Cranberry and Pumpkins Seed Flapjack

With this beautiful weather you may think I've gone a little crazy for making this comfort food snack in the blazing sunshine, but after experiencing a 'cranberry and seed slice' at a little cafe on site at Pendennis Castle while on holiday I just had to try and replicate the sensational taste.

I took my basic flapjack recipe and played around with it to make these lovely slices, I hope they do the original justice.

FOR THE FLAPJACK

250g/9oz Butter

85g/3oz Light Muscovado sugar

175g/6oz Golden Syrup

350g/12 oz Porridge Oats

½ tsp Baking Powder

50g/2oz Sunflower Seeds

25g/1oz Pumpkin Seeds

25/1oz Dried Cranberries

FOR THE TOPPING

85g/3oz Pumpkin Seeds

85g/3oz Dried Cranberries

2 tbs Golden Syrup

Preheat oven to 170°C (350°F, gas mark 4, non fan 180°C).

Butter and line a 9 x 9 inch baking tin.

Melt butter, Sugar and syrup in a pan on a low heat.

Stir into the Oats and add the baking powder, Cranberries and Pumpkin seeds.

Tin into the baking tin, pushing down into the corners and smoothing down with a spoon.

Baking for 20-25 mins or until edges start to brown.

Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before turning out onto a chopping board, dividing into 8 long slices. Leave to fully cool on a wire tray.

For the topping, mix the golden syrup, into the cranberries and pumpkin seeds, coat well, and scatter over the cut flapjack.

It turned out beautifully, here it is in the tin, out in the sunshine.

With the green and red colours I think these would be perfect at Christmas but taste great all year. And for all the added nutritional value from the seeds, oats and cranberries I probably won't be working out the calorie count on these ;)

Here comes the Bride Biscuits!!

As I can't actually share any of the wedding prep with you for fear of spoiling the surprise for all our guests, I'm quite pleased to able to share these biscuits - A little favour I've made for my pre-wedding family dinner tonight.

Originally I quite fancied the idea of using biscuits as place names, but with 80 guests I didn't think I've have the time or the patience.

I used my basic 'cookie cutter' biscuit recipe:

250g plain flour

125g caster sugar

125g unsalted butter

1 medium egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Cream together the butter and sugar.

2. Add the egg and vanilla little by little.

3. Sift in half the flour, mix, and then add the rest.

4. Knead the dough until smooth.

5. Wrap the bowl in clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour.

6. Pre heat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/4 (170ºC fan).

7. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, to about a 5mm thickness.

8. Use your cutters to cut out shapes (intricate shapes may transport better if you lift the cookie with the cutter on your pallet knife).

9. Put your shapes on trays lined with baking parchment.

10. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

11. Leave to cool on the trays.

12. Ice Once cooled.

I opted for a few different icing styles (the pink are my first attempts at drop-in icing), but for the majority I used my cutter to cut white regal icing to the exact shape, which I attached with royal icing, I then made flower impressions on top using my daisy cutters, and brushed some regal icing on the tips of the petals for detail.

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They aren't perfect, but they were cathartic to make and look lovely now I've bagged and ribboned them.

Super Easy Yorkshire Pudding Recipe

As a 'yorkshire lass' (a title I'm keeping even thou we moved away when I was 3) a roast isn't a roast without some Yorkshire puddings and lashings of gravy. Despite this I have never actually made one from scratch before, and as we were all out of the frozen variety my Mum convinced me to try her super easy recipe for making them, I was surprised at how well they came out so thought I'd share the recipe.

Yorkshire Puddings

(makes about 12)

1/2 a cup of plain flour

1/2 a cup of eggs

1/2 a cup of cold milk

12 tsps of vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Pour vegetable oil into each of the of recesses of a bun tray (enough to cover the base, about 1 tsp each).

Put the oiled tray into the oven for 5 minutes or until oil very very hot.

Carefully take the tray out, place on a heat proof surface and quickly spoon some of the mixture into each of the recesses before the oil cools, about a dessert spoon each, there should be a little sizzle as the mixture meets the oil.

Put quickly back into the oven and leave for about 20 minutes or until fully risen and brown (don't open the oven door during the rising stage).

Serve up straight from the oven with lots of gravy and the Roast meat of your choice (although traditionally this should be Beef)