Cherry Crumble

by Nessa Robins

Normally associated as an autumnal dessert, when the typical fruit of choice, the apple, is in peak season, a crumble is one pudding I find well placed year-round as any seasonal fruit makes for a delicious pairing to the crumbly top. 

I received some gorgeous plump Irish organic cherries in my veg box this week, which spurred me on to produce this delicious dessert. Cherries make for the perfect base in this recipe, but are very much interchangeable with whatever soft fruit you may have to hand. 

Cherries are packed with nutrients and antioxidants, and even though cooking any fruit can impact their nutrient content, the cherries still retain a lot of their goodness. Spelt flour, oats, and almonds also add an extra nutrient boost to this dessert, while creating a delicious crunch to the finished dish. 

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Cherry Crumble

Ingredients

Crumble

Base

  • 400g cherries, stones removed
  • 1tbsp cornflour
  • 1tsp vanilla extract

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6.
  2.  To prepare the crumble, place the flour in a bowl with the oats, almonds, and sugar. Add the butter and rub it into the mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 
  3. Place the cherries in a large ovenproof dish. Add the cornflour and vanilla. Stir to combine.
  4. Sprinkle over the crumble mixture and place the dish on a baking tray. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden brown. Serve with ice cream, softly whipped cream or custard.

Chocolate Banana Ice Cream with a Pecan Crunch 

by Nessa Robins

This chocolate ice-cream is packed with ingredients your gut is going to love. Potassium, magnesium, and fibre rich bananas are great for the digestive system. Ensure the bananas are fully frozen before you make this dessert, as the creaminess of the blitzed frozen banana is the secret to this ice-cream. Also, to keep the gut happy, ensure the yogurt you’re using has declared it includes ‘live active cultures’. The added cacao is full of antioxidants and gives a delicious chocolate hit.

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Chocolate Banana Ice Cream with a Pecan Crunch 

Ingredients

Topping

  • 50g pecans
  • 1 tbsp honey

Method

1. Peel and slice the bananas. Place in a freezer-proof container and pop in the freezer for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight.

2. Once the bananas are fully frozen, add them with the yogurt, cacao powder and maple into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth. 

3. Pour into a freezer-proof dish and place in the freezer for about two hours. 

4. In the meantime, make the pecan crunch. Place a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pecans and dry fry for about two minutes, tossing regularly. Once the pecans start to brown a little, drizzle over the honey. Stir to combine. Take from the heat, and carefully transfer the sticky pecans to a plate to set. Once completely cooled, break the pecan crunch into pieces.

5. Scoop the chocolate banana ice-cream into bowls, scatter over some pecan crunch and serve.

Blood Orange Sorbet

by Liz Child

All you need to make this sorbet is ONE ingredient, blood oranges (plus a freezer and a food processor). We are obsessed with blood oranges at the moment. Have you tried one yet? They are only around for a short season each year, so don’t miss out! They are a little sweeter than your usual oranges, with a stunning raspberry twist. Having that gorgeous purple/red hue is a sign of anthocyanin, a really powerful antioxidant which is brilliant for heart health. This sorbet makes a stunning palette cleanser between courses if you are cooking up a fancy feast, otherwise it is just a delicious, healthy dessert. No need for added sugar and it still feels like a luxurious treat!

Liz x

Ingredients

  • Blood oranges

Method

  1. Peel blood oranges and place the segments on a tray or plate which fits in your freezer. Freeze overnight or until solid. Remove from the freezer around 15 minutes before you need to serve the sorbet. It is best served directly from the blender.
  2. Put the frozen segments into your food processor with the S blade attachment. Blend until it turns into sorbet. At first it will look grainy and like it is not going to work. Don’t give up. Stop the machine a few times to scrape down the sides and keep blending. After a while the sorbet will turn creamy and smooth. Stop before it gets too juicy/melted.
  3. Working quickly now, scoop the sorbet out of the processor into a tub. Press it down and smooth it out with the back of the spoon. Dunk an ice cream scoop into a cup of hot water, then scoop out large balls of sorbet and enjoy!

Simple Apple Galette

by Liz Child

Galettes are the easiest pies to make. We love their beautiful rustic shape and the flexibility they bring. You can get creative and make them sweet with fruit, jam, chunks of marzipan or chocolates, or savoury with vegetables, cheese, pesto etc. Use your favourite flavours and the results will always be delicious! I use the same, sugar free, shortcrust pastry for both sweet and savoury versions, but of course you can add a spoon of sugar to the pastry if you like it a little sweeter. You can also add extra flavours to the pastry to match the fillings if you like. For example cinnamon in an apple galette, lemon zest and fresh rosemary in a parsnip galette, switch out some of the flour with ground hazelnuts or almonds… the possibilities are endless. We would love to hear about your favourite galettes in the comments please.

Liz x

Ingredients

  • 200g plain flour
  • 125g butter
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 tbsp cold water
  • 3 apples, peeled, sliced and placed in water with a squeeze of lemon juice to stop it going brown
  • a handful of sugar

Method

  1. The easiest way to make pastry is with a food processor with the ’S’ blade attachment. If you don’t have one you can use a bowl and your hands to rub the butter into the flour then bring it into a ball with the water.
  2. If you have a processor, place the flour, salt and butter in the processor and pulse until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Then run the processor and add a tbsp of cold water while it is running, after a few seconds, add another tbsp and see if it forms into a ball. If not, add another tbsp of water and the dough should gather up and spin around into a ball. Stop the processor as soon as a ball forms.
  3. Gather the dough into a neat ball and place in a bowl. Cover with a lightly damp tea towel and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you pre-heat the oven to 180C and prepare the filling. This time I peeled and sliced apples and placed them into a bowl of acidulated water (water with a squeeze of lemon juice).
  4. When the dough is rested, remove it from the oven and place it onto a floured baking sheet. To be sure it will not stick, I usually line the sheet with a piece of baking parchment too, but this is optional. Press the dough down into a round disc then roll it out into a large, 4mm thick round.
  5. Arrange the fruit in the middle of the pastry, sprinkle with sugar and then gather up the sides. Remember, rustic is beautiful so no need to worry about tears and uneven folds here.
  6. Place the baking sheet and pie into the pre-heated oven (180C) and bake until golden. In my oven, this usually takes around 30-40 minutes, but do keep an eye on yours as ovens vary so much.
  7. Remove from the oven and enjoy hot or cold in slices with ice-cream.