Blood Orange Breakfast Kheer (Vegan and gluten free)

I just love this time of year when blood oranges are in season, the fact that you can’t buy them all year round makes them seem so much more of a treat and most certainly when a few juicy segments top this indulgent kheer. Though, if you can’t source them, then regular oranges would be fine too or grapefruit for a sharp twist. 

Honey Bombs

I'm often attracted to baking things that I have never heard of before and these honey bombs come under that bracket. I think there's something so intriguing about trying new foods and flavors that you've never seen or tasted before! The opportunity as you grow older, comes far and few between but nevertheless, still, it's very exciting when it does happen. 

Chocolate, Clementine and Ginger Buns

It's nearly Christmas break. Woooooo! That means having absolutely no uni work to do (I hope), plenty of lie ins which lead into days spent doing nothing constructive whatsoever. apart from stuffing your face with chocolate and watching endless Christmas movies. Don't you just love this time of year?! 

Orange and Cinnamon Spiced Poppy Seed Porridge

On a cold Autumnal morning, there's nothing quite like waking up to the feeling of clasping a bowlful of porridge to warm your hands and soul, getting you ready for the day ahead. I just love this time of year, when the leaves start falling off the trees and in all manner of colours...they pave the floor in a rainbow of ruby to yellow hues. 

Blueberry Cinnamon Waffle Pudding

With being back to the daily grind of coming home from uni and cooking for myself on the reg means I don't bake desserts and sweet treats as much as I would if I was at home, where I get the luxury of my mum cooking meals for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't find cooking for myself a chore, I doooo still enjoy the rather relaxing nature of coming home after a full day of lectures and just experimenting with foods that I wouldn't normally have at home; like tonight's stuffed squash with quinoa, wheat berries and feta (fyi think I'll most definitely be doing that one as a future blog post, it turned out soooo well!)

Oatmeal, Cinnamon and Sultana Cookies

I do love a good dunkable cookie with a steaming mug of preferred hot beverage and boy do these do the deed! They're quite fat little things, which actually supports them mightily well with their structural integrity in the whole dunking process. 

Baked Banana Choc Digestive Doughnuts

Some people find it easy to write out and about in busy places like at the park or library, although I’d much rather prefer the silence and comfort of being alone. So as I’m currently sat on this 5hr train on my way up to Edinburgh to visit my friend, this post is proving rather difficult to write. But making the most of this boring journey is a strong priority of mine as with university and work I have hardly found the time to blog – evidently. 

Spiced Pears with Honey, Nuts, Granola and Yoghurt

Sometimes it's good not to over complicate a recipe, avoiding the label of being too 'pretentious' or 'over the top'. Just put simple, delicious ingredients together which classically work well. It's what I've tried to do here with these perfectly ripe pears, pairing them with the breakfast items of honey, pistachios, walnuts, granola pieces and natural yoghurt.

Cranberry and White Chocolate Bundt Cake

It's got to that time of year again, when I can't face another cheese board and reached that chocolate overload limit. But of course, there's nothing wrong with a bit of cake and I thought this would be the best way to use up those leftover cranberries which have been hanging out in my fridge for the past week now from Christmas day (I just couldn't throw them away!!) as well as putting to good use those obligatory christmas nuts which nobody ate. 

Nutty Chocolate Orange and Maple Loukoumades

My guess is that you've probably never heard of these before or unless you're from Greece. Loukoumades are Greek donuts and they're soooo unbelievably light but deliciously naughty. I don't really like traditional American/English donuts that much anyway so I suppose I'm gonna be more partial towards these round puffy doughy delights. 

Gingerbread Madeleines

Here we are again, nearly another year over and let the Christmas baking season commence!! (As of today I can finally relax with a sigh of relief as I have no more uni work till the new year semester. Woooooo!!) 

Instarecipe! Honey Nut and Fruit Granola

Knee deep surrounded by countless boxes, it's safe to say that I'm very nearly packed and well on my way to university life with less than a week to go until the big move in day. As you would assume, I am a bit nervous with what to expect but I'm also so excited to see what this next step in my life brings (sorry for the cheesy cliche but it's true!) 

Pear and Chocolate Pudding Pots

At last. My exams are over! Woop woop! I can safely say au revoir to A Levels and bonjour to university. Well, in September that is. For now it's back to blogging, cake making for the many birthdays that are coming up, and having a good old rest. The Summer awaits!! 

Banana Chocolate Hazelnut Pastry Rolls

There's not much to this recipe, and by that I mean in the way of very few ingredients, plus it's not the most complex of creations. BUT that doesn't mean to say it's not delicious! ... gimme banana, gimme chocolate, gimme hazelnuts and you can't really go wrong. A true tried and tested combination that just works for all the right reasons. Along with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar and all encased with flaky puff pastry - it's an indulgent dessert that's easy enough for anyone to pull off.

Hasselback Apples with Nutty Streusel Topping

I don't quite know how I came about baking this because really, out of everything, it's rather an Autumnal recipe... with the sweet scent of cinnamon and nutmeg wafting out of the oven, it completely juxtaposes to this lovely Summery weather we've been having in the UK recently. 

Quinoa Granola (sugar-free and gluten free)

I thought that this week a breakfast recipe was in order as I'm constantly trying to find new and not-so-boring cereal alternatives to my weekday mornings. The problem with cereals is, as I've just mentioned: BORING! And when you've just about had enough of your cereal rota (everyone does have one right?) I do struggle to come up with on-the-spot alternatives which won't make me late for college, and that keep me full till lunch, (which believe me, is a hard task when I'm tempted with the daily smell of freshly baked sixth form coffee bar croissants lingering under my nose till noon!) 

Quick Orange Caramel and Cinnamon Portuguese Tarts

Happy Easter everyone! I bring you these tasty portuguese tarts (instead of a chocolate egg), but they are rather 'easter' ish with the hot cross bun flavors of cinnamon and orange. These tarts are perfect for when you've got a pack of ready made puff pastry in the fridge and you don't know what to do with it. When flicking through my old Jamie's 30 Minute Meals book I came across his recipe for quick portuguese tarts and was interested to try this rendition made with crème fraîche instead of the tradish' custard method and topped with an orange caramel. Mmmmmm!!!

I didn't quite manage to bash 'em out in 30 minutes (disappointedly) but nonetheless they were quick to do, and were ready to eat in under an hour. Still very impressive, well I think so! I'd forgotten how great his 30 minute meals book was to be honest, I'll definitely be revisiting it to try out some recipes I've never actually got round to making before. 

I have adapted Jamie's recipe slightly, the tarts have cinnamon sprinkled between the layers of pastry and in the custard too along with the zest of an orange. Then, the caramel to top it all off, is flavoured with the juice of an orange, made with that instead of your usual water sugar syrup. Oh and I made the recipe to give 12 tarts instead of 6, who wants just 6 tarts?! They'd be gone in a flash. 

Note: To clean your pan after making the caramel, boil a kettle ready and then once you've emptied the pan, quickly pour in boiling water and put it back onto the heat to dissolve those annoyingly hard bits of caramel left which won't budge. 

Quick  Orange Caramel and  Cinnamon  Portuguese  Tarts

Ingredients:

Makes 12 tarts plain flour for dusting 500g pack of ready made puff pastry few good pinches ground cinnamon 10 tbsp caster sugar flavourless oil spray for greasing 250ml crème fraîche 2 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 large orange

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400°F/ gas 6. Dust a work surface with flour and then roll out your pastry to a rough rectangle measuring approx 30 x 40 cm. Sprinkle over a a few good pinches of cinnamon and a tbsp of sugar. Roll up the pastry starting at one long side to the other, into a swiss roll shape tightly. Cut into 12 equal sized rounds. 
Grease a 12 hole muffin tin with oil spray and then press each pastry round into the tin, cut side up so you can see the swirl, then use your fingers to mold and push the pastry into the sides of the muffin hole, stretching the pastry until the bottom is flat and the pastry comes up the sides to the top. Put the pastry cases into the oven to bake for 10 mins. Then take the tin out of the oven and with a small teaspoon, push the puffed up pastry back to the sides and bottom to make room for the filling. Put them back into the oven to bake again for another 2 minutes until lightly golden. 
Meanwhile, to make the filling put the crème fraîche, eggs, vanilla, 2 tbsp sugar, a few pinches of cinnamon and the zest of an orange into a large jug and whisk till well combined. Once the pastry cases have cooked, take them out of the oven and slowly pour in the custard mixture into the cases, being careful not to overfill them or spill any down the sides. 
Return the pastry cases back to the oven to bake for 10 minutes. When the tarts have a few minutes left to cook make the caramel. 
Put a small metal saucepan on a high heat and squeeze in the juice of the zested orange, add 7 tbsp of sugar and leave to dissolve and bubble. Keep an eye on the caramel and don't be tempted to stir it, only swirl the pan. Once the mixture begins to bubble less and turns to a light golden straw colour it's done and lift the pan off the heat immediately. 
Carefully remove the tarts from the tin using a palette knife and leave them to cool on a wire rack. Pour over a little hot caramel onto each tart, leave the tarts to cool down and set. They're best eaten on the day of the making, store in the fridge in an airtight container. 

Chai Latte Creams

Drink your chai latte and eat it too with these rich, melt-in-the mouth sandwich cookies...

From when I first put vanilla chai into my cake I knew me and this spiced tea were going to be good friends for life!

Apple Custard Tarts

A new year brings new year resolutions, but I'd like us all to stop right there. Before you say it, can we all just skip the no more sugar plan and bake on, let's carry on with sweet deliciousness, because I always believe and what everyone else should too is that we all deserve a little bit of it now and then, just in moderation - that's what I say! So, as every other foodie blogger and recipe book writer releases their sugar-free, raw and just about everything else 'free from' (namely just because it's January), I'm saying try my apple custard tarts. They're not sugar free or anything else in that league, but what they do is bring us something familiar; comforting and nostalgic at a time of year when change is happening all around us. 

Ginger Spiced Pudding Loaves

With 1 week to go, by now you're probably sick to death of being bombarded with all things festive when it comes to food. I know I am and that's hard to come by considering that I'm a blogger obsessed with food. All you have to do is sit through one break of TV ads and they're thrown at us. Constantly. I don't blame them though, Christmas has become one big old competition for retailers and they have to fight all they can.