Beetroot brownies

Ingredients 3 eggs, 250g salted butter, 250g dark chocolate, 250g caster sugar, 150g self-raising flour, 250g grated beetroot (approx 2 beetroots).

Serves: 10 Preparation: 1 hour

There is a saying, a very good saying; "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
This is good advice, except to people who are creative. It's just not applicable! Being creative means the desire to explore and perfect an idea will never really be fulfilled, and it is with this in mind that I give you the beetroot brownie. The gungey, squidgy glory of a good brownie is a formula which needs very little tinkering with, but like making chocolate cake without grated beetroot is unthinkable to me now, so it goes with brownies. That added moisture, that depth of flavour, that incredible colour... you absolutely have to try it.

1) To prepare the beetroot, wash them and slice off the stalks and leaves. Then peel and grate into a bowl.

2) Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl, add the butter and set it on a pan of hot water to form a bain marie. Stir until the butter and chocolate melt completely.

3) Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl until combined then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth.

4) Sift the flour over the chocolate mixture, then gently fold it in. Fold in the grated beetroot, then pour into a greased baking tin and smooth with a spatula.

5) Bake for 20 – 25 minutes at gas mark 4 until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with sticky crumbs. Remove the tin from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool before cutting in to squares.

Schwarzwälder kirschtorte

Ingredients 120g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 100g self raising flour, 50g cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1L double cream, 25g dark chocolate, 3 tbsp cherry jam, 4 tbsp kirschwasser liquid plus cherries to decorate.

Preparation: 1 hour

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany and my final recipe as they won last night!. Following my glorious adventures with Kirsch, I knew that my final dish for Germany would HAVE to be the iconic Black Forest Gateau. Chocolate and cherries are a marvellous combination and this simple chocolate sponge, laced with kirsch and smothered in cream to form a moist, trifly concoction is utterly moreish.

1)  Cream together 100g sugar and 100g butter using an electric whisk, then whisk through the cocoa powder and eggs, one egg at a time.

2) Add a tablespoon of the kirsch syrup and sift together the flour and baking powder. Whisk into the cake batter, then bake in a buttered tin for 35 minutes at 155 degrees or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cake rack to cool completely before slicing in half horizontally.

3) Whisk the cream using an electric whisk or hand beater until stiff peaks form and transfer to a piping bag. If you wish you can add vanilla seeds and icing sugar before whisking but I'll be honest, I think the clean taste of the cream is necessary to cut through the richness of the chocolate and the heady, boozy cherries.

4) Spoon the remaining kirsch syrup onto the top layer of the chocolate cake (it will absorb more easily if you do this on the cut side rather than the top side, alternatively you can poke a few holes with a skewer into the top) then sandwich it together with a layer of cherry jam and whipped cream in the middle and the remainder of the cream on the top.

5) Shave the chocolate using a grater and sprinkle liberally over the cream. Stud with cherries and allow to rest in the fridge until chilled before serving.

Kirschwasser

Ingredients 1lb cherries, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1 cup alcohol (beer, brandy or red wine, are traditional) 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Preparation: 20 minutes

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany. Kirsch is a glorious, heady cold fruit soup consisting of essentially booze and whole, pitted cherries. In researching this recipe I found so many variations from those using milk or soured cream to those using beer or red wine. In the end, I went with a mixture of sloe gin and brandy simply because that was what I had in my cupboard and I can assure you that it is a knockout combination!

1) Pit the cherries, discarding the stones and add the fruit to a milk pan

2) Measure in the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla essence, top up with the booze and either 1/2 cup water or the excess cherry juice if you are using canned cherries (I used fresh fruit so I topped this up with a little apple juice).

3) Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Revel in the utterly divine smell. REVEL I SAY.

4) Chill and serve! I tried this with a blob of soured cream and also with sweet dumplings and I'll be honest I preferred it just on its own!

Gurkensalat

Ingredients 1/2 Cucumber, 2 large tomatoes, 1/4 white onion, 2 tbsp soured cream, 1 tsp dill, 1 tsp parsley, 1 tsp white vinegar, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp dijon mustard.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 5 minutes (plus half an hour for chilling)

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany. Most of you will know my feelings about raw onion by now, I absolutely LOATHE it with a fiery passion and never include it in my own food, including coleslaw which is a common side dish in German cuisine. As I have, however, posted many coleslaw recipes before from the conventional carrot and cabbage combination to those including beetroot and pear, I decided to force myself to eat raw onion by making Gurkensalat instead, a cucumber and tomato salad with a creamy mustard and vinegar dressing given depth by dill and parsley. Did I pick out the onions after tasting it? Yes. Was it otherwise delicious? Absolutely.

1) Whisk together the soured cream, vinegar, herbs, mustard and sugar. Rather than use it immediately, I allowed it to rest for half an hour in the fridge for the flavours to really come together and the soured cream to thicken back up a little.

2) Slice the onion and cucumbers finely enough to be translucent when held up to the light and the tomato as it comes.

3) Stir in the dressing and serve! If, like me you are not so fond of onions, scatter them on the top and after trying them and dress the rest of the salad later!

Pastel de nata

Ingredients Custard: 3 tbsps plain flour, 1 ¼ cups milk, 1 ⅓ cups caster sugar, ½ tsp vanilla essence, 6 egg yolks, 1 tsp cinnamon.

Dough: 220g plain flour, 7g yeast, 160ml milk, 2 1/2 tsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 150g butter.

Serves: 9 Preparation: 2 hours (plus overnight)

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Portugal. Pastel de nata are stunning little cinnamon custard tarts, with a gorgeous flaky croissanty crust that has to be tasted to be believed. It's a LOT of work to make these, but they're well worth it and they freeze well.

1) To make the dough for the pastry case, please see up to step 5 of my croissant recipe.

2) To make the custard, bring the sugar and cinnamon to the boil in a pan with 2/3 cup of cold water until a syrup forms- don't stir it!

3) Separate the milk with 1/4 in a bowl and 1 cup in a pan. Whisk the flour in with the bowl of milk until smooth and set aside. Meanwhile, scald the milk in the pan, then whisk in the flour-milk mixture.

4) Add the cinnamon sugar syrup into the hot milk and flour whilst whisking furiously (you might want to ask someone to help!) then take off the heat once it is a smooth, just pourable consistency. Stir in the vanilla and set aside.

5) When the mixture has cooled just enough for you to comfortably touch it without swearing (about the temperature of a cup of tea if that helps!) whisk in the egg yolks and set aside to cool.

6) Pre-heat the oven to 290 degrees celcius and grab your pastry from the fridge. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1cm thickness and cut it into squares the approximate size of your chosen muffin tin dimples. Wet your fingers and press the dough into the muffin tin, moulding with your fingers until you've created a "lip" about 1/2cm above the muffin tin surface and pour in the custard.

7) Bake until the edges of the pastry are brown and the custard has a good wobble on. Serve warm, sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon.

Rosemary lemon curd

Ingredients 4 Lemons, 4 eggs, 350g caster sugar, 8oz butter, rosemary.

Serves: 1 pint Preparation: 30 minutes (plus overnight)

Lemon curd is already glorious, so thick and silky with that most mouthwatering flavour, but adding rosemary to the mix gives it an almost undetectable extra dimension that seems to make it even more lemony somehow without being too tangy or bitter. This makes a wonderful present, as rosemary is a symbol of love and loyalty. (yes, I meant to post this before Valentine's Day...)

1) Measure out the sugar and pour over three sprigs of rosemary. Leave to macerate overnight.

2) Juice the lemons, pour into a pan then pluck the rosemary sprigs from the sugar and allow to infuse with the lemon juice for 5 minutes. 

3) Whisk the 3 eggs and one yolk together in a mixing bowl and set the bowl over a pan of boiling water to make a bain marie.

4) Add the rosemary infused caster sugar to the eggs with the rosemary infused lemon juice. Whisk until you cannot see any sugar grains, then add half of the butter and stir through.

5) Leave on the hob, whisking occasionally until the lemon curd is thick enough to draw a line through it with a spoon. Take from the heat and whisk through the remaining butter to make it glossy, then pour into hot, sterilised jars and allow to cool completely before consuming.

Jack Daniels cranberry sauce

Ingredients 200g cranberries, 50ml Jack Daniels, 100g caster sugar.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Cranberry sauce is one of the easiest things to make, in that it takes all of 5 minutes, one pot and it goes with everything from rich meats to cheese. I quite often switch it around, adding orange juice and zest, or sweet spices but the day I added Jack Daniels was just about the best day ever. Here it is served with some roast duck - enjoy!

1) Add the cranberries to a pan along with the sugar and whiskey.

2) Crank up the heat high and stir until the sugar is dissolved, the berry juices have begun to burst forth and the alcohol has started to cook off (about 10 minutes.)

3) Spoon into a sterilised jar and store in the fridge.

Cherry chocolate spice cake

Ingredients 200g butter, 100g icing sugar, 75g dark chocolate, 120g caster sugar, 3 eggs, 100g self raising flour, 25g cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 150ml red wine, 1 tsp cinnamon,

1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp allspice, 100g natural glace cherries, 2 packs chocolate fingers, 1 pack maltesers. 

Serves: 6 Preparation: 1 hour

When it comes to Christmas, mulled wine is at the top of my list of indulgences. The scent fills the house and warms the blood. When it comes to festive cakes, not everyone likes the traditional fruit cake so I always make an alternative. Last year it was mulled wine cake, which was lovely... but this year I wanted something a little more decadent, which meant at LOT more chocolate. Unlike the "dry" spice cake of last year, this cake involves cherry mulled wine syrup to flavour the cake, glaze the cake and ice the cake. A holy trinity of taste that I will definitely be making again and again!

1) Bring the red wine, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and cherries to the boil in a pan. Add 20g sugar and simmer until the wine has reduced to a syrup, pour through a sieve (saving the cherries) and set aside to cool.

2) Cream together 100g sugar and 100g butter using an electric whisk, then whisk through the cocoa powder and eggs, one egg at a time.

3) Add a tablespoon of the mulled wine syrup and sift together the flour and baking powder. Whisk into the cake batter, then bake in a buttered tin for 35 minutes at 155 degrees or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cake rack to cool completely.

4) To make the chocolate icing, melt the chocolate gently in a bain marie. Cream together 100g butter and 100g icing sugar, then slowly add the melted chocolate and a tablespoon of the mulled wine syrup, whisking continually.

5) Using the remainder of the mulled wine syrup, glaze the cake thoroughly before spreading on the chocolate icing. To decorate the cake, stick the chocolate fingers round the edge, using the chocolate icing as sort of grouting. The chocolate fingers form a sort of dish in the centre to fill with maltesers and the mulled cherries. I also dusted this with edible gold shimmer because CHRISTMAS!

Yorkshire Brack

Ingredients 150ml black tea (I use Earl Grey), 225g self-raising flour, 175g golden caster sugar, 400g dried fruit (I use chopped figs, sultanas and raisins), 1 large egg.

Preparation: 2 1/4 hours (an hour for soaking, an hour for baking)

When I was a little girl, at Christmas my family would always have a slice of cheese with Christmas cake and for the rest of the year, a slice of cheese with everyday brack. It's a very Yorkshire thing to do so in honour of Yorkshire day, here is my favourite Yorkshire recipe. A fat-free cake that is so quick and easy to make that it really has no business being as impressive as it is to eat. The fruit also never sinks as it can sometimes do in fruit cake. But that's Yorkshire for you. As they say, "if it isn't Yorkshire, it's shite."

1) Leave the tea leaves to infuse for 10 minutes, then pour through a strainer into a bowl of dried fruit. Soak the dried fruit for an hour.

2) Beat the egg and sift in the flour and sugar. Pour in the dried fruit and tea and stir through until a smooth batter has formed. If the mixture is a little dry, add a touch of milk.

3) Smooth into a loaf or cake tin and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean.

4) Serve each piece with a good slice of cheddar.

Lavender-almond croissants

Ingredients Croissants: 220g plain flour, 7g yeast, 160ml milk, 2 1/2 tsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 150g butter.

Glaze: lavender jam Filling: 2 eggs, 100g ground almonds, 100g caster sugar, 100g butter, 1/2 tsp lavender

Serves: 12 Preparation: we're talking well over 8 hours...

Croissants aux amandes were invented, I believe, to revitalise day-old/stale croissants so you could buy croissants and just glaze and fill them if you prefer. Lord knows making croissants is a labour of love, one which will leave a sheen of butter on your table and leave you with aching hands from the lamination (layers of butter and dough which produce that magical flakiness - if your croissants don't fill your bra with crumbs, you aint doing it right!). Whether you bake or buy your croissants, my lavender jam makes the perfect glaze and the lavender almond cream in the centre is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Just look at those lovely shiny crescents, the effort is so worth it!

Baking the croissants

1) Combine the yeast, 3 tsps of warm water and 1/2 tsp sugar in one jug and set aside until it begins to froth. Add the vegetable oil. In a separate jug, dissolve 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt in the milk.

2) Sift the flour into a bowl and add the two jugs of liquid. Mix thoroughly and then kneed for approximately 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm room for approximately an hour until it has TRIPLED in volume.

3) Knock the dough back, gently with your fingertips, cover and set aside again to double in volume. Finally knock back the dough again and chill for 20 minutes in the fridge.

4) Now comes the fun part... roll out the dough into a rectangle (about 30 x 20 cm in size) and using room temperature butter, spread liberally over the left 2/3 of the centre of the dough, leaving a half centimetre unbuttered border. With the unbuttered 1/3 at the left, fold to the right, and then fold again. Roll back out then dust with flour, cover with cling film and chill for 2 hours in the fridge.

5) Roll dough back out and repeat the buttering and folding, dust with flour, cover with cling film and return to the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

6) Finally, roll out to a rectangle approximately 50 x 10 cm and slice in half lengthways. Return one half to the fridge to chill and roll the other out to approximately 40 x 10 cm, then cut into 3 squares and cut these squares diagonally to leave 6 triangles of dough. Repeat with the dough in the fridge.

7) Roll the dough into croissants by rolling each triangle gently from the long side towards the point at the top, thus creating the classic layer pattern, and then bring the two edges together to form almost a circle. Allow to sit for a few minutes until the dough begins to puff back up a little, then bake in the oven at the highest setting (mine is 240 for 15 minutes)

Preparing croissants aux amandes

1) Cream the equal parts of butter, sugar and almonds together, then beat in the eggs. Grind lavender in a mortar and pestle and stir in. (If you wish, you could substitute the sugar for lavender jam in order to get the flavour)

2) Poke a small hole into the croissant at the side of the central layer and use a piping bag to fill with the lavender almond cream.

3) Dip a pastry brush into your lavender jam and glaze the outside of the croissant. From here, you can also scatter with slivers of almonds but personally I find this a little bit overkill! Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Blackberry lavender clafoutis/flaugnarde

Ingredients 200g blackberries, 200ml milk, 1 tbsp lavender, 1 lemon, 50g caster sugar, 30g plain flour, 2 eggs.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

Not a day goes by when I don't crave lavender. There is nothing that brings me such pleasure as when my house is filled with the scent of it infusing, or when I discover yet more flavours that it will enhance. Blackberry and lavender is by no means a stranger to this blog, but I do believe this is my first clafoutis post!
Technically a flaugnarde unless cherries are used, this is essentially a fabulous wibbly custard set with fruit and as desserts go, contains very little fat and sugar. So go for it!

1) Infuse the milk with lavender for 30 minutes. In the meantime, lightly butter your baking dish with a smear of butter on a clean cloth or piece of kitchen roll and tumble the blackberries over it.

2) Sift the flour and sugar together, zest and juice the lemon and beat together with the eggs. 

3) Add the lavender milk through a sieve to separate out the flowers and whisk thoroughly.

4) Pour over the fruit and bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes and serve hot or cold.

Strawberry & mint Scotch pancakes

Ingredients 100g Self Raising Flour, 50g Caster Sugar, 1 egg, 1 tbsp chopped mint, 5 strawberries, 1/2 cup milk.

Makes: 6 pancakes Preparation: 1 hour

I adore making pancakes. There's something so soothing about the ritualistic rolling of batter in a pan and whether you see these as Scotch pancakes or American style stacks, they are always a favourite breakfast treat in this house. I love to stand at my cooker, ladling slow bubbling circles of fluffy batter laced with different flavours. Speaking of flavour - what could be a more perfect summer breakfast combination than strawberry and mint?

1) Hull the strawberries and slice into quarters, then quarters again. Add to a bowl along with the chopped mint and add the sugar. Stir through and leave to macerate for 20 minutes until a beautiful strawberry syrup begins to seep out.

2) Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and egg into a bowl and whisk into a batter. Leave to puff up as the milk cools, then whisk in the milk and minted strawberry syrup and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.

3) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

4) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes with juicy strawberry pieces. I served with a little of the leftover strawberries but these work perfectly with my Pimms (strawberry, orange cucumber & mint) jam.

No bake cake: Strawberry ice-cream

Ingredients Ice-cream: 500g strawberries, 175g caster sugar, 500 ml full fat milk, 500 ml double cream, 10 egg yolks. (makes 1 pint) 1 pancake.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 1 hour (+ 4 hours freezing)

I was recently sent some of the lovely Abra-ca-Debora pancakes for a foodspiration challenge and had a lot of fun with the concept of "no bake cakes." My interpretation was to quarter the pancakes and layer with strawberry ice-cream and strawberries, topped with whipped cream to form a single slice of cake. Abra-ca-FABULOUS.

1) To make the ice-cream, halve the strawberries, sprinkle with a little sugar and leave to macerate in a bowl. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan and bring almost to the boil. Set aside to cool. and then take it off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.

2) Whisk the egg yolks and In a large bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick, then pour in the milk and cream whilst whisking. Return to the heat and stir the custard until it thickens. Set aside to cool.

3) Blitz the strawberries until pureed, then fold into the cool custard and freeze in your ice-cream maker (or in the freezer, whisking every hour to avoid crystals forming.

4) Slice the remaining strawberries and sandwich the pancakes between alternate layers of ice-cream. I cut out a block of ice-cream and sliced it to fit. Top with whipped cream and serve immediately.

No bake cake: Lemon curd mousse

Ingredients Mousse: 1 lemon, 150ml double cream, 1 tbsp icing sugar. Curd: 4 Lemons, 4 eggs, 350g caster sugar, double cream, 8oz butter. 1 pancake.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 1 hour

I was recently sent some of the lovely Abra-ca-Debora pancakes for a foodspiration challenge and had a lot of fun with the concept of "no bake cakes." My interpretation was to quarter the pancakes and layer with lemon curd and lemon mousse to form a single slice of cake. Abra-ca-FABULOUS.

1) To make lemon curd, see my previous recipe.

2) Zest and juice the lemon and whisk with the double cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form. This takes about 2 minutes in a food processor with a whisk attachment or using an electric whisk.

3) Sandwich the layers of pancake with lemon curd and lemon mousse, "grouting" the edges to keep the shape when pressing down.

This can be served immediately or chilled for later.

Salted caramel apple hummus

Ingredients 1 can chickpeas, 1/4 cup caster sugar, 1/4 cup muscovado sugar, 3 tbsp butter, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 cup double cream, 1 apple, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt.

Preparation: 20 minutes

My dear friend @Gazpachodragon's husband recently wondered whether sweet hummus would work. My immediate reaction was "it would be like porridge" and actually it kind of is. But a posh porridge and it's actually nice to dunk biscuits or fruit crudites into. Even better - this is perfect with a ham sandwich or with roast pork. It's a bit of a mind fuck but it works!

1) Melt 1 tbsp butter in a pan. Peel, core and dice an apple and add to the pan. Stir through and add the cinnamon. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes.

2) In the second pan, melt 2 tbsp butter and add the sugars. Stir through on a high heat as the sugar boils and begins to caramelise. Add the cream and turn down the heat. Add the apples and salt to taste, but I think 1 tsp is enough.

3) In a third pan, simmer the chickpeas in water for 5 minutes, then strain and set aside. You can shell the chickpeas by hand which I find very satisfying, but to save some time, shake them roughly in a bowl for a few minutes, fill the bowl with water and the shells will float to the top - scoop them off, strain the chickpeas again and you're done!

4) Pulse the chickpeas in a blender with the Greek yoghurt until they have reached a grainy, breadcrumb like consistency. Stir through the caramel sauce and apples.

Berry & rose crumble

Ingredients Dried rose petals, butter, plain flour, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, caster sugar

Preparation: 30 minutes

Following the astounding success of my lavender apple crumble, I wanted to continue to experiment with floral crumbles. If possible, this rose and berry combination, using my rose butter is even more fabulous. The sweet, full flavour of the berries and the delicate sweetness of the crumble is a definite winner.

1) Add the berries to a milk pan with a tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. Stir through for about 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and you are left with mostly intact berries, and a little sweet fruit juice. Take off the heat and spoon into an ovenproof dish.

2) Rub the rose butter into the flour until it resembles rough breadcrumbs, then top the fruit with the crumble and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. This is perfect served with a little double cream.

Summer berry pudding

Ingredients Blackberries, raspberries, pomegranate jewels, blueberries, sugar, bread

Preparation: 10 minutes (+4 hours)

A summer berry pudding is the kind of traditional English dessert that everyone knows how to make, but it's fallen somewhat out of fashion. Goodness knows why because it's so quick and simple to prepare and absolutely delicious. I prefer mine to look marbled with juice rather than saturated with it because it's prettier, but this is entirely your call.

1) Add the berries to a milk pan with a tablespoon of sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir through for about 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and you are left with mostly intact berries, and a sweet fruit juice. Take off the heat and set aside.

2) Cut the crusts from slices of bread and dip into the juice from the pan. Then line your pudding bowl with bread, assembling a square piece at the bottom, triangles at the sides and a circle set aside for the top. Press the bread firmly together so that it forms a solid case. I like to line my timbale cases with cling film first to make it easier to slide the pudding out, but I've never had one stick yet so this is again, your call.

3) Slice the pomegranate in half and hold over a bowl, fruit side down. Bang sharply with a wooden spoon to release the jewels. Alternatively, if the pomegranate is very ripe, it's sometimes as quick to just break it in half and peel off the membrane.

4) Stir the pomegranate jewels into the pan of fruit and spoon into the bread cases, pressing down firmly. Add the circle of bread to the top, then close the cling film up and press a saucer onto the top of the pudding bowl. Refrigerate for 4 hours, then open the cling film, put back on the saucer and turn the pudding out.

Blueberry & coconut pancakes

Ingredients 1 1/2 cup plain flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 2 tbsp caster sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup dessicated coconut, 1 cup coconut cream

Serves: 4 Preparation: 1 hour

Coconut and blueberry go so well together and these Scotch/American-style pancakes are a wonderful way to combine them. Sharp juicy blueberries that burst with flavour, the toasted texture of dessicated coconut and the rich sweetness of the coconut milk. I like to serve these with yoghurt and honey but they're lovely on their own.

1) Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar along with the coconut, coconut milk and egg into a bowl and whisk into a batter. Leave to puff up and rest for at least 20 minutes. Add in the blueberries.

2) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

3) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes. These can be eaten immediately or toasted later.

Earl Grey & chocolate chip pancakes

Ingredients 1 1/2 cup plain flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp caster sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 egg, 2 Earl grey teabags, 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 bar dark chocolate

Makes: 6 Preparation: 1 hour

Whether you see these as Scotch pancakes or American style stacks, they are always a favourite breakfast treat in this house. I love to stand at my cooker, ladling slow bubbling circles of fluffy batter laced with different flavours. This recipe was inspired by Choc Affair's bergamot chocolate, which is available for my Leeds readers from the fabulous Millie's. I envisioned the bergamot being further enhanced by Earl Grey, which gives these pancakes a wonderful depth.

1) Add the teabags to a milk pan along with the milk and bring it to the boil. Allow it to cool back to room temperature before removing the teabags.

2) Chop the chocolate into chips, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar along with the chocolate and egg into a bowl and whisk into a batter. Leave to puff up as the milk cools, then whisk in the milk and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.

3) Stir through and ladle a spoon full of batter into a hot pan. Using a spatula, work round the edges, then when bubbles begin to appear in the surface of the pancake batter, flip over.

4) Each side should cook in about 2 minutes, giving you light, fluffy pancakes. These can be eaten immediately or toasted later.

Special butter

Ingredients Butter, caster sugar, your choice of flavouring (suggested: lavender, rose, vanilla, cinnamon

Preparation: 5 minutes + 2 hours refrigeration

Butter, ah butter. James Martin's soul mate it may be but most of us live in the real world where heart disease and obesity are concerns which have us reaching for the margarine or olive oil spread instead. Sometimes though, indulgence is necessary and here's where special butter comes in. I flavour mine with cinnamon, with lavender, with rose, with vanilla... whether you perch it atop a stack of pancakes, spread it on scones or give it as a gift, it's a lovely treat indeed.

1) Using room temperature butter, combine it with sugar at a ratio of 1/2 tsp per 30 grams of butter. The quantity you make is entirely up to you, I like to mould mine into shapes but this can easily be set in a regular pat or a dish. 

2) Add the flavouring of your choice and leave to set in the fridge.

For rose butter: to 60g of butter I added 6 dried rosebuds, roughly torn.
For lavender butter: to 60g of butter I added 1/2 a tsp of dried lavender.
For cinnamon butter: to 60g of butter I added 1 tsp of ground cinnamon
For vanilla butter: to 60g of butter I added 1 vanilla pod