Baking with Hemina - Cheese & mustard scones recipe

As I mentioned in my Fuego Lounge review, my friend Hemina kept us occupied one weekend when I was feeling very down.  On the Saturday she came over to bake with me and the kids, Priya especially had a blast and the scones were so easy to make and tasted amazing!  We had them hot for lunch with some truffle salami from Aldi (highly recommended by the way).

My favourite Bloody Mary cocktail recipe

When Nik and I had a night out in Brighton a couple of months ago, we went for a cocktail at Twisted Lemon and Nik had a Virgin Mary which isn't something either of us would usually order but we both loved it (I had quite a few "sips" and would have ordered one myself if we didn't have to leave for dinner)!  So when I saw a Bloody Mary recipe in the latest Waitrose Food magazine, I decided to give it a try but we've changed a couple of things so it's more to our taste and usually make it without the alcohol which actually makes them pretty healthy and they're super easy and quick to make.  (Waitrose also have this recipe on their website which is a bit different again.)

Cocktail Recipes

We enjoyed quite a few home-made cocktails over the Christmas, birthday and New Year period.  Here are some of the recipes for what you may have seen us enjoying on my social media, they're all very simple short drinks and super quick to make.  Apologies for the poor photos, I was too busy enjoying the day to bother with the big camera so these are all phone snaps ;)

A good old gin martini

Creamy Christmas Fudge recipe

I decided to re-post this old recipe without all of my old waffling (gosh I did used to go on about all sorts of random stuff in my blog posts back in the early days!), this one was from Dec 2011, my first married Christmas when I went all out with the festivities, it was so much fun!  This recipe was from the Hairy Biker's 12 days of Christmas recipe book which I love!

Ingredients:
150g butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
50g mixed dried fruit (I used cranberries, apricots and raisins)
3 balls of stem ginger in syrup, drained and chopped
100ml dark spiced rum (e.g. Captain Morgan)
1 cinnamon stick 2 star anise
1 x 397g tin of evaporated milk
500g granulated sugar

Method:

Grease an 18cm square cake tin or 26x16cm tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.  Grease the parchment and set aside.

Put the dried fruit, ginger and rum in a small non-stick pan with the cinnamon and star anise. Bring the rum to the boil and cook until it has completely evaporated/absorbed by the fruit, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Spiced Pear & Walnut Chutney recipe

I do love Kirstie's Crafty Christmas programme and this recipe featured in 2016 was one that caught my eye as something yummy which would go well with our Christmas cheese board as well as making nice little gifts.  I thought I'd post it now as it takes at least 1 month to mature so get cooking in time for Christmas!

On the programme last year was a chutney recipe by Angela Malik.  I previously made her chai spiced chocolate baked cheesecake from an old series.  Unfortunately I couldn't find her chutney recipe online anywhere and after rewinding and pausing the TV a few times, it seems they don't actually give you all of the information to make it!  Very annoying but I managed to figure out the main points and have made up the rest!  So here's my recipe inspired by Angela Malik, it's delicious!

Spiced Parsnip & Orange Cake Recipe - The return of Pin It Do It! #ODPIDI linky

Its back!  Pin It Do It was requested in my recent survey and I am delighted to bring it back.  I missed it myself and have PLENTY of inspirational pins to utilise and get off my boards to real life.

Original Pin

To make it easier for you to submit your own Pinterest inspired projects, I've added a linky to this post so you can just upload a link to your own post.  I will then choose one or two favourites to feature the following month.  We also have a badge to put on your post (and in your sidebar if you wish), just click on it to be taken to the HTML code you need to add it to your own blog.

Lemon & Lime Cake with Lemon Buttercream - recipe by Bex

I've made a version of this cake a few times now and it's always a winner!  It's light, moist and super tasty - sort of a cross between a lemon drizzle and a normal sponge cake with buttercream (I use my own buttercream recipe which isn't too sweet).  The original version includes lemon curd which I'm not a fan of but if you want it to be sweeter and even more lemony then by all means add a layer between the slices and mix some in to the icing.  I added the lime when I ran out of lemons and it worked well so here's my version of this delicious cake.

Wild Garlic Pesto - Recipe by Bex

I already gave my tips for foraging for wild garlic and shared a few photos of the fun morning we had collecting leaves to make pesto but here is the recipe.  It was delicious served simply by stirring through spaghetti - the twins LOVED it and both asked for more which is pretty unusual as they normally just ask for fruit after dinner!

Foraging for Wild Garlic amongst the Bluebells - Foodie Fun by Bex

Last weekend we finally made it along to a bluebell wood with the twins for me to try to take a few photos of them having fun wondering amongst the flowers and trees.  We were unlucky with the light as it was a very dull day so the photos are a bit flat but we had a lovely morning and the woods looked stunning with the carpet of blue going on for as far as we could see!  The photos definitely do not do it justice!  Thank you to Zoe for her directions to this wood as well as a few foraging tips which I've included in with the tips below.

Black Forest Cheesecake Swirl Brownies - recipe by Bex

I made this recipe for my Baking Club Christmas do recently and was really pleased with it despite having preheated the oven for 3.5 hours!  (The kids woke from their nap far too early and I kept trying to get the brownies ready to bake, including the kids in helping, but I didn't manage until they went to bed again that evening - an hour early!!)

Anyway, I had the idea of brownies with cherries and had always wanted to try baking something with a swirl of cheesecake so I googled and combined a couple of recipes I found.  One from the American/Ukrainian Let The Baking Begin Blog for the cheesecake part as I liked the sound of adding sour cream but I couldn't be bothered converting all the measurements for the brownie batter too so I used one from Olive Magazine for the main brownie batter, although I did adapt it slightly by adding dried and tinned cherries as well as changing the method after a wasted pan of seized chocolate mixture!

Below you will find my combined and adapted recipe for my version of Black Forest Cheesecake Swirl Brownies:

For the cheesecake filling:

225g cream cheese
80g sour cream
70g sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg

For the brownies:

200g butter, plus extra for greasing
225g light soft brown sugar
200g golden caster sugar 
125g cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
¼ tsp salt 
2 tbsp kirsch or cherry liqueur
4 eggs
125g self-raising flour 
100g dried sour cherries
1/2 tin cherries (optional), de-stoned & halved

For the cream:

whipping cream 300ml
kirsch 2 tbsp (I added 4)
icing sugar 3 tbsp, sifted
1/2 tin cherries (optional), de-stoned and chopped

Method: 

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla extract and beat together until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the egg and beat until smooth again.  Put aside.

Preheat oven to 170oC.  Butter a 20 x 30cm baking tin and line with baking parchment.  (I only had square tins so split my mixture between two 20cm square tins, I still baked them for 30 mins.)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan then add the sugars and continue stirring until they start to dissolve.  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring occasionally as the chocolate melts.  Add the cocoa powder and stir to combine.

Cool for 5 minutes then beat in the salt, kirsch and eggs until smooth again (I did this part in my Kitchenaid).  Stir through the flour and cherries, then scrape into the prepared tin(s) and bake for 30 minutes.

While the brownies are baking, prepare a roasting tin of iced water that will fit the brownie tin inside it.  When the brownies have a crisp top and only a slight wobble to the centre still, lift the tin from the oven into the water bath – this will keep the centre soft, but set.  Cool completely in the water.  Run a knife under hot water before drying and using to cut smoothly.  The brownies are nice and gooey which makes them stick to the knife.

To serve, whisk the whipping cream with the kirsch and icing sugar until softly peaked then stir through the cherries.  Dust the brownies with a little icing sugar and cocoa if you like, and add a dollop of kirsch cream with extra fresh cherries to serve.

I was really pleased with how these turned out!  They were squidgy, gooey and rich.  The Kirsch/cherry brandy was a nice addition and the dried sour cherries add a lovely bit of chewy bite to them.

Rest Day Recipe inspiration for Cycle 2 and 3 - weight loss by Bex

So as part of Cycle 2 of my 90 day plan from The Body Coach, I was given a list of the foods I am allowed on a rest day or a training day and specific quantities.  Those are tailored as part of the plan according to my assessment form and therefore not for sharing.  The following recipes are just to inspire you if you're also on the plan and need ideas for what to make from the food lists, they don't contain quantities as they are different for everyone.

Of course, if you're not on the plan and you fancy trying them, just make up the quantities!

So, on rest days in cycle 2 we have very low carbs, high protein and high healthy fats.  Here are my favourite recipes for rest days using my list of suggested foods.  We choose one (or 2 for veg) from each group - cooking fat, protein, extra fat source, 2 veg, greens, spices (this is freer as they have no effect on the macros) and side sauce.

Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Bake - I was sent a recipe for this from Joe but I've adapted it to suit my tastes more.

Ingredients:
Coconut Oil
Chicken
Mozzarella
Mushrooms
Onions
Broccoli
Salt & Pepper
Cottage Cheese
Chilli Flakes (optional)

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chicken until browned, in the same pan and oil, cook the mushrooms & onions.  Steam the broccoli until just cooked.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cooked chicken, broccoli, mushrooms & onions with the cottage cheese, half the mozzarella, a little salt & pepper and chilli flakes if you wish.  Tip into a baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake in the oven until golden and bubbling on top. 

Cheesy Mustard Chicken with peppers - this reminds me of a delicious cheesy sauce I once had in a restaurant which is lovely with potatoes.  Sadly I'm not allowed potatoes and cheese on the same day so I have this with my broccoli on the side.  The best thing about this is when it's freshly cooked in the pan, it's a gooey, cheesy, stringy mess - the closest thing to a pizza minus the carbs.  When it's reheated - it's much more saucy.  If I fancy having different veg in it, I make a bigger batch and use alternative veg for one of the measurements so I can have onions and peppers and mushrooms and more mushrooms.  It's a great one pan, quick rest day meal.

Coconut Oil
Chicken
Mozzarella
Mushrooms
Onions (red or white)
Peppers
1 tsp Mustard
Sour Cream
Broccoli

Heat the oil in a large frying pan.  Cook the onion & peppers and then add the chicken, when the chicken is almost cooked, add the mushrooms.  When chicken & mushrooms are cooked through, remove from the heat and add the mustard, cheese & sour cream.  Stir as the cheese melts.  Serve with steamed broccoli.

It also makes a good sauce for steak, just leave out the chicken and spread it over a lovely grilled steak instead:

Chicken Strogannoff

Coconut oil

Chicken breast

Onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed/chopped

Mushrooms, sliced

2 tsp Paprika

1 tbsp Thyme

1 tbsp Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

Black Pepper

low fat sour cream

1 chicken stock cube in 100mls water

Broccoli

Steak or Chicken Thai Curry

Coconut oil

Sirloin steak OR Chicken/Turkey breast

Aubergine

Onion

Thai curry paste

Low fat coconut milk

Fage yoghurt (?keep some for pud)

Sugar snaps/mange tout

Cashews

OR

Cheddar for pud

In a large frying pan, fry your meat in the coconut oil with some seasoning until cooked, remove from pan. Using the same oil, fry the onion until soft, add the aubergine and cook for about 5 mins before adding the curry paste, fry for 2 mins then add coconut milk and sugar snaps/mange tout. Add the meat back into the pan. Stir through your yoghurt for extra creaminess and serve.

Prawn & Pea Curry

Coconut oil
Onions
Chopped garlic
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
Tinned chopped tomatoes
Tomato puree
Stock cube in 150 mls water
Salt & pepper to taste
Prawns
Peas (approved by coach just a few times per week)
Yoghurt

Fry the onions in the coconut oil until soft, add 1 clove garlic and then spices, fry gently then add tomatoes, stock and tomato puree, bring to the boil and reduce to simmer, season to taste. Add the prawns and peas and cook until prawns turn pink through. Remove from heat and stir through yoghurt.

Add extra fat as preferred - I had cheese as a dessert. You could also have nuts in the curry or after.

(Serve with rice on a training day and adjust quantities as needed.)

Thai Salmon with crunchy seeds - another really easy one with minimal prep.

Salmon fillet
Thai curry paste
Seeds (I used a combi of pine nuts and sesame seeds)
Broccoli
Coconut/Olive Oil
Garlic
Lemon Juice

Preheat the oven to 180oC.
Place the salmon in an oven proof dish, top with curry paste and seeds. Bake in oven for 15-20 mins.
Microwave broccoli until cooked.  Fry the garlic in the oil and throw in the broccoli, tossing to coat.  Cook for 2-3 mins and serve with the salmon.  I can't remember what I did with my other veg allowance - I might have had a salad!

As for ALL of the greens, I love broccoli so mostly ate that as my green option but even so, it still got a bit dull so I had a couple of ideas to change it up a bit. Broccoli soup was awesome for when I didn't fancy a big pile of broccoli, particularly at breakfast or with my sausage bap. Simple to batch cook and freeze in pouches to take to work too.

I also LOVE broccoli fried in garlic. Steam it first in the microwave and then quickly saute it with some chopped garlic (I use frozen) and a little oil. Delish! (If I'd already used my cooking fat allowance for something else I just dry fried it with the garlic being careful not to burn it. It was still nice.

Broccoli Soup

Whatever your portion of greens is, multiply by however many you wish. I did a batch of 8.

8 x Broccoli, chopped
1.5L Chicken or veg stock
Salt & pepper to taste
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Add the broccoli, stock, chilli flakes and seasoning to a large pan and bring to the boil.  Simmer until broccoli is cooked through (appx 8 mins) and blend to your preferred consistency.


From what I could tell from the unofficial pages on Facebook, a lot of people had trouble thinking of breakfast recipes but as I don't mind having leftovers or random things for breakfast, I didn't mind eating anything.


Smoked Salmon with Avocado/Mozzarella Salad or Scrambled Eggs

Smoked salmon
Avocado or Mozzarella or Seeds (fat source) or divide and split them to have a mixture
Peppers (1/2 allowance)
Tomatoes
Red Onion (1/2 allowance)
Lemon Juice
Capers (unauthorised!!)
Salt & Pepper
Lemon Olive Oil

Mix everything together and dress with oil and lemon.  Serve with broccoli soup (see above).

Alternatively I'd have the salmon with scrambled eggs as the fat source and salad on the side.

Pear & parsnip cake with rosemary - recipe by Bex

As I said on Instagram the other day, I was given a few parsnips last week by a friend at our local village pop-in which I go to every Tuesday.  I made a big batch of my lovely parsnip soup and still had a couple of parsnips left over so I thought I'd make a parsnip cake to take along this week to say thank you.  (It turned out she was on holiday though, but everyone else loved it!)

I searched on Pinterest and Google for ideas and  I found a few I liked the sound of.  I originally wanted to make a parsnip & lemon cake but didn't have enough parsnips left over.  I also liked the idea of parsnip & ginger but I didn't have any stem ginger.  In the end, I settled on this one and I'm so glad I did.  It's unusual but seriously yummy!  I've adapted the recipe slightly, I left the cinnamon out of the cake and halved the amount in the icing as Nik and I aren't huge fans of a strong cinnamon flavour.  I also made double the quantity of buttercream as the 1st batch I made was nowhere near enough.  This may be because I made wider cakes than instructed although I still don't think it would have been enough and that's not just because I love buttercream!  ;)

I've re-written the recipe using all the quantities and instructions as I made it.  As much as I'd love to spend lots of time making it look pretty maybe with a couple of pears next to it and a dusting of icing sugar and taking beautiful photos against a nice background rather than a few quick snaps of it on our practical spotty table cloth!  The ones on the original blog where I found the recipe are much more beautiful, I urge you to take a look.  I was lucky to have time (and cooperative twins this morning) to make the cake and add a little rosemary embellishment though :)

Ingredients:

For the cake 
320g unsalted butter, melted and cooled 
320g soft light brown sugar 
4 medium eggs 
320g plain flour 
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
pinch salt 
100g peeled and grated parsnip 
200g peeled and chopped pears
1 tbsp finely chopped rosemary 

For the syrup
125g golden caster sugar
2 springs of rosemary 
place sugar and 
250ml cold water 

For the buttercream
250g butter 
400g icing sugar 
2tsp ground cinnamon 
100 ml double cream (I didn't have any so I used 100g half fat crème fraîche and it seemed to work well!)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170oC, grease and line four 8 inch tins with baking paper.

Using a stand mixer or electric hand held mixer beat the butter, sugar and eggs together for 2 minutes until pale and well combined.  Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a clean bowl.  Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and beat gently to combine.  Finally fold in the parsnip, pear and rosemary and divide between the four tins.  Bake for 20 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.  Leave to cool on a wire rack. 

To make the syrup:
Heat the sugar and rosemary in a pan and simmer gently, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved then set aside to cool and discard the rosemary sprigs.

To make the buttercream:
Using a stand mixer (I use mine with the whisk attachment for the icing to make it light and fluffy) or hand held electric mixer beat the butter with the icing sugar, cinnamon and cream/crème fraîche and mix until smooth. for 5 minutes until pale and smooth.

To assemble:
Level cakes by cutting off any domed tops and place one layer on a cake plate.  Brush the top with rosemary syrup then smear on the buttercream and then repeat with another layer and continue with the third and fourth layers finishing with a layer of buttercream on the top.  Decorate with rosemary.

It was absolutely delicious and one I'd definitely make again.

Lamb Curry in the slow cooker - Recipe by Bex

I absolutely love my new slow cooker.  It was my Christmas present from Nik & the twins and I've used it so much already!  This recipe is one of the more successful ones I've tried, it was a big hit with the whole family.  I read a few curry recipes and then made this one up.

Browning the lamb, caramelising the onions and cooking the spices are all optional but should give a much richer, more aromatic flavour.

I had planned on taking a nice picture of it plated up but completely forgot as I started devouring it straight away!  I've already planned to make it again this week!!

1 kg diced lamb
2 red onions, thickly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 red chilli, chopped
4 tsp paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
8 whole cardamoms
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

6 potatoes, peeled & diced into 1" chunks
2 bay leaves
2 large tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp of tom puree
2 tins chopped toms
salt to taste

Brown the lamb in a hot pan and add to the slow cooker.  Cook the onions, garlic & chilli in the same pan, add to the slow cooker.  Wipe the pan with kitchen roll to dry and add all the spices and heat until aromatic, add to the slow cooker.  It smells delicious at this point!

Add the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker and stir well.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Just before serving, add in the chopped coriander and stir.  Next time I make it I also plan to add aubergine and fresh spinach about an hour before the end of cooking.  I added the salt at the end as we took some portions out for the twins first.

It was seriously good!

Pear & Fig Mince Pies with Rum and Marzipan - recipe by Bex (Pin it Do it)

I can't believe there are just 10 days left until Christmas already!  If you fancy baking some mincepies, I can highly recommend this recipe, they're quite boozy but very scrumptious!

I've made mince pies with orange pastry from the Hairy Bikers' Christmas recipe book before and really liked them but this year I wanted to try something slightly different and had a look for inspiration online.  I came across this pear & fig mincemeat recipe and adapted it slightly to my taste.  It turned out really well and it was delicious so I thought I'd share my version here.  I made lemon pastry to go with it (another adapted one from this orange pastry recipe) and kept nibbling the raw mixture as it was so nice!  To top them off I used marzipan stars instead of pastry lids.  They were yummy!

Make the mincemeat a few days (or weeks) in advance to let it mature.  This recipe makes a large tub full which will make plenty of pies.  I also thought I might use some to make mince pie ice cream but I haven't tried it yet!  It's quite a boozy recipe, I used rum in mine as I'm not a big fan of whisky or brandy.  (Ditto for my Christmas cake!)

Ingredients
For the mincemeat:
3 pears, diced
150g glace cherries, chopped
150g mixed peel
250g dried figs, diced
200g sultanas
250g raisins
zest of 2 oranges
juice of 1 orange
zest & juice of 1 lemon
5 tbsp brown sugar
200ml Captain Morgan rum
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg

For the pastry:
500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
175g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
375g cold butter
zest and juice of 1 large lemon

For the tops:
Marzipan (I used approx 100g for 12 small pies)

Method
Combine all of the ingredients for the mincemeat in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.  Store in an air-tight container in a cool dark place, stirring every day for 3+ days.

To make the pastry, In a food processor, blitz together the flour, icing sugar and butter until you have fine crumbs.  With the processor still running, add in the zest and 3 tbsp of lemon juice.  The mixture should form clumps quite quickly.  Add a little more juice if required.

Bring the dough together and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  It will keep for 3 days.  (It can also be frozen for up to 1 month.)

When ready to bake your pies, preheat the oven to 180oC.  Grease a muffin tin

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to approx 3-4mm thick.  (I used about half the pastry to make 6 large pies and 18 mini ones.)  Use a cutter to cut out circles to fit your tin, I used a small, deep tin so needed medium sized circles.  Place the bases into your tin and fill generously with mincemeat.  (Not too much though as it will overflow and make the pies difficult to get out as it sticks around the edges!)

Roll out the marzipan to the same thickness, cut out shapes (I used stars) and place on top of the pies.

Bake for around 10-15 minutes (bigger pies will need longer) until golden.  Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin then lever out carefully with a knife to cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar to serve (optional).

Or, eat while still warm with a dollop of cream, my favourite way to indulge!

Bex's Apple & Blackberry crumble recipe

by Bex

This crumble is my new local crumble recipe made from brambles we picked opposite the house and using apples from our local farm shop, grown practically on our doorstep!  I adapted the same recipe I used for my rhubarb & apple crumble in the summer but without pre-cooking the apples as I am more tired now and wanted fewer things to wash/fit in the dishwasher!  I also added a bit more to the crumble topping as a wee experiment - chopped almonds (would have used ground but I found chopped ones in the box!) and the zest of the lemon to add a bit of zing to the topping as well as not to waste a good zest ;)

For the filling:
400g Bramley apples, peeled, cored & chopped
300g other apples, peeled, cored & chopped
200g blackberries (we only had 180g and it was dark when I made the crumble so I didn't pick any more)
40g golden caster sugar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the topping:
140g flour
100g butter
100g demerara sugar
60g rolled oats
20g chopped almonds
zest of 1 lemon

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180oC.

Place the apples and blackberries in a medium sized shallow oven proof dish.  Pour over the lemon juice and evenly sprinkle over the sugar, cinnamon and ginger.

Place all the ingredients for the topping into a food processor and blitz until you have a crumbly mixture.  Cover the fruit mixture with the crumble.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

Serve with your choice of cream or custard.

It was just the right combination of tart and sweet and the zest in the topping turned out to be awesome!  I would highly recommend it :)

Rhubarb & Apple Crumble

by Bex

You may have noticed a couple of my instagram pictures since being pregnant have featured apple crumbles, despite it being summer.  I have been loving a bit of comfort food served with lashing of yummy thick cream.  I certainly seem to have a much sweeter tooth since while I'm pregnant!  Anyway, one of the more fun aspects about moving house is having to eat as much as possible before the packers come!  I have a lot of fruit in the freezer from when I used to make lots of smoothies (something I've actually been off lately) and I had a huge pack of rhubarb in there (although I don't think I ever planned to make a rhubarb smoothie!) which needed using.

Obviously the perfect solution was to make rhubarb crumble!  I also have a couple of ropey apples to use up so added them in too!  I found a few recipes online to get an idea of how long to bake it for (and saw one by Gregg Wallace which included port which I thought might be a nice addition!) and basically made up my own recipe.  Lets face it. it's pretty hard to go wrong with crumble, unlike cakes it's much less precise and scientific!  Luckily it worked out well so here's my recipe below as I think I'll be making this one again, maybe with a bit of stem ginger added next time for a proper warming treat in winter...

For the filling:
500g rhubarb, chopped
3 apples, peeled, cored & chopped (this made the filling quite a large quantity but they needed using up!)
100g golden caster sugar
3 tbsp port (optional - makes it smell quite Christmassy!)

For the topping:
140g flour
100g butter
100g demerara sugar
60g rolled oats (I used 28g as that's all I had)

Place the rhubarb, apple, sugar and port (if using) into a saucepan, cover and simmer for 15 minutes over a low heat.  Add more sugar to taste and when the fruit is soft but still holding it's shape, remove from the heat.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Place all the ingredients for the topping into a food processor and blitz until you have a crumbly mixture.

Pour the fruit mixture into a shallow oven proof dish and sprinkle over the topping.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

Serve with custard or my favourite - lots of lovely extra thick double cream!

I only had pouring cream and not enough patience to whip it!

It was nice and tart without being too sour (although you could obviously add more sugar if you wanted)