Eggless, Gluten Free, Nut Free: Banana & Cinnamon Ice Cream

It was sod's law that as soon as I'd decided to make my first ever ice cream the weather changed from hot and sunny to cool and rain splattered. Humph. But I pressed ahead anyway, and boy am I glad I did, for it surprised me with its utter simplicity and scrumptiousness. Gorgeous rich banana marries with the smoky sweetness of cinnamon to create something wonderful. The sun may be hiding but this ice cream brings it back to me with every mouthful.

Recipe
Adapted from the one for Banana Ice Cream at Ice Cream Recipes website, click to see it here
Serves approx 6

375ml double cream
3 and a half large ripe bananas, or 4 small ones
75g sugar
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
1 squeeze of lemon
cinnamon sticks to decorate, optional


1. Chop the banana into small chunks, before placing in a large bowl and mashing well with a fork.


2. Add the cream, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice, stirring until well combined.


3. Chill the mixture in fridge for an hour.

4. Then pour the mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze following the maker's instructions. If the finished icecream is still a little runny for your tastes, pop it into the freezer for a few hours.


5. If you don't have an ice cream maker, then pour the mixture into a plastic container, cover with a lid and place in the coldest part of your freezer  to set. After an hour, take out and churn with a fork every 40 minutes or so until the ice cream has frozen in a smooth, soft-set way.


6. Take the ice cream out of the freezer and place in the fridge about 15 minutes before serving. Add a cinnamon stick to each serving if you like for decoration.

This icecream was idly churned while listening to Io Echo's Doorway

Cinnamon Pear & Amaretti Pie for Valentine's Day

This double crust pie tastes and looks sublime. Spiced cinnamon pears in sugar and crushed amaretti are encased in shortcrust pastry, and topped with a decadent slathering of sweet rose buttercream icing. Delicious glamour for those planning a romantic Valentine's Day meal for an immensely greedy couple!

Recipe
Barely adapted from the recipe by Tamasin Day Lewis's book Tarts with Their Tops On. Buy the book on Amazon here.
Serves 4-6

for the pastry:
340g flour
170g unsalted butter, cold and diced

for the filling:
8 pears, peeled, cored and sliced
light muscovado sugar
lemon juice
12 small amaretti
quarter teaspoon cinnamon



1. To make the pastry, sift the flour into a large bowl, adding the cold diced butter and work quickly to rub it into the flour using the tips of your fingers.

2. Add 4 or so tablespoons of cold water, stirring in just enough to bind the dough. Gather into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other, and wrap in clingfilm. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

3. Meawhile turn the oven to 200C (180C fan ovens) and grease a deep 23cm pie tin.

4. When ready, scatter some flour on the work surface to prevent sticking, and roll out a little over half the pastry. With cold hands, start rolling the pastry with a rolling pin, rolling away from yourself and turning the pastry as you continue.

5. Line the greased pie dish with a little over half the pastry. Place in the fridge, along with the leftover pastry ball, until the filling is ready.

6. In a large bowl, toss the pear slices in lemon juice to stop them browning and lots of light muscovado sugar.

7. Next crush the amaretti by double bagging them in plastic bags and beating the bags with a rolling pin - most cathartic if you're having a stressful day! 

8. Add the crushed amaretti and cinnamon to the pears. Spoon the mixture into the lined pastry tin.

9. Roll out the rest of the pastry into a lid, and cover the pie. Using the leftover pastry pieces, cut out a large heart to decorate the top, making a small hole in the centre of the pie to let the steam out. Sprinkle with caster sugar the areas on the top that won't be covered with the buttercream.

10. Put in the oven for 15 mins, and next turn down the oven to 180C and bake for 30 minutes more until the pie and fruit are done.

for the icing:
2 tablespoons caster sugar
55g unsalted butter
3 tablespoons or 1 teaspoon rose flower water
110g icing sugar

11. To make the icing, throw all the ingredients except the icing sugar into a pan over a medium heat. Once at boiling point, take off the heat.

12. Pour the melted mixture over the sifted icing sugar in a bowl, and beat until smooth.

13. With a palette knife, slather the rich rose buttercream icing over the heart on the warm pie, or over the entire top if you've a very sweet tooth. Serve tepid, with whipped cream and a ball of any extra rose buttercream.

This pie was idly baked while listening to Jimi Hendrix's album Electric Ladyland

Winter Orange & Cinnamon Salad

This lovely refreshing aromatic dessert is simplicity itself. A morrocan style fruit salad, it is something to savour and enjoy while feeling smug about how healthy we've become. I'm going to make the most of this feeling while I can - as February rears its head, tis not too long now before January's healthy eating resolutions fade far away....

Recipe

Serves 4

3 oranges

1 handful demerara sugar

3 drops orange blossom water

handful of fine gratings cinnamon stick

1. Peel and slice the oranges laterally into thin slices.

2. Place one layer of the orange slices on a plate, and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon gratings.

3. Add a couple of drops of orange blossom water.

4. Layer the rest of the orange slices ontop, and sprinkle with more sugar, cinnamon, and another drop of orange blossom water.

This winter salad was made while listening to the Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man album 'Out Of Season'

Spiced Cranberry Upside Down Cake

I was inspired to bake this gorgeous cake when I found some cranberries in the freezer, leftovers from Christmas. Winter will be over before we know it (I'm a deluded optimist I know) and this recipe is the kind of warming rustic fare that works best after a cold brisk walk in the elements. As it cooks it perfumes the house with the darkly sweet aromas of baked spices, orange and cranberry.

Serves 8-10
Adapted from the recipe on the website www.joyofbaking.com. See their recipe here.

for the cranberry topping:
230g fresh cranberries, or frozen and thawed, halved
190g caster sugar
90g unsalted butter
1 tablespoon water
half a teaspoon ground cinnamon


1. Turn oven to 180C (160C fan ovens), and grease and line a 20cm round spring form tin. If you're using a tin with a removable base, make sure you place a baking sheet under the cake tin, to catch the drips from the cranberry topping juice.

2. To make the cranberry topping, melt the butter over a low heat. Next add the caster sugar, water, cinnamon, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil.

3. Finally, add the cranberries and stir them into the sauce then pour into base of the tin.


for the cake base:
200g light muscovado sugar
200g unsalted butter
2 large eggs
200g self raising flour
quarter of a teaspoon ground cinnamon
quarter of a teaspoon nutmeg
quarter of a teaspoon ginger
quarter of a teaspoon ground star anise
grated zest of 1 orange
100g ground almonds

4. To make the cake base, cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl.

5. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.

6. Add a spoonful of flour, and stir into the mixture along with the grated orange zest.

7. Stir in the rest of the flour, followed by the spices and ground almonds. Stir with a wooden spoon gently until just combined.

8. Pour the batter over the cranberry mixture in the baking tin, and bake in the oven for approx 50 minutes, checking at 45. You'll know the cake is done when a skewer comes out of the cake base clean. Remember that the topping at the bottom of the tin will still be sticky.

9. Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes, then very carefully turn it upside down to release, and leave to cool a little on a wire rack or plate. Serve warm with yoghurt, cream, or creme fraiche.

This cake was idly baked while listening to John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman 1963 sessions

Christmas Muffins

I made these simple muffins the other day so that they could be frozen and eaten over Christmas, but that didn't stop me 'testing' one of them, and Nico the kitten licking a second to death. The thing is, they just smell so good, and the flavours of cinnamon, ginger, dried cranberry, mixed peel and nut work brilliantly together.

Base adapted from the recipe at BBC Good Food online. See the recipe here
Makes 12 medium sized muffins

300g self raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
100g dark muscovado or light muscovado sugar
100g walnuts, broken into small pieces
70g dried cranberries
70g mixed peel
2 teaspoons mixed spice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
300 ml milk
2 eggs, room temperature
100g unsalted butter, room temperature
12 glace cherries or fresh cranberries, optional
1 tablespoon icing sugar, optional
12 dried or fresh bay leaves, optional

1. Turn oven to 190C (170C fan ovens). Fill a 12 hole muffin tray with medium muffin cases.

2. Place all the ingredients except the eggs, milk and butter in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

3. In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs until light and frothy.

4. Next, gently melt the butter over a low heat.

5. Pour the eggs, milk and melted butter into the well of the dry ingredients. Stir the batter gently until combined.

6. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cases, and bake in the oven for approx 20 minutes. You'll know they're done when a skewer comes out clean.

7. When baked, leave the muffins to cool on a wire rack.

8. When the muffins are cool, you can either freeze them wrapped in kitchen foil and placed in freezer bags, or you can eat them there and then!

9. To decorate, roll glace cherries or fresh cranberries in icing sugar, and place one atop each muffin. Add a bay leaf rolled in icing sugar if you fancy. If you want the cherries and leaves to be fixed securely, you could always wet the icing sugar to make glace icing, spooning icing over the tops before sticking the fruit topping.

These muffins were idly baked to the 1 O'Clock News on BBC Radio Four, and lovingly licked by Nico the kitten

Wholemeal Apple Crumble Cake

What do you get if you cross a crumble with a cake? Why crumble cake of course! This is a subtly spiced dark winter version of your classic apple crumble, made with sweet woody cinnamon, treacly dark muscovado sugar and a healthy wholemeal crumb. If you'd like to make a sweeter summer version of this cake which would rise more, then just swop the wholemeal flour with plain flour, and the muscovado with caster sugar. It's one of those cakes that helps me work through our glut of autumnal garden apples and smells incredible as it bakes in the oven. I've made this crumble cake in advance to take to some friends who we'll be supping with this weekend, so there are no photos of the cut cake or cake slices, sorry.

Recipe
Serves 8-10
Inspired by a recipe given on the Waitrose website. See their recipe here.

for the base:
3 eggs, room temperature
170g dark muscovado sugar
150g wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
50g raisins
170g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 tablespoon milk, optional

for the apples:
3 eating apples, not too sweet
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
for the crumble topping:
85g caster sugar and/or dark muscovado sugar,
85g wholemeal or plain flour
60g rolled oats
85g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Turn the oven to 180C (160C fan oven). Grease and line a 20cm/23cm round spring form cake tin. Get out 2 small bowls and 1 large mixing bowl.

2. Peel, and slice the apples thinly, then scatter them with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and set to one side in the first small bowl.

3. In the second bowl, mix together the crumble ingredients by hand, until the mixture has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Put to one side.

4.  In the third, largest bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together thoroughly for approx 10-15 minutes.
You need to get it to the point where the eggs and sugar have paled and leave a trail when you lift the whisk.

5. While the eggs and sugar are whisking, melt the butter over a low heat. Let the butter cool slightly before gently folding it into the pale frothy eggs and sugar with a wooden spoon. If you stir too violently at this point you'll prevent the batter from rising in the oven, so gentleness is the key.

6. Next sieve the wholemeal flour and baking powder into the batter, again stirring very gently with a wooden spoon. Add the raisins and honey, and stir until just combined.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin. Carefully place the apple slices over the batter, and finish off by scattering the crumble mixture over the top of the cake.

8. Bake in the oven for approx 50-55 minutes. Check it after 45 minutes, and if the crumble is browning too quickly then cover the top of the cake with a sheet of kitchen foil before putting in the oven to continue baking.

9. You 'll know the cake is baked when a skewer comes out clean. Leave it to cool in the cake for 15 minutes before placing onto a wire rack or plate. Serve warm with vanilla icecream or cold with some cream.

This cake was idly baked while listening to Peter Pears singing Winter Words by Benjamin Britten

Cinnamon Toast Fingers

Sweetly spiced and gloriously crunchy, this recipe is easy peasy and great for breakfast, lunch or tea. Use thick white bread for the naughtiest cinnamon toast, or healthier wholegrain bread if, like me, you're guilty of having eaten too much cake. I ate this today with a cup of flowering green tea as a delicious brunch.

Recipe
Makes about 7 cinnamon fingers

2 or 3 thick slices of bread
2 tbsps caster sugar
50g butter
1 tsp cinnamon, ground

1. Turn the oven to 190C (170C fan ovens).

2. Mix the butter, cinnamon and sugar together in bowl.

3. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into fingers.

4. Spread the cinnamon mixture onto the bread fingers.

5. Bake them on a baking tray in the oven for 5-10 mins.

6. Alternatively, you could toast the bread, then cut it into fingers and spread the cinnamon mixture over them.

7. Serve with your favourite cuppa.

This cinnamon toast was idly baked while listening to the News on BBC Radio 4