Easy Hot Cross Buns

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

Although I've made Chelsea Buns using James Martin’s Hot Cross Bun recipe, I’ve never actually made Hot Cross Buns.

This recipe is from the April 2009 issue of BBC Good Food magazine and it prompted me to try as it was hailed as easy. They were quick and easy to make as no kneading was involved, but I’ve just read the comments on the website (they’ve been missing for such a long time and I didn’t realise they were back before making this recipe!) and most people said the buns were too heavy because of the lack of kneading.

They were mainly heavy because they are so big! The amount of dough could easily of made 12 ample sized buns (as the good folk say, more than a handful is too much). We found them a bit dry, even when spread with butter. But they were ten times better when toasted, hence the 4/5 munch rating. We couldn’t really taste the mixed spice either, so I would add more next time.

Some of the comments stated they thought the crosses on the buns were horrible. We had no problem with them, but I did add more water to the flour paste than the recipe suggested as I thought it was far too thick for piping. I added just enough extra water so that the paste could easily drop off the spoon and into my piping bag, which I made from greaseproof paper made into a small cone.

I would make this recipe again as it was so easy to make, but next time I might knead the dough for a few minutes. I would also try baking it in a loaf tin and then it would be easier to slice and then toast.

Happy Easter everyone!

• Makes: 8 buns (but better off making 10-12)
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C
• Oven shelf: middle

Ingredients:

FOR THE BUNS:

• 500g strong white bread flour
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 2 heaped teaspoons mixed spice (needs more!)
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g butter, chopped into cubes
• 200g mixed dried fruits (I used ½ currants and ½ raisins)
• 7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast
• 200ml milk
• 2 eggs

FOR THE CROSSES & GLAZE:

• 3 Tablespoons plain flour
• 2-3 Tablespoons water
• honey or golden syrup, for brushing

Directions:

1. Tip the flour into a bowl and stir in the salt, mixed spice and sugar.
2. Rub in the butter with your fingertips. Stir in the dried fruit, then sprinkle over the yeast and stir in. Gently warm the milk so it is hot (30-45 secs in the microwave), but still cool enough to put your finger in for a couple of seconds. Beat with the eggs, then pour into the dried ingredients.
3. Using a blunt knife, mix the ingredients to a moist dough, then leave to soak for 5 mins. Take out of the bowl and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces (this was about 140g per bun).
4. Shape the dough into buns on a floured surface. Space apart on a baking sheet, cover loosely with cling film, then leave in a warm place until half again in size. This will take 45 mins-1 hr 15 mins, depending on how warm the room is.
5. When the buns are risen, heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Mix the flour with 2-3 Tablespoons water to make a paste. Pour into a plastic food bag and make a nick in one of the corners. Pipe crosses on top of each bun.
6. Bake for 12-15 mins until risen and golden then brush all over with honey or golden syrup (whilst the buns are still warm). The buns will keep fresh for a day. After that they are best toasted and served with butter.

Chelsea Buns

 

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I made these using the dough from James Martin’s Hot Cross Buns recipe (April issue of BBC Good Food magazine), but I used a different filling as I didn’t fancy the apricots and almonds that he used. These were better than my last attempt as they were big and soft, but they did taste a tiny bit too yeasty. This recipe used twice as much yeast as most other dough recipes, which would explain the yeasty flavour and also why the dough rose at an accelerated rate and resembled a B-movie blob monster!

 

I had a hard time fitting all the buns into the tin and after the second proving they were even more squashed and attempting to make a break for space and freedom.

 

After the 10 minutes baking at Gas 6 they were very golden brown and on the verge of burning and I was afraid they would become rock hard like my last attempt. So I kept a careful eye on them for the 10 minutes baking at Gas 4. I’ll admit that I did open the oven door a few too many times to keep checking and therefore I did need to bake them for another 5 or so minutes as they weren’t cooked properly. Even though I’d checked with a skewer to see if it came out clean, the middle bun was a bit underdone but the others were fine.

 

TASTE TEST:

The buns were incredibly large, so I would make them smaller if I used this recipe again. I think there was too much yeast which gave them a slightly funny taste, so we weren’t that keen on the flavour. They were also quite a lot of hard work and the reward wasn’t really justified! So I’m still on the hunt for the perfect Chelsea Bun recipe.

 

• Makes: 8 very large buns
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C then reduced to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a deep 21 or 23cm cake tin, greased

 

Ingredients for the dough:

• 450g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 x 7g sachets easy-blend yeast
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 150ml warm milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 50ml warm water

FOR THE FILLING:

• 50g light brown sugar
• 100g mixed dried fruit (I used currants and sultanas)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 25g butter, melted

GLAZE:

• 1 Tablespoon apricot jam
• ½ Tablespoon water
• caster sugar for sprinkling

 

Directions:

1. Put the flour, yeast, caster sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, warm water, beaten egg and melted butter. Mix everything together to form a dough – start with a wooden spoon and finish with your hands.
2. Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and springy. Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover. Leave in a warm place to rise until roughly doubled in size – this will take about 1 hour depending on how warm the room is.
3. Meanwhile make the filling by mixing all the filling ingredients together.
4. Top the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few seconds. Roll out the dough to a rough 20 x 30cm rectangle. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, then roll it up firmly like a Swiss roll from one of the long sides – dampening the open edge to help it stick if necessary. Cut into 8 even slices with a sharp knife, shape into 8 round pinwheels, then arrange in the tin, cut-side up. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 20 minutes until roughly doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C. Bake the buns for 10 minutes, then lower the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Melt the jam with the water and brush all over the buns, then sprinkle with a little more caster sugar.

Ecclefechan Tarts

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

You’re probably wondering, what the heck are Ecclefechan Tarts?! Well Steve and I only became aware of them last year when we attended a Sainsburys Christmas Press Show and we were offered one to try.

 

It is a traditional Scottish tart which is a combination of treacle tart and mince pie and it is a traditional recipe from Ecclefechan in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.

Although they’re available in Sainsburys all year round, we haven’t actually bought any since we tried them. Instead I decided to try making them myself and I managed to find a recipe online. I plan to make these as Christmas gifts, so this is sort of a trial run to see how it works out.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Unfortunately the recipe didn’t state how much pastry was needed or how many tarts it made. So I just used the 225g of homemade Pâte Brisée (Sweet Shortcrust Pastry) that I had in the freezer. I managed to make 12 tarts from this amount of pastry, but I had so much filling leftover that I think I could have made double the amount of tarts. I have put the leftover filling into a airtight container and stored it in the fridge for another time.

 

The recipe doesn’t tell you to put a lid on the tarts and the ones we had at Sainsburys didn’t have lids, but I had little bit of pastry leftover so I thought I’d made some little Christmas trees to put on the top and I think they look good. They don’t look anything like the ones from Sainsburys as they’re not as deep and the treacle has turned quite a dark colour on mine, but that is the most delicious part of it!

 

 

I wasn’t sure how these were going to turn out as the recipe seemed a bit strange with the vinegar, but you can’t taste it. I added less fruit than the recipe suggested because it seemed like too much. I also whizzed up the nuts using my mini-chopper so they were quite fine instead of just chopping them by hand as I think it gave the filling a better texture.

 

TASTE TEST:

Steve and I really liked them and they tasted just as good as the Sainsburys ones (well we think they did, as we ate those ones back in July 2008 so it’s hard to remember!) and Steve’s Mum did like them but thought they were a bit too sweet. We all agreed though that they’re much nicer than mince pies and would prefer to have these at Christmas!

 

• Makes: should make at least 24 tarts
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• You will need: 2 x 12 bun tins

 

Ingredients:

• At least 500g (I think!) Sweet Shortcrust pastry/Pâte Brisée
• 125g (4oz) melted butter
• 200g (6oz) soft brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 Tablespoon vinegar (I just used white wine vinegar)
• 200g (7oz) mixed dried fruit (I used sultanas and currants)
• 50g (2oz) nuts, finely chopped ( I used walnuts and almonds)

 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix the sugar and melted butter together, then add the beaten eggs.
2. Stir in the vinegar, then add mixed fruit and nuts.
3. Roll out your pastry to about 2mm thick and cut out circles to line your bun tins. (As you’re not blind baking the pastry first, put your lined tins in the fridge for about 10 minutes to prevent them shrinking).
4. Fill each pastry case with about a Tablespoonful of the mixture (give it a good stir first as the fruit and nuts will sink to the bottom of the bowl).
5. If you have leftover pastry then you can cut out shapes to lay on the top as lids.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C until golden brown.
7. Leave to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack (I usually wait until the tin is cool enough to handle but don’t leave them too long in the tins otherwise the treacle will set and you’ll have a job getting them out!).
8. Eat them whilst they’re warm!

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• I used up the other half of the filling by making 9 tarts, but this time I used a slightly bigger cutter so they were deeper and could hold more filling. I baked them for 25 minutes.
• As an experiment I have put one tart in the freezer and I will thaw it out and reheat in the oven to see if they can be successfully frozen. This will be handy as I plan to give these as gifts so I can make them in advance. Watch this space! These freeze perfectly! Just defrost in the fridge overnight and then pop into a preheated oven at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C for 15-20 minutes.

Cornish Fairings

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I don’t know if this is a traditional Cornish recipe or not, it’s just one I got out of the free Tesco magazine! But they are really nice biscuits, crispy but chewy at the same time. They taste quite strongly of ginger, but that just makes them nice and spicy. They went down well, the only complaint being the recipe only makes 6 biscuits! But they are large biscuits at 9cm in diameter, so they’re quite filling. But next time I will double the recipe as they’re so easy to make!

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I added dried cranberries as I had them in the cupboard, but you couldn’t really taste them, so next time I won’t bother adding them.

• Makes: 6 biscuits
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C
• Oven shelf: Top
• You will need: a large mixing bowl, a large baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper

Ingredients:

• 125g (4oz) plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon mixed spice
• 50g (2oz) caster sugar
• 50g (2oz) butter, softened to room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons golden syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, mixed spice and sugar.
3. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub in with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Mix in the syrup and knead until you have a smooth dough.
5. Divide the mixture into 6 pieces, then roll each piece into a ball.
6. Place the balls onto your lined baking sheet, spacing them well apart as they will spread. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand, until it is about 1cm thick.
7. Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes until they have turned a deep golden brown, watch them as they change colour very quickly at the end of cooking.
8. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Coffee, date and walnut cupcakes

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

Coffee and walnut is quite a classic cake combination, so I thought I’d add some dates too as I really like the sticky toffee taste they create.

• Makes: 24 cupcakes (fairy size cases)
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• You will need: 2 cupcake tins lined with paper cases
• Oven shelf: Upper middle
• Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients for the cakes:

• 225g (8oz) dried dates, pitted and roughly chopped
• 225ml hot water
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons instant coffee
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 125g (4½ oz) butter, softened (I used Stork)
• 50g (2oz) dark muscovado sugar
• 150g (5oz) light muscovado sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 225g (8oz) self raising flour
• 100g (3½ oz) walnuts, chopped

Ingredients for the icing:

• 100g (3½ oz) icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee, dissolved in 2 Tablespoons hot water
• Walnut halves to decorate 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Put the dates in a medium sized bowl and pour over the hot water.
3. Stir in the vanilla extract, instant coffee and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.
4. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy (easiest in a food processor or with an electric mixer).
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, with a tablespoon of flour with each egg, beating well between each addition.
6. Add the remaining flour and mix in well.
7. Add the wet date mixture and beat in well.
8. Then stir in the nuts (if using a food processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl before stirring in the nuts as you don’t want to chop them up anymore).
9. Fill the 24 cake cases with the mixture – they will be quite full – and bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
10. Leave in the tins to cool whilst you make the icing.
11. Icing: mix the icing sugar with enough of the dissolved coffee to make a fairly runny icing – add the coffee gradually to get the right consistency. Drizzle or spread on top of the cakes and decorate with walnuts is desired.

Granola Bars

MUNCH RATING: 3/5
 
This is the latest experiment for the perfect snack bar for Steve to take to work to stave off the munchies!
I’ve called them Granola Bars because they contain the ingredients that I bought to make granola and even though they taste a lot like flapjacks, the fruit makes them soft and chewy, whilst the cornflakes make them nice and crunchy.
These are by far my favourite, but this recipe has quite a lot of butter, sugar and golden syrup which doesn’t make them very healthy, so I’m going to try and cut down on the sugar next time as there’s a lot of sweetness in the fruit.

• Makes: 16-18
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Cooking time: 20-25 minutes
• You will need: 12 x 7inch tin (or two 8 inch square tins), lined with greaseproof paper as it makes removal from the tin easier. 

Ingredients:

• 175g/6oz butter
• 175g/6oz light brown sugar
• 5 Tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 eating apple, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• 75g/3oz dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
• 75g/3oz dried pineapple, chopped into small pieces
• 300g/11oz porridge oats
• 50g/2oz cornflakes, slightly crushed 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. In a large saucepan gently melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in all the fruit, porridge oats and cornflakes, until well combined.
4. Tip into your tin/tins and gently press down with the back of a spoon to bind the mixture.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes near the top of the oven until golden brown and firm.
6. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then cut into bars.
7. Leave to cool completely before lifting them out of the tin.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies

MUNCH RATING: 3/5
I first tried this combination in San Francisco when Steve and I bought a hot chocolate and cookie from a Mrs Field’s shop (a bit like Millie’s Cookies). The cookie was soft and chewy and this recipe (I adapted it from a BBC Good Food book) is quite a good imitation and were well received by my chief tasters!
I have since found a recipe online for Mrs Field’s cookies, so I’ll try making that next time because it contains oats which I like to use so the cookies are slightly healthy!

This is still a great recipe though, because you don’t need many ingredients and it’s really quick and simple to make. However, they were a bit greasy.

• Makes: 18-20
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• You will need: large baking sheet, lined with greaseproof paper

Ingredients:

• 250g/9oz butter, softened
• 50/2oz caster sugar
• 100g/3½oz light muscovado sugar
• 300g/10oz self raising flour
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 100g/3½oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
• 75g/3oz dried cranberries 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with greaseproof paper (or bake in batches).
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and milk and mix well until fully incorporated (It might look quite dry to begin with but persevere mixing and it will come together!).
4. Then stir in the chocolate and cranberries and mix well.
5. Divide the mixture into 18-20 equal portions and roughly shape each portion into a ball, about the size of a golf ball.
6. Put onto the baking sheets spaced well apart to allow for spreading. Lightly flatten each cookie with your fingertips.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes (mine took 17 minutes) until the cookies are pale golden around the edges, but still feel soft in the centre. (Depending on your oven, it’s a good idea to rotate the trays halfway through cooking to ensure even browning).
8. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Fruity Snack Bars

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

Now that Steve has started a new job I thought I’d make him some snack bars to munch on for when he gets peckish. They’re a healthier snack than chocolate as they’ve got porridge oats, fresh apple and dried apricots in them – it’s the only way I can get him to eat fruit! For some reason they tasted of coconut, which is weird but nice, even though I don’t like coconut!

You could use lots of different dried fruit or maybe add some nuts. I’m going to try spreading a layer of jam in the middle next time!

• Makes: 10 bars
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• You will need: 8x8 inch square tin, lined with greaseproof paper 

Ingredients:

• 150g (1 ¼ cups) self raising flour
• 100g (½ cup) caster sugar
• 180g (2 cups) porridge oats
• 1 eating apple, cut into very small pieces
• 75g (½ cup) dried apricots, cut into small pieces
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
• 150g butter
• 1 Tablespoon golden syrup 

Directions:

1. Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the sugar, oats, apple, apricots and cinnamon into the bowl and mix.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Once melted, add the golden syrup and mix well. Remove from the heat.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and give it a good stir.
5. Pour the mixture into the tin and press it down really well to make sure it binds (it’s easiest to use your hands).
6. Bake in the upper part of the oven at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C for approx 20 - 25 minutes (until golden brown).
7. When you remove them from the oven, immediately cut into bars.
8. Leave to cool on a wire rack before removing the bars from the tin.

COOK'S NOTES:
They keep really well if kept in an airtight box.

Phoebe's Fabulous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

This recipe is from the Friend's Cookbook and they're soft and chewy but slightly crunchy too. I didn't have any raisins so I used sultanas and some chopped dates instead.

• Makes about 30 cookies
• Oven Temperature: Gas Mark 5/375°F/190°C
• Cooking time: 12-15 minutes
• You will need: baking tray lined with greaseproof paper (I used a silicone mat on a baking tray which worked brilliantly as the cookies don't stick). 

Ingredients:

• 12 Tablespoons (175g/6oz) unsalted butter, softened (I used Stork spread for cakes)
• 3/4 cup (160g/5.5oz) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup (130g/4.5oz) white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups (170g/6oz) rolled oats
• 1 ¼ cups (160g/5.5oz) plain flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups (200g/7 oz) raisins/sultanas 

Directions:

1. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla, beat well until combined.
3. In a separate bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the butter mixture until just combined.
4. Stir in the raisin/sultanas.
5. Drop the dough by heaped tablespoons onto the baking sheet, leaving a 2" inch between them. I found this easiest by using 2 tablespoons to create balls as the dough is quite stiff and sticky.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes on a shelf near the top of the oven until the cookies are golden brown.
7. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack.

ALTERNATIVES:
Below are the same cookies made with dried cranberries instead of raisins. This time I formed walnut shaped balls out of the dough and slightly flattened them when they were on the baking tray. The cookies spread out less and were thicker, giving them a more squidgy texture inside, but were still crunchy on the outside.

Rachel Allen’s Carrot Cake

MUNCH RATING: 1/5

I saw Rachel Allen make this cake on TV the other week and it looked really easy to make and quite delicious. It was easy to make however the quantities for the icing was far too much and I only needed about one third to cover the whole cake.

I had very mixed reviews on this cake, some people really liked the sultanas and others weren’t too keen, as they said it was too much like fruit cake. I personally thought it was OK, but it definitely tasted better the following day. I’d kept it in the fridge because of the cream cheese and I think it being served slightly chilled made a big difference.

For a totally awesome Carrot Cake recipe check this out!

Ingredients: 

For the cake:

• 140ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
• 2 eggs
• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 300g grated carrot, (grated weight)
• 100g raisins (I used sultanas instead)
  
• 75g pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
• 180g self-raising flour
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp mixed spice 

For the cream cheese icing:

• 250g cream cheese, chilled
• 50g butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 275g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 orange, zest only

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 2/300°F/150°C. Oil and line a 13 x 23cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the oil, brown sugar, grated carrot, raisins and chopped nuts. 
3. Sift in the rest of the dry ingredients and bring the mixture together using a wooden or large metal spoon until well combined.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for about five minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving. 

For the icing: beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until well combined. Add the vanilla extract, icing sugar and finely grated orange zest and mix until the icing is smooth and thick. Using a palette knife, spread the icing evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out. Cut into slices to serve.

Sticky Toffee Muffins with Crunchy Nutty Topping

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

This recipe is from the MacMillan Cancer Support booklet that came out in 2008 and I have added my own twist by adding a crunchy topping of hazelnuts and demerara sugar. This is a great contrast to the light, fluffy and moist inside of the muffin.

These muffins are healthier than you might think as the 'Sticky Toffee' element comes from using dates and sultanas, which I was a bit dubious about because I don't like eating dates. However, like Sticky Toffee Pudding, you don't notice them but they somehow give a depth of flavour. Steve doesn't like dates or sultanas and he loved these muffins so it's a sneaky way to get people to eat fruit!

This was a perfect post-Xmas recipe because Steve's mum always buys dates and unshelled nuts for Xmas and no one ever eats them, so this is a great way to use them up!

This mixture makes 12 proper sized muffins (with a bit of mixture leftover) so you could use smaller fairy cake cases to make double the amount.

• Makes: 12 Muffins
• Oven Temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• Oven shelf: Middle-top
• You will need: muffin/cake pan lined with paper cases and a saucepan
  

Muffin Ingredients:

• 200g/7oz Soft Brown Sugar (I used half Brown Caster and half Dark Muscovado for that treacle flavour)
• 175g/60z Raisins or Sultanas
• 175g/60z Chopped Dates
• 175g/6oz Butter
• 200ml/7 fl.oz water
• 2 medium Eggs, beaten (I only had large eggs so I used 2 that were on the small side)
• 300g/10.5 oz Plain Flour
• 2 level Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Mixed Spice (I didn't have any so I used some Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Ground Ginger)

Topping Ingredients:

• About 30g/1oz nuts, finely chopped (I used hazelnuts which I chopped in my mini-chopper)
• 1 Tablespoon of demerara sugar

Directions:

1. Place the sugar, raisins/sultanas, dates and butter in a saucepan with 200ml (7 fl.oz) water. Gently heat to melt the butter, mixing together well.
2. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for about 10 minutes (you can speed up the cooling process by stirring the mixture and sitting the pan in a bowl of cold water).
3. When the mixture is cool enough to touch with your finger, beat in the eggs (if the mixture is too hot you will scramble the eggs!).
4. Add the flour, baking powder and mixed spice (I sifted these in) and carefully incorporate into the wet ingredients with the minimum of mixing - don't overmix as this makes muffins chewy.
5. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases. The recipe says to fill them three-quarters full but there was so much mixture that I filled them to the top.
6. Mix together the nuts and demerara sugar and then sprinkle the topping over the muffins.
7. Give the tin a sharp tap on the counter to even out the mixture - I find this knocks out any unwanted air bubbles.
8. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until well risen and springy to the touch.
9. Allow to cool in tin for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
   

One-pot Spicy Rice

My friend Kim cooked this for me when I went to visit her and it was so delicious I had to have the recipe so I could make it for Steve. However, he was a bit dubious about trying it because it had raisins/sultanas and chickpeas in it and it's vegetarian! So he looked a bit worried when I dished it up but after the first few mouthfuls he did an Oliver Twist and asked for seconds but unfortunately there was no more, as I'd only cooked enough for 2. So next time I'll cook more by doubling the quantities.

The recipe here has a couple of tweaks as I had half a butternut squash to use up and didn't have any spinach so I used peas, but you can use whatever's going. I really like the different textures and tastes that the sultanas and cashews bring to the dish, they really compliment the curry flavour - a fruit and nut sensation!

I made this for the second time here in San Francisco and I used the cup measurement method and the rice came out perfectly! It's basically 1 part rice to 2 parts liquid. So I used 2 cups of rice and 4 cups of stock (to serve 4 people). I didn't have any peas or spinach but it still tasted great!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into bitesize pieces (optional)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 or 2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tbsp medium curry paste (I used Madras)
125g/4.5oz [1 cup] basmati rice (or brown rice - see note below)
225ml/8fl oz [2 cups] hot vegetable stock
1 can of chick peas (241g), drained
1 or 2 handfuls of frozen peas (replaced 2 or 3 handfuls of spinach)
A handful of raisins or sultanas
A handful of cashew nuts
Dash of double cream (optional)

Directions - If using the butternut squash:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4
2. Put the butternut squash pieces in a baking tray and drizzle with little bit of oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast in the oven on the top shelf for 45 minutes or until tender but not mushy.
   

Directions - Normal:

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan that has a lid, then fry garlic and curry paste until it smells toasty.
2. Tip the rice into the pan along with the stock, chick peas, raisins/sultanas and squash. Stir well and season with salt and pepper (stock is quite salty so go easy on the salt), then cover and bring to the boil.
3. Reduce to a medium heat and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. If it’s taking a long time for the liquid to reduce, just take the lid off the pan for a few minutes. Add the frozen peas 10 minutes before end of cooking time.
   
4. Stir in the cashew nuts (and spinach and let it wilt).
5. Stir in the dash of cream just before serving, this will take off the spicy edge of the curry paste.
   

Note – if using brown rice, cook the rice in plenty of boiling water for 20 minutes first, and then add to the pan as normal in step 2.