Category Archives: Recipe

Apple Cider Bundt Cake

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Makes 1

Ingredients

Cake

  • 2 cups apple cider
  • 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Red Fife flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice mix
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature

Coating

  • 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baobab fruit powder (optional)

Method

  1. Add the apple cider to a medium pan, and over a medium heat boil to reduce to 1/3 cup quantity. Remove from heat and allow to cool
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  3. Prepare a 12-cup bundt pan by liberally spraying with baking spray, or generously grease with butter and flour. Pay special attention to all those crevices and folds
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt
  5. In separate bowl, whisk together sugar, cooled cider concentrate , oil, applesauce, vanilla, and eggs
  6. Add egg mixture to flour mixture; whisk until combined, making sure there are no flour pockets
  7. Transfer batter to prepared pan, and bake for 45- 50 minutes, until a tester inserted in center comes out clean
  8. Transfer pan to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet; let cool 15 minutes
  9. While the cake cools make the coating. Mix together remaining sugar, cinnamon and Baobab fruit powder
  10. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a cooling rack set over some baking parchment
  11. Brush with melted butter, then sprinkle liberally with the sugar coating. Let cool completely before serving

Air Fryer Apple Pies

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Makes 8

Ingredients

  • 3 cups peeled apples, diced
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 and 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 8 egg roll wrappers
  • 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoon sugar

Method

  1. Preheat air fryer to 400°.
  2. In a small bowl, combine apples, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and cornstarch and mix well
  3. With a corner of an egg roll wrapper facing you, spread 1 scant tablespoon cream cheese to within 1 in. of edges.
  4. Place 2-3 tablespoons apple mixture just below center of wrapper
  5. Fold bottom corner over filling; moisten remaining wrapper edges with water. Fold side corners toward center over filling. Roll egg roll up tightly, pressing at tip to seal. Repeat with remaining egg roll wrappers
  6. In batches, arrange egg rolls in a single layer on greased tray in air-fryer basket; spritz with cooking spray (I usally do mine in 2 batches of 4)
  7. Cook until golden brown, 5 minutes. Turn; spritz with cooking spray. Cook until golden brown and crisp, usually another 5 minutes.
  8. On a separate plate, combine sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon; roll hot egg rolls in mixture to coat (using a tongs help!)
  9. Serve and enjoy! (Leave to rest for about 5 minutes as the internal filling can be quite hot!)

*If you’re upscaling this recipe for more than 8 apple pies, I’ve found it best to make and cook 8 at a time. Any more and you risk letting the ones sit uncooked becoming soggy

**Cooked apple pies can be quickly reheated in your air-fryer preheated at 350F for 3 minutes

    Dead Man’s Fingers

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    What’s Halloween without a little treat from the Other World, huh? These delightfully dreadful cookies are a wonderful treat to have lying around at any festively freakish gathering. A spin on traditional sugar cookies, they really do look more than the sum of their parts. They’re also easy enough that you can rope in some ghoulish little helpers for the fun.

    A point to note that like all sugar cookies, you want to avoid baking them to the usual cookie state of “golden brown”- this will result in them being a tad too hard for enjoyment. Bake them for the time required below, or until hte edges are just starting to turn a light golden brown. The cookies may look under-baked but trust me here- they will taste so much better!

    Makes apx 24 (depending on size)

    Ingredients

    Graveyard Dirt

    • ¼ cup butter; melted
    • 1 Cup granulated sugar
    • 1 Cup cocoa powder
    • ½ pinch salt
    • slivered almonds; chopped walnut; shaved dark chocolate; shaved milk chocolate (Optional)

    Fingers Cookies

    • 2 cups All Purpose Flour
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼ teaspoon fine salt
    • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 large egg, at room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 28 large, flaked almonds
    • ½ cup smooth, raspberry jam
    • 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

    Method

    Graveyard Dirt

    1. Melt butter in the microwave in a small glass or ceramic bowl (microwave safe) and allow to cool to room temperature
    2. In a large mixing bowl, blend the sugar, salt, and cocoa powder until thoroughly mixed
    3. While whisking, slowly add the melted butter and continue mixing gently until blended, but dry
    4. Using a fork, continue mixing until it looks like dark soil
    5. At this stage mix in the chopped nuts to give the soil texture
    6. Spoon the “dirt” on to your serving plate or tray, ready for your finger cookies

    Fingers Cookies

    1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a cookie sheet with baking spray or line with a silicone mat, or baking parchment. Set aside until needed
    2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside until needed
    3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed, about 10 minutes
    4. Add in the egg, vanilla and mix until well combined and smooth.
    5. Gradually beat in the dry flour mixture, ¼ cup at a time until a dough forms
    6. Remove the bowl and using about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms into 5-inch-long fingers about 1/2-inch thick. Firmly press a sliced almond into the end of each finger to make fingernails
    7. Make several horizontal cuts, about 1/4 inch deep, in the center of each finger to make mimic skin folds at the knuckles. Gently press the dough on either side of the cuts to shape the knuckles
    8. Arrange the fingers on the prepared baking sheet and bake until light golden, 16 to 18 minutes
    9. Transfer the fingers to a wire rack and cool completely
    10. While the cookies cool, in a small saucepan, combine the jam, corn syrup and heat over low heat until warm, about 2 minutes, stirring gently
    11. Dip the blunt ends of the fingers in the warm jam and arrange on a plate of the graveyard dirt for serving

    Homemade Cookie Butter

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    Ingredients

    • 9oz speculoos cookies
    • 1/2 cup brown sugar
    • 1/3 cup evaporated milk
    • 1/4 cup water
    • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 2 Tablespoons dark corn syrup
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 cup coconut oil

    Method

    1. Place the cookies in a food processor and blend to your desired cookie butter texture. The finer the crumb off cookie the smoother the final result will be
    2. Transfer the processed cookie crumbs from the processor to a medium pan and combine with brown sugar, evaporated milk, water, ground cinnamon, dark corn syrup, and salt
    3. Heat over a medium heat, stirring until the mixture is well combined, the sugar has dissolved and the cookies crumbs have almost dissolved. If the mixture starts to bubble, reduce the heat to a simmer
    4. Remove from the heat and place in a heat proof bowl. Leave to cool for 5 minutes
    5. Add in the coconut oil, stirring carefully until melted and almost incorporated
    6. Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until it is fully emulsified and thick
    7. Transfer to a sterilised glass jar and transfer to the fridge to allow the mixture to set. This allows the dispersed coconut oil to fully set within the mixture
    8. To use remove the cookie butter from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature for best taste

    Smoked Pumpkin Spice Latte Donuts

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    Makes 18-20

    Ingredients

    Donuts

    • 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
    • ½ cup canola oil
    • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
    • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
    • 1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree
    • 1/3 cup milk, room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

    Milk Glaze

    • 3 cups powdered sugar
    • 5 Tablespoons milk
    • ½ teaspoon extract

    Coffee Glaze

    • 2 teaspoons espresso powder
    • 2 teaspoons water
    • Brown food coloring, optional

    Optional

    Pumpkin Spice mix, to decorate

    Method

    Donuts

    1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray/brush donut pan with non-stick spray. Set aside
    2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside.
    3. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, milk, liquid smoke, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then fold everything together gently just until combined and no white streaks of flour remain
    4. Using a piping bag, pipe the batter into the donut pans, filling about halfway
    5. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until the edges and tops are lightly browned. Cool donuts in the pan for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Re-grease the pan and bake the remaining donut batter
    6. Leave to cool fully before glazing

    Glazes

    1. In a small saucepan, combine the milk glaze ingredients
    2. Cook over low-medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the glaze is warm, the sugar has melted and, after a brief pause, starts to form a crust on top. Remove from heat
    3. Dip one side of each doughnut into the glaze, gently shaking it to allow any excess glaze to drip off. Be sure to stir the glaze between each doughnut to prevent a crust forming in the pan. If the glaze in the pan sets too quickly, simply heat over a gentle heat, stirring till it is smooth again
    4. Set donuts on a cooling rack for the glaze to set
    5. Once all the doughnuts are glazed, add the coffee glaze ingredients to the remaining glaze. Stir the glaze until all the espresso powder has dissolved. Add a drop of brown food coloring, if using and stir to a uniform color
    6. Pour the espresso glaze into a piping bag, and drizzle over the doughnuts (preferably with a piece of parchment paper under them)
    7. Sprinkle a pinch of pumpkin spice mix, if using, over each donut to finish and set aside to fully set