm a recent marmalade convert so I suppose I assumed that a cake flavoured with it would be a little full on. This recipe, however, is basically just a great tea cake with a hint of citrus tang. It's a great way to use up marmalade that hasn't set as well as you'd hoped; my grapefruit and lemon concoction is quite a soft set so it's ideal for this.The mixed nuts really make a difference and I was toying with the idea of adding soaked sultanas too but decided against it for my most recent batch. If they take your fancy, soak them for as long as you can (ideally overnight) in orange juice, cold tea or water (depending on your tastes) and fold them before you pop them in the loaf tin.

Take a thick slice into the sunshine and enjoy with a cup of tea!

Marmalade Cake
Makes 12 - 14 slices

175g butter, softened
225g self raising flour
175g light brown muscovado sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp baking powder
100g mixed nuts, roughly chopped
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
140g (homemade) marmalade

 - Preheat your oven to 180c. Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper and set aside.
 - Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together into a large mixing bowl.
 - Stir in the sugar then add the butter and eggs into the bowl with all but 2 tbsp of the marmalade.
 - Beat the mixture until it is pretty much smooth. If you can, do this with an electric mixer. I didn't have one which made it a bit of a time consuming process.
 - Fold in the nuts and spread the mixture evenly into your prepared loaf tin.
 - Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out without any batter sticking to it. Cover the cake with foil after 30 minutes (or when the top is golden brown) so that it doesn't burn.
 - Put the cake to one side to cool slightly while you prepare the marmalade glaze. Mix the marmalade with a tablespoon or so of boiling water - you want it to be the consistency of runny honey.
 - Prick the cake with a skewer or fork and pour the glaze over the top, spreading out with the back of a spoon to ensure that it is coated.

Apple & Blackcurrent Crumble Flapjacks

Blackcurrants and redcurrants freshly picked from Thurloxton's fields

Summertime is on it's way and with it comes the the seasonal glut of glorious fruit and vegetables. One thing to make the most of (apart from the last trickle of British asparagus) is soft fruit. The supermarkets are packed with them - British strawberries and raspberries were both on offer when I last went - but the quality can be a little hit and miss as they are difficult to transport. That's the trouble with soft fruit. It's, well, soft.

Luckily for us, we have a great pick your own place nearby called Thurloxton Growers which grows all sorts from rhubarb and gooseberries to broadbeans and asparagus. They have several fields with lots of produce fresh on the vine, bush or plant to pick at your own pace. It's not cheap but the quality is amazing and they tend to have fruit that is otherwise hard to come by - red gooseberries and loganberries to name just two. Have a look for some fields near you here or type 'Pick your own' and then your location into a search engine. Many places, Thurloxton included, sell other local produce such as fresh cream to go with your freshly picked strawberries!

Otherwise, if you're stuck with the supermarket for your fruit, take a minute to take a close look at the fruit that goes into your basket. If the fruit has darker, soft patches or looks bruised, find another punnet. Alternatively, if you want your berries for jam or will be using them the same day, corner a member of staff and ask for a discount. It might sound embarrassing but if you don't ask, you don't get.

I spent a lovely afternoon picking red and black currants in the fields of Thurloxton. I'm very partial to eating the redcurrants raw if they're sweet enough but the blackcurrants proved a little too tart for snacking on. My Mother-in-Love had suggested jam but I wanted to do some baking with them.

What to make with my hoard? I adore flapjacks. They feel like the less sinful option when you fancy something cakey. They have butter and sugar in like a sponge but they contain oats instead of flour. That makes them healthy, right? Anyway, British Bramley apples are still in season and you know, dear reader, how much I like the them. It seemed apt to pair British Bramleys with British blackcurrants together.

I whipped up a batch using the apples as a base for the flapjack to give it extra flavour and also to make them moist and chewy. I left the skins in for added fibre (and because I couldn't be faffed to peel them!) which I can't say I've noticed in the finished flapjacks so for the convenience, I'd just keep them on. Once the flapjack base is done, just press the currants onto the surface, sprinkle with sugar and then top with more crumbly oats for a satisfying crunch before you pop it in the oven. It might sound like a lot of trouble for a flapjack but it's actually really simple and adds a lot to the finished article. I imagine that this would work well with any seasonal fruit that you've got lying about. You could also use frozen soft fruits from your freezer or from the supermarket outside of season.

Apple & Blackcurrant Crumble Flapjacks
Makes 12 pieces

For the flapjack base
3 large Bramley apples
200g oats
35ml honey
75g butter
60g sugar
100g fresh (or frozen) blackcurrants, washed

For the crumble topping
55g oats
15g butter, cubed
55g flaked almonds

 - Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 20cm by 20cm baking tin with parchment paper.
 - Wash the apples, core them and chop into roughly 1cm cubes.
 - Put into a saucepan over a low heat with 40g of the sugar. Cover and simmer gently for around 10 - 15 minutes or until the apples start to fall apart.
 - Meanwhile, make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter and oats together with your fingers.
 - Stir the apples to form a smoothish paste. Add the butter and honey and bring to a gentle simmer.
 - Add the oats and stir until they're completely coated.
 - Press into the prepared tin, using a spatula or spoon to level.
 - Press the blackcurrants into the top of the flapjack and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
 - Top with the crumble topping and scatter with flaked almonds.
 - Bake for 30 minutes until the blackcurrants burst and and the almonds and oats are golden.

Simple Home-baked Scones

 When a few friends came over to visit this weekend, the last thing that I was expecting was for one of my male friends to bring his craving for cream teas all the way over from Hampshire. This is a guy who likes mountain biking and sailing. And fast cars. And shoot-em-up pew-pew-pew computer games. He’s no less macho than your average man and yet he craves little cakes with cups of tea. Not that I’m suggesting anything, of course.

Anyway, a rainy post-mojito Sunday morning dawned and it was clear that no one wanted to leave the warm and dry of our flat in search of tea and cake. Instead, I got out my trusty scone recipe and threw together a batch. They’re so simple to make – preparation takes about 10 minutes or so and they don’t take much longer to bake. Within half an hour, you can be munching on warm scones.

Please don’t bother with the supermarket versions that are available; I’ve always found them to be a tremendous disappointment. Dry, crumbly and tasteless. Homemade scones are amazingly easy and so worthwhile for the flavour alone. Serve with clotted cream and strawberry jam for an authentic feel or go for whipped cream if the divine clotted kind isn't available. Just as lovely with butter, of course, though not quite as decadent. Top with a few British strawberries if you're feeling fancy (or if they were going cheap at the supermarket, like us!)

Sultana Scones
Makes 8 - 10

225g self raising flour
40g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ½ tbsp caster sugar
Pinch of salt
125ml semi-skimmed milk
50g sultanas

- Preheat oven to 220C
- Sift the flour over the butter in a large mixing bowl. Rub the two ingredients rapidly between your fingers to bring it together, taking care to break down any lumps. The mixture will have an almost sandy texture once you’re done.
- Add the raisins, sugar and salt and stir in with a table knife.
- Pour the milk into the bowl, a little at a time, mixing it in with the knife. The mixture will come together as you add the milk. You might not need to add all of the milk if the pastry is coming together nicely. If it looks a little dry, add a splash more milk.
- Flour a pastry board or (in my case) a clean worktop and roll out with a floured rolling pin. The pastry should be about ¾ inch thick. Cut your desired shapes – I used a floured glass but you can go as wild as you like with your pastry cutters.
- Pop the scones onto a parchment covered baking tray and bake for 12 – 15 minutes until golden brown.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes and serve warm with cream or butter and jam.

Bakers and Shakers

Are you a baker? Or a shaker?

We went to see the hilarious Dylan Moran of Black Books fame last night. He posed an interesting question: Are you a baker or a shaker? Namely, do you bottle things up that annoy you (a 'baker') or do you react to anything and everything (a 'shaker'). He generalised that most Britons were bakers; revolution in England, he claimed, would take thousands of years. The first few hundred years would be marked by putting your coffee cup hard on your desk and would culminated with an angry outburst of "You know, he really gets on my wick!" Italians and Arabs, for example, are shakers says Moran. Passionate, expressive, unpredictable and hyperactive people. I found this very funny. Being raised by an English rose of a mother and an Arab camel of a father, what mixture am I?

When you consider our traditional foods, you can see where he's coming from. Comparing, say, Britain's classic toad in the hole with a Moroccan tagine is quite a contrast. Both great in their own way but two ends of the spectrum flavour-wise. Cosy, comforting-if-a-little-bland stodge on one hand and fragrant, spicy juicyness on the other.

Foodwise, I love to bake in the literal sense. I'm not sure why as I'm not a huge fan of sticking to recipes or measuring things out accurately (prefering the more slap-dash, bung-it-in-and-see-what-happens approach), both things that are required of baking as, at the end of the day, the successful rising of a cake seems to come down to chemistry. I do love sweet things though and I think that this is the key to my love affair with the oven.

In terms of flavour, I'd like to be a shaker. I like to try new combinations of spices and am pretty confident when it comes to adding them to meals though I often come back to similar flavours. I love how cocktails (shaken, not stirred naturally!) taste but I'm not such a fan of their effects. Maybe it's a taste thing... Or maybe I'm just boring!

Scrumptious Coffee & Walnut Cake

Today is a colleague’s birthday so I’ve decided to go against the normal traditions (link) and make her cake instead of her bringing in her own. The consensus in our office was that coffee cake was one of the best cakes around so I dug out a recipe and decided to give it a go.

Shock horror when The Boy returned after a day of promoting his trade at The Bath & West Show (baring foodie goodies!) to find our kitchen filled with the scent of coffee. He is a tea drinker and can’t stand the strength or bitterness of coffee. His resolve did crumble slightly when I gave him a taste – he confessed that it wasn’t all that terrible.

I tried out another of Angela Nilsen’s Ultimate Makeover series – a low calorie, low fat cake does limit my food guilt even though it’s only an occasional treat. It was a pretty simple recipe to follow. A lot of the ‘good for you’ cake recipes of the sponge ilk that I’ve come across need you to whisk up egg whites and other faff but this one, thankfully, has none of that. The filling, which I also used as a topping in the place of icing, involves making a syrup from water, coffee and sugar which takes a little care and patience but is worth it.

Angela’s original recipe can be found here. She managed to cut hers into three and filled it in with the filling then topped with icing. Mine didn’t rise enough so I was only able to cut it in half but it did mean that I didn’t need to make icing. Less bowls to wash up. Bonus! I also substituted low fat mascarpone with light cream cheese and a little yoghurt which worked well.

Coffee & Walnut Cake
Makes 12 servings

225g self raising flour
50g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
85g light brown muscovado sugar
50g golden caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
250ml low fat natural yoghurt
75ml walnut oil
25g chopped walnuts

For the coffee cream to fill and top the cake
140g icing sugar, sifted
140g Quark
100g low fat cream cheese
3 tbsp low fat natural yoghurt
2 tsp instant coffee granules
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Handful of walnut halves to decorate

- Preheat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
- Mix the coffee granules with 2 tbsp of warm water and stir until dissolved.
- Mix the flour, sugars (Angela suggests rubbing the muscovado sugar through your fingers to get rid of the lumps which I did and it really helped), walnuts, ground almonds and baking powder into a bowl and mix well.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the eggs, coffee mixture, yoghurt and oil into it. Stir thoroughly until combined.
- Scrape into the prepared tin and bake for 40 – 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
- Leave on one side to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the coffee cream. In a saucepan, mix the coffee granules and caster sugar with 2 tbsp of warm water. Put the saucepan on a low heat and stir until the sugar and coffee are dissolved into the water.
- Turn the heat up under the saucepan and gently simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally, for around 2 ½ minutes until it is thicker and darker then leave to cool. As Angela states in her original recipe, when cooled, the mixture has the consistency of treacle or golden syrup.
- While the mixture is cooling, whisk the other ingredients together. Add the cooled coffee syrup and fold through.
- Cut the cooled cake in half (or more if it’s risen well and you can manage it) and fill with half of the coffee cream.
- Assemble the cake, top with the rest of the coffee cream and decorate with walnut halves. Serve with a cup of Joe or even a cup of tea!

Bramley Apple Cupcakes

A lovely way to get some of your five-a-day?

Tomorrow is my birthday. I'm not saying this for sympathy or for want of balloons but to justify my late-night baking.

In the British workplace, it seems to be customary for the birthday boy or girl to bring in cakes or biscuits for their colleagues. This, to me, seems like backwards logic; it's your birthday so surely others should be treating you? Anyway, I don't mind because it means that I get to bake.

Bramley apples are in season so you can buy them cheaply in most supermarkets. There's someone in the village where I grew up who has a tree that bears fruit at this time of year and they have so much that they don't know what to do with it so they pile it up on their garden wall for passers-by to get. The fruit is just lovely but has to be cooked as they're a lot more acidic that your run of the mill dessert apples. A lesson learnt from biting into a crisp apple on my way home. Our addiction to sugary foods has extended to fresh fruit with our supermarket shelves are filled with watery, sweet imported fruit from the likes of the USA and New Zealand. Bramleys mellow and sweeten as they are cooked so they're well worth the effort. They're fantastic in crumbles, yummy in apple sauce and add a certain something to mashed potato if you're serving it with pork. Very versatile, very tasty and in season so don't hold back.

For my birthday baking, I decided to treat my workmates to another take on apples. Apple cupcakes! There's very little butter or egg required in this recipe, which makes me feel more virtuous. The grated apple keeps the cake very moist so you won't miss them. I also substituted some of the butter in the butter icing with apple sauce - core a bramley apple and pop it in the oven on a baking tray at 180c until soft then mush up with a fork. So easy and you can put an apple or two in the oven with your cakes as they bake. Now I just need to work on my piping technique!

Bramley Apple Cupcakes
Makes 12 - 14 cakes

2 medium Bramley apples, peeled and grated
170g caster sugar
60g unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
110g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

 - Preheat your oven to 180c.

 - Mix the flour, baking powder and spice in a bowl.

 - In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together then add the vanilla and the egg.

 - Fold in the grated apple. The mixture may look a bit curdled here but worry not.

 - Sift in the flour mixture, a little at a time, while stirring until combined.

 - Half fill your cupcake cases - I use silicone ones because they're easy and reusable (less waste, yay!) - and pop into the oven for 18 - 20 minutes or until they are cooked all the way through.

 - Allow them to cool completely then top with butter icing if you wish.