Blackberry Muffins – heard of them? No? We all seem to go mad for muffins made with blueberry but not the humble blackberry. Why is that? They are simply delicious!
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Blackberry Muffins with Lemon & Ginger Crunch Topping
Breakfast
Fig and Earl Grey Jam
Everybody seems to have a favourite jam in our household Fig and Earl Grey Jam is our goddaughter’s, Chloé’s absolute favourite. Our fig tree seems to have good and bad years dependant on the weather so it makes it extra special when there are enough to make her some.
It is, of course, glorious on toast, and wonderful next to a blue or goats cheese. But I think if Chloé had her way she’d just eat it straight from the jar! I am with her on this one, although I’d probably alternate mouthfuls of jam with squares of dark chocolate!
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Banana Pancakes
Very soft and fluffy and with the banana taste rounding them out rather than whacking you in the face, these banana pancakes were a great hit for Sunday breakfast this weekend. They would be a great alternative for pancake day if you aren’t confident about making (and flipping) the traditional sort that you serve with sugar and lemon. I have to admit that I am guilty of panicking when it comes to traditional pancakes and always make them in advance in case of on the spot disasters. But these banana pancakes – no problem!
Pancakes and Maple Syrup
I wasn’t sure that I’d like banana pancakes as I am not a great cooked banana fan though I am a recent convert to Banana and Chocolate Chip Loaf but I like these rather a lot. You can make them vegan (see recipe below) without any problems so that’s brilliant news if you have people with different dietary needs in your house. I am firmly of the opinion food should bring us together and not drive us apart. But hey, we are talking about pancakes here so i will keep this light!
If you want to vary this recipe try adding in some chocolate chips or blueberries to the batter, or add some spices – a half teaspoon of cinnamon, cardamom or ginger would be great here. As for the toppings though I love maple syrup, try golden syrup, peanut butter, almond butter, or your favorite fresh fruit all of which would also make yummy toppings
A quick thank you here to my lovely friend Hannah Colville who gave me a masterclass at the beginning of the year in how to make American Pancakes of which these are a type of. She is an amazing baker and still in her early teens. Thank you Hannah!
Roasted Mediterranean Vegetable Lasagne
Italians will tell you that the best bit of a lasagne is the crispy edges. The bits of the pasta sheets you let overhang the sides and that go all brown and crunchy as the lasagne cooks. Italian families fight about who gets them! For years I’d been dutifully tucking them all in – as I suspect most of us non-Italians do – until, by chance, I had lunch with some Italians. I was converted, they were amazed that I didn’t know about it, and now I am sharing it with you.
Lasagne with pasta sheets overhanging sides prior to going in oven.
Crispy edges after baking
Christmas Figgy Pudding
This is a Christmas Pudding without suet or added refined sugar. It uses butter and date syrup/molasses instead To be honest I don’t think that this makes Christmas Pudding more healthy but it tastes delicious and maybe you will feel these tweaks make it better for you I alternate between my grandmothers recipe (which has suet and added sugar) – Stir-up Sunday Part One Christmas Pudding and this one. This year we will have two people round the table who are diabetic so maybe this recipe will allow them to have a little bit without feeling too guilty.
This recipe has the figs so often left out nowadays and always reminds me of the song, We wish you a merry Christmas, and in particular the verse “So bring out the figgy pudding” To add to the old-fashioned feel I always add charms and, this year an old threepence and silver sixpence (washed and wrapped in baking parchment). It adds to the excitement I think, for grown-ups and youngsters alike! I make a variety of different sizes of puddings as so often a small homemade pudding is a great gift for couples or for those who go away to family/friends for lunch on the day and have no leftovers. Cold pudding is wonderful fried up in lot of butter for Boxing Day breakfast or crumbled into softened icecream to make Christmas Icecream Continue reading
Poached Quinces
I have a quince tree in the garden that my mother bought me 20 years ago It holds a very special place in my heart as it was the last thing she gave me before she died. If you have never tasted a quince it is a fruit that has to be cooked and tastes like a cross between the best apple and the best pear you can imagine. Maybe the most popular and famous recipe that quince is used for is membrillo – the Spanish quince paste that is frequently eaten alongside manchego cheese.
Banana Bread Muffins
My friend Rachel – she of Christmas cake icing fame – asked me to blog about what I do with very ripe bananas. This banana bread recipe is the first of two things I do and certainly the more traditional of the two. The second, which will follow tomorrow, is an almost instant banana icecream which is vegan (though you’d never know it as it tastes so creamy) and it’s free from refined sugar
It can be baked as a loaf or in muffin cases. I invariably choose to do it in individual muffin cases as it freezes so beautifully and can be microwaved for a minute from frozen to taste as fresh and delicious as it was when it came from the oven which is really useful. Plus, if you call it a muffin it means that it somehow is ok to have what is essentially a cake for breakfast (as well as with a cuppa or anytime really)! In fairness it does keep in a tin for a few days but as this recipe makes 2 small loaves or 12 individual Muffins. Freezing the extras works for me otherwise I find myself saying “just one more….” Continue reading
Hot Cross Buns
Q: What do you get if you pour a kettle of boiling water down a rabbit hole?
A: A hot cross bun!
A truly dreadful joke I admit but homemade hot cross buns are wonderful I promise They are time consuming but most of that is because you have to wait longer than normal to let the dough rise, partly because it is an enriched dough and partly because the spices seem to slow the yeast down
Mind you, I cheat and make and shape my dough the day before and leave to prove in fridge overnight, then remove from fridge an hour before baking so we can have them for breakfast on Good Friday without getting up at the crack of dawn!!! Continue reading
Aga Overnight Porridge
Spoiler Alert!!! This makes the best, smoothest and creamiest porridge ever even without milk!
The porridge is very simple to make with no need for the long, laborious stirring required to make porridge this silky. Set it up for two minutes the night before, leave overnight, and then two minutes in the morning and it’s ready. Continue reading