Oat and cranberry cups with White chocolate fudge filling

This was an experiment after trying to work out how to make the White Chocolate Raspberry and Yoghurt Clusters from Marks and Spencer but actually ended up being the biggest hit with my co-workers.

Oat Cups:

1cup butter
1/3cup light brown sugar
3 cups oats
1 cup flour
1tbsp honey
2/3 cranberries or other dried fruit

Filling:

1can condensed milk
200g White chocolate

Method:

Heat the oven to 180C

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in oats, flour and honey. Once Fully incorporated stir through the cranberries.

Now take a muffin tin and drop a spoonful into each well. Then take a teaspoon and press the mixture in to make little cups , like an oat cupcake case.

Bake these for 15 mins.

Meanwhile make the filling. Do this by melting the White chocolate and condensed milk together.

Once the cases are starting to brown, take them out and fill each with the White chocolate mixture.

Now put back in the oven and cook until the filling is set!

Vegetarian Morrocan Spiced Pie

This recipe is ideal for a dinner party. It can be made a day in advance (which I would recommend as it deepens the flavours) and is enjoyed by both vegetarians and meat eaters.

You can play around with this recipe substituting some of the flavours and spices for different ones, as long as you keep the core ingredients.

Below I have used puff pastry but in the past I have used filo pastry which I prefer, especially at a dinner party as as it is slightly lighter and easy to combine with a three course meal.

You can make your own pastry but shop brought pastry tends to be of a high quality and I would recommend for convenience.

Ingredients:

Butternut squash ( 1 large or 2 small)
Cumin and coriander seeds for roasting
Ground cumin, paprika, coriander ( if you don't like coriander use parsley and likewise if you like spice add chili flakes)
Pepper
2 garlic gloves
I lemon juice and rind
2 red onions
Tin of chickpeas
Fresh coriander/ parsley
Ginger
Bag of spinach
2tbsp honey
Handful of pistachios, flamed almonds and cranberries (can use other seeds/nuts like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins etc)
Filo or puff pastry (I prefer filo)

Optional: natural yogurt, Harissa paste and fresh coriander

Method:


1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and once heated place the butternut squash in coated in some oil. Take it out after 20 mins. The skin should now be soft enough to peel away with a small knife. Remove the skin and chop into cubes and coat in cumin, coriander and paprika. Pop back in the oven until soft (about 30mins)

2. Whilst the squash is roasting, toast the cumin and coriander seeds on a hot dry frying pan. When you start to smell the spices, add some oil, a chopped garlic clove, a cube of chopped ginger and the chopped onions. Fry the onions for ten minutes until browned and the add paprika, spinach, pistachios, almonds and honey. Cook until the spinach wilts and then take off heat and add the cranberries.

3. Now make the houmous. To do this my add chickpeas, chopped garlic, fresh coriander,lemon rind, cumin and paprika to a pan and heat in oil and lemon juice. Cook until the chickpeas are soft and then take off the heat and use a food processor to blend to a paste. At this point I add some natural yogurt to make the paste smoother and less stodgy.

4. Once the squash is cooked, you can assemble the pie. You do this by laying out the pastry sheets in a square or round baking tray. Then place the butter squash in the middle, this will form the bottom layer. Next add a layer of the chickpea Paste, followed by a layer of the spinach mix, then add another layer of the chickpea paste and finish with a layer of the spinach mix. Then fold the pastry sides over so the top is open but the sides are covered and the edge of the top.

5. Now leave in the fridge until you are ready to cook it. When ready cook at 180 degrees for 20 mins or until brown.
Serve with a yogurt sauce ( simply yogurt, Harissa and fresh coriander).

Then enjoy!