BLUEBERRY AND APRICOT FLAPJACK PUDDING

For the flapjack lover, flapjacks scattered over a fruit based pudding, instead of the usual crumble mix, is a wonderful thing.

I used a mixture of small rolled oats, and added some jumbo oats for texture, the mix worked perfectly. Fresh apricots and blueberries would have been wonderful, but we are still waiting for summer to come and therefore, a tin of drained canned apricots and frozen blueberries were used.

This pudding isn't really a looker when it's served up and perhaps it would be best to cook it in small individual dishes. To be honest, it looked like a nervous breakdown on a plate when I served it up and to make matters worse, I topped it with a dollop of creme fraiche which my husband said just added to it's misery. It made us laugh though, which can only be a good thing.

Moving on from looks, the pudding is amazing, the apricot and blueberry combo is perfect, and the buttery, crispy oat topping on this occasion, left crumble in the shade.

Serves: 4 people

You will need: 75g butter, 75g golden syrup, 45g oats, 45g jumbo oats, a tin of drained apricots quartered, 100g frozen or fresh blueberries, 1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan/200°C/Gas 6.
2. Gently melt the butter in a small pan with the syrup and then fold in the oats.
3. Arrange the apricots and blueberries in the base of a small shallow ovenproof dish.
4. Sprinkle the fruit with the sugar and then scatter over the flapjack mixture allowing some of the fruit to show through. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden and crusty.
5. Serve warm or cold.

FLAPJACKS


Preheat the oven to Fan 160°C/180°C/Gas 4. Line a 23cm square tin with baking parchment.

1. Gently melt 240g salted butter with 180g demerara sugar and 6 tablespoons golden syrup over a medium heat.
2. Stir in 350g rolled oats.
3. Put the mixture into the tin and press down. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Leave to cool and cut into squares.

VALENTINE'S DAY AMARETTO TRIFLE

It's a sin not to eat trifle, at least once a year. I haven't made trifle for at least a couple of years, but to compensate I have made an Amaretto, berry, meringue and cream trifle, it was certainly worth the wait. The trifle was made with frozen berries, but I will definitely be making this again with fresh summer berries.



Meringues - just a few to break up. I used two large egg whites and 110g golden caster sugar, the recipe is here on Delia's website.
500g mixed berries - if using frozen, thaw in a sieve over a bowl to remove the excess juice.
4 tablespoons of Amaretto
250g Madeira cake - I made mine but again it is perfectly fine to buy some, don't be tempted to use trifle sponges though because you don't want soggy cake and trifle sponges will go soggy!
500ml fresh custard
300ml whipping cream, softly whipped

1. Place the thawed berries in a bowl and pour over the Amaretto, leave to marinate for 15 minutes.
2. Cut the Madeira cake into cubes and place in a large, deep serving bowl. Top with two-thirds of the fruit, and pour over the custard.
3. Pop into the fridge to firm up for a couple of hours then remove.
4. Spoon a layer of cream on top of the custard, arrange broken pieces of meringue on top of the cream and then place clouds of whipped cream around the meringue pieces.
5. Top with the rest of the berries.
6. Decorate with Valentine hearts.

VALENTINE'S DAY CUPCAKES

More Valentine's offerings from my kitchen!

The cupcakes are a basic sponge mix of 125g each of butter, caster sugar, self raising flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, two large eggs and a couple of tablespoons of milk added after the initial 'all in one' mixing of the ingredients. Twelve muffin cases are placed in a muffin tin and filled with the cake mixture. Bake at 200°C/Gas 6 for approximately 20 minutes.

As the cupcake tops need to be flat, if they peak, just cut some of the cake off. After cooling make up some royal icing to cover the tops, allow to set a little, and top with fondant shapes.

I decorated mine with red and white fondant icing, coloured sprinkles, gold disco dust and sugar roses. Let your imagination run wild to put the necessary Valentine's Day pizazz into them.

SPIDERMAN BIRTHDAY CAKE

My grandson celebrated his 5th birthday a couple of months before Christmas, but somehow the cake didn't make it to the blog. I've rectified this now and here is Spiderman............

It had to be chocolate cake, I then brushed the cake with apricot jam and topped it with blue fondant icing. The Spiderman figure came complete with his own web and my husband made a cake band, cut carefully from Spiderman wrapping paper.

My grandson loved his cake and only this week proudly showed me his Spiderman figure. He even said I make lovely cakes - they learn very early in life!!!

If you need an idea for a boys birthday cake this is easy to make, colourful, and even comes with a toy...............a definite winner.

MINCEMEAT AND APPLE JALOUSIE

Another wonderful way to use homemade, or even a bought jar of good quality mincemeat, is a Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie. This dessert is really easy to make and a great way to use up leftover mincemeat.

If you make this now, say for recipe testing purposes, you may well find you are a Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie convert! I have slightly adapted the recipe - the baking times in the original recipe, I found, were too short to cook the apples. Bake at 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6 for approximately 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4 for another 10-15 minutes, checking with a skewer the apple is cooked to your liking.

Next year on Christmas Day, guests who aren't too keen on Christmas Pudding, or would like something a little lighter, will be more than delighted to have a slice of this dessert with either cream poured over, as I did, or serve with the Cognac Creme Anglaise as suggested by Rick Stein, in Recipes for the Weekend, Weekend Telegraph.

Happy New Year!

ICED SNOWFLAKE CHRISTMAS CAKE

It doesn't seem that long ago since I posted last years Christmas cake and yet here we are again............

Baby blue fondant icing covers the main cake and simple white snowflakes adorn the top. A sprinkling of snow white magic sparkles and silver hologram glitter. Wired ribbon to match the snowflakes and silver beads to add some Christmas bling.

I thought I would delve into the archives and put the Christmas cakes from other years alongside this posting for you to see. They are all very simple yet effective.

Christmas Cake December 2008.

Iced Christmas Cake 2007 (my favourite to date). This cake has served me well and this year is the first photograph on the first page of Google Images. Also on the top row of Google Images is the very same cake called 'A Slice of Iced Christmas Cake'.

Iced Christmas Star Cake 2006.