Baby flapjacks

Ingredients 50ml coconut oil, 1 banana, 150g oats, 75g mixed seeds (I like pumpkin, linseed, poppyseed, sunflower and flax seeds) 1 tsp vanilla essence, 50g dried fruit (I like cranberries & apricots but figs, raisins & dates are also great.)

Makes: 12 Preparation: 45 minutes

I adore flapjacks and granola for the same reason - the smell and flavour of those gorgeous toasted oats. Absolutely mouthwatering.
As a follow on from my baby breakfast muffins, which are sugar free and very low in fat, these flapjacks are also baby friendly in that unlike traditional flapjacks which are full of butter and syrup, these are bound by banana and coconut oil and stuffed full of glorious seeds and dried fruit instead of things that will make your kids hyper and unhealthy. So if you or your kidlets fancy a sweet treat that travels well then these will not disappoint.

1) Culinary coconut oil is usually solid at room temperature, so melt it gently in a pan to return it to liquid form and stir in the vanilla essence.

2) Mash the banana with a fork, or puree in a food processor and whisk into the oil until it has been fully incorporated. If you have an extra sweet tooth you can add a little honey too but it really doesn't need it if your banana is ripe.

3) Stir in the oats, dried fruit and seeds and allow to rest whilst the oven pre-heats to gas mark 5.

4) Rub a little of the coconut oil around your baking tray to grease it, then press the mixture firmly into the tray ensuring that it is packed as tightly as possible to allow it to bind fully in the oven and not fall apart when cut into bars.

5) Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown, then carefully turn out onto a cooling rack (it should just slide off the tray but if you've used a deep one, try putting the cooling rack over the top and just flipping it over) and slice into bars whilst still warm. Once cool they can be eaten or stored for up to a week.

Earl Grey apricot Tartlets

Ingredients dried apricots, 2 earl grey teabags, 25g sugar, Pastry: 1 tsp sugar, 250g butter, 250g plain flour.

Makes: 6 Preparation: X

I am a huge lover of Earl Grey tea. For me the traditional delicacy of assam and ceylon leaves infused with the richness of bergamot oil can only be beaten with a Provenciale twist of lavender. I keep desperately trying to like Teapigs' twist of using Darjeeling leaves, but the flavour is far too alien for me to convince my brain, unless I sugar it, which goes against my purist principles! Sweetness is the key though, and these exquisite little apricot tartlets are just perfect for the unique flavour of Teapigs Darjeeling Earl Grey.

1) Put the apricots into a pyrex jug along with your teabags, and pour over just enough hot water to cover them. Leave to soak (ideally overnight but 5 hours will suffice if you're pressed for time!) until the apricots puff up.

2) To make sweet puff pastry: Add the room temperature butter to the flour and sugar and rub together loosely. Don't mix it too thoroughly - you want to still see the butter. Add about 100ml of COLD water and mix until you have a rough but firm dough. Cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Roll out from left to right onto a lightly floured surface - you should see marbled butter at this stage. Fold in half and roll out again from left to right. Fold once more, then cover with cling film and chill for another 20 minutes before using.

3) Roll out the pastry and cut out circles of dough.


4) Pour out the tea into the saucepan, add 25g caster sugar and reduce to a sugar syrup.

3) Slice the apricots in half and add to the pan. Allow to simmer in the syrup for 2-3 minutes, then spoon a sticky, syrupy apricot half onto each pastry circle.

4) Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 200 degrees until the pastry has just puffed up and the apricot has just begun to caramelise in the sugar. Serve hot or cold

Apricot stuffed with basil & goats cheese

Ingredients Dried apricot, goats cheese, basil, salt

Preparation: 5 minutes

I love goats cheese - whether combined with sweet or savoury ingredients it rarely disappoints. I love making little hors d'oeuvres like pastry shells filled with herby goats cheese, crusted with crushed nuts or seeds but have recently been considering alternatives for those with allergies such as flour or nuts. I adore dried apricots and filling the luscious, sticky fruit like this is nothing short of heavenly - try them served on pieces of sourdough.

1) Blitz the goats cheese in a blender with fresh basil leaves and a pinch of salt.

2) Dried apricots are already pitted so simply spoon or pipe the goats cheese puree into the pockets. These are equally lovely eaten at room temperature or firmed up in the fridge.

Baked apple with apricot & goats cheese

Ingredients Bramley apple, goats cheese, dried apricots

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

I can remember clearly my very first cookery lesson at school. We made a baked apple.
It was stuffed with sultanas and butter and it looked like a bizarre sort of baked potato.
I hated the texture, hated the taste, hated the smell and the ugly yellowish brown of the skin. I can honestly say I have never had a baked apple since - until today when I had a craving for apple and thought I would experiment with this old nemesis... the sticky sweetness of the apricot goes perfectly with the creamy, soft goats cheese. This is absolutely lovely but it's not going to win any beauty awards.

1) Slice the top from the apple and remove the majority of the core, leaving a little base to retain the filling. Hollow the apple out further until about 1/3 of the apple flesh has been removed.

2) Stuff the apple with layers of apricot and goats cheese and sit the top of the apple back onto the top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200 degrees.

Turkey, stilton & broccoli burgers

Ingredients 400g turkey mince, 200g white stilton with apricots, 1/2 head of broccoli

Serves: 6 preparation: 40 minutes


Since I made The Boy my turkey and stilton meatballs he has been completely addicted to the combination (and to making jokes about eating balls with his friends on Facebook...) so I decided to treat him and make him a meat version of the plantain, stilton and broccoli burger I created recently.


1) Steam or boil the broccoli for about 20 minutes - this recipe needs it to be soft rather than al dente but there should still be some nutrients left in there!


2) Drain the broccoli and pulse in the blender until it resembles breadcrumbs, add the crumbled cheese and turkey mince and pulse until it has come together into a ball.


3) Divide into 6 patties, pressing firmly into your hands and rolling into a ball - these need to be relatively solid or when they cook, the turkey juices and steam will separate.


4) Sear the outside in a pan with a little olive oil before baking in the oven for about 20 minutes

Plantain, stilton & broccoli burgers

Ingredients 1 plantain, 100g white stilton with apricots, 5 broccoli florets

Serves: 2 preparation: 1 hour

Plantains are fabulous. They're a kind of savoury banana that grow in tropical climates and are used quite a lot in Caribbean and Mexican cooking. When shopping for plantain please remember that the best ones are the ripe, almost completely black ones. Don't cook with unripe ones as the flavour and texture will probably put you off for life! This burger has a gorgeous thin crust, a slightly sticky soft centre and the gorgeous classic flavour combination of stilton and broccoli enriched with the sweetness of plantain and apricot.


1) Bring a pan of water to the boil and drop the entire plantain into it. Boil for 25-30 minutes. You will know it is ready as the skin will split and virtually peel itself! I like to steam the broccoli florets over the pan of boiling plantain but if you don't have a steamer, boil the broccoli in a separate pan for 20 minutes until soft.


2) Pulse the plantain in a blender, then add the crumbled cheese and drained broccoli.


3) The mixture should look a little like breadcrumbs but be moist enough to press together into patties with your hands. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until a golden crust has formed

Turkey roulade with apricot & cashew

Ingredients  Turkey steak, cashew nuts, hazelnut  butter, dried apricot, black pepper, basil oil, dried basil.

1) Crush a few handful of cashew nuts in a blender (or using a mortar and pestle), stir in a teaspoon of hazelnut butter to bind into a paste and set aside.


2) Grind some black pepper, dried basil, a pinch of salt and stir through some basil oil. Give your turkey steaks a good pounding with a meat mallet and then spread the pepper and basil oilto one side.


3) Flip over the turkey steak and add a tablespoon of the cashew nut mixture and a dried apricot. Roll the turkey steak around the filling. Repeat for each turkey steak and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, basting with the juices after 7 minutes.