Cherry and Blackberry Clafoutis

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 tin black cherries, drained and stoned
100g blackberries
80g sugar
2 large eggs
90g flour
150ml milk
Vanilla extract

* lightly butter a shallow 20cm dish and sprinkle with 1tbsp sugar
* tip the cherries and blackberries into the dish
* beat the remaining ingredients together to form a batter
* pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 35 minutes at 180C
* serve warm and dusted with icing sugar

Blackberry and Apple Pie

My husband and I have decided to start a vegetable plot on a field which his family owns. At the moment it's mostly covered in brambles, so before we started to clear the ground we picked as many ripe blackberries as we could find. It's early in the season, but we ended up with over a kilogram! Time for pie! :-)

Ingredients (makes a 9 inch pie)
150g cold butter, cubed
275g plain flour
30g icing sugar
1 beaten egg
1/2 tbsp cold water
1 cooking apple, cored peeled and chopped
400g blackberries, washed
75g brown sugar
Beaten egg to glaze

* rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar until it looks like breadcrumbs and there are no big lumps of butter left
* add the egg and water and mix by hand until it forms a dough. Shape into a ball and chill for 30 minutes
* heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease a 9inch pie tin. I bought a disposable foil one since I don't currently own a pie tin
* roll out half the dough to line the tin. Try not to handle it more than you need to
* mix the fruit and brown sugar together and fill the pie base, then roll out the remaining pastry to put on top
* cut off any excess pastry and crimp round the edges of the pie with your fingertips. Make a couple of small holes in the lid to allow steam to escape and glaze the top with beaten egg
* bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp

Nutritional info (per 1/8 pie)
Cal: 330, Fat: 16.4g, Carbs: 41.7g, Protein: 4.9g

Fruit crumble

Any fruit works in a crumble, but I love tinned fruit as you don't need to stew it first. On this occasion I used peach and pineapple.

Ingredients (serves 4)
120g plain flour
80g butter
80g caster sugar
20g porridge oats
Ground nutmeg or other spice
1 tin sliced peaches, drained
150g pineapple chunks

* put the flour and 1/2 tsp of your choice of spice in a mixing bowl and add the butter, chopped into cubes.
* using your fingertips, rub the butter and flour together until the mixture resembles bread crumbs
* stir in the sugar and oats
* tip the fruit into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the crumble topping
* bake at 190C for 30 minutes
Best served with custard or cream

Hot Cross Bun Bread and Butter Pudding

We didn't get through our hot cross buns quite quickly enough, and the last few started to go a bit stale so I decided to turn them into a yummy dessert.

Ingredients
4 stale hot cross buns
Butter
2 eggs
25g caster sugar
350ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Brown sugar to finish

* slice the buns and thinly spread with butter then cut into triangles
* beat together the eggs, caster sugar, milk and vanilla
* arrange the bun pieces in a buttered baking dish and pour over the milk mixture.
* sprinkle brown sugar over the top and bake at 180C for around 35 minutes or until golden.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 slices bread, buttered
Several handfuls sultanas or other dried fruit
75g soft brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs
450ml semi-skimmed milk

* preheat the oven to 190C and lightly grease a baking dish
* mix together the sugar and cinnamon
* cut the bread into triangles and arrange, point up, in the dish. Between the layers add a sprinkle of fruit and the sugar mix
* mix together the milk and beaten eggs and pour over the bread. Top with any remaining sugar
* leave for 5 minutes so the milk soaks into the bread
* bake for around 35 minutes

As a variation, you could spread the bread with jam or marmalade

Nutritional info:

Calories: 318, Fat: 7.5g, Carbs: 48.7g, Protein: 11.2g

Pineapple and Apricot Quinoa Bake

Ingredients
90g uncooked quinoa
2 tsp cinnamon
250g chopped fruit (I used tinned pineapple and dried apricots)
250g semi-skimmed milk
1 egg
2 tbsp golden (or maple) syrup

* heat oven to 180C and grease and line a loaf tin
* mix the quinoa with the cinnamon and pour into the base of the tin
* arrange the fruit over the quinoa making sure it's well covered
* beat together the milk, egg and syrup and pour it over the fruit layer
* bake for about an hour, or until set 

Great served warm with cream

Peach cobbler

Ingredients (serves 4)
75g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
120ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tin sliced peaches
50g blueberries (optional)

* grease a small oven dish and heat oven to 190C
* tip peaches and blueberries into the dish
* mix together the flour and sugar, then beat in the vanilla and milk
* pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 50 minutes