Posts tagged apple

Galette des rois and Cinnamon Ice Cream

December 27, 2015 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

alette de rois probably combines some of my most favourite ingredients yet criminally I’ve never made it!? Puff pastry, almonds, frangipane, a cheeky splash of booze, not much else says Christmas like that for me. And not only is it a sweet comforting crowd pleaser its a festively appropriate one too….in France anyway. Traditionally eaten on Twelfth night to welcome those famous Kings around the festive season it is normally the hiding place for two figurines that when found by the lucky eaters crown them Kind and Queen for the day and the chance to make a wish. I had many wishes this year that I can’t confess its just a shame I forgot the figurines!

Eaten a little early I’ll agree but neither are we in France! Accompanied by homemade cinnamon ice cream and a warm spoonful of spiced apple compote this went down a treat. And you can barely call this cooking as it simply involves a round of shop bought pastry and a quick frangipane.

NOTE: You can spoon some of the apple jam onto the base of this pastry as an alternative to apricot jam or serve alongside as I did.

Serves 10

Galette

1 x block 500g puff pastry (I recommend you don’t use the ready rolled version – it doesn’t ‘puff’ and rise as much in my experience)
100g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
100g softened unsalted butter
50 g flaked almonds
2 eggs, beaten and 1 extra for glazing
1 tbsp/large splash cognac or dark rum
1-2 tbsp apricot jam

Cinnamon Ice Cream

1 can condensed milk
300ml single cream
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped (reserve the pods for using to infuse a jar of caster sugar)

Spiced Apple Compote/Jam – recipe here

Start with the ice cream. Heat the single cream until just about to simmer then remove from the heat. Add the scraped seeds from the vanilla pod and whisk the cinnamon in thoroughly.
Whisk in the condensed milk and leave to the mixture to cool completely.
Freeze the ice cream in a tupperware container or dish. This is a non-churn ice cream but you may need to whisk after 3-4 hours when the ice cream should be nearly set but still loose to distribute any ground cinnamon that has risen to the surface. Freeze until set
For the galette, cut the pastry block in half and roll out each into a square about 25cm x 25cm. Use a plate or dish around 23cm in size (approx.) and cut out two discs. Place them on a parchment lined baking tray and chill in the fridge.
Meanwhile make the filling. Whisk the butter and sugar until combined, soft and fluffy in a food processor or using a hand blender.
Slowly add in the beaten egg and mix until combined followed by the cognac/rum.
Fold in the ground and flaked almonds until combined. Chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
When ready to cook remove all elements from the fridge. Spoon the apricot jam (or apple compote) onto the bottom of one of the pastry rounds leaving a 2cm border. Spoon on the frangipane, again leaving a 2cm border, slightly heaping the mixture in the centre.
Brush the 2cm border with beaten egg and place the second pastry round on top.
Press the edges together well to seal.
Using a knife, nick little slices into the edges to seal the pastry together and create a rough pattern. Finally score the top as seen in the pictures in a wheel affect.
Brush the galette with beaten egg and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200°C. After 20 minutes, brush again with beaten egg for a golden coating and then cook in the oven for about 30-35 minutes until golden and cooked through.
Leave to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar and serving alongside some creamy and festive cinnamon ice cream.

Dorset Apple Cake

December 6, 2015 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

here is nothing like a bit of baking on a cold, drizzly weekend to ease and nourish the soul and there is nothing like the warming spices of cinnamon and ginger combined lovingly with a spongey sweet cake and some juicy sharp seasonal apples to bake! Devoured cold with a warm brew or warm and spongy with lashings of Ambrosia, ice cream or just a trowel-ful of clotted cream you’ll fail to not be comforted by this festive tray bake. Open to additional ingredients this cake batter would be beautiful marbled with chunks of sweet marzipan or topped with some flaked almonds or toasty pecan nuts.

Adapted from Marry Berry

Makes about 18 large pieces

3 large cooking apples (About 550g)
1/2 lemon
225g unsalted butter
225g light muscovado sugar
300g self raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 large heaped tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a tray bake tin (about 30cm x 23cm)
Peel, core and quarter the apples. Slice each thinly and place in a bowl. Squeeze over the lemon to prevent browning.
Now, using an electric hand mixer or food processor, blend the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, half the cinnamon and ginger together before adding the eggs. Beat well adding a splash of milk to loosen for a few minutes until golden, glorious and combined.
Spoon half into the lined baking tray. Top with halve the apples slices scattered randomly but evening over. Sprinkle over the remaining cinnamon
Spread over the remaining batter and even out with a pallet knife
Top with the remaining apples slices, pushing them into the batter slightly.
OPTIONAL: Top with flaked almonds or nuts or a sprinkle or crunchy demerara sugar.
bake for about 40 minutes until golden, spongey and firm and just communing away from the sides of the tray.
Leave to cool before cutting. Serve warm with ice cream, custard or cream or at room temperature with a nice cup of tea!

Gingerbread Ice Cream, Lemon Apple Tart

December 26, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Gingerbread! Not only is it a festive crowd and stomach pleaser but its also an adored treat in the Wardlaw household! So what could be better than gingerbread and ice cream combined for a festive spicy Christmas lunch dessert this year. I think I’ve gotten a little carried away with the gingerbread theme recenty (see here for gingerbread latte macaroons and here for gingerbread scotch pancakes). And those that know me know that ice cream is my achilles heel (see here for some inventive creations).

We’re probably in the minority in terms of food ethos on Christmas day. While many people might not think twice about their pudding choice I like to choose something that leads on from the indulgent main event that leaves people feeling happy and not sick and queezy. Don’t get me wrong, we’re a family with healthy appetite but a modest one. So, I always create something fresh and clean to cleanse the greasy remains of the turkey lunch so this zesty fresh tart is perfect.

This is a really old and long used tart recipe which could not be more simple to knock out! If you’re not making your own pastry it can be ready to go in under an hour!

Serves 6

Gingerbread Ice Cream

Although you could just flavour the ice cream base with gingerbread spices, I thought some added crumbled gingerbread would be a nice addition. Gingerbread is characteristcally mosit so I dried and crisped mine up beforehand to provide some texture to the final snowball scoop.

1 can condensed milk
300ml single cream
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
200g gingercake (I used Jamacian ginger loaf)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Crumble the ginger cake onto a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes or so, keeping an eye on it, until it begins to crisp a bit or loose some of its moisture. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Don’t worry – once its cooled it will crisp up more.
Mix the condensed milk and cream together thoroughly in a jug then add the spices and mix.
Churn in an ice cream maker until thick but not too set. Alternatively you can pour it into a tupperware box and leave to set in the freezer until thicker and no longer sloppy.
Once the ice cream is the right consistency and the cake crumbs have cooled, stir them into the ice cream so it is distributed evenly and then freeze until hard.

Lemon and Apple Tart

Shortcrust Pastry (enough for 2 tart cases)

125g unsalted butter
250g plain flour
Zest of 1 lemon

Filling

1 large cooking apple
2 large eggs, whisked
1 lemon, zest and juice
100g caster sugar
50g melted butter

Start with the pastry. I like to use plain shortcrust as the ice cream and filling are sweet enough. Mix together the butter and flour in a food processer until it forms a breadcrumb like texture and then grate in the lemon zest and mix.
Keep adding a few tbsps of cold water bit by bit and mix until you form a soft smooth dough.
Form gently into a dough and shape into a disc. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C and line and grease a 20cm loose bottomed tart tin.
Once rested, roll the pastry thinly on a floured surface and line the tart tin pushing the pastry into the edges neatly. Use a fork to prick 4-5 wholes across the base to stop it puffing up while cooking. Line with a sheet of baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake the tart case blind for about 15-20 minutes until it has a light straw colour and is mostly cooked.
Remove the beans and parchment and return the case to the oven to cook the base for about more 5 minutes. Finally brush with a little beaten egg to cover the wholes and seal the pastry.
Leave the case to cool while you make the filling.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and lemon zest and juice in a bowl.
Melt the butter and add to the mixture, whisking as you go.
Grate the apple into the eggs too.
Fill the tart case with the mixture and bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes until just set and golden on top.

Serve the tart dusted with icing sugar and with a snowball of gingerbread ice cream!

Cool as a Wardlaw…

October 1, 2014 Comments Off read Drinks

If you’ve ever been on an activity watersports holiday you’ll know that you usually return home needing a rest with an aching body equivalent to a bed bound OAP. A week in sunny Greece wakeboarding by day and re-hydrating on cocktails by night with bowlfuls of Greek salads and hog roasts set me up for some inspiration on my return home. Sadly the limes don’t grow fresh from the trees in London so Waitrose will have to do.

After and intense day on the water followed by an ‘Ab attack’ class this refreshing, healthy and downright delicious drink was the perfect way to cool our angry abs. Post workout it started as this innocent cucumber, mint and crushed ice drink….

But once showered and the clock hit 6pm it even more deliciously turned into this….a gin laced version we got the barman to ‘knock up’. I like to call it the ‘Cool as a Wardlaw’.

Serves 2 (ish)

1 small cucumber
Large bunch mint
2 shots (Innocent) apple juice
1-2 shots fresh lime juice
Crushed ice
Optional – 2 shots gin and cucumber to garnish

Mix in a blender until combined. Add more ice or any other ingredient to taste and balance. I only watched in awe from behind the bar as this was made so measurements were by eye and were to taste. It tasted different each time, more savoury post-workout, sweeter and punchy with lime as an evening tipple. Experiment!

Use Innocent apple juice. Not only as my loving sister happens to work for Innocent but it is delicious and conveniently on tap for me. Plus, the halo seems to reassure you that gin is a good addition, yes a good addition……?!

Apple Pie ‘Duffins’ and a 2nd Birthday

September 2, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This weekend called for a belated blog birthday celebration and naturally a cake! Celebrating not only the last day of August which was blissfully sunny and spent wakeboarding on a glass-like lake in Wiltshire with some friends, but also the 2nd birthday of ‘forage in the pantry’ or FITP as its been recently named. Since my first ever blogged recipe and still one of my absolute favourites (see here) it has been two years of new experiments, flavours, combinations, styles, and ingredients which have flown by deliciously. A LOT has happened and changed in these past 2 years but the blog has been ticking over loyally and creatively in the background. Maintaining my sanity and satiety.

It pains me to say it but as Autumn approaches on the horizon in the form of darker nights and colder mornings, the apples are abundant and I felt it only natural to choose them as the star in my birthday cake. Taking inspiration from the controversial Starbucks ‘Duffin’ (muffin filled with jam) I have concocted a cinnamon cake filled wickedly with a slow roasted spiced apple puree and a tangy ginger lemon frosting. I refrained from rolling in sugar. Delicious served fresh on the day bitten into with no prior warning of the jammy filling.

Apple Puree – see here

Apple Crisps

1 apple
65g caster sugar
35ml water
cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 130° C and line a baking tray with parchment.
Slice the apple on the horizontal using a mandolin to very fine slithers.
Heat the water and sugar in a pan until the sugar dissolves and it bubbles into a lovely clear syrup.
Lay the slices on the tray and brush with the glaze. Dust with a little cinnamon and sugar if you like and bake in a low oven for about 30 minutes until dry and crisp. Leave to cool.

Cinnamon Muffins – I actually found these too big and dense. I think they’d work much better as cupcake with a lighted spongy texture so I have included a recipe below but feel free to make them GIANT and muffin like as titled.

115g unsalted butter
115g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
115g flour
1 tsp baking powder
35g chopped hazelnuts (optional)
2-3 tbsp milk
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a cupcake tin with cases.
Cream the butter and sugar together very well until pale a fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla a bit at a time.
Now sieve in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold in gently until just incorporated.
Fold in the nuts and loosen with a dash of milk if needed.
Fill your cupcake cases and bake for about 15 minutes until golden and set in the middle. Leave to cool.

Ginger Lemon Buttercream

125g softened unsalted butter
100g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp ginger syrup (from a jar of stem ginger. You can also add some chopped stem ginger if you like)
1 lemon, zest only

Combine all (in a food processor) until well mixed. Fill a piping bag and use to decorate the duffins.

Assembling….

Take your cooled cupcake/muffin and slice the top off (usually easier if they have risen with a dome!)
Cut out the middle to create a small whole keeping the removed cake.
Fill with about 2tsp of apple puree.
Top with a little bit of the filling to hide the puree, eat the excess.
Pipe the buttercream over the top in any pattern you like
Top with a wafer
The best bit….serve to a greedy worthy friend.

Black pudding, Minted Pea Puree, Apple

February 15, 2014 Comments Off read Meat, Vegetables and Salads

I completely understand that black pudding is not for everyone’s palate or psychological well being. However I loose my reluctant understanding for the folk that have never sampled this fine delicacy but screw up their faces with such sincere disapproval as if instead I had announced my chosen career path as a stripper! (Case #1, my sister. And we’ll soon know if she’s actually been reading my blog if I hear her wining tones at this comment). If you’ve never tried black pudding then who knows- you could have wasted years rejecting something delicious so this recipe is a fine way to start.

I usually default away from making cliche recipes in my desperate need to experiment at any occasion that calls for food but sometimes I must admit you can’t beat the satisfaction and comfort of a classic. And, lets face it, they exist for a reason and black pudding and pea really is a classic example of two deliciously matched soul partners of the food world. Peas are sweet and fresh which is the perfect harmony for the fatty and rich black pudding. What could be more unfussy and simple than a pile of minted pea puree with a crispy fried slice of black pudding resting lazily on top….

A bowl of peas (a good handful per person)
Small bunch of mint, leaves picked
Knob of butter
Black pudding slices (1-2 slices per person)
1 apple (serves 2 people)
Lemon juice

Boil the peas for a few minutes and then drain.
Place in a food processor with some generous seasoning the knob of butter and the mint leaves and blend to a puree adding a little warm stock or boiling water to loosen to the desired consistency. Alternatively, without a processor you could eat this as a coarse pea mash which would be equally as delicious.
Cut your apple into matchsticks with a sharp knife and set aside in a bowl with a little squeeze of lemon juice to prevent it turning brown and a little seasoning.
Heat a frying pan until hot and add a tiny drop of oil if you wish. Fry the black pudding for a few minutes on each side until crispy and cooked through.
Serve on top of your warm pea puree and top with a handful of the crunchy apple matchsticks.
Drizzle with a little oil and a scattering of mint leaves and serve.

If you’ve been converted to black pudding then here are a few more of my favourite delicious ingredients that go well with it:

Butternut squash
Blue cheese
Pear, apple
Roast pork, belly is good
Cauliflower
Fennel
Mushrooms
Thyme, rosemary
Prunes
Eggs (especially little fried quails eggs)
Chicken, rabbit, monkfish (stuffed with black pudding)
Oh and of course, a fry up…..

Black pudding stuffed chicken in a mushroom and red wine sauce, wet polenta and garlic kale (Serves 4)

4 free range chicken thighs, skin on, bone removed
4 chicken drumsticks.
2-3 large thick slices of black pudding
A few rosemary sticks, leaves picked and chopped
Thyme, leave picked
1 red onion, chopped
1 large glass red wine
Stock – beef for a rich sauce, chicken for a lighter one
1 handful of dried wild mushrooms
150g quick cook polenta
400ml milk
Knob of butter
20g grated parmesan
Kale
1 garlic clove, chopped finely

Preheat the oven to 180°C. To start, heat the milk and the same amount of water in a sauce pan and add a few peppercorns and a bay leaf. Just before it comes to the simmer remove from the heat and leave to infuse to use in the polenta later.
Crumble the black pudding into a bowl and add the thyme. Mash until paste-like. Open up the chicken thighs and stuff a spoonful of the black pudding inside and roll up. You can secure these with the rosemary sticks if you wish. Season the skin well. Stuff this black pudding mix under the skin of the drumsticks too and season.
Fry the red onion in a little oil until soft and then add the rosemary leaves. Add the red wine and simmer briefly before adding the mushrooms which will soften in the liquid and remove from the heat
Place in a casserole dish and add the chicken pieces so they fit tightly. Add enough stock to come most of the way up the sides of the chicken so that the chicken can poach and roast gently as it cooks being careful not to pour it over the skin or you won’t get a crispy skin (we can’t have that!)
Place in the oven and cook for about 30-40 minutes until the chicken is golden, cooked through and the sauce is bubbling away nicely.
Meanwhile, tip the kale into boiling water for a matter of 30 seconds to wilt but drain it quickly while still bright green, soft and full or nutrients. Leave to drain the excess moisture. Heat a little oil in your frying pan from before and gently fry your garlic over a very low heat being careful not to burn it. Add the kale and a knob of butter and stir to combine. Set aside to keep warm.
I suggest leaving the polenta until last minute as it won’t wait so see to the kale first and then the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked remove from the sauce and leave to rest in a warm place. The sauces thickness with vary depending on how much stock you added but to thicken (which is what I needed to do) mix a tbsp of butter and flour in a mug until you have a paste. Whisk this paste into the red wine sauce until smooth and the sauce will begin to thicken without being lumpy. Set aside to keep warm.
Before you cook the polenta, make sure you’re ready to go -plates warming, guests hungry, wine open and aerating!
Drain the milk from earlier and bring to the simmer. Whisk the polenta in a steady stream into the milk and stir continuously as it will thicken immediately. Let it bubble for a minute until smooth and creamy. Stir in the butter and cheese and some generous seasoning (it will need salt) and taste.
Spoon into bowls immediately and top with a chicken thigh and drumstick each and a generous spoonful of the mushroom sauce.
Sit aside some warm garlicky kale and serve on a wild and windy evening with a bold punchy glass of red.

WINE RECOMMENDATION: This weekend I tried Waitrose’s Vina Valdivieso Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley. It was bold and had lovely dark berry and fruit flavours and some menthol notes to it. Delicious with the rich black pudding.

Waitrose £9.99

Apple Crumble Ice Cream

May 16, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This is quite a rich ice cream and a dessert in itself. The apple puree is really deep in flavour and if cooked down a little more and thickened it would make a beautiful apple ‘butter-come-jam’ for topping toast and croissants! Goes really well with some simple hazelnut and vanilla shortbread.

1 can condensed milk (alternatively make a custard base but this recipe requires no churning)
300ml single cream
4 large crunchy apples
100g soft brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp mixed spice and ground ginger
Pinch of nutmeg
125ml water
50g oats
50g plain flour
50g soft brown sugar
60g chilled, cubed unsalted butter

Start with the spiced apple puree. Core and chop 3 of the apples into chunky slices. Add to a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil. Then simmer gently until the apples break down and look a bit like apple sauce.
Add the sugar and spices to the hot apples and mix. Transfer to a blender and puree. Have a taste, add more sugar to your liking depending on how sweet your apples were, or lemon juice for a bit of sharpness. Remember when you add purees to ice cream they should always be a little bit on the sweet side as that way they will taste fine when frozen.
Leave to cool.
Mix the crumble ingredients together until you have chunky breadcrumb-like texture. Transfer to a lined baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes in a preheated 170°C oven keeping an eye on it. Don’t worry as the mixture will most likely melt into a big slab. When its golden brown leave it to cool and crisp and then you can crumble it into pieces.
Cube the remaining apple into small dice and saute in a little butter to soften. Leave to cool.
Mix the condensed milk and the cream (or alternatively for a proper ice cream make a custard base. The benefit of the condensed milk is there is no need for any churning) and add the apple puree. Keep some reserved if you want to ripple some through the cream before freezing.
Scatter some crumble and some of the cubed apple pieces into your container of choice and top with some of the mixture. If you want to ripple some puree through, do this now. Scatter with more crumble and apple pieces and repeat. Finish with a scattering of crunchy topping. Freeze until set (it will have a soft scoop texture) and enjoy!

Chai Apple Loaf

May 13, 2013 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

I still remember the first time I took an unexpected warming sip of a Bristol ‘Boston Tea Party’ Chai latte on a snowy cold day…it was delicious and I have never been able to enjoy it quite as much as then. But I love chai and I love cake….need I say more?

I did I bit of research and found that ’apparently’ the best way to infuse your tea of choice into a cake mixture is to infuse it into the melted butter. So I thought I’d experiment…. Even if this proves unnecessary, it certainly produced the most delicious smelling, chai-scented, nutty brown butter which would certainly make a great addition to anything baked. And if you can handle the cinnamon overload, this would be insane with my Apple Crumble Ice Cream

1 sturdy loaf

150g butter (plus about 30g extra)
150g golden syrup
150g soft brown sugar
200ml milk
5 ‘teapigs’ chai tea bags/ 5 tbsp loose chai tea
250g plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp mixed spice
2 eggs, beaten
2 crunchy apples, peeled, cored and cubed into chunks
2 tbsp chai seeds (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Melt the butter in a pan the add the contents of the chai teabags. Warm briefly and leave to infuse to 5 minutes.
Sieve the infused melted butter into a clean pan pressing the flavours out of the strained tea which can then be discarded. Weigh the melted butter and top up to 150g. Add the sugar and syrup and melt everything together.
When melted, add the milk and leave to cool
Weigh out the flour and add the mixed spice and baking powder. Make a well in the centre and add the cooled sugar mixture. Stir gently to combine.
Add the beaten egg and mix. Stir in the apple keeping back a handful for garnish.
Pour into a lined loaf tin and top with a few chunks of apple. Scatter with the chai seeds for a crunchy topping and bake for about 50 minutes until cooked.
Serve with a steaming cup of chai and some mascarpone smothered on top if you like.

Alternatively try it with pears? This loaf recipe would also be brilliant with ground ginger (minus the chai) and some preserved ginger pieces for a lovely ginger loaf.

Kohlrabi, Apple and Celeriac Winter Coleslaw with Falafel

December 7, 2012 Comments Off read Vegetables and Salads

What the hell do you do with a kohlrabi you ask….What does it taste like…..? Its a lovely refreshing root vegetable with a similar taste to celery and mild celeriac. Shaved raw it went really nicely with some apple, celeriac and crumbled toasted walnuts, tossed with a tangy creamy yoghurt dressing for a winter coleslaw. I served my cool coleslaw stuffed generously into the floury arms of a warm pitta bread, some comforting Moroccan spiced falafel, a squeeze of lime and a scatter of coriander…..

Coleslaw

1 kohlrabi, peeled
½ celeriac, peeled
1 Cox apple
Handful of toasted, crushed walnuts
120g plain natural yoghurt
1 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Flat leaf parsley, chopped

I used the blade attachment on my Magimix to get the shaved sticks from the kohlrabi and celeriac (However, you could grate them or slice on a mandolin but the processor makes it a lot easier) I recommend slicing the apple into matchstick by hand as they are quite juicy when put into the processor.
Combine the shredded kohlrabi and celeriac in a large bowl in roughly similar amounts. Add the apple.
Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan, then crush and add to the vegetables.
Toast the fennel seeds similarly and crush in a pestle and mortar.
To make the dressing, mix the yoghurt, mayo, fennel seeds, chopped parsely and season to taste. Add enough lemon juice to taste to give it a nice punchy flavour.
Toss the dressing with the vegetables. Add as much as you like for the desired texture.

Falafel (makes about 14)

1 can chickpeas
1 red chilli
1 bunch coriander and in addition, either mint, parsley, basil or whatever is in season or takes your fancy
1 garlic clove
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp yoghurt
Salt and pepper
Splash of extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ heaped tsp of the following mix of ground Spice Mix (toast 1tsp of each fennel, cumin, coriander and fenugreek seed with 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamon pods and 1 star anise in a dry frying pan until hot, fragrant and beginning to pop, remove and grind in a pestle and mortar until fine).
Approx 50g fine white breadcrumb

Place all the ingredients except the oil into a food processor and pulse until well combined, scrapping the mixture down from the sides every now and then.
Add a splash of oil to loosen but do not allow the mixture to become too loose (This is my hummus recipe too, so if you want hummus and not falafel, simply add more oil to get a spoonable texture)
Now place the mixture into a bowl and mix in enough breadcrumbs until the mixture is stiffer. It should be stiff enough to roll into about 14 golf ball sized falafel. If it is too wet, add some more breadcrumbs.
Now roll into about 14 falafel balls and fry in hot oil until crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

Gingerbread and Apple Pancakes

November 12, 2012 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

The perfect start to a sunny Autumnal Sunday morning. I saw a version of these recently on a cookery show, however I always like to get some fruit into my breakfast in some way so I added some grated apple for texture and nourishment!

Pillowy, light and spongy pancakes are always satisfying. I haven’t got a huge sweet tooth so I appreciate homemade pancakes that haven’t been drowned in maple syrup or criminally, bacon…..! I had mine simply with Greek yoghurt and a spoonful of my pumpkin butter jam for sweetness. Drizzled with some sticky honey (the pancakes not me), I was ready to start the day……

225g self raising flour
3 tbsp light muscovado sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
pinch salt
½ lemon, grated zest
½ vanilla pod, seeds. Or a few drops of vanilla extract
300ml milk
1 large egg
1 apple, grated and drained in a colander

Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
Add the lemon, vanilla and then whisk in the milk.
Whisk in the egg and then add the apple. My apple was quite moist so it made the mixture a little thinner so I suggest draining the apple in a colander first or patting dry. I just added a little more flour and it still worked out fine!
Pour a little oil in a hot frying pan and fry large spoonfuls of the mixture for a few minutes until it begins to turn golden brown underneath and bubbles appear on top before flipping and frying for a few more minutes.
Serve warm with yoghurt and honey or any other favourite accompianment!

These are also open to experimentation! Add any flouring, spice or fruit but be aware that wet fruit will add a lot of moisture. Try it with my pumpkin butter jam