There’s something truly special about Autumn mornings. Early morning walks in the local woods reveal a ravishing crop of colour – from auburn red & golden yellow leaves to deep green holly, their spiky & spectacular foliage defiantly remaining gloriously glossy amongst the backdrop of crisp, colourful leaves, deliciously damp air & thorny hedgerows bearing beautiful fruits.
Seasonal fruits & berries are especially full of flavour, perfect for packing into an array of pastries & pretty desserts. Then there are those less-than-perfect pickings, the ones that don’t quite have the same aesthetic appeal – these are my favourites. Those punnets of berries marked down in the shops are like gold! Perfection is OK, but it doesn’t always mean flavour. Maybe they’re a bit squishy or rather over-ripe, but those berries are full to the brim with flavour & can be turned into tasty treats galore. A recent trip to the local shops resulted in a bag full of berry deliciousness, perfect for a homemade jam-session.
This is one of my favourite & easiest ways to turn that berry bounty into a juicy jammy-crammed spread for cakes, toast & treats. It’s not overly-sweet, having a slight twangy tartness that gives it a fresh-fruit flavour. Also, you can use fresh or frozen fruit, or both – I like to mix them, topping up the fresh with frozen ones whenever needed. Now, before you start rolling your eyes & wandering off, jam making needn’t be difficult, time-consuming or messy. Trust me, I’m not one for faffing around in the kitchen – this is literally punnet-to-pan jam in under 30 minutes (not including waiting for it to cool though – I’m not a magician!). Intrigued? Hands washed, aprons on & let’s get jamming!
What you need:
400g Fresh or Frozen Raspberries
200g Fresh or Frozen Blackberries
300g Sugar (I use regular sugar, nothing fancy)
2 tablespoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice (half a lemon approx*)
2 tablespoons Cold Water
(* Keep that squeezed lemon half for the end of the recipe)
3 Jam Jars & Lids (the mixture makes 2 full & 1 half jars approx)
3 Cupcake Cases (all will be revealed later)
1 Medium-sized Oven-Proof Glass Bowl
1 Stainless Steel Saucepan (not your best non-stick one)
1 Small Plate or Saucer
What to do:
Firstly, let’s do a little prep! Put the small plate or saucer into the fridge for testing your jam at the end.
Next, here’s how I sterilize jam jars. Pre-heat the oven to 165*C. Wash the jars & their lids in hot soapy water, rinse & shake off the excess water. Place them on a clean baking tray in the oven (keep the jars the right way up) & bake for 10 minutes or so. I like to get these washed & ready to go in the oven for when I start making the jam, so it saves time (multi-tasking at it’s finest!).
Remove the tray from the oven & leave on a cooling rack – do not touch the insides of the jars or lids once cooled (or you’ll have to start again).
That’s the prep done, onto the jamming! Pop the berries into the saucepan, add the water & fresh lemon juice, then gently heat on low for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. This is to soften the fruit skins & allow the juices to be released. For those of you asking, “where’s the pectin?”, it’s in the lemon juice – all citrus fruits have large amounts of natural pectin in them & that’s what helps with the firming process of jam. It also saves you money, because you don’t need to buy special sugar for this recipe.
Remove from the heat, add the sugar & stir gently to dissolve into the fruit. Put the pan back on the heat & turn it up a little, until the fruit begins to boil. Bubble away for about 15-18 minutes. Important bit – DO NOT STIR! Swirl very gently if you must, but set that spoon down!
To test the jam, scoop a teaspoonful onto the cold plate & tilt it slightly. The jam should move a little, but very slowly, if at all – that’s how you know it’s ready.
Carefully, scoop into a clean, heat-proof glass bowl & cover with clingfilm – press it gently onto the surface of the jam, so you don’t get any condensation. If you don’t want any seeds in your jam, put a sieve over the glass bowl to strain. Rinse the seeds & tip into the composter.
Leave to cool until almost room temperature, then pop in the fridge for an hour to set.
While you’re waiting, the jam pan is looking a bit of a mess right now, so here’s how we turn it from sticky to sparkly again! Grab that half a squeezed lemon, rub it around the inside of the pan & leave it there. Add a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda, a tablespoon of white vinegar & a good squirt of washing-up liquid – it will get fizzy & bubbly, don’t panic. Half-fill with hot water, give everything a good stir around & leave it to stand on the side for half an hour. Give it a wash in hot soapy water – all clean again! I use this method for cleaning all my stainless steel pans & trays (I also use it for cleaning the cooker top & oven, but that’s another story!).
Time to jar up that jam! Get your freshly sterilised jars & scoop that jam into them, leaving a half inch space at the top of the jar. Place a cupcake case over the top, outer side up & press over the jar, then put the lid on & tighten. Not only does it look pretty, but it helps make a better seal & also keeps your lids from getting gooey.
Once your jam is packed into pretty jars, either store them in the fridge or a cool pantry. Once opened, definitely pop them in the fridge. I cannot say exactly how long they keep, as it doesn’t last long enough. However, it’s usually a week or two before they’re completely demolished.
Delectably dark & a gorgeously glossy garnet shade, this beautiful berry-crammed jam is so flavoursome! Perfect spread on toast, sandwiched in a spongecake or simply spooned into pastry cups to make the jammiest of jam tarts. Try adding a tablespoonful to a cup of Greek yoghurt, swirled around to make the most vibrant fruity breakfast treat. So next time you see punnets of pretty berries looking lost & unloved, pick up a few & get jamming! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
Spring has arrived, a flourish of foliage appearing on the trees & new growth in the garden. This is also a time of Spring cleaning & doing all those jobs you wanted to do over the Winter, but it was too soggy & cold. A little bit of sunshine does everyone the power of good too. While we were out recently, we decided to have a little treat for lunch – a small cheeseburger & fries. It was not my finest decision & reminded me of a line in a film – “what’s wrong with this picture?”. The fries were hot but tasteless (no salt) & the burger was sad, cold & rather flat in every respect. You could have bounced the bun down the motorway, it was that stale! On the way home, my Husband suggested we make our own burgers. Although it’s not my forte, I said “hold my spatula!” & that’s how the delicious Dunn Burger happened (named by my wonderful Husband).
Fast forward to today & I’ve recreated my delicious burger with a few supporting acts – homemade buns, crispy baked onion rings & my chunky “Aimée chips”. It took me a whole afternoon to make everything, but it was definitely worth it & let’s face it, if you’re going to do something, might as well do it properly. Also, I’m no expert on burgers, this is just the way I do it.
Divide the beef into four equal pieces & gently shape each one into a ball. Be careful not to squeeze them too much, otherwise they will be tough & won’t cook properly.
Once the bacon has started to get some colour to it, transfer the bacon to a baking tray & cover with foil.
Once your burgers look gnarly & you’re happy with them, pile up a little cheese on each burger & cover with a large saucepan lid or cake tin for a couple of minutes – this will help to melt the cheese. If you use a cake tin, remember it will get hot, so use tongs to lift it off your burgers.
Knead firmly for about 8-10 minutes, stretching the dough away from you with the heel of one hand & pulling it back towards you. Try not to tear the dough as you do this. Repeat & keep going until the dough is a smooth & supple ball. If you need a bit of flour as you knead, sprinkle a little onto the worktop & use the pastry scraper to loosen the dough if it gets sticky.
prove for another 20 minutes, until they have doubled again.
To check if your buns are baked, pick one up & tap the bottom – if it sounds hollow, they’re ready.
top with a spoon of squished tinned tomatoes (tip them in a bowl & get your hands in). Then add slices of mozzarella or whatever cheese you like, a few mushrooms or peppers & maybe some ham. Sprinkle with a little Basil, Oregano & black pepper, dust with Parmesan & bake for 8 minutes in a hot oven (220*C) – easy mini bun pizzas! They’re perfect as a light lunch, swift supper or a simple cheesy snack.
It’s this time of year that always seems magical. Trees have an abundance of Autumnal toned leaves, as they tumble around like confetti on the breeze, swooning in swathes wherever they land. Late blooming flowers appear, their vibrant blossoms adding some freshness to the greenery that remains. Although it’s November, the sun shines just as brightly as in earlier months, spilling spectacular shades across the skies as it arrives & departs each day.
especially those childhood dishes that evoke fond memories of deliciousness. The mere mention of puff pastry takes me to a stool in my Mum’s kitchen, watching her create all kinds of pastry treats & especially savoury pasties. She would make shortcrust pastry ones, filled with her heavenly homemade stew (our version of a Cornish pasty). Leftovers would be lovingly wrapped in fabulously flaky pastry parcels, deliciously warm & comforting. And then there were my favourites – crisp buttery puff pastry packed with mashed potatoes, cheese & onion. There would always be some mashed potatoes leftover from the previous night’s dinner, just enough to make a few pasties for lunch the next day.
Using your fingertips, rub the butter chunks into the flour a little – we don’t want it like fine breadcrumbs, more like a rough rubble texture with plenty of lumps. This is just breaking down the butter a bit to make rolling easier.
Place your saucer or plate on the pastry, cutting neatly around the edge & repeat until you have cut out as many as you can. Where you have leftover pieces of pastry, place them on top of each other, reshape & roll out again. Sometimes, I’ll just shape these last ones with my fingers rather than cutting them out again (trust me, it will all be fine once they’re baked).
Brush a little beaten egg around the edge of the pastry & fold the top half of the pastry over, pressing the edges together to seal in your filling. From one corner of the pasty, gradually squish the edges together to form a crust, finishing at the other corner. Lift onto your prepared baking tray, prick holes with a fork in the top. Repeat this step, until you have all your pasties made.
Place on a cooling rack for a few minutes – even if you’re eating them warm, they will be like the surface of the sun right now & melt your mouth. While they’re cooling a little, grab a few crisp salad leaves or some chunky chips (or both), pile them on a plate & tuck in!
These delicious pasties also make fabulous flaky finger-foods, great for picnics & parties – just make smaller nibble-sized ones & add a spicy tomato dip for dunking! I use my tomato sauce recipe for meatballs & add a pinch of cayenne to give it a kick (recipe link here: 
Weekends are perfect for baking & I especially adore Sunday mornings! It’s as if time stands still, those precious couple of hours when it’s just you, your cup of coffee calmness & the birds singing outside. Although I do love baking anytime, there’s a ravishingly relaxing appeal about weekend baking – up & at ’em early, whipping up a batch of bakes, their heavenly scent perfuming the whole house while everyone sleeps. Plus, we all have those days where only cake will do, even for breakfast. This is one of my favourite family “weekend baking” recipes & it fills that cake-shaped gap we sometimes have.
When I wrote this recipe, I wanted the fluffiness of a cupcake combined with the moist fruitiness of a muffin, so I created my brown sugar cuffins – no, that’s not a spelling error! My cuffins are just what Sunday mornings need – a delicious cupcake-muffin hybrid that’s a little bit lazy & fabulously faff-free. There’s not a drop of oil in sight, definitely no buttercream & there’s more whisking than stirring (electric whisking too, so very little effort required). They’re not going to win any awards for their supermodel looks either – cuffins are meant to be gloriously rustic homemade fayre, rather than delicate dainty perfection. Over the years, I’ve used different fillings (raspberry & white chocolate is always popular), but these are my favourite version. I’ll admit, they’re not the healthiest option, but they are exquisitely satisfying & if you do eat them for breakfast, you’ve got the whole day to burn off those calories!
The recipe below makes a dozen cuffins, although I like to bake double this amount & freeze some for future cuffin cravings (it’s real, trust me!). Ready to bake it happen? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
Leave them for a couple of minutes, until the syrup has soaked nicely into the top of each cuffin. If you allow to cool completely, you can freeze them in small batches using a bag or air-tight container. They take a few minutes to defrost on a cooling rack & will still be as moist & fluffy as when you first baked them – perfect for when you crave a cake, but don’t want to bake!
Before the rest of the family get up, go pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, grab a cuffin or two & indulge in a little cakely goodness before you start your day! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
I’ve been designing cake, making tiny tea sets & small sugar bunnies to sit on the top, I’ve also been writing & doing numerous things at the same time, like the multi-tasking ninja that I am. When the weather is unpredictable, there is one thing you need to be able to rely on & that’s a rich, rib-sticking dinner to warm you through!
It’s efficient, versatile & quick to cook. Making pasta is one of my favourite things to do & it’s something we make together as a family. When my Son is home, we make pasta & pizzas, all congregating in the kitchen & chatting simultaneously, whilst we work on creating dinner. It’s what cooking is all about for me & that’s how our children learn, by cooking with us. There are times when stress will start to invade your life & making pasta is one of the best things to de-stress, relax & take your mind off everything.
Because my Husband works shifts, I like to make a variety of dinners & freeze them in two-portion pots, ready to be whipped out of the freezer at a moment’s notice. Usually, the freezer has at least one whole drawer filled with a selection of lasagnes & they’re all different. There’s the lasagne al forno, which is the one with meat (usually beef), a sumptuous spinach & cream cheese layered lovely & then, one of my favourites: vegetable lasagne! I have been a vegetarian a couple of times & this luxurious layered dish is one of my favourite indulgences! It’s lighter & quicker to make than a meat lasagne, but fabulously filling & you can create this velvety vegetable version in around half the time. Plus you can make it in advance & freeze it in individual pots for those evenings when you need instant pasta gratification. Fancy a go? Hands washed & aprons on!
Take the seeds & any white pith out of the peppers (save the seeds & you can plant them in eggboxes on the windowsill). Chop the peppers into bite-sized pieces. It doesn’t need to be perfect or anything. Add them to the dish with the courgettes in.
Add the tomato puree, Basil & Oregano, along with the sugar & a good pinch of the black pepper & sea salt to season your vegetable ragu. Give everything a good stir to distribute the puree & seasonings thoroughly.
As the sauce thickens up, you should start to feel some resistance with the whisk. Keep whisking (swap hands if your wrist aches) & when you are satisfied with the thickness, add a couple of ounces of the grated mild cheddar & whisk until melted. Turn off the heat.
Here’s a tip to help you fit your dried pasta sheets to those rounded corners of your dish. Take your dried lasagne sheet & snap off the top corner edge with your thumb, about 1cm in. Lay the lasagne sheet with the missing edge nearest the corner, then take the piece you snapped off & turn it around, placing it in the corner with the pointy end towards the middle of the dish. You’re welcome! All these years, we’ve all been trying to make it fit & then a few years ago, I decided to use up some random pieces & that was it!
Cover the ragu with a layer of lasagne, making your corners fit as above.
Spread it evenly with the back of the spoon you used before, then sprinkle liberally with the mixed grated cheese. This will give you a gorgeous, crispy cheesy topping. Sprinkle a good pinch of dried Oregano over the top, squeezing it in the tips of your fingers as you do so, to release the pungent fragrance of this wonderful herb.
Serve with a huge green salad & maybe a few chunky chips, if you feel the need. Any leftovers can be packed up into pots for lunches (hot or cold, it’s rather nice), or frozen for lazy late night suppers, curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine.
Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, giving everything a turn halfway through with a spoon.
from a creamy colour to golden. Put them on a plate to cool.
Tip the whole jar of pesto into the pasta (yes, all of it). Give it a good stir around, completely coating all the pasta.
If you’ve got roast chicken in the fridge that needs eating, rip some of that up & add some to the pasta without Mozzarella.