SUPER GRANOLA

Called 'super' because there are no 'chemical' additives or health-guru bugbears. I've been making this for ages, but decided to blog it now because of the sudden urging to be wary of breakfast cereals as some are quite highly processed. Also, the recipe requires no special skills other than weighing, chopping and stirring, and it's vegetarian and vegan.

The quantity here makes around 1kg of granola. It's quite rich, so a portion might be around 80g, which would provide very roughly 400 calories and should be sustaining as it has plenty of porridge oats beloved of dietitians. Unusually for me, this recipe has fourteen ingredients - eat your heart out, Yotam - but there are a number of options for omission or changes, mentioned at the end.

As the cooking time is quite short, the whole process takes about an hour plus cooling time. The oven will need to be at 130C. I have suggested the point at which to switch it on - pointless to have it up to temperature before you need it!

Just add milk!

Super Granola
Ingredients
80g dried soft apricots (about 13), roughly chopped or snipped with scissors
70g dried cranberries, snipped if large
80g sultanas
30g desiccated coconut

80g walnut halves or pieces
50g brazil nuts
40g whole almonds

30g pumpkin seeds
30g sesame seeds
370g porridge oats

5tbsp good oil, e.g. olive
4 tbsp maple syrup
5 tbsp golden syrup

65g pitted dates (about 12)

Method
1  Soak the first four ingredients in a little water to soften, and set aside.
2  Get out a large baking tin (mine is 24x32cm), and cut baking parchment that will cover 
          the base and sides. Transfer the parchment to a chopping board.
3  Place the 3 kinds of nuts on the parchment and chop to pieces no larger than peas. 
          A mini-chopper is the best way unless you have a grinder that can pulse (to avoid 
          over-chopping). Lift the parchment and pour the nuts into a large mixing bowl.
          This is a good time to switch the oven on, set to130C.
4  Add the pumpkin and sesame seeds and the oats to the bowl. Mix and make a well
          in the centre.
5  Add the oil and both syrups and mix very thoroughly. Place the parchment in the
          baking tin and pile in the mixture, smoothing over. (No need to wash the bowl yet.)
6  Cook in the oven for 9 mins. Meanwhile, drain the dried fruits and coconut.
7  Remove the granola, stir to break up any lumps, and cook for a further 9 mins.
          Transfer it back into the large bowl and add the drained fruit.
8  Chop the dates coarsely and add, mixing everything thoroughly. Leave to cool, then
          store in an airtight container.

Adjustments
The coconut, pumpkin seeds or dates can be omitted. If you've no maple syrup, then the quantity can be made up with more golden syrup, although maple has a really nice flavour. Proportions of the nuts can be adjusted, but best to end up with the same overall weight of them. As a change from olive oil, any nut or truffle oil could be substituted, although they are more expensive. It's a recipe that can be played with acccording to taste. I love it!

 

Vegan Cranberry & Orange Chelsea Bun Christmas Tree

The idea for this festive bake came from BBC Good Food Magazine towards the end of last year. I made it according to the recipe, and took it to our family gathering to serve at Boxing Day breakfast. Omitted the icing drizzle as to add it just before serving the following day would maybe get in the way of other kitchen activity.

We agreed we could make this a tradition. However, recently two of the younger members of our vegetarian family have changed to a vegan diet, so there was only one way forward - the recipe would need to be adapted. First problem was to find (or make) suitable marzipan, as traditional recipes seem to require egg white. Luckily Dr Oetken's and Sainsbury's ready-made marzipan are both suitable for vegans. Milk and butter were less challenging to replace. I have made my adapted version twice now, and it seems to be about right. Alternative layouts are mentioned at the end, and can be used at Christmas or at other times.

This quantity makes 12 modest sized buns. Allow 5 hours or so from the start until they are to be served. This includes two sessions of proving (leaving to rise); I use our airing cupboard, but at room temperature it may need a little longer. A food mixer is very helpful to make the dough, but of course not essential.

The original recipe, complete with a great photograph, can be found on BBC Good Food Magazine's website. They agreed to my adapting and using it on this blog, and this is the link to their recipe:

http://tinyurl.com/ybjzcwcv

Vegan Cranberry & Orange Chelsea Bun Christmas Tree
(Oven will need to be at 160C fan, or 175C otherwise. 
A very large baking sheet is required, lined with baking parchment.)

 

Ingredients 
140ml soya milk (or almond)
20ml olive oil
225g strong white bread flour
4g dried yeast (about half a sachet)
25g caster sugar (+2tbsp for later)
level tsp ground cinnamon
half tsp fine sea salt
100g vegan marzipan, chilled and coarsely grated
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
50g fresh cranberries (* see below if not available)
50g dried cranberries
20g roughly chopped pistachios
2 tbsp marmalade or apricot jam

Method
1  Warm the soya milk gently in a small pan until steaming but not boiling. 
        Stir in the oil and set aside to cool a little.
2  Put the flour, yeast, 25g of caster sugar, cinnamon and salt in the mixer bowl
        (or any good-sized bowl). Add the milk and work into a smooth but stretchy
        dough. Takes about 5m in the mixer, a little longer if kneading by hand on a
        floured board. Be prepared to add, very carefully, a little more flour or water
        if necessary - depends on the flour used.
3  Lift the dough from the mixer bowl and oil the bowl lightly (I use One-Cal spray).
        Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove until doubled in size (about 2h).
4  Tip the dough onto a floured board and roll out to 36cm x 20cm, forming a
        neat rectangle. Sprinkle the marzipan evenly over it, together with the orange 
        zest and fresh cranberries.
5  Scatter over about two-thirds of the dried cranberries and same with pistachios,
        topping with the extra 2 tbsp of caster sugar. Starting with the long side of
        the dough, roll up fairly tightly. Neaten the ends of necessary. Using a sharp
        knife, cut the roll in half, then quarters, then cut each quarter into three.
6  Lift the buns very carefully onto the lined baking sheet, placing them flat and a 
       little apart, one for the top, then a row of two, then three, then four. Of the other
       two, place one under the four to make the trunk of the tree, and put the last on
       a corner (for the cook - not shown above as I ate it.)
7  Cover with the clingfilm and leave to prove for an hour or so until about doubled
       in size and just touching one another.
8  Bake in the centre of the oven for 16-18m until golden brown, then leave to cool 
       for 10m or so. If your oven, like mine, cooks a little unevenly, quickly turn the
       baking sheet around 180 degrees half-way through. (I forgot this with the above
       batch, hence the bark-coloured bark.)  
9  During the cooling time, put the marmalade or jam in a pot and stir in a teaspoon
       of warm water. When the buns are cool, brush the mix all over the buns to glaze 
       them. Scatter over the remaining pistachios and dried cranberries.

The icing, if you fancy adding it, is made with a mixture of sieved icing sugar and juice from the orange, drizzled artistically over the whole shebang.

*  If fresh cranberries aren't around, use another 40g of dried berries soaked in water
   for a while then drained well. I have made the recipe with half and half, also with
   all dried. The fresh cranberries make the buns a little more luscious, but using only
   dried works well too.

Alternative Forms
Fewer but larger buns can be arranged in a flower shape:

     
Or cut the rolled-up dough into eight and make them into a ring shape. When they're baked, cooled and dressed, a sprig of holly or twigs from a cupressus can be placed in the centre for a Christmas wreath, or even at Easter with a pile of tiny chocolate eggs in the centre. 

A rather longer recipe than my usual, but good fun to do, and the buns have had very appreciative audiences. For us it's a keeper. Happy baking. 
  

An Idea for the Grand Christmas Lunch

Lemon-stuffed Squash, Blue Cheese and Cranberry en Croute

Is it an en croute or a Wellington? Who can tell? Either way, this festive lunch centrepiece has really impressed the family, including the meat-eaters. The main things to know before deciding whether to make it are:

   1  It needs quite a time from start to serving.

   2  It can be a little fiddly and 'hands-on'.

   3  None of the steps is difficult.

   4  Much of the preparation can be done a day or two before baking if helpful.

   5  The finished dish looks (I think) lovely and very inviting.

   6  Any leftovers will be good served cold, perhaps with chutney - and it's easier to carve  

          when cold.

As so often, I forgot to take the picture before carving. However, there are two to give an idea. I decorated mine with small pastry feet walking all over it from side to side. 

One more quick point - the geometry of the pastry means that the recipe cannot simply be halved. For a half quantity, either about two-thirds of the sheet of pastry would be safest (rather than half), or the quantities for the filling should be a little less than half. 

The idea came from a recipe in BBC Good Food magazine, but I have significantly adapted it here.

Here's how interesting the layers look!

Lemon-stuffed squash, blue cheese and cranberry en croute 

Prep 75 mins approx, cook 45m, serves 5-6

Ingredients

            350g piece of butternut squash, peeled cut into sticks 2x2x6 cm max

            250g very small onions peeled, and halved if larger than a cherry tomato

            2 tbsp olive oil

            40g pecans halved

            60g vegetarian dry stuffing mix, e.g. sage & onion

            juice of 1 lemon and half the grated zest

            2 tbsp maple syrup

            2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

            1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry

            plain flour, for dusting

            25g dried cranberries

            110g vegetarian Stilton, crumbled

            a little beaten egg to glaze

The oven should be at 150C (fan) to start, shelf in the middle. A large baking sheet/tray is needed, lined with baking parchment.

Method

1  Put the squash, onions and oil in a roasting tin and toss around with a little salt and pepper. Roast for 15 mins. Add the pecans, stir around, and cook for 10 mins more.

2  Meanwhile, put the stuffing into a bowl and add the lemon juice and zest with 130ml boiling water or enough to make a damp mixture. Mix well and leave to cool and absorb.

3  Put the cooked squash on a plate to cool, and transfer the nuts and onions into a medium non-stick pan. Add the maple syrup, vinegar and a little seasoning, and heat gently until the onions start to caramelise – roughly 10 mins - stirring often. Leave to cool for a few mins.

4  Meanwhile, place the pastry sheet on a floured surface; roll out gently to make it a little larger and thinner. If you’ll want to put trimmings on top, cut off 2cm from one of the short edges and set aside. Transfer the pastry to the baking tray. Place the stuffing down the middle lengthways and mould into a compact sausage shape reaching nearly to each end of the pastry. At around this time, turn the oven up to 180C (fan).

5  Push in the cranberries all around the stuffing; do the same with the squash pieces lengthwise. Scatter the Stilton over, then top with the onions and pecans. Lightly press the filling together to compact it.

4  Brush round the pastry edges with the egg, then draw the 2 long edges up to meet, and pinch together to seal. Pinch together the pastry at both ends to seal, then brush all over with egg. To decorate, cut shapes from the pastry trimmings and use to decorate the top. Glaze again and make several small air holes with the point of a knife.

5  If time, chill for 30 mins before cooking. Cover with foil and bake for 20mins, then remove the foil and cook a further 25 mins. Rest for 5 mins or so to make it easier to carve. Use a very sharp knife to slice it.

Shucks. Half already served before I remembered.

Options: Flaked almonds or halved cooked chestnuts could replace pecans, and freshly-squeezed orange juice used in place of lemon. Cranberries go really well here, but roughly chopped dried apricots could be used.

To prepare a day or two ahead, keep separate in the fridge the cooked squash, the caramelised pecans + onions, the cooled stuffing and the defrosting pastry. The whole thing can be made up the night before, and brushed with egg just before putting in the oven.

Pushover Wheat-Free Cranberry & Coconut Biscuits

They are what it says in the title!

With my long history of sporadic reaction to wheat, I know that if I go too far then my system will complain. Many years ago, self-diagnosed after 6m of medical tests, I then went totally wheat-free for a couple of years and was immediately well. Now I'm able to get away with most things in moderation.

Must have been too devil-may-care recently, as the intolerance is back and so, therefore, are the wheat-free ingredients. My first version of this recipe was with spelt flour - I think spelt is an early ancestor of modern wheat - and it caused problems. This is the adaptation using Asda's 'free from' plain white flour, and it worked very well. It is made from rice flour and potato starch. However, I would expect the recipe to work with straight plain wheat flour too.

The recipe makes about 20 biscuits. I've called it pushover because it's quite quick and involves no 'rubbing in' or 'rolling out and cutting'. Preparation should take 20-25 minutes, and baking 12 minutes or so. Cook on a baking sheet, either a good non-stick one or lined with baking parchment.

Wheat-Free Cranberry & Coconut Biscuits
The oven should be ready at 170C.

Ingredients

130g demerara sugar
80g melted butter (20 secs in microwave, or in a pan)
270g wheat-free flour (plus a little for shaping later)
2 tsp baking powder (should be wheat-free - usually are)
Half tsp salt
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk
25g dried cranberries, snipped if larger than a pea
50g desiccated coconut

Method

1  Place the sugar and melted butter in a large bowl and beat well - either with a wooden
       spoon or using an electric mixer.
2  In another bowl thoroughly mix the flour, baking powder and salt.
3  Beat the egg, vanilla and milk into the sugar/butter mixture.
4  Add in the flour mix with the cranberries and coconut and mix gently to form a soft
       dough. Make sure the cranberries are evenly distributed.
5  Using hands, roll pieces of the dough into spheres about the size of a ping-pong ball
       and place them on the baking sheet with gaps between of about 4cm as they'll 
       spread a little. Flour your hands from to time if the dough is sticking. Flatten the 
       biscuits a little with the back of a fork, leaving tine marks.
6  Bake in the centre of the oven for about 12-13 minutes but check after 10. The edges
       should be turning golden and the tops starting to firm up.

Chocolate chips - white or dark - would work well here (if they're wheat-free), perhaps with cranberries but not maybe with the coconut. Lemon would be worth a try, too: perhaps omit the milk, berries and coconut and add the grated zest of 1 large lemon and all of its juice at stage 3. That would make slightly fewer but very interesting biscuits!

More Baking: Cranberry & Currant Scones

Yes, there are plenty of scone recipes around. Some I've tried didn't rise properly, others were dry, but this is my final version which has been, er, well received! They keep well in the freezer too.

Quantities and types of dried fruit can, of course, be altered, for example using sultanas instead of currants or all cranberries, but the recipe here has gone into my Special Folder for those that are definite keepers. The relative amounts of flour and milk work for the types I buy (organic plain flour and semi-skimmed organic milk), but if others are used they may need adjusting to make the dough doughy, not too sticky and not too dry.

The recipe makes about ten scones. A baking tray is used, preferably lined with parchment, and the oven should be at 175C, middle shelf. My preferred cutter is labelled 58mm diameter, but of course a little smaller or larger should work. (For larger ones, I've tried double the recipe and a 68mm cutter and this made 16 really excellent scones.)

Cranberry & Currant Scones

Ingredients
230g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
75g very soft or just melted butter
30g caster sugar
40g dried cranberries, snipped in half if large
50g currants
1 egg, lightly beaten
80ml milk

Method
1  Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.
2  Rub in the butter with fingertips until the mixture has the look of breadcrumbs.
3  Stir in the sugar and dried fruit.
4  Add the egg and milk and gently work into a dough with hands or dough hooks just until
          it forms a single piece.
5  Place the dough on a floured board, pat down gently to about 25mm deep, then smooth
          over. Cut out the rounds, then pull together the left over dough and repeat.
6  Put the rounds onto the baking tray, brush lightly with a little milk, and bake for 12-14 
          minutes until risen and golden but without allowing the currants to char.

Traditionally these are served with butter, clotted (or whipped double) cream and strawberry jam. A nice change, though, is marmalade or another red jam, and I don't feel cream is necessary. Talking of changes, instead of the dried fruit I plan next to try finely grated lemon zest and a teaspoon of lemon essence, or chopped dried apricots and pistachios. Or blueberries. 

Pear, Goat Cheese & Cranberry Tartlets with Salted Caramel Drizzle

This is my second entry for EthelTheGoat's Capricorn Challenge. The tartlets themselves have only six ingredients, three of which came from the magic hamper sent by Ethel to fire our imaginations.


Depending on how good you are with rolling/cutting pastry, this recipe should take about 35 minutes from start to serving - the drizzle is made while the tartlets are baking.


Brag Alert:
Of all the desserts I've created over the years - some of which have won prizes - I have to say that this is the one that I most enjoyed eating. It will turn up, for sure, next time we have guests for a meal.


For a change, this recipe makes three tartlets, and I know many people make meals for three. It was also just the way it turned out with the single egg and the pear. The tartlets are best served straight from the oven, as they are so puffed up and fanciable, though warm is OK too. At room temperature they are still good but look flatter. The drizzle should be served warm - it's optional of course, and can be made to go with plenty of other desserts such as plain vanilla ice cream, meringues, large fruit tarts, coffee gateau or fruit salad.


The tartlets here were made in a tray of individual Yorkshire pudding tins; they could be made in smaller jam tart sized tins but they're then gone in a couple of mouthfuls. Not enough! Here's one pictured on a side plate:

Pear, Goat Cheese & Cranberry Tartlets with Salted Caramel Drizzle

Ingredients for the Tartlets

     90g puff pastry (or 1 ready-rolled sheet)

     1 free range egg

     25g Capricorn goat cheese, crumbled

     2 tsp double cream

     1 dessert pear, peeled, quartered, cored & coarsely sliced

     24 dried cranberries (about 20g) (or fresh)

Ingredients for the Drizzle

     75ml double cream

     2 tbsp golden syrup (about 65g)

     25g soft brown sugar (dark or light)

     15g butter

     Half tsp salt

The oven should be heated to 200C, or 180C fan, shelf in the centre. The Yorkshire pudding/tartlet tins should be very lightly oiled.

Method

1  On a floured board, roll out the pastry to an area large enough to cut out three 

          11cm-diameter circles - and cut them out. Press gently into the tartlet tins.

2  Crack the egg into a small bowl and add the Capricorn cheese and the cream. Beat

          gently with a fork until evenly mixed.

3  Place the pear slices neatly into the cases, and pour the egg mixture evenly over them.

4  Sprinkle the cranberries over the tartlets.

5  Bake for 15 minutes or so, until the pastry is browned and the filling well set.

6  Meanwhile, to make the drizzle, place the cream, syrup and brown sugar in a small pan

          and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer gently for 3 minutes then remove from heat.

7  Stir in the butter and the salt. Check for taste (it'll be very hot) in case you feel another

          pinch of salt is needed.

8  Serve the tartlets as soon as possible, pouring the drizzle over and around each one.

It's best not to put the filling into the tartlets until it's time to bake them, otherwise the pastry could go soggy. I filled mine and put them in to bake just as a light main course was served, but the drizzle had been made beforehand. If you tend to linger over main courses - which I know we should - then the drizzle can be made in advance and kept warm, and the tartlets quickly filled and put in the oven as soon as the first diner has finished the main course!

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I've a dream that will never come true, but I enjoy dreaming it. We open a smart vegetarian restaurant called 'Specials', which becomes famous and successful. Whenever I create a dish that's especially pleasing, I always think, 'That can go on the menu at Specials', and then work out how much it costs to make and what we would charge for it. Daydream par excellence.