Local Voices

The two following recipes aren't just my normal alterations of substituting flours or adding nuts. The two below have turned into two different recipes from what inspired me.

The first was a reason to use up a box of chocolates that M's aunt gave us. The chocolates were nice but we just don't eat enough chocolate to keep it around. So I took a whole grain chocolate chip recipe and amended it to fit the Mint Crisps I wanted to use. Turned into lovely after-dinner type cookies. If you wish to use the recipe without mint chocolate, just take out the peppermint extract and use regular chocolate.

With the grated chocolate, try to find something complimentary to the chopped chocolate you're using. If you're using dark, grate some dark. If you're using milk or white, use milk.

One of my work guinea pigs, R, suggested using chocolate orange segments with orange extract or orange zest instead of the peppermint extract. Really want to try those now!

115g softened butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granualted sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cup oats

1 cup chopped chocolate (dark, light or flavoured is your fancy)

2oz grated chocolate

Process the oats in a blender or food processor until fine, like oat flour. If you aren't able to do this, substitute 1 cup of oats for any type of flour and use 1/4 cup oats whole.

Whisk flours, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and oats together. Set aside. Cream butter with both sugars for 3 minutes, until fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Stir in grated chocolate.

Gradually beat in dry mix to sugar mix. Toward the end, you'll need to switch to a wooden spoon. Fold in chopped chocolate.

Place 2in spoonfulls 2in apart on baking sheet. Bake at 375/gas 5 for 12 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Let cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to wire rack to cool completly.

The second recipe was something I found on the Vegetarian Times website. They often have some interesting recipes using very different ingredients, which always piques my interest (if you can't tell by now!) And who doesn't love cheese? So I turned these into cornbread style scones because I had a craving for cornbread and some cornmeal in the cupboard. I sprinkled tabasco sauce on the tops before putting them in the oven. This is optional (I love spicy) but I couldn't taste it enough to warrent being in the recipe. M says he can so maybe I've just spicy-ed off my tastebuds from years of putting tabasco sauce in my morning eggs.

Cheddar Sweetcorn Scones

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup plain flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2oz chilled butter

2oz grated mature cheese

1/2 cup corn kernals

1/2 cup buttermilk (see note)

1 egg

Preheat oven to 400F/gas 6

Whisk baking soda, flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Stir in cheese. Transfer to a food processer and blend in butter until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Alternatively you can rub the butter into flour by hand.

Stir in buttermilk and egg until a dough forms. fold in corn. Pour onto floured surface and pat into rectangle 1/2in thick. Cut out into rounds like scones.

Brush tops with milk or egg wash. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Add juice of 1/2 lemon to the milk and let sit 5 minutes to get buttermilk. Or you can use plain yogurt.

So did some hunting, came out with a good base and made my own little alterations.

These are quite morish and a little on the dry side, which is what you want out of a scone. They are yummy on their own with a little butter or could be piled high with jam or a nut butter of some kind. I have a jar of cashew butter in the cupboard begging to be eaten.

I didn't have any granola so I used muesli, which is sort of similar in my head. If you don't have either, oats could be substituted, with perhaps a little chopped nuts and some dried fruit for added flavour

Don't worry about the variety of flours. Mix and match, as long as you keep the measurements right. This is just what I had on hand to use. Rice flour, tapioca flour, cornmeal, polenta, could all be subbed. And this could be made wheat and/or gluten free if you wish. Worship at the alter of altering recipes.

1/2 cup wholewheat flour

1/3 cup spelt flour

1/4 cup rye flour

1/4 cup wheatgerm

2/3 cup buckwheat

1/4 cup demerara sugar

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup chilled butter, in pieces. (this is 80g butter for the brits)

1/3 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup granola or muesli

Mix together flours, sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter with pastry cutter or blender. You can also rub it in by hand. You want it looking like breadcrumbs.

Mix together milk, egg and vanilla. Stir into flour mix until it forms a sticky dough. Pour onto floured surface. Knead in granola until all mixed together.

You can roll the dough out and cut rounds or you can drop the dough by

Bake at gas 6 until slightly golden on the bottom. Due to the nature of the flours, the tops won't turn golden. Mine took about 10-15 but our oven is screwy. So just watch. These are another that burnt bottoms will seriously alter the taste. Be careful! If they are cooking too fast, turn the heat down.

nom nom nom...

It's just the next step as well. There are only so many recipes where I can substitute wholegrain flour for plain or applesauce and oil for butter. So I'll make a play at differernt things.

As many explanations as I can make, macaroons don't really fit the above bill, do they? These are slightly healthy, low in calories and sugar but still high in white sugar.

But they are wheat free, which is what I've been into lately.

Pancake day left me so uncomfortable and achy I started playing with the idea of wheat sensitivities, etc.

So we'll jump right in, flour-free.

2oz cornflakes

2oz chopped almonds

2 egg whites

7oz caster sugar

1 tbsp honey

3oz coconut

1/2 tsp almond essence

Preheat oven to 300F/gas 4

Crush cornflakes. Set aside. Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold sugar into egg whites. Fold in leveled tablespoon honey with cornflakes, coconut and almond essence.

Pile onto greased or lined baking sheet by tablespoon-fulls about 1 inch apart. Spread flat if you want them more cookie-looking. I left mine in mounds which made them stand out in my cookie platter more.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Don't overcook as darker bottoms really alter the flavour of these.

Sorry I don't have a picture. They were quickly piled onto a baked goods platter for a church social event then quickly demolished.

I've had a craving for chocolate lately. Not like a craving for a Snickers bar or something silly and horribly processed but nice truffles or gooey brownies or something full of chocolate chips. You may be thinking that this isn't worthy of a blog post! Everyone loves chocolate! Not me... I'm not a huge chocolate person. It's just been lately.

And I love peanut butter. I may have an addiction.

So these are perfect. Or at least I thought they would be. I hunted for a recipe in all my books, in all my files and nothing. So I Googled. Lots of recipes. None with chocolate. Isn't the whole point of a brownies supposed to be the chocolate? Why a peanut butter brownie recipe with no chips or no cocoa? Does this make sense to anyone else?

So I added chocolate to the recipe. Simples.

P.S. these are not very healthy. I'd be lying and a complete hypocrite if I tried to say that. But enjoy them anyway.

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup (75g) softened butter or margarine

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup cocoa

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter and peanut butter. Gradually cream in sugars, eggs and vanilla extract.

Stir together flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Slowly stir this into peanut butter mix.

Pour into greased or lined pan. Bake at 350F/175C/gas 5 for 30 minutes or until set. If you like your brownies gooey, take them out a little earlier.

I added peanuts to mine as I like them crunchy. If I had chocolate chips on hand, I would have added those to. Experiment! I think the next time I try these, I'll do a brownie base and add a creamy peanut butter top then marble it in. Wish I would have thought of that earlier... :(

There's still a hefty bit of sugar in these but for the most part, they're pretty healthy. On a side note, I love google-ing healthy baking recipes, clicking on the site, reading the headline "HEALTHY XXXX" and the first ingredient is 2 cups white sugar. For shame! One in particular I looked up today (for the next post) was on a fitness site! oi!

Anyway, enough ranting and on to the recipe!

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups oats

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup jam (I used raspberry and peach. Use anything you have around)

1/4 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped nuts or dried fruit

Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir to mix. Add the jam, water and vanilla extract. Stir to mix well. If batter is too dry (mine was) add more jam, more water or a little milk, if you wish. It needs to be stiff but pliable, like standard cookie dough.

Stir in the fruit or nuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a greased or lined baking sheet. Flatten each slightly if you wish.

Bake at gas 4/275 F for 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on the pan 1 minute, as they will be too gooey to move when they first come out of the oven. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Enough with the exclamation points, on with the recipe.

Heart Chocolate Biscuits

150g soften butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

300g icing sugar

milk

food colouring

Preheat 350/180/gas 4.

Beat butter with sugar until fluffy. Seperate eggs. Add the yolks to butter/sugar mixture with the vanilla. (Save the whites for yummy healthy breakfast).

Sift flour and cocoa. Stir into butter mix until a dough. You may need to use your hands to mix at the end. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough to a coin thickness. Cut out into heart shapes. Bake 12 minutes. Put on wire rack until cooled.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add food colour first then ONLY enough milk to make a spreadable icing. Frost cookies once cool.

Apologies for the long sabbatical at the end of last year. But don't fret. The baking continued, just not the blogging. It was Christmas after all...

You might be thinking January is a strange time to get back to blogging about baked goods. What about the world's obsession with being healthy and fit at the beginning of every year? Muffins and cakes don't fit into any fad or detox diet that I know of.

In light of this, and my ever going resolution to keep healthy, the next few blogs will focus on healthier bakes. Wholewheat, multi-grains, low-fat, low-cal, portion controlled, etc, etc.

One of the best tricks to lighter baking is fruit. It adds sweetness without refined sugars, moister without fat. Berries are good for a tart taste, bananas for a moist bite and orange for a tangy mouthful.

I had some defrosted frozen mixed berries on my pancakes this morning so I decided to use up the last of those in today's muffins. These are a nice little (mini, if you will) treat that look really interesting. M commented that 'you can tell there's no butter but they are still nice.' I agree. Moist and tart.

Very Berry Mini-Muffins.

1 cup oats

3/4 cup skim milk (semi-skimmed is fine too)

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup berries, any

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup almonds or walnuts (optional)

Combine the oats and milk in a bowl. Set aside to soak for 15 minutes

Combine flour, baking powder and sugar. Mix well. Add the oat mixture and the rest of the ingredients. Stir until the dry is just moistened.

Coat a muffin pan with non-stick fat-free spray (we use Fry Light Sunflower Spray). Fill cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350/gas mark 5 for 12-15 minutes, longer is using regular muffin tray.

Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

If you don't have a mini-muffin pan, the recipes works just as well with a regular muffin pan. Just extend the baking time. They are ready when a tooth-pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

My batter came out purple thanks for the berry mix and the tops of the muffins stayed purple, making them look really interesting. Shout out to my mother-in-law--she bought me the really pretty cake box behind the muffins in the picture.

But, as it's Halloween, in the UK retail world tomorrow marks the official beginning of the Christmas season. And I really can't let autumn pass by, Halloween especially, without some seasonal baking.

Apples and pumpkin. Short of candy corn and cranberries, they are the staples of autumn baking. (Can you bake with candy corn, actually? Perhaps I'll experiment on that in the next few days...) Had I not used the last of the eggs for today's muffins today would have provided a double feature, these apple muffins and something else with the pumpkin puree that's s

itting in my fridge. Alas, no more eggs. And it's too rainy to go to the shop.

So it's just the muffins today. But they are plenty. Delicious with spice, nutty on top, great with a cup of Chai Spiced tea.

The recipe calls for flaxseed but I don't have any in the cupboard (can you believe Tesco want 5 quid for a box?). I substituted wheat germ instead, which worked fine. If you don't have either, perhaps whole wheat flour will suffice. Try it and see.

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp apple pie spice (see notes below)

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup shredded apple with peel

2 tbsp chopped pecans

1 tbsp flaxseed

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350/gas 4.

Sift both flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices together. Make a well in the centre, set aside.

Beat eggs. Stir in milk and oil. Add to the flour mix. Stir together until just moistened. Fold in apple. Spoon into 12 muffin cups.

Combine pecans, flaxseed and sugar. Cut in butter until it looks like bread crumbs. Spoon on top of muffins.

Bake 18-20 minutes until skewer inserted comes out clean. They won't look that golden on top so don't overbake (I think I did a little). Check with a toothpick at 18 minutes to be sure then go from there.

For the apple pie spice, as it's not something sold in the UK (this is an American company's recipe), mix together 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 allspice and 1/8 tsp ground cardamom. This will produce more than the 1 tsp necessary but just barely. Feel free to make a bigger batch and store in your spice cupboard. I did.

But it's fantastic. I'm not generally boastful when it comes to baking. I like to think I'm pretty honest, actually. Most things taste pretty good; I don't always get an A for presentation, but I know what I'm better at than other things. But this was amazing. I want more.

It's Michelle's birthday this time around. I know she likes chocolate but she was already hinting that she was going to bring in a chocolate cake and because the 2 previous were chocolate I thought I'd keep it to an accent, not a base.

It looks complicated. Don't try to make this unless you're prepared for a really messy kitchen afterward. You will use most of the dishes in your house.

Crust:

230g butter

2 tbsp sugar

2 cup flour

Vanilla Pudding:

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter

Cream Cheese Layer:

225g cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup whipped cream

Glaze:

55g semi-sweet chocolate

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Additional layers:

1 1/2 cup whipped cream

225g crushed pineapple

toffee sauce

Butter a 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 350/180/5. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in flour until pebbly. Press into bottom of pan. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool completely.

Beat egg yolks for pudding. Set aside. Whisk sugar, flour and milk until free of lumps. Set on medium heat. Cook until just a boil. Remove from heat, stir a little into eggs. Pour egg mix back into pan. Cook 1-2 minutes until thickened, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, add vanilla and butter and mix until melted. Chill with cling film pressed on top of pudding (to prevent skin).

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Fold a scoop of whipped cream into mix then fold rest in.

Melt chocolate with butter and vanilla.

To assemble: Spread crust with cream cheese mix, then crushed pineapple, toffee, pudding, and lastly, whipped cream. Drizzle with glaze. It's best if let to chill overnight in the fridge. It helps all the layers to set, mix and soak with each other.

I'm not sure where the name came from though I have my theories. I don't think it came from Germany. I actually think a German-American immigrant created this and just threw a bit of their heritage in it, as happens with a lot of traditional American recipes. Hybrids of recipes brought over with family members, altered and varied to make it more accessible are rich in American culinary history. Or maybe I'm wrong. Whilst I like philosophizing about history of recipes I haven't done any research, perhaps I should pick of a book or two. Speaking of which, dear reader (hi Kerry), it's almost my birthday.

The original name of this cake is a little ambitious. The recipe I based this cake off of is actually called better-than-sex cake. I'm not sure how the two are comparable? I guess both are physical and you can eat cake with another person.

It's too early in the morning to get philisophical about cake names.

For this, use any chocolate cake recipe you prefer. It can be made with cocoa powder, melted chocolate or both. You could even throw in chocolate chips if you wish. The actual base nature of the cake doesn't matter, just that it's chocolate and any additions don't clash with toffee.

1 chocolate cake

1 can sweetened condensed milk

toffee fudge (either homemade or the premade ice cream topping)

Whipping cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

crushed chocolate toffee bars

Bake your cake according to your recipe instructions.

As soon as you pull the cake out of the oven, poke holes or cut slits into the top. Pour sweetened condensed milk over, letting little bits soak in before pouring on more. You can use the whole can or just a bit, it's up to you (I only used about half).

Once soaked in, pour over toffee and let soak into cake.

Let cake cool entirely. Whip cream and sugar together until stiff and spreadable. Spread over cake. You can spread the sides of the cake as well or you can leave them bear. Pile crushed chocolate toffee bars on top. And your done!

As you can see from mine, I baked two cake round, soaked milk and toffee on top of both cakes and put the whipped cream in the middle (and yes, mine did come out a little wonky. boo).

As it was, I was in the mood for something a little more savoury. These fit the bill just right. It's basically a vehicle for nuts and seeds, just enough flour and egg to hold it all together.

This time I used shelled pistachios, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds, hemp seeds, pecans and whole almonds. Any mix works well though, so go with your own preferences or what you have on store.

1 1/3 cup flour

2 cups mixed nuts and seeds

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup oil

Preheat 300/155/gas 2. Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin.

Combine flour, nuts/seeds and salt. Whisk together eggs and sugar.

Combine flour mix into egg and sugar. Scoop into loaf pan. Bake 45-50 minutes.

Remove from pan right away. Turn oven up to 425/220/gas 7.

Slice loaf thinly whilst hot. Brush one side of each slice with oil. Bake 3-4 minutes. Turn over, brush other side with oil and bake until crisp. Let cool.

Alternatively, after brushing with oil, you can put the slices under the grill until crisp and browned.

It's pretty simple. What is one thing no one hates the smell of? Baking bread. It smells of comfort. It also smells of really, really good bread.

I decided to spend a day baking bread not just because it will make the house smell fantastic or because, well, I like bread. Actually I wanted to bake something for our friend's who had a baby the other day. With an infant AND a toddler, sometimes the last thing you want to think about is running to the shop for bread. Add a jar of homemade jam to the bag and they're all set.

I actually doubled the recipe so we can keep a loaf, and as you can see from below, it made more than just a loaf!

1 tbsp active dried yeast

2 0z lukewarm water

70g rolled oats

16oz (450ml) milk

2 tsp salt

2oz oil

55g brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

2 eggs, lightly beaten

30g wheat germ

3oz spelt flour

3oz rye flour

350g wholemeal flour

420-490g strong white flour

Combine the yeast and water, stire and leave for 15 minutes until dissolved and frothy

Put the oats in a large bowl. Scald the milk and pour over the oats. Stir in the salt, oil, sugar and honey. Leave until lukewarm

Stir in the yeast mixture, eggs, wheat germ, spelt, rye and wholemeal flours. Gradually begin to add the white flour until it's a rough dough.

Pour onto a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if sticky. Put in oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise until doubled. Mine took about 2 hours.

Grease your bread tins (about 2). If making rolls, grease a roasting tin. If making plait, grease a baking sheet. Punch down the dough and knead briefly. Form into desired shape.

If loafs, one option is to divide the dough into quarters. Roll each quarter into a 3cm thick cylinder. Twist together two cylinders. Put the twists into the tins (will make 2 twists, i.e. 2 loaves).

If plaited loaf, divide dough into two first. The divide each half into 3. Roll into long logs and plait together. This will give you two plates (note, if making plates, the bottoms are more prone to burning. Adjust baking time accordingly.)

If making rolls, the entire recipe will make about 20 larger rolls so make sure you have enough roasting tins (or make half rolls and half loafs or plaits). Roll out to long log and cut even pieces. Roll into balls and place into roasting tin. Make sure they aren't touching as they will rise again.

Cover lightly with cling film and leave to rise until doubled again, about an hour.

Preheat to gas mark 5. Bake 40-50 minutes or until golden crust. When you knock the bottom of the bread, it should sound hollow when done. Leave to cool.

Is it my favorite time of year because the potential for baking is doubled compared to the spring? May be, but even before I fell in love with baking I loved the autumn. Smell of sharpened pencils, leaves on the lawns and crisp air is wonderful. I even enjoyed going back to school! Of course, fall semester in America means Homecoming, football games, back to school dances and pep rallies.

Possibly this autumn I'll attempt to capture that new school year-meets end of calendar year feeling. The sense of something beginning whilst at the same time, nature is getting set to hunker down for the year.

In the mean time I still have summer harvest courgettes to use up!

2 tbsp sunflower oil

100g plain flour

100g wholewheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 egg whites

5 tbsp skimmed milk

225g (8oz can) pineapple in chunks, drained of juice and mashed

250g grated courgette/zucchini

40g sultanas or raisins

40g chopped walnuts

Grease or line a muffin pan. Preheat oven to 190C/375F/5.

Sift together both flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger into mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar and stir.

Whisk together egg whites in small bowl. Mix in the milk and oil. Add mashed pineapple, courgette, sultanas and nuts. Stir together gently. Add fruit mix to flour mix. Stir until just combined, don't overmix.

Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cases. Bake 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden.

These are relatively moist but if you want a really good frosting, mix together 8oz any soft cheese (quark, cream cheese, marscapone etc) with 1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Let muffins cool slightly before frosting; you don't want to curdle your cheese. Sprinkle with cinnamon or perhaps finely chopped nuts.

This is quite a healthy recipe, especially if you use low- or reduced-fat cheese to top.

Sorry for lack of pictures, again. These things just get eaten too quickly!

Yes, I know the bank holiday was yesterday but I was doing so much baking I didn't have time to post so I thought I'd post the recipes this week.

I also know you're not supposed to start with the best, the creme de la creme but it was my favorite from the weekend and worked so well I was too excited to save it.

Regardless of the weather, bank holidays are synonymous with barbecues. Even if one guy has to cook the meat outside one-handed whilst holding an umbrella over himself while everyone stays dry inside, most of the country looks forward to lighting up the grill on a bank holiday weekend. We certainly planned on it. So I decided to be prepared.

One thing I always wanted to try was grilled pound cake. As pound cake isn't popular in England, I had to, you guessed it!, make mine from scratch.

Pound cake is quite easy. It's a little like a rich but light sponge cake with a few differences. It gets it's name from long ago when literally the recipe was a pound of each ingredient. Can you imagine?!

3 eggs

3 tbsp milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

150g flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

150g sugar

185g butter, softened.

Preheat oven to 350/170/gas 4

Spray and line a loaf pan with parchment paper

Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add butter to dry ingredients.

Add half wet mix to the flour and butter. Mix until combined then beat on high for 1 minute.

Add remaining wet mix in two batches, beating on high 3o seconds in between.

Pour batter into the pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil after 30 minutes.

Grilled pound cake has multiple variations. One option is to dip slices in a mix of egg, milk and Gran Marnier (or another liquer), then grill on each side until browned. This is sort of like French Toast/eggy bread.

Another option is to grill slices, slathered with a little butter and serve with chocolate sauce, berry sauce, ice cream, whipped cream, honey, fresh fruit, etc etc etc. The possibilities are endless.

What I ended up doing this weekend, to keep in theme with the rest of the meal (which was chicken and beef sat-ay, grilled on skewers), was to make dessert kebabs. I cubed the finished cake and threaded the cubes onto skewers. I then brushed them with melted butter and grilled them until browned. I served it with a homemade berry sauce, vanilla ice cream and framage frais. Absolutely delicious.

I wanted to post pictures but the dessert was eaten too quickly to get a clear shot in!

The problem is, all the recipes to make your own are double or triple the calorie and fat content of store bought ones so I generally avoid making my own. Unless, of course, I cut the bars into tiny thin slices which defeats the purpose of using them as portable means to curb hunger.

This recipe, while not the healthiest granola bar on the market, is still light enough to have with a cup of tea, not as a meal replacement.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup applesauce

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup raisins

3/4 cup chopped apples

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to gas 5/350F. Line a 13x9in pan with parchment paper. This enables you to keep the shape of the bars, without anything getting stuck.

Combine flour, oats, sugar and spices. Mix together applesauce, egg and vanilla. Add flour and spice mix to applesauce mix. Combine until just wet. Add chopped apple, raisins and nuts. Fold in.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack. When cold, cut into bars (should make about 12).

I eat courgette at least once a day. I even have a recipe for marrow jam I'll be making this weekend just to use it all up.

So I guess it's time for another courgette cake.

I wasn't sure about lemon and cinnamon and after making it, I'm still not sure. There is a disconnect between the two ingredients. It tastes like it should be two different cakes. It's an edible cake and actually, I quite enjoyed it, but perhaps in the future I make either a lemon cake or a courgette cake.

200g grated courgette

150g caster sugar

1 egg

125ml vegetable oil

200g flour (I used half whole-wheat and half plain)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 160F/gas mark 3. Grease a loaf tin

Beat courgette, sugar, egg and oil. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder. Stir in cinnamon and lemon zest.

Stir the dry mix into the wet. Pour into tin. Bake 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

To glaze, mix together 3/4 cup icing sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice. If too dry, add a little lemon juice a drop at a time. Glaze while the cake is still warm.

This last time I thought it would be a good idea I ended up making my own almond butter, which is generally allowed during a light detox. After I quit and was allowed actual food again, I thought it would be a good idea to make cookies out of the remaining almond butter.

I took a regular peanut butter cookie recipe and just substituted the almond butter for peanut butter. Simple really. I left the almonds to roast in the oven a but too long originally so the cookies were quite smoky. Other than that, they were amazing. Chewy and nutty and buttery.

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup almond butter

1 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F/gas 5

Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Mix together almond butter, maple syrup, olive oil and vanilla.

Mix dry and wet together. Don't overmix, leave the batter a little dusty. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir together once more.

Drop by teaspoonfulls onto baking sheet. Press down slightly with the back of a floured fork (don't press too hard, it will be sticky). Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Make sure you don't overbake, they will be really dry if you do.

So when I decided to make this to take to a baby shower last weekend, I never thought people would look at it apprehensively. And I think I can understand why. In fact, when M went to the store to purchase the bag of poppy seeds for me, the incredibly chatty and friendly man at the till asked him if it was gunpowder.

Armed with my gunpowder spotted bundt cake (which is also not a normal thing in England) I placed my cake on the table along side more normal dishes of caramel shortbread, biscuits and the ever popular English Victoria sponge cake, complete with whipped cream and jam.

I will definitely make this cake again. The batter alone was wonderful, tasting of vanilla ice cream. Not only a delicious cake but presentable and attractive as well.

1 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1 cup plain flour

1/4 cup poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup icing sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp water

Preheat to 350/gas 4.

Place poppy seeds on baking sheet. Toast in oven for 7-10 minutes.

Coat bundt cake pan. This recipe can also be made as muffins or a sheet cake. Adjust baking times accordingly.

Whisk together dry ingredients including poppy seeds. Whisk together milk, oil, vanilla and lemon in a seperate bowl or jug.

Beat eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes. Fold dry mix into wet a third at a time, alternating with the egg/sugar mix. Pour batter into pan.

Bake 35-40 minutes. Whilst baking, combine icing sugar, lemon and water to make a glaze. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack.

While still warm, poke holes in the cake with a fork. Brush glaze over cake.

I probably also like it because you can bake cakes from it!

I didn't get a chance to try this recipe with last year's crop. As soon as I pulled the first courgette of the summer, I couldn't wait to give it a go.

Zucchini and chocolate seems weird but actually the zucchini makes the muffin moist and helps bulk it out. You don't actually taste zucchini.

I actually got this recipe from a collection of Weight Watcher recipes. The zucchinis take the place of some of the fat and milk. It's a good low-fat and low-calorie tea-time treat and can be baked as either a loaf or muffins.

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2 egg whites

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable or sunflower oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 oz chocolate pieces

2 cups shredded zucchini/courgette

325/gas 4

Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

Whisk eggs, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Add dry mix gradually. Fold in zucchini and chocolate pieces.

Pour into prepared load tin or muffin tins. If muffins, bake 20-25 minutes, or until tops of muffins spring back. If a tea loaf, baking 55-60 minutes or until skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let cool entirely.

You can also add 1/2 cup walnuts in with the zucchini if you wish. I omitted them in mine to keep it lower in fat and calories.

The nice thing about honey recipes is because the honey takes the place of sugar and some of the fat, the end result is generally healthier than honeyless baked goods. These muffins are low-fat and don't have a lot of calories compared to other muffins (ahem, Starbucks!) The banana and the honey mixed together mean you need almost no butter/margarine at all. 

The following was originally a cake recipe so feel free to try either.

Honey Banana Muffins

2oz butter or margarine

1 tbsp honey

1tbsp brown sugar

4oz self-raising flour

pinch cinnamon

1 egg

1 med banana, mashed

pinch salt

Beat butter or margarine with honey and sugar. Add egg and banana, beat well until mixed. Add sifted flour, salt and cinnamon. Mix until just moistened. 

Bake gas mark 4 for 18-20 or until browned and the tops spring back when touched. If making a cake, a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean. 

In case you're wondering about nutrition facts (as I do with all my recipes) per muffin: 91 calories, 4g fat, 1g saturated fat, 11g carbohydrates, 1g protein, 3g sugar