MINCEMEAT AND APPLE CRUMBLE FLAN

MINCEMEAT AND APPLE CRUMBLE FLAN

This, in all my years of cooking, is my favourite crumble topping and any leftover mincemeat mixed with apples is a great filling.
- Delia Smith

Ingredients

 1 lb 8 oz (700 g) Bramley cooking apples
 8 oz (225 g) Cox's apples
 6 tablespoons mincemeat
 1 oz (25 g) light brown soft sugar
 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

For the crumble

 4 oz (110 g) whole almonds, skin on
 3 oz (75 g) chillled butter, cut into small dice
 6 oz (175 g) self-raising flour, sifted
 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
 4 oz (110 g) demerara sugar
 custard or pouring cream, to serve
 Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400F, (200C).

You will also need either an oval ovenproof baking dish 7½ x 11 inches (19 x 28 cm) and 1¾ inches (4.5 cm) deep, or a 9½ inch (24 cm) round ovenproof baking dish, 1¾ inches (4.5 cm) deep.

Method

Begin by preparing the apples. I always find the best way to do this is to cut them first into quarters, then pare off the peel with a potato peeler and slice out the cores. Now cut them into thickish slices and toss them in a bowl with the mincemeat, sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves, then place them in the baking dish and put to one side. Next, make the crumble, which couldn't be simpler as it's all made in a processor.

All you do is place the butter, sifted flour, cinnamon and sugar in a food processor and give it a whiz until it resembles crumbs.Next, add the almonds and process again, not too fast, until they are fairly finely chopped and there are still a few chunky bits. If you don't have a processor, in a large bowl, rub the butter into the sifted flour until it resembles crumbs, then stir in the cinnamon, sugar and almonds, which should be fairly finely chopped by hand. Now simply sprinkle the crumble mixture all over the apples, spreading it right up to the edges of the dish and, using the flat of your hands, press it down quite firmly all over; the more tightly it is packed together the crisper it will be.

Then finish off by lightly running a fork all over the surface. Now bake the crumble on the centre shelf of the oven for 35-40 minutes, by which time the apples will be soft and the topping golden brown and crisp. Leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving, then serve it warm with custard or pouring cream.

MINCE PIE ICE CREAM

MINCE PIE ICE CREAM

300ml double cream
4 shop-bought quality mince pies (or home made if you have plenty)
500g Ambrosia Devon Custard (Tetra Pak), refrigerated until cold

Heat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas Mark 1. Firstly, in a medium-sized bowl, whip the double cream until it reaches the floppy stage, but isn’t too thick. Pop it into the fridge to chill.

Place the mince pies on a baking tray and put them in the oven for 10 minutes to freshen then leave them to go completely cold. Now chop the cooled mince pies fairly finely by hand (its not really worth putting them in a food processor) then in a medium sized bowl mix them with the cold custard before folding in the whipped cream.

Now pour the mixture into a pre-frozen ice-cream maker and freeze-churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions (you may have to do this in two batches, and it will take between 30 mins and an hour depending on the capacity of your machine). When the ice cream is soft-set, transfer it to a plastic box and freeze for 2 hours before you serve. If the ice cream is made well in advance and has frozen solid, remove from the freezer for 30 minutes before serving, to soften.

If you don’t have an ice-cream maker you can still make ice-cream. After you have made up your mixture, transfer it to a lidded plastic box and put it in the coldest part of the freezer for 2 hours, or until the contents become firm at the edges. At this stage, empty out the box into a mixing bowl and whisk the ice cream with an electric hand whisk to break down the ice crystals. Return to the plastic box and freeze for another 2 hours, then repeat the whisking process. Refreeze the ice cream until 30 minutes before you want to serve it.

GINGER ICE CREAM

GINGER ICE CREAM

Ice cream is an emotive subject: people have very different ideas as to what is good ice cream, but home-made ice cream is still the best of all. This recipe is the best I know for a vanilla ice cream, but I have added some preserved stem ginger for an extra exotic dimension.Serves 4-6 (makes about 1¼ pints/725 ml)
- Delia Smith

Ingredients

 4 pieces stem ginger, chopped into ¼ inch (5 mm) cubes, plus 2 extra to decorate
 2 tablespoons ginger syrup from the stem ginger jar
 10 fl oz (275 ml) double cream
 10 fl oz (275 ml) single cream
 4 large egg yolks
 1 oz (25 g) caster sugar
 2 slightly rounded teaspoons cornflour
 3-4 drops vanilla extract

You will also need a polythene box, with a base measurement of 7 x 5½ x 2½ inches (18 x 14 x 6 cm)

First of all, whip the double cream until it reaches the floppy stage but isn't too thick then pop it into the refrigerator to chill. At the same time, put the polythene box into the freezer to chill as well.
Now make the custard by first pouring the single cream into a saucepan and then heating it to boiling point. Meanwhile, beat together the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl until absolutely smooth. Next, pour the hot cream on to this mixture, beating with a wooden spoon as you pour. Now return the custard to the pan and continue to whisk it over a medium heat until it has thickened and come up to boiling point again. (Ignore any curdled appearance, which may come about if you don't keep stirring and have the heat too high. The cornflour will stabilise it, so don t worry – it will always regain its smoothness when cooled and whisked.)
Now place the bowl of custard in a bowl of cold water, and stir it now and then until absolutely cold. Then, fold in the chilled whipped cream, chopped stem ginger, ginger syrup and vanilla extract. Pour the whole lot into the chilled polythene box, cover and freeze for 2-3 hours or until it is just beginning to set.
As soon as the mixture is freezing round the edges, remove it from the freezer, tip it into a mixing bowl and whisk it very thoroughly with an electric hand whisk. Then return the mixture to the box, put the lid back on and replace in the freezer. Leave for about another 3 hours before giving it a final whisking. Now return it to the freezer until you want to serve it. Then, 45 minutes before serving transfer it to the refrigerator to allow it to soften to a scoopable consistency.
Serve the ice cream with a garnish of stem ginger cut into matchstick strips and a small amount of syrup poured over.

PEAR AND GINGER MUFFINS

PEAR AND GINGER MUFFINS

Ingredients

250g flour
2 teasps baking powder
150g caster sugar
75g light brown sugar, plus ½ teasp per muffin for sprinkling
1 teasp ground ginger
1 x 142ml pot sour cream
125ml vegetable oil
1x 15ml tablesp honey
2 eggs
1 large pear such as a Comice (or other fruit to give you about 300g in weight), peeled, cored and cut into 5mm dice

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6 and line a 12-bun muffin tin with muffin papers.

Method

Measure into a bowl the flour baking powder, caster sugar, 75g of brown sugar and the ground ginger.
In a large measuring jug, whisk together the sour cream, oil, honey and eggs and then fold into the dry ingredients.
Lastly, mix in the diced pear, and divide the batter evenly between the muffin cases.
Sprinkle each one with ½ teaspoon of brown sugar and bake for 20 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack. Beast eaten still a little warm.

GINGER JAM BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

GINGER JAM BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

This is the wholesome, comforting version of a trad English (white) bread and butter pudding that my maternal grandmother always made. Use apricot jam or regular orange marmalade if ginger's not your thing.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

75 gram(s) unsalted butter
75 gram(s) sultanas
3 tablespoon(s) dark rum
10 slice(s) brown bread
10 tablespoon(s) marmalade (or ginger conserve)
4 medium egg yolks
1 medium easter egg(s)
3 tablespoon(s) caster sugar
500 ml double cream
200 ml full fat milk
1 teaspoon(s) ground ginger
2 tablespoon(s) demerara sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.

Grease a pudding dish with a capacity of about 1½ litres with some of the butter.
Put the sultanas in a small bowl, pour the rum over, and microwave them for 1 minute, then leave them to stand. This is a good way to soak them quickly but juicily.
Make sandwiches with the brown bread, butter and ginger jam (2 tablespoonfuls in each sandwich); you should have some butter left over to smear on the top later.
Now cut the sandwiches in half into triangles and arrange them evenly along the middle of the pudding dish. I put one in the dish with the point of the sandwich upwards then one with flat-side uppermost, then with point-side uppermost and so on, then squeeze a sandwich-triangle down each side - but you do as you please. Sprinkle over the sultanas and unabsorbed rum that remains in the bowl.
Whisk the egg yolks and egg together with the caster sugar, and pour in the cream and milk. Pour this over the triangles of bread and leave them to soak up the liquid for about 10 minutes, by which time the pudding is ready to go into the oven. Smear the bread crusts that are poking out of the custard with the soft butter, mix the ground ginger and demerara sugar together and sprinkle this mixture on your buttered crusts and then lightly over the rest of the pudding.
Sit the pudding dish on a baking sheet and put it in the oven to cook for about 45 minutes or until the custard has set and puffed up slightly. Remove, let sit for 10 minutes - and spoon out into bowls, putting a jug of custard, should you so wish, on the table to be served alongside.

CHRISTMAS ROCKY ROAD BARS

CHRISTMAS ROCKY ROAD BARS

It’s not that I felt my usual Rocky Road Crunch Bars needed any improvement (though fiddling with recipes is one of life’s pleasures) but I thought they would benefit from some seasonal adjustment. So, out go the Rich Tea biscuits and in come amaretti and – in the seasonal spirit – I’ve crammed in some Brazil nuts and glacé cherries (as red as Rudolph’s nose), along with snowy mini marshmallows. The fresh snowfall of icing sugar on top might seem seasonal enough, but not for me. So I add some edible glitter in Disco Hologram White.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

250 gram(s) dark chocolate
150 gram(s) milk chocolate
175 gram(s) butter (soft)
4 tablespoon(s) golden syrup
200 gram(s) amaretti biscuits
150 gram(s) brazil nuts (shelled)
150 gram(s) glace cherries (red)
125 gram(s) mini marshmallows
1 tablespoon(s) icing sugar
1 sprinkling of edible glitter

Method

Chop both sorts of chocolate small, or use chocolate buttons made for melting, and then put into a heavy-based pan to melt with the butter and syrup over a gentle heat.
Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin to get big- and little-sized crumbs; you want some pieces to crunch and some sandy rubble.
Put the Brazil nuts into another freezer bag and also bash them so you get different-sized nut rubble.
Take the pan off the heat, and add the crushed biscuits and nuts, whole glacé cherries and mini-marshmallows. Turn carefully to coat everything with syrupy chocolate.
Tip into a foil tray (I use one 236mm x 296mm), smoothing the top as best you can, although it will look bumpy.
Refrigerate until firm enough to cut, which will take about 1 1/2–2 hours. Then take the set block of rocky road out of the foil tray ready to cut.
Push the icing sugar through a small sieve to dust the top of the Rocky Road. Then, if you like, add a sprinkling of edible glitter for some festive sparkle.
With the long side in front of you, cut into it 6 slices down and 4 across, so that you have 24 almost-squares.

MAKE AHEAD TIP:

Make the Rocky Road and refrigerate to set. Don’t add the icing sugar yet, but cut into bars, then store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 week. Decorate with icing sugar and edible glitter about 1–2 hours before serving.

GIRDLEBUSTER PIE

GIRDLEBUSTER PIE

I confess: it was the title that lured me. Tell me you don’t feel the same. I came across this in a recipe by Elinor Klivans, whom I often turn to for chocolatey solace, in her The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook, which includes the wonderful phrase “let the chocolate chips fall where they will”. Although her recipes always work to the letter, my recipe is not hers. I am inspired by the digestive and chocolate base and coffee ice cream filling (though if you’re feeding children, I’d suggest vanilla) but I like a butterscotchy topping, which sets the minute it hits the ice cream. Sometimes bits of ice cream bubble up to the surface, making the top gloriously Florentined.
And the joy of the girdlebuster (as it is known for short at home) is that, should there be any left, you can put it back into its dish and just stash in the freezer again for midnight feasts. Admittedly, this is not huge, but a small slice is all that’s needed. Do not let it “ripen” out of the freezer before slicing because it all gets too sticky and drippy and messy.
- Nigella Lawson

Ingredients

For the base
375 gram(s) digestive biscuits
75 gram(s) butter (soft)
50 gram(s) dark chocolate chips (or pieces)
50 gram(s) milk chocolate chips (or pieces)
For the ice cream filling
1 litre(s) coffee ice cream
For the topping
300 gram(s) golden syrup
100 gram(s) light muscovado sugar
75 gram(s) butter
¼ teaspoon(s) maldon salt (or pinch of table salt - optional)
2 tablespoon(s) bourbon
125 ml double cream

Method

Process the biscuits with the butter and chocolate pieces or chips until it forms a damp but still crumb-like clump.
Press into a 23cm pie plate or flan dish. Form a lip of biscuit a little higher than the plate or dish if you can. This process takes patience as you need ideally to form a smooth even layer. Sorry.
Freeze this biscuit-lined layer for about an hour so it gets really hard. In the meantime, let your ice cream soften, just enough to be scooped, in the fridge.
Spread the ice cream into the hard-biscuit-lined dish to form a layer. Then cover in clingfilm and replace in the freezer.
Put the syrup, sugar, salt (if using) and butter into a saucepan and let it melt over a low to medium heat, before turning it up and boiling for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the bourbon, letting it hiss in the pan.
Add the cream and stir to mix into a sauce, then leave to cool. And once the sauce is cool, but not set cold, pour it over the pie to cover the ice cream layer and then put it back in the freezer. Once frozen, cover with clingfilm again.
When ready to serve, remove from the freezer, take the whole pie out of its dish and cut into slices. Should you have any pie left over, slip it quickly back into the dish and return, covered with clingfilm, to the freezer.