Granola Gravel – a post script

Whatever Granola Gravel you have left, box or bag it and add it to your treasure chest. An instant supply for a sweet hit – perfect with British strawberries – I had some yesterday and they were delicious, the best I've tasted in a long while.

Finally, I made the Gravel again, this time adding 200g of hazelnuts to the original recipe, it worked like a charm, as they say!

Take a look :

Thinking about it there's a use for the soft version or with extra hazelnuts. Since we're embarking on “portable” food, take a box of Gravel from the freezer – bash it smaller if you wish. Prepare a box of strawberries or other seasonal fresh fruit. Pack individual yogurts of your choice – an instant portable dessert.

More portable food ideas up next!

Granola Glacé

Out of every recipe that you aren't satisfied with, there is always a silver lining, here's mine :

If you wanted a fun idea for a picnic or a BBQ I think this makes the grade.

I love it when a plan comes together and the moral of the story is – never give up!

Granola Glacé – and another idea

… which requires a visit to another of my favourite shops, local to me, SCS Packaging, Units 1 & 2 Orchard Road, Finedon, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN9 5JG to be precise! In addition to the packaging business they have a small shop which is an Aladdin's cave of all things related to cake decorating and other stuff too.

I was on a mission for ice cream pots – if you're old enough to remember going to the cinema back in the day you'll also remember you could buy small individual tubs of ice cream with a tiny “spade-shaped” spoon.

My efforts were rewarded – have a look :

Rainbow and Hot Pink

7cms diameter x 4.5cms deep or

2¾” diameter x 1¾” deep in old money

Exactly what I wanted!

These little beauties are actually baking cups so no more need for muffin tins.

These little pots are so useful, they are sturdy and as well as baking or filling with ice cream they are ideal for sweet or savoury treats – an absolute must for all those summer parties or picnics or BBQs.

They have a range of colours and you'll want all of them! How good would the aqua colour cup look, filled with mint chocolate chip ice cream! You don't have to live in the area - check out their website for the full range www.culpitt.com.

Have a look at the photos coming next to see what you can do.

Granola Gravel … nil desperandum

For those who aren't familiar - “never say die”

I'm going to make a batch of vanilla ice cream, cut the gravel into smaller pieces and fold it through to make a Granola Glacé – ta dah!

The transformation :

A quick recap of the recipe :

Vanilla ice cream

Prep – 5 minutes

Total time – 5 minutes

plus freezing at least 6-8 hours

or until firm

Gives you 1.6 litres of ice cream is equal

to 18 scoops

1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk

1 x 600ml double cream

2tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is quite thick and stiff, like pipeable whipped cream.**

2. Spoon the mixture into a lidded freezer-proof container and free for at least 6-8 hours or until firm.

** My variation – make a batch of sticky toffee sauce and fold 260g through the ice cream. For the sticky toffee sauce recipe see Sauce label – The ultimate … sticky toffee sauce. You can buy a ready-made version but it's nowhere near as good!

… and then I had another idea

Granola Gravel – chapter, verse and verdict

The story so far …

In the pan with the granola and the cherries

Into the tray, ready to fridge

Out of the fridge, cubed and into a bowl

The verdict … at first I wasn't 100% convinced, a smidge too soft for me – don't misunderstand, it was good enough to send a boxful to my testers and it vanished. I gave H a small box to road test and after a minute or two he asked me to take it away, otherwise he'd finish it!

Then I had an idea …

Nothing ventured … nothing gained

Okey dokey, lets get this show on the road, here's my Granola Gravel – Take 1 recipe :

Granola Gravel – Take 1

250g dark chocolate

150g M&M's hazelnut spread

175g soft butter, unsalted

4 x 15ml tbsp golden syrup

350g Granola – mixed sizes

200g glacé cherries

Put the granola into a freezer bag and bash gently with a rolling pin so that you get different sizes.

Break the dark chocolate into small pieces, or use chocolate buttons made for melting and tip them into a heavy-based saucepan to melt with the M&M's spread, butter and syrup over a low heat.

Take the pan off the heat and add the granola and cherries. Turn the mixture carefully so that all the ingredients are coated with the syrupy chocolate.

Tip into a foil tray (I use a tray bake size – 31cms x 8.5cms x 3cms or 12” x 17½” x 1¼” in old money ) smoothing the top as best you can, although it is not meant to be perfectly flat.

Fridge until firm enough to cut, which will take about 3 hours. Take the set block out of the tray. With the long side in front of you cut it into half – set one aside. Slice 6 slices down and 4 across so that you have 24 squares – this will give you a good sized cube – cut smaller if you prefer which will obviously give you more. Repeat with the remaining half.

Freeze for up to 1 month.

If it lasts that long!

Chapter, verse and verdict next up.

Messing about in the kitchen …

I'm always thinking of new stuff to pass on to you and it's amazing what can set off a particular train of thought. Recently I was picking up spices at one of my favourite places – Daily Bread Co-operative Limited in Northampton – if you haven't visited you have to put this gem on your list! Have a look at www.dailybread.co.uk. On my way to pay I walked past cereals of all kinds but right in my eye line was their own Granola. I bought a large bag – I love the stuff as a cereal but that wasn't why I bought it - I thought the Granola would be a great ingredient for another variation on a theme of Rocky Road. Hmm.

Before I continue with the story and the recipe(s) I should introduce my latest purchase which figures in this latest recipe. Crispy M&M's – it's described as chocolate hazelnut flavoured spread with coloured crispy pieces. Hey sometimes you've just gotta do what you've gotta do.

Do I have your attention?

The story continues … stay with me!