Granola & maple stuffed pears

This month I shall mostly be seeking out the cosy.

This will involve evenings spent drinking tea, reading, and hiding under a nest of blankets with my reluctant cat Truffle.

Baking is certain to be involved too, but I'm looking forward to creating some healthier recipes this month. Less cake and sugar, more fruit and veg. I really crave healthy at this time of year, cliché I know, however I'm serving mine with a healthy dose of comfort thrown in. I'm a fan of quick simple recipes, whose virtuous qualities are an afterthought to enjoyment.

These Granola and maple stuffed pears are quick and simple, refined sugar free, and also gluten free if you need them to be. I like to eat these for breakfast, served with a good dollop of yoghurt, but they would work well as a dessert too. 

You Will Need:

• The ingredients for this granola recipe
• 3 pears
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

N.B. only half the granola is needed to make this, so you can either halve the quantities or alternatively, whilst the oven is on, make a full batch, bake off what's left over and store in a jar for when you need a snack.

Pre-heat oven to 175°C/160°Cfan/gas mark 3

Make the granola, but don't bake it just yet...

Cut the pears in half and scoop out the pips with a Parisienne scoop or teaspoon.

Place a large spoonful of the granola mix into the center of each pear.

In a small bowl mix together the lemon juice and maple syrup. Brush the syrup over the top of each pear.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the pears have softened and the granola has turned golden brown.

Spoon any remaining syrup over the top of the pears and allow to cool a little, best eaten warm.

Serves 6 as breakfast, brunch or dessert.

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Recipe: Blood Orange & Rosemary Mocktail

I'm noticing signs of Spring this week. Only small ones but they're there none the less. Daffodils are shooting, my Hellebore is blooming and Yorkshire rhubarb abounds. With all this longing for Spring I feel at risk of wishing away Winter, though February may be cold it's not without it's own seasonal joys. This leads me to the blood orange, quite possibly my favourite Winter fruit, an injection of sunshine in the darker months and whose short season is imminently coming to an end. It would be rude not to mark it's happening this year without a mention in a recipe.

As with the majority of our recipes, I had weekend brunch in mind, though any time of day would be fitting. For a weekend treat you could always add a little gin too, if needed!

I've kept it simple and light with a honey syrup rather than sugar. Honey adds sweetness whilst rosemary adds a subtle aromatic. You won't need all the honey, I highly recommend trying what's leftover on toast for breakfast or in any other way you would usually use your honey as it's really delicious. The following recipe serves two.

You will need:

• 200g honey
• 200g water
• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 250 ml freshly squeezed blood orange juice (This is around 5-6 oranges)
• soda water

To make the honey syrup place the honey and water in a pan along with two of the rosemary sprigs. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until reduced. Discard the rosemary and set aside to cool.

Place the blood orange juice into a measuring jug, add two tablespoons of the honey syrup and whisk to combine. 

Divide the juice between two tumblers along with a few ice cubes. Top up each glass with a little soda water and garnish with the remaining rosemary sprigs.

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Recipe: Granola

So, it's Friday again and suddenly next week sees the arrival of June. Six months into the year and I just can't believe how quickly the weeks have flown by! This is down to being busy, I know. As I type I have a wedding cake in the oven, macarons cooling in the kitchen and a weekend of baking ahead. Being busy is great, especially when working on some very exciting projects with brilliant people (watch this space...) but at the same time I can't help but worry about all the things I've forgotten to do, all the boring chores of daily life that get swept aside whilst I get carried away with the fun stuff.

This has got me thinking about time-saving and morning routines. I'm really not a morning person and It's something I need to get better at. There are a few things I can't go without in the morning to give you an idea, here's how my mornings go down, ideally.

• 6.30 - press snooze on the alarm several times, eventually wake up, brush teeth and drink a pint of water, try and avoid looking at social media on phone at all costs
• 7.00 - 20 minutes to half an hour of yoga, depending on how I'm feeling, and on weekends depending on whether I've been to the pub the night before!
• 7.30 - hit the shower
• 8.00 - a strong cup of earl grey tea
• 8.30 - a swift breakfast before heading to work, either at home or with a client
• 9.00 - coffee, strong coffee. 

Those first few hours are important I think to set me up for the day, although sometimes I have to start work at 6am which means step 2, 3 & occasionally 4 (depending on how many times I've hit snooze) are usually bypassed.

Skipping breakfast is bad right? 

So here's my solution. I always keep a batch of granola on the go. It's a fairly forgiving recipe is open to a variety of modifications to keep it interesting, feel free to experiment with different fruits, nuts and even swap the maple syrup for honey or coconut sugar. It would be rude not to touch on this recipes virtuous qualities, naturally sweetened, wholegrain and with the addition of gluten free oats could be made NGCI also. I find spending half an hour on a Sunday making granola makes a remarkable difference to my working week time-wise and I'm much less likely to skip breakfast!

You will need:

• 100ml coconut oil
• 100ml maple syrup
• 50g nut butter, such as peanut or almond
• 50g dried dates
• 150g rolled oats
• 50g nuts, almond, pecan, brazil nut, whatever you fancy
• 50g mixed seeds

Pre-heat oven to 145°C (fan). Place the coconut oil, maple syrup, nut butter and dates in a saucepan and melt together over a gentle heat, the dates will soak up some of the oil and syrup to make them extra chewy and gooey. Once melted, stir in the oats, nuts and seeds until evenly coated. Spread the mixture onto a baking tray lined with parchment and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Store in an airtight container for up to a couple of weeks. Combine with yoghurt and fruit in the morning for a swift healthy breakfast, even at 5.30 in the morning!

If you have any time-saving tips for early mornings or any swift recipes then do give us a shout in the comments...

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