Chocolate French Macaroons a.k.a. Mandy Macs

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

OK, the picture above doesn’t look like French macaroons and that’s because they went a bit wrong! I used the recipe from the April issue of Delicious magazine and I did a bit of research online for some hints and tips, but I still failed.

 

One of the tips was to use old egg whites. I had a load stashed in the freezer which I defrosted in the fridge overnight and then left out on the counter to come to room temperature. This apparently helps to whisk them more stiffly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My main downfall was that I missed out the step of sifting the ground almonds and icing sugar. So the mixture was really thick and I must have over-mixed as I was trying to get the “ribbon-like consistency as it falls from the spatula”. I knew that the mixture wasn’t right, but I proceeded anyway as I didn’t think I could save this mess! It’s funny because I did consider only using 100g instead of 125g of ground almonds as I didn’t really want to open another packet. If I’d done this, then maybe the mixture wouldn’t have been so thick.

 

I used a 1cm plain nozzle inserted into a food bag and it was quite hard to pipe out the mixture. As you can see they don’t look particularly appealing and it looks like I should have got busy with a pooper scooper! I did tap the baking trays on the counter to give them a ‘foot’ but the mixture was so thick that it made no difference.

 

 

 

Another tip I read online was to bake them with the door propped open. So I baked one batch with the door slightly ajar, and the second batch with the door closed. They all came out exactly the same: domed and cracked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So they looked nothing like they should, but I filled some anyway with Nutella and tried them. They actually tasted really nice and had a lovely chewy texture, like a brownie. Steve preferred to eat them as singles with Nutella spread on them. He declared this new type of macaroon should be called Mandy Macs (quite fitting as his surname is Macfarlane, so when we marry I will be Mandy Macfarlane). Steve’s sister is the only one of us who’s actually tried a proper French macaroon and she said they were nothing like what I’d made, but she thought they were very nice anyway!

 

I will have another go at making French macaroons, but I will probably try a different recipe. But my Mandy Macs will also be made again and hopefully I will be able to recreate this new sweet treat! So here’s my recipe for Mandy Macs:

 

• Makes: about 32 singles
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C
• Oven shelf: middle

 

Ingredients:

• 110g icing sugar
• 65g cocoa powder (I used Bournville)
• 125g ground almonds
• 3 large free-range egg whites
• 75g caster sugar
• Nutella to fill or spread

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C. Whizz the icing sugar, cocoa and ground almonds in a food processor to a very fine mixture.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy.
3. Fold half the almond, cocoa and icing sugar mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half and mix for a few minutes until well incorporated.
4. Spoon into a piping/food bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle (tip: place the bag in a glass so you have both hands free).
5. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3cm across, onto the baking sheets. Leave to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to form a slight skin then bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
6. Use the Nutella to sandwich the macs together or just spread on single ones.

The best Carrot Cake

 

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

This recipe makes a gorgeous Carrot Cake and is much better than the Rachel Allen one I made! Steve’s Mum declared it the best Carrot Cake she’s ever tasted (and she’s quite the expert!), hence the rather arrogant title! The texture is moist and light, plus the walnuts give a nice crunch.

 

It’s such a simple cake to make and doesn’t require much effort as it’s made with oil, so there’s no creaming of butter and sugar necessary.

 

I don’t like coconut, but you can’t taste it in the cake and it gives it a better texture, so it’s worth adding. The walnuts are optional of course, but we had some knocking around the house as Steve’s Mum always buys the ones in their shell for Christmas and they never get eaten unless I use them in baking!

 

 

There was a bit of a debate in the house about which icing people preferred, so I covered half with a simple buttercream (Steve’s choice) and half with a runny royal icing (Steve’s Mum’s and my choice) as we had some leftover from last week’s birthday cake decorating.

 

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a greased and lined 8 inch square tin

 

Ingredients:

• 150ml (¼ pint) sunflower oil
• 100g (4oz) light soft brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 75g (3oz) golden syrup
• 175g (6oz) self raising flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 100g (4oz) carrots, grated (approx. 1 med-large sized carrot)
• 25g (1oz) desiccated coconut
• ½ Tablespoon walnuts, chopped

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and golden syrup using an electric hand mixer.
3. Add the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda, carrots, coconut and walnuts and gently fold into the mixture with a spoon until well incorporated. Don’t overmix as this will make the cake heavy.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. A skewer inserted should come out clean. If it’s not done yet, return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. If the cake is getting too brown then lightly cover with a sheet of foil.
5. Cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

 

To make the buttercream icing for half the cake: Beat 25g (1oz) soft butter until pale and creamy. Add 100g (4oz) of sifted icing sugar and just enough milk to create a soft and fluffy icing. Beat well then spread on top of the cooled carrot cake.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• You can freeze the cake un-iced

Mini Meringues with hazelnuts and chocolate

 

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

Today on Saturday Kitchen James Martin made a variety of meringues, so I decided to make this Matt Tebbutt recipe that I’d pulled out of BBC Good Food magazine recently as I had loads of egg whites stashed in the freezer. The recipe posted on the Good Food Channel website has some errors, so I’ve copied it from my magazine.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Matt sandwiched his meringues together with cream, but I’m not a huge fan of cream so I’ve left them as they are. These meringues are incredibly light and crispy, but they still have a little bit of chewiness to them (not as chewy as a Pavlova meringue – for that you need to add cornflour or white vinegar).

 

The combination of chocolate and hazelnuts compliments the sweetness of the meringue and it reminded me of Ferrero Rocher.

 

They were really easy to make but they look quite impressive. I like the little peaks on the top and they actually made it easier to dip into the chocolate and nuts as I had something to hold onto!

 

• Makes: 24 individual ones or 12 if sandwiched with cream
• Oven temperature: Gas ¼/225°F/100°C (we have a gas Rangemaster oven, so I set it to halfway between ‘S’ and 1)
• You will need:  2 baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper/silicone

 

Ingredients:

• 50g shelled and skinned hazelnuts, toasted
• 3 egg whites
• 140g caster sugar
• 75g dark chocolate, chopped (I used 100g)
• 180ml double cream (optional)
• 1 tsp icing sugar (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 100C/80C fan/gas ¼.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.
3. Put the nuts into a food processor and whizz until finely chopped, taking care not to over-process them.
4. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they resemble stiff peaks.
5. Gradually whisk in the sugar a spoonful at a time, to form a thick glossy meringue. (A good test is to turn your bowl upside down – the meringue is ready if it doesn’t fall out!).
6. Using a teaspoon (I used a melon baller) spoon 24 small heaps of meringue onto the baking paper. Bake for about 1 hour or until crisp. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.
7. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water (or in the microwave). 
8. Dip the flat side of each meringue in the chocolate and then into the chopped hazelnuts. Leave to set on a wire rack (or back onto the baking paper, chocolate side up!). 
9. Whip the cream with the icing sugar until thickened, then use to sandwich the meringues together.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• I used 100g of chocolate and this was just enough to coat all the meringues and I was literally scraping the bottom of the bowl!
• I had to swap my 2 trays around in the oven halfway through cooking so that they cooked evenly.

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.

Banana Cake

 

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE: 

I wanted to make an oil-based Banana Cake, so I found a recipe online and I added my own tweaks. First of all, I used a loaf tin instead of a 7-inch round tin. Secondly, I added some chopped walnuts to add texture. Thirdly, I added some freshly grated nutmeg and some ground cinnamon for added flavour.

 

TASTE TEST:

The cake turned out OK, but it wasn’t very sweet (4 Tablespoons of sugar isn’t much) and it didn’t have a very strong banana flavour, despite the bananas being really ripe. I personally don’t like Banana Cake to have a strong banana taste so this suited me, but I would like it to be sweeter. We liked the walnuts, but I couldn't really taste the ground spices, so I would increase the amount I used next time. Overall it was quite a bland cake, but the texture was quite nice. It was much lighter than some Banana Cakes we’ve had in the past.

Steve and his Mum had it with butter on (because they call it Banana Bread and therefore butter is a necessity!) and Steve tried a bit toasted and he said it brought out the flavour a bit more.

 

The recipe says to grease and line your tin with baking parchment, but I just used my new Cake Release from Lakeland and the cake came out perfectly.

 

I now have 2 other Banana Cake recipes to try: one by Andi Peters which is in the Show Guide from BBC Good Food Show/MasterChef Live, and one in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. They both use butter instead of oil, so it will be interesting to see how they turn out.

 

• Serves: 8
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a 18cm (7-inch) round deep cake tin or a loaf tin (mine was 23 x 12.5 x 6cm)

 

Ingredients:

• 2 large, ripe bananas, about 400g in total, weighed with
  their skins on
• 250g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 Tablespoons light muscovado sugar
• a few grates of fresh nutmeg (about ¼ teaspoon of ground)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (will try adding more)
• 6 Tablespoons sunflower oil
• 6 Tablespoons semi-skimmed milk
• 2 large eggs
• 50g walnuts, chopped

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Grease your tin (and line the bottom with baking parchment).
3. Peel the bananas, then mash with a fork.
4. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir
   in the sugar, grated nutmeg and ground cinnamon.
5. Whisk together the oil, milk and eggs and
   fold into the flour mixture.
6. Gently fold in the walnuts and mashed bananas until just incorporated – don’t over-mix or the cake will be tough.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50–55 minutes or until the banana cake is well risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool for 15 minutes, then loosen the edge of the cake with a knife and turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• The banana cake can be kept in an airtight tin for up to 4 days.

Mini Bakewell Tarts

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I had about half the frangipane filling from my French Apple Tarts leftover, so I thought I’d experiment a little bit and try making these Bakewell Tarts. I have no idea what the traditional recipe is as there seems to be no consensus, but this is my version and I think it works well. The almond flavour is very mild, which suits me as I don’t really like almonds all that much, especially slivered almonds! But you could add those on top or you could add some almond essence to the filling mixture.

They were really easy to make and tasted delicious! Steve asked me to put some icing on his ones, so I just made up a simple glace icing and spread it over the top. I prefer them without icing as it’s a bit too sweet for me.
Unfortunately as this was an experiment I don’t have exact quantities to give you.

Rough Directions (!):

1. Roll out your Pâte Brisée/Sweet Shortcrust pastry to about 3mm thick, cut out circles and line shallow bun tins. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. Blind bake for 10-15 minutes at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C until light golden brown.
3. Spread about 1 teaspoon of strawberry or raspberry jam over the bottom of each tart.
4. Spread about 2 teaspoons of the frangipane filling over the jam. I used mine straight from the fridge so it was quite solid, but it melts once it’s in the oven so don’t worry about spreading it too evenly.
5. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes until the filling has set – it should feel spongy when you press it with your finger.
6. Take them out of the tins and cool on a wire rack.

French Apple Tarts

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

These tarts look really pretty and elegant and are tasty to boot! The filling is frangipane, but it doesn’t taste too strongly of almonds which is what puts me off things like Bakewell Tart.

These taste great on their own, but would be even better with some custard or home-made ice cream.

• Makes: 12 tarts
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C
• You will need: a 12 cup shallow bun tray

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 185g (6.5oz) plain flour
• 15g (½oz) sugar
• 90g (3.5oz) butter, cut roughly into pieces
• 1 egg yolk
• pinch of salt
• 1-3 Tablespoons of water

Ingredients for the filling:

• 90g (3.5oz) butter, softened
• 90g (3.5oz) sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 level Tablespoons flour
• 90g (3.5oz) ground almonds
• 2 small dessert/eating apples
• hot apricot jam to glaze

Directions for the pastry:

1. Sift the flour onto a board and make a well in the centre.
2. Put the sugar, butter and egg yolk in the well and gently mix in with the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add about 1 Tablespoon of the water and bring the dough together gradually - don't try and force it together, just add a little more water. Knead very lightly until you have a smooth dough.
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured board until it is about 3mm thick.
5. Using a cutter that is a little bigger than the holes in your bun tray, cut out 12 discs of pastry. Line your bun tray, prick the bases with a fork and chill for about 30 minutes.
6. Bake at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for about 15 minutes until light golden brown and the cases can be removed from the tin (but don’t remove them as you need to cook the filling!).

Directions for the filling:

1. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, add the egg yolk and beat well.
2. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating well after each addition. Mix in the flour and ground almonds.
3. Put roughly a heaped teaspoon of the filling into each pastry case, but don’t overfill them.
4. Peel the apples, cut them into quarters and remove the core. Cut them into very thin slices but keep them together. Press the apple slices down on the board to fan them out, but still keep them together. Carefully place a few slices of apple onto each tart and press down into the filling.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until the apples are tender and the almond mixture has set.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
7. Brush the tops with hot apricot glaze.

COOK’S NOTES:

• Making individual tarts, you will have some pastry and filling leftover.
• If you wanted to make one large tart: you would need to blind bake the pastry using baking beans for about 20 minutes. After adding the filling and apples, bake the tart at Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C and bake for a further 15-20 minutes.
• Choosing a cutter: my bun tins were 7cm in diameter, so I used a cutter that was 7.8cm in diameter, which was a perfect fit.
• Preparing in advance: you can make the pastry and the filling the night before and store covered in the fridge. Follow the pastry directions up to Step 5 but cover with cling film to stop it drying out. It is actually better for the pastry to be cooked from chilled (prevents it from shrinking), so you can pop the whole tray straight in the oven when you’re ready to cook.

Chocolate Rose Cupcakes

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

I used the recipe on BBC Good Food website (my favourite food website!) for the cake and the frosting, but I used milk chocolate instead of white chocolate. Even though I’m comfortable making cakes, the decorating aspect is something that I haven’t had a lot of experience with and I want to practice. So I used my new piping bag to pipe the frosting on – this video tutorial taught me how to do it like a pro!


I also decided to make some modelling chocolate from a new book I got today: Cupcakes by Sue McMahon. I used the modelling chocolate to make the ‘Simple Sugar Roses’ as it’s like sugarpaste and it worked really well. It was quite hot today, so I had to work quickly as it started to melt!

I thought the frosting and the chocolate roses were really nice, but I wasn’t too keen on the cake sponge. The ground almonds gave them a gritty texture and I prefer a lighter, fluffier sponge. But Steve’s family said they liked them!
I didn’t have any muffin paper cases, so I used normal fairy cakes cases, so they weren’t as deep but they still took 20 minutes to cook. I made 18 cakes, so I had to switch the bun trays around in the oven halfway through.

• Makes: 12 muffin-size or 18 fairy-size cupcakes
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C

FOR THE CAKE SPONGE:

• 150ml pot natural yogurt
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 140g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100g ground almonds
• 175g unsalted butter, melted (I used Stork)

FOR THE CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

• 100g milk chocolate (I used Tesco Value)
• 140g unsalted butter
• 140g icing sugar, sifted

Directions:

1. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases and heat oven to Gas mark 5/375°F/190°C. In a jug, mix the yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract. Put the dry ingredients, plus a pinch of salt, into a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
2. Add the yogurty mix and melted butter, and quickly fold in with a spatula or metal spoon - don't overwork it. Spoon into the cases (they will be quite full) and bake for 18-20 mins or until golden, risen and springy to the touch. Cool for a few mins, then lift the cakes onto a wire rack to cool completely. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze as soon as possible.
3. Chocolate frosting: Melt the chocolate in the microwave on High for 1½ mins, stirring halfway. Leave to cool. Beat the butter and icing sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in the chocolate. Cover and chill for up to one month.
4. Up to 48 hrs before serving (or the day before if it's really hot), bring the frosting back to room temperature, then spread or pipe over the cakes – with this amount of frosting I only managed to pipe it onto 8 cupcakes, the rest I had to spread it on.

FOR THE MODELLING CHOCOLATE:

• 50g golden syrup
• 100g plain chocolate, melted (I used Tesco Value)
• cocoa for dusting

1. Stir the golden syrup into the melted chocolate, until the mixture thickens. Transfer the mixture to a plastic food bag and chill until the chocolate is firm enough to handle.
2. Knead the modelling chocolate lightly before using to soften it. If it’s sticky, use cocoa to stop it sticking.
3. If you have hot hands, run them under cold water to cool them down before working with the modelling chocolate.
4. To make the roses: Roll out the modelling chocolate to 1-2mm thin. Then trim into a rectangle about 8cm wide. Cut off a 1cm strip of icing widthways, keeping the rest covered.
5. Carefully roll the icing up and around itself. For a more realistic rose look, start rolling slightly skew-whiff so that the outside edge of the finished rose sticks out further than the middle. With about 2cm to go, start to guide the end of the icing down and under to make a neat rosebud. Pinch to shape, then cut or pinch off the bottom. Set aside for at least 1 hr until firm. Repeat with the rest of the icing.

Apricot & almond Upside-Down pudding

MUNCH RATING: 2/5

Steve’s Mum bought a load of apricots from the market in Dorking and I knew that they wouldn’t get eaten unless they were put into a cake! So I found this recipe to use up all of the apricots and even though we weren’t too keen on the fruit as they were a bit sour, we loved the cake part! So next time I’ll use a different fruit as the sponge was lovely and light and was lovely with custard!

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: upper-middle
• You will need: 8 or 9 inch shallow loose bottomed tin, lightly greased

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoon clear honey
• 450g (1lb) apricots, peeled, halved and pitted*
• 110g (4oz) butter, softened (I used Stork)
• 125g (4½ oz) caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 110g (4oz) self raising flour
• 100g (3½ oz) ground almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Spread the honey over the base of the tin.
3. Arrange the apricot halves over the base of the tin cut side down.
4. Put the butter and sugar into a food processor and whizz together until light and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs with a tablespoon of flour and whizz to combine, then add the rest of the flour and the ground almonds.
6. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and spread it out to cover the fruit.
7. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen the edges. Place a large plate on top of the tin, invert quickly and lift the tin away.

* The recipe didn’t specify the apricots should be peeled, but I just thought it would be nicer without the skins! I just treated them like tomatoes, by cutting a cross on the bottom of the fruit and pouring boiling water over them, then plunging them into cold water. The skins came off really easily.

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.
   

Caramelised Nuts

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I made these nuts to go into Brie & Pesto tarts which worked out OK, but these nuts are so much better just eaten on their own as a snack!

You will need: medium saucepan

Ingredients:

• 1 cup nuts (I used already toasted and slightly salted cashews*)
• 1/3 cup sugar
  

Directions:

1. To make the caramel: sprinkle the sugar evenly over bottom of your pan.
   
2. Cook over a medium heat, without stirring, for about 5 minutes until the sugar is melted and has turned a nice amber colour and has the consistency of syrup. Once the sugar starts to melt you can swirl it around the pan to evenly melt all the sugar. When the sugar has melted then you can stir the caramel (stirring too soon will cause the sugar to recrystallise and create a grainy caramel)
   
3. Remove from the heat.
4. Quickly add the nuts to the pan and return to the heat. Stir until the nuts are evenly coated with the caramel.
   
5. Transfer to a plate to cool completely.

There are a variety of things you can do with these nuts:

• Coarsely chop them on a chopping board or put them in a zip-lock bag and smash it on the counter a few times and then use them in recipes on sprinkle on top of ice cream.
• Create nut clusters (as shown in the picture) by using 2 teaspoons to make little balls and putting on a plate to cool.
  
• You can store them in an airtight container up to 2 weeks - but they really won't last that long as they're very moreish!
  

* If your nuts aren't already toasted then you will need to cook them in medium frying pan over medium heat for 9 to 12 minutes until light golden brown. Transfer to a small bowl.

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.