Back to the new book … Four down, five to go!

Here's the next choice from “The Little Book of Chocolat”.

It wouldn't be right not to bake a cake for JJ so, here's :

River-Gypsy Banana Bread

Takes 1 hour / serves 8

butter for greasing a tin or a cake liner

200g self-raising wholemeal flour

1 tsp baking powder

100g unrefined brown sugar

100g milk chocolate, broken into small

even pieces

2 eggs

100ml vegetable oil

3 ripe bananas, mashed

Pre-heat your oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4. Grease a 1kg loaf tin and line with baking parchment or use a cake liner.

Place the flour, baking powder, sugar and chocolate in a mixing bowl and mix well. In a jug place the eggs, oil and bananas and whizz until smooth – use a hand-held blender or hand mixer. Pour into the flour mix and blend quickly until stiff.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, sprinkle the top with some extra brown sugar and place in the middle of the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Test for readiness by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake – it should come out clean when it's ready. Turn out the cake onto a cooling rack. Eat warm or cold.

The nitty-gritty!

I didn't use milk chocolate, I used plain chocolate chips. The result is that because plain chocolate has higher cocoa solids it does not melt like milk chocolate does - so, when sliced, you got perfect little hits of melted chocolate with the banana – yummy!

This is in no way any reflection on the recipe proper – if you're going to tip your hat at “sort of” healthy by using wholemeal flour using milk chocolate seems to cancel it out if you know what I mean. It's whatever makes you happy.

Back to the new book ... the spread … the verdict

If you ever want an honest opinion ask a young person!

Here's JJ with her breakfast toast :

... actions speak louder than words.

Here's the spread in the processor :

and finished in its jars.

Guess who wants to take it home?

P.s. Try the spread on toasted crumpets for lunch – another thumbs up!

Back to the new book - Hints, tips and notes on the recipe

I found another use for the Kenwood mini – not only is it useful for whizzing nuts but also blitzing small amounts of icing sugar to get rid of the lumps that always seem to be there – I did exactly that before I added it to the whizzed hazelnuts. Worked like a dream, no problem with white blobs of icing sugar that refuse to disperse no matter how long you blitz!

I used 100g milk chocolate and 150g of plain chocolate chips. 250g of milk chocolate would give too sweet a flavour but as usual it's personal choice. I also used unsalted butter.

When the recipe says in the last sentence “... best used at room temperature … stored in the fridge...” it means it. It sets well but if you're using it on hot toast for example it melts and spreads quite easily. You could decant a portion into a small container, covered, overnight. It may seem a bit of a faff but it's well worth it.

I think it's worth pointing out that the reason that you can spread the commercial versions is that they contain emulsifiers to keep them soft hence they say the product should not be stored in the fridge.

I think it's good to know what you're eating – it's a holiday treat – not something you'd eat every day. If chocolate and nuts are your guilty pleasure then this is right up your street!

Back to the new book ... now it's three down, six to go!

Since it's the summer holidays Grandaughter JJ is visiting for a few days. Among other treats we always try and spend some time in the kitchen.

What better way to begin this year than with another experiment from “The Little Book of Chocolat” - I'd earmarked this particular recipe because I thought it would appeal to JJ – in addition to which she could take it home for her brothers and sister too for them to sample.

So, I give you chocolate spread. Underwhelmed – can't say it would be top my list either but if you have Grandchildren of a certain age then I think you'll be a very popular person!

Before we go on – a strong word of warning – ANYONE WITH A NUT ALLERGY STEER CLEAR!

Chocolate and Hazelnut Spread

Takes 1 hour – makes 2 x 250g jars

150 hazelnuts, toasted and peeled

75g icing sugar

250g dark or milk chocolate, broken

into small, even pieces

25g butter

100ml double cream

pinch of salt

Place the hazelnuts in a food processor and whizz until smooth. Add the icing sugar and blend. Warm the chocolate, butter and cream in a bain-marie until smooth and melted, add to the whizzed nuts and icing sugar in the food processor along with a pinch of salt and blend until smooth.

Sterilize the jars – I put mine in the dishwasher – alternatively you can place two clean glass jars together with their lids on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 120fan/140c/Gas 1 for 20 minutes.

Transfer the chocolate spread to the jars and leave to cool and set. It is best used at room temperature to ease spreading but needs to be stored in the fridge.

This is looking promising!

The kit, the crumble and the ice cream …

… the photos

This useful piece of kit does exactly what you want, takes up very little space and isn't expensive either - it's actually described as a compact mini chopper – model number CH180 – I found it for £19.99.

I hope you're inspired to give one or all of the recipes a try – you won't be sorry – they are all quick and easy and each element can be made when you have time – what did we do before we had freezers?!

P.s. I'd begin by roasting the plums, after that the world really is your plum – sorry.

Plums – the photos!

I know I should get out more but don't you think the plums look delicious?!

Anyway, moving on – as a rough guide, 1kg of plums with the crumble recipe will serve 4-6 depending of course on the size of the tummies! Cook your crumble for 25 minutes in a pre-heated oven 170fan/190c/Gas 5.

Ever practical – I froze the remaining roasted plums in small batches, to use later – an autumn weekend treat sounds like a plan! You never know how many mouths you'll be feeding so it's more economical to pull out two portions of plums if required – it would be criminal to waste them not to mention all that effort!

Enjoy the fruits of your labour!

The latest experiment!

I know I'm always droning on about no-churn ice creams but this one could even persuade you that it's marginally healthy – after all it has got fresh fruit in it – I jest of course!

Plum Ripple Ice Cream

I have lifted the outer skins from the roasted plums in readiness for folding into the ice cream. Remember the piece of kit I mentioned a while back – the small tongs – absolutely perfect for this task – quick and easy – you don't have to remove the outer skin – I just thought it would give a better finished “ripple”.

It goes without saying that the ice cream base is my old faithful no-churn vanilla plus 300g of roasted plums. Make up the recipe as usual but ensure that it's a stiff consistency – you need to make allowance for the fact that you are adding the plums and will therefore loosen the mixture.

Crumble topping

I mentioned that pecans are a perfect partner for plums so I used one of my favourite crumble topping recipes – one of Nigella's – although I blitz the pecans in my tiny Kenwood processor rather than chopping by hand – I just prefer an even “blitz” rather than different sizes – it's personal choice.

Nigella's crumble topping

150g cold unsalted butter, diced

250g self raising flour

150g demerara sugar

200g pecans, chopped finely

or a mixture, some larger or left whole

Rub the butter into the flour using the old fashioned method – your first three fingers and thumbs – back in the day we used to call it “the rubbing in method”. As Nigella says you can use a processor if you wish but it doesn't take long and there's no washing up. You want texture to the crumble topping not fine sand.

I make the crumble topping whenever I have time then bag it and freeze it.

Photos on their way!