Saffron's Brownies

Ingredients

·         375g good-quality dark chocolate        

375g butter , cut into pieces

·         6 medium eggs·        

500g caster sugar

·         225g plain flour

For the topping

·         140g good-quality dark chocolate        

50g butter , cut into pieces

·        icing sugar for dusting

Method

1.    Butter and line a 30cm x 21cm tin. Preheat the oven to fan 160/conventional 180/gas 4. Break up the chocolate with the butter and melt in the microwave on Medium for about 5 minutes, stirring halfway through.

2.    Beat the sugar and eggs in a bowl. Stir in the melted chocolate, add the flour and beat well. Pour into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the top looks papery and feels slightly wobbly. Leave to cool in the tin.

3.    Break up the chocolate with the butter and melt in the microwave on Medium for about 1 minute. Stir until smooth then spread over the cake. Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares.

Grilled mackerel with escalivada & toasts

Ingredients

For the escalivada

·         3 very large or 4 medium peppers  a mix of colours

·         1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced

·         3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

·         2 medium aubergines        

zest 1 lemon , juice of ½

·       1 rosemary  sprig, finely chopped

·         2 tbsp small capers , drained

·         small pack flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

For the fish and toasts

·         2 rosemary  sprigs, finely chopped

·         3 garlic cloves, crushed

·         3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve (optional)

·         1 large olive ciabatta, cut into 8 slices

·         ¼ tsp chilli flakes or hot paprika

·         4 mackerel fillets, pin-boned and cut in half if large (or 8 butterflied sardines)

Method

1.    Heat the grill as hot as it will go. Line the grill pan or a large baking tray with foil. Using a potato peeler, remove most of the skin from the peppers, then remove the seeds and slice into 1cm strips. Toss with the onion and 1 tbsp oil, then grill for 15 mins, stirring halfway, until soft and charring here and there.

2.    Cut the aubergines into 1cm half moons and brush sparingly with 2 tbsp oil. Lay the slices over the peppers, season well, then grill for 5 mins until golden. Turn the aubergines over, scatter with the lemon zest and rosemary, then grill for 5 mins more until golden and soft in places. Stir the capers and the lemon juice into the vegetables. Season and set aside. Make and chill up to 3 days ahead; the flavours will intensify as it matures. Make sure you serve it just warm, with the parsley folded through it.

3.    For the toasts and fish, mix the rosemary, crushed garlic, oil and some seasoning. Brush half of this over one side of the ciabatta slices. Mix the chilli into the remainder, then brush over the fish and let it marinate for anything from 5 mins to 1 hr in the fridge. Grill the fish, skin-side up (or barbecue skin-side down), for 4-5 mins, depending on the thickness of flesh, until just cooked through and the skin is crisp. Grill the bread until sizzling and golden. Top the toasts with the escalivada, followed by the fish, and serve with another drizzle oil, if you like.

Cardamom whirls

Ingredients

·         500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

·         85g butter , cut into small pieces

·         1 x 7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast·        

50g golden caster sugar

·         1 tsp ground cardamom

·         250ml milk For the filling and topping

·         175g white marzipan , grated

·         2 tsp ground cardamom

·         50g butter , melted

·         1 egg , lightly beaten

·         10 sugar cubes, broken into small pieces

Method

1.    Tip the flour and ½ tsp salt into a food processor fitted with a dough blade. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, then the sugar and cardamom.

2.    Warm the milk until it is hand hot, then add to the dry mix to form a soft dough. Process the dough for 2 mins, then leave in the machine to rise for about 1 hr until it springs back when pressed with a finger. Process the dough briefly in the machine, then tip out onto a lightly floured surface.

3.    Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. For the filling, mix the marzipan with the cardamom and butter. Roll out sthe dough to a 50 x 20cm rectangle. Spread the filling over the dough to within 1cm of the edges. Roll up the dough from one long edge. Cut into 20 slices, about 3cm thick, then transfer to the baking sheets, cut sides up. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 30-40 mins until well risen.

4.    Brush the whirls with beaten egg and sprinkle with broken sugar. Bake for 12-15 mins until risen and golden. Best eaten freshly baked, or freeze on the day of baking for up to a month.

Bread & butter pudding

Ingredients

·         250ml full-fat milk

·         300ml double cream

·         1 vanilla pod, halved and seeds scraped out, or 1 tsp vanilla extract

·         3 whole large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

·         3 tbsp golden caster sugar

·         8 slices of day-old white crusty bread

·         50g slightly salted butter, softened plus extra for greasing

·         75g mix sultanas and currants or other dried fruit

·         zest ½ lemon

·         2 tbsp demerara sugar

Method

1.    Heat oven to 180C/160C/gas 4. To make the custard, heat the milk, cream and vanilla pod with its scraped out seeds (if using) together in a saucepan to just below boiling point. Meanwhile whisk the eggs and yolk with the caster sugar in a jug. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture, including the vanilla pod, over the eggs, stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract now if using.

2.    Lightly butter an ovenproof dish approximately 20cm x 25cm x 5cm. Cut the crusts from the bread slices, then butter both sides of the bread and cut into triangles. Lay half of the bread slices in the bottom of the dish so that they are slightly overlapping. Mix the dried fruit with the lemon zest and sprinkle half of the mix over the bread. Layer the rest of the bread on top then sprinkle over the remaining fruit.

3.    Remove the vanilla pod from the custard then pour the custard over the pudding. Leave to soak for at least 30 mins, or longer in the fridge, if you like. Sprinkle over the demerara and bake for 35-40 mins until golden brown and puffed up.