Pumpkin Spiced Apple and Pear Crumble

For me crumbles are the ultimate comfort food. This pumpkin spiced apple and pear crumble has all the autumnal feels.

Ingredients

2 pears

2 large bramley apples

1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon butter

Topping

225g plain flour

100g butter – diced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

To scatter over

1 tablespoon oats

1 tablespoon soft brown sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 190c / 170c fan

Peel, core and slice your apples and pears.

Add to a large pan with your tablespoon of butter and spices. Squeeze over your lemon.

Simmer gently over a low heat for 5 minutes or so to soften, stirring all the while.

Transfer to your baking dish.

In a separate large mixing bowl, mix together your flour, diced butter and brown sugar. Rub together to form a crumbly mixture. When it’s suitably crumbly scatter it all over your fruit.

Press down slightly and scatter over your oats and tablespoon of brown sugar.

Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 25 minutes.

Serve exactly how you desire.

Coffee Cream Cookies

This one is for my coffee lovers. Tiny little bite sized cookies sandwiched together with creamy coffee buttercream. Perfect for when you are craving a sugar rush.

Ridiculously easy to make. Dust over a little icing sugar to add a little extra sweetness and pretty them up a little.

Makes 10

Ingredients

2 teaspoons instant coffee

1 teaspoon boiling water

75g butter – softened

50g light brown sugar

125g self raising flour

Method

Pre heat oven to 180c / 160c fan

In a large mixing bowl beat together your butter and sugar for the biscuit dough until smooth and creamy. In a little cup mix together your coffee and water using 2 teaspoons instant coffee and 1 teaspoon boiling water. Add this to your butter and sugar mixture.

Slowly add the flour and beat in gently to make a dough.

Roll into a ball and shape into two log shapes. Chill in the fridge for approximately 15 minutes.

Remove from fridge and slice each log into 10 pieces. Place on a lined baking tray and press gently to flatten a little. Bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile mix up your buttercream.

In a separate bowl mix together your butter and icing sugar. In a separate little cup mix together your coffee and hot water. Add this to your buttercream mix and gently beat together. I chilled mine in the fridge for a while.

Spoon onto one half of your cookies and sandwich together with the other half of the cookie.

Dust over a little icing sugar to add a little extra sweetness and make them pretty.

Spicy Vegetable Chilli

I’ve devised this gorgeous autumnal spicy chilli recipe for my loyal vegetarian / vegan followers. Not my family as if I offer them chilli without meat they think it is a cruel trick. Personally I love it.

I’ve not added pumpkins to the chilli, they are for aesthetic purposes only to make it look a bit Halloweeny, as let’s be honest I think I speak for everyone in saying that would be rank! We lugged these things for miles so I’m using them in some way!

This is healthy and low in fat. I make it with tinned cherry tomatoes for added sweetness. It’s divine with lots of fresh coriander and mango chutney.

Happy Halloween!

Ingredients

350g butternut squash and sweet potato mix

1 tin cherry tomatoes

1 tin red kidney beans in chilli sauce

1 tin black beans – drained

Olive oil

3 cloves garlic – minced

150ml water

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 teaspoons paprika

4 teaspoons ground cumin

3 tablespoons tomato puree

Salt and cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon Worcester sauce

Method

Add a glug of olive oil to the pan and cook down your onions until they are translucent.

Add your garlic, all the spices and then the cherry tomatoes.

Pour in the kidney beans in chilli and black beans and then add the butternut squash and sweet potato.

Stir in the tomato puree, Worcester sauce, water and season.

Simmer gently for approximately an hour or until the butternut squash and sweet potato cubes are tender to bite into.

Serve with lots of mango chutney, fresh coriander and rice if you fancy.

Molten Chocolate Puddings with Raspberries

I’m not going to apologise. I have an insatiable sweet tooth. These however, seem to hit the spot. They are irresistible with a deep, hidden molten chocolate centre. They are unbelievably delicious. If I had a trumpet I would blow it.

Be careful though one might not be enough!

Ingredients

150g plain chocolate

115g butter

2 eggs

100g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

25g plain flour

Fresh raspberries to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 190c / 170c fan and grease 4 tin ramekins.

Place your broken up chocolate and butter in a large mixing bowl and melt by blasting for 30 seconds at a time until melted or in a bowl over a large saucepan of boiling water. Stir in between blasts to combine.

In a separate large bowl whisk together your eggs, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric whisk until thick and frothy.

Gently fold in the chocolate mixture and sift in the flour stirring to mix.

Divide between your ramekins. Place them on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven and bake for 12 minutes.

Remove from oven, sift over a little icing sugar and adorn with a fresh raspberry each. Devour!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Probably the best recipe I have ever made. It’s genuinely amazing and like nothing I have had before. If you are a sticky toffee pudding lover or love one just make it and thank me later.

Ingredients

For the pudding

100g chopped dates

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

450ml water

60g butter – softened

170g soft light brown sugar

1 egg – beaten

225g self raising flour

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Sauce

100ml double cream

30g butter

60g light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger – grated

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

Method

Pre heat oven to 180c / 160c

Line and grease a 26cm x 24cm oven proof dish

In the dish add your vanilla, bicarbonate of soda, water and chopped dates and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat together your butter, light brown sugar and gradually add in your beaten egg. Sift in your flour and stir gently into the mixture to combine.

Now add your mixed spice and cinnamon to the mixing bowl ensuring it is fully combined.

Add all of this mixture to the date mixture in the dish stirring together.

Place on the middle shelf of the oven for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile make up your sauce.

In a small saucepan over a low heat whisk together your double cream, butter, light brown sugar, ginger and mixed spice. Whisk for a couple of minutes until the sauce starts to thicken, then remove from the heat.

Once the pudding has reached it’s cooking time, remove from the oven and pour over the sauce. Serve with hot custard.

Caramelised Pineapple, Passion Fruit Malibu Sauce with Lime and Rhubarb Ice Cream

I love pimping up fruit. It makes it a bit more desirable to eat. This is such a lovely light dessert idea that couldn’t be simpler.

I paired it with rhubarb ice cream but vanilla or coconut would work.

Ingredients

1 pineapple

Zest and juice of a lime

2 teaspoons butter

2 tablespoons honey

35ml passion fruit Malibu

Ice cream to serve

Method

Chop up your pineapple into long slices and set aside.

Heat together your honey and butter in a frying pan over a low heat. Now add your pineapple slices turning every now and then for around 6 minutes or so.

While this is gently bubbling away mix up your lime zest and juice along with the Malibu in a separate bowl. Pour this over the pineapple and let bubble away for a couple of minutes until it caramelises.

Serve immediately with ice cream and lime garnish. Spoon over a little of the juice from the pan to make it a bit more saucy because everyone loves a bit of sauce!

Chocolate Blood Cake

Rich, dark chocolate cake served with a side of blood red raspberry coulis.

Ingredients

For the cake

225g plain flour

350g caster sugar

85g cocoa powder

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

250ml milk

125ml vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

250ml boiling water

Chocolate Sauce

200ml plain chocolate

200ml double cream

Coulis

300ml raspberries

2 tablespoons icing sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Method

Pre heat oven to 180c / 160c fan

Grease and line two round 8″ tins

Put all the ingredients for the cake only except the boiling water into a large mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Once the mixture is fully combined and smooth start adding the boiling water a little at a time and whisking in.

Divide between two tins and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool for 10 mins or so before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling it’s time to make your chocolate sauce.

Place your broken chocolate pieces and double cream into a medium saucepan and heat over a low heat so the two slowly melt together. Stir all the time with a wooden spoon or whisk. Leave to fully cool.

When your cake is cool sandwich together with some of the chocolate sauce and then pour over the top spreading all over the top and sides to fully coat.

For the coulis simply blitz the raspberries, lemon juice and icing sugar together to form a liquid and pour through a sieve to remove any seeds.

Adorn with your blood red raspberry coulis.

Halloween Cake

I had way too much fun making this cake. It’s a great idea if you are having a Halloween party and it even has it’s own built in knife to slice it up with.

Ingredients

225g soft butter

225g caster sugar

225g self raising flour

2 level teaspoons baking powder

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(for the filling)

4 tablespoons strawberry jam

For the frosting

150g butter softened

450g icing

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Red food colouring – keep separate

Simply add all the ingredients for the cake (except the topping) into your mixing bowl. Cream together all the ingredients. I do this with an electric whisk to save time and effort.Transfer evenly between your two cake tins and bake in the centre of the oven for approx 25 minutes.

While the cake is cooling mix up your buttercream.

Gently drip over your red food colouring at the sides of the cake so it gently rolls down to form a drip. You may wish to put the cake on a lined plate so that the red food colouring does not stain anything. Then dot the odd bit of colouring about and gently blow on it to give it a splatter effect.

Adorn with your knife of choice and serve to your terrified guests.

Braised Beef in Red Wine

Low and slow cooked fall apart braised beef in rich red wine sauce. I prefer it with rice as I’m not really a fan of mashed potato. It gives me traumatic flashbacks of school dinners but it’s your call.

It’s my favourite time of year when summer slowly slips into Autumn. I love snuggle in weather with soft jumpers, red wine and candles. This is the perfect dinner for it.

Ingredients

600g lean diced beef

2 red peppers

1 courgette

1 teaspoon mixed herbs

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 onion – chopped

3 cloves garlic

300ml beef stock

150ml red wine

Salt and cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons Worcester sauce

1 tablespoon plain flour

Method

Pre heat oven to 160c / 140c fan

Heat your olive oil in a frying pan and brown the beef. Transfer to a plate.

Pan fry the onions and courgettes in the minced garlic for 3-4 minutes and set aside.

Mix your flour and wine to form a paste.

Transfer the beef and vegetables into an oven proof dish and pour over the stock and wine. Add the herbs and Worcester sauce. Season and stir to combine.

Cover and slow cook in the oven for approximately three hours. Have a little test of the beef to make sure it falls apart after three hours. If so remove from oven. If not allow to cook for another half hour or so until the beef is so tender that it falls apart.

Peach Crumble

Sometimes home is the only place you want to be especially in Autumn when it’s all cosy inside. I don’t make desserts every night but I always do on a Sunday. Sunday is my favourite day and my favourite thing to do is just to be at home cooking, not having to be in any particular place for a change.

Crumbles are definitely Sunday food. I make so many variations depending on what’s in season but this peach one is absolutely delightful and so quick and simple. I usually serve crumbles with custard in the colder months but it’s dull to be predictable so this one is lovely served with the best vanilla ice cream I can find.

Ingredients

2 tins of peaches

225 plain flour

1 tablespoon light brown soft sugar

Topping

225g plain flour

75g butter – diced

100g light brown soft sugar

1/2 cup oats

Method

Pre heat oven to 190C / 170C fan

Drain the peaches and pour into your oven proof dish.

Spread in your baking dish and sprinkle over 1 tablespoons of brown sugar. Set aside and make your crumble topping.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together your diced butter, sugar and flour. Rub together to form the crumbly topping. Sprinkle all over the peaches and lastly scatter over the oats.

Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes until the fruit stops bubbling and serve in your desired way.