Crispy Granola.

I don't know if I've mentioned before, but breakfast is one of my favouritist meals of the day...you know, along with lunch and dinner...it's the only one where the sweet stuff can take up the whole occasion and take all the credit. You can basically eat cake and nothing but cake without anyone judging you...panCAKES, muffins, pastries.

The unfortunate thing however, is that if you want to survive past your 35th birthday you have to mix it up a bit and maybe not do the 'cake first thing in the morning' thing everyday. Sad.

My non-cake breakfast of choice is a smoothie packed full of good stuff...like this one. The tricky thing is however, that making a smoothie is not a quiet affair and since I'm usually the first one up and about in my house and when I say house I mean little match box pretending to be a house, I have to seek other sources of sustenance.

Enter...homemade granola. I have been making my own granola for a while and so an always looking for new versions. The addition of cornflakes in this one makes it super crispy and delicious. Enjoy, quietly. With Love and Cake.

Crispy Granola.

Adapted from a Lynn's Kitchen Adventures recipe

A few notes:

• Of course this recipe is wiiiide open for interpretation...maybe use maple syrup instead of honey, or a different kind of nut, or maybe you have Rice Krispies instead of Cornflakes so want to use them...you see...
• Use a honey that you really like the taste of...they vary so much in flavour and it really comes across here.

Makes a big storage jar-full

You will need

1 x large baking sheet, greased

75g soft brown sugar

6 tbsp flavourless oil, like sunflower or vegetable

170g honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g cornflakes

340g oats

1 tsp cinnamon

50g pecans

• Preheat the oven to 180˚c.
• Stir together the sugar, oil and honey in a small pan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.
• Meanwhile mix together the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
• Pour over the honey mixture and stir everything together until well combined.
• Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
• Run a spoon through the mixture to turn everything over and then put back in the oven....but TURN IT OFF.
• Leave the granola to cool completely in the oven. 
• Break the cold granola up into clusters and store in an airtight jar.

Oat and Raisin Pancakes.

I haven't made pancakes for aaaaaaaaaaaggggges. Don't know why really, probably because I am a FOOL. What's been even longer though is the time I've been meaning to try an oat and raisin pancake recipe. It's been so long that I had the recipe bookmarked in a little folder named 'Recipes to try'...that's right, pre-Pinterest times...otherwise known as The Dark Ages. Or have I got that confused?

I made these the other morning as a treat to myself after the Mr had FORCED me to go to the docs, which I hate above most things, because I'd run out of migraine pills....and he finds it quite unpleasant to come home to me in the fetal position in agony...gaaawd, such a mooooanerr.

Anyhoo, I went and turns out the Dr wasn't an ogre that day and it was fairly painless so I probably didn't even deserve pancakes...but we'll keep that quiet for now.

But deserving or not, these pancakes are special and are based on a the classic oat and raisin cookies. Helllooooo....cookie pancakes? Everyone deserves theeese. With Love and Cake.

Oat and Raisin Pancakes.

Adapted from a Joy the Baker recipe

A few notes:

• I actually used sultanas instead of raisins...they're just juicier. Do as you will.
• These spread out a fair amount in the pan, so use a bit less mixture than you think you want for each pancake.
• These are not the most robust pancakes; when they're only cooked on one side and need flippin' they are a bit delicate...not in a disastrous way though, all you need to do it make sure you don't make them too much bigger than your flipping utensil and have a second spatula near by for extra help. When the second side starts to cook they're happy to be flung around as you wish.

Makes plenty, at least enough for 4 people

You will need

2 eggs

250ml buttermilk

55g butter, melted

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

180g plain flour

50g oats

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

3/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

pinch salt

50g raisins

• Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter, maple syrup and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
• Fold in the rest of the ingredients until everything is well combined.
• Heat your best pancake pan (I like a large, shallow non-stick frying pan) over a medium to high heat.
• Add a little oil to your pan if you need it (I don't because my pan is nice and non-stick) and fry tablespoonfuls of pancake mix until bubbles start to rise on the top.
• Flip the pancakes gently (see notes), and cook for a further few minutes, until the second side is dark and firm.
• Set aside while you cook the rest of the mix, keeping cooked pancakes in a warm oven until you're ready to serve...at which point add lots of syrup and raspberries. 

Pound Cake French Toast.

Soooooo French Toast....made.of.cake. I'm not really sure why, after eating this, one would ever think it a good idea to dip bread in egg and fry it in butter, when you can do the same WITH CAKE. This solves all my problems with French Toast; when you chew past the buttery egg layer, you're not greeted with soggy toast which makes you think 'mmmm I think someone's got this wrong....didn't we invent toasters?' but 'Oh good heavens, it's all sweet and buttery, with added sweet and buttery...this is CRAZY GOOD'.

It also means that when you make a fairly giant sized cake that is pretty much solely consumed by oneself, you feel less bad about it because French Toasting it turns it into a meal, an actual meal that you need, rather than an afternoon snack that you just plain because you're greedy.

Have you ever noticed how good I am at justifying the consumption of cake. I reckon that's a very particular skill....I should probably add it to my CV.

Justification #273: there is fruit, and it is very much fruit season in Fife and I can't get through it quick enough. There...turns out it's pretty much mandatory to make this....GO. With Love and Cake.

Pound Cake French Toast with Raspberry Compote.

A few notes:

• A pound cake is the perfect sort of cake for soaking and frying, it's firm and sturdy so isn't going to disintegrate on you. I wouldn't suggest trying it with something delicate or crumbly.
• You could quite happily sub frozen raspberries or in fact any berries you fancy.

Serves 2 greedies

You will need

For the compote

100g raspberries

1 tbsp icing sugar

For the French toast

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp icing sugar

4 slices pound cake

• First make the compote by mixing the raspberries and icing sugar in a small saucepan and heating gently until the raspberries have broken up, bubbled a bit and you're left with a thick crimson sauce.
• Whisk the egg, vanilla and icing sugar together in a shallow dish.
• Soak the slices of cake in the egg mixture for a minute or so on each side.
• Meanwhile heat a medium frying pan on a medium heat and add a big fat knob of butter to it.
• Fry the cake a couple of minutes each side, until golden and crispy.
• Serve topped with the compote and dusted with icing sugar.

Lemon, Olive Oil and Poppy Seed Muffins.

I LOVE olive oil a lot. It is one of the many reasons I am 100% sure that something went majorly wrong with the whole being born in England thing. The other major one being my love of the sun and being hothot, as in the sweat drippy kind. Yep the Med calls to me and my misplaced genes really very loudly....especially in February.

So to make up for my very British and sub 20°c existence, I immerse myself (not literally...unless I'm on some particularly extreme beauty kick) in the green grassy liquor. I love it so much that I would not be disappointed if my last meal were a bottle of the good stuff, some fresh bread, proper tomatoey tomatoes and salt and pepper....ow and cheese, got to have cheese.

It's really just a happy coincidence that it's all good for you and whatnot...it's one of those good fats that I think of as giving my insides a wash. Useful, given that those unhealthy buttery fats would be included in most other versions of my last meal.

You can replace butter with a healthier fat consistently in baking, but that's not what's going on here. Here the olive oil and fresh lemonyness is the point...for deliciousness, not anything else. If you were a real connoisseur you could seek out a particularly lemony olive oil, because they do vary greatly in flavour notes and all that jazz, though I used a cheap, not overly flavourful extra virgin here because it's what I had (read: I am not a connoisseur). I hope you make them so you can accompany on my imaginary trips to the sparkling sea-ed home land. 

What would your last meal be? 

Lemon, Olive Oil and Poppy Seed Muffins.

A few notes:

• The secret to good muffins is speed; have everything ready so that as soon as the mixture is ready...bosh, in the oven.
• If you want to get fancy, you know, like me, you can make your own muffin cases out of greaseproof paper. It's simple, cut 15cm-ish squares, fold in half, fold in half again, then make a final fold by bringing the two folded sides together making a point with the centre of the square. Open in out and squodge into your muffin tray. If that makes no sense at all maybe have a look at how these overly cute kids do it.
• I LOVE olive oil and so was happy to use extra virgin to get as much flavour as poss, but if you're less of a fan, do feel free to substitute virgin which will be a less distinct taste.

Makes 12

You will need

a 12 hole muffin tray, lined with cupcake cases

200g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g caster sugar

pinch salt

1 tbsp poppy seeds

juice and zest 1 lemon 

about 120ml milk

1 egg

60g olive oil (see note)

For the syrup

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp caster sugar

• Preheat that old oven of yours to 200°c.
• In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb, caster sugar, salt, poppy seeds and lemon zest.
• Pour the lemon juice into a mixing jug, then pour in milk until the combined mixture reaches the 200ml mark....it will look disgustingly curdled but that's ok.
• Whisk in the egg and olive oil followed by the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
• Divide the mix equally between your cupcake cases and get in the oven asap.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until gold and firm.
• Meanwhile make the syrup by gently heating the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved, then let it bubble for a minute or 2 before removing from the heat.
• When the muffins are baked, let them cool for a few minutes in the tin before moving to a wire rack.
• Poke the muffins all over with a skewer or piece of uncooked spaghetti to make little holes for the syrup to soak down into.
• Pour spoonfuls of syrup over the muffins and let it soak it while the muffins cool.
• Breakfast sorted.

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Swirls.

I don't really have anything much to say today, apart from OH MY GOOD GRACIOUS ME DROP EVERYTHING (unless maybe you're holding a baby or something) AND MAKE THESE IMMMMEDIATELY. 

Unless you're a peanut butter hater, in which case, I think you've taken a wrong turn somewhere, there is NOTHING to not LOVE about these swirly chaps. It might sound a bit weird having PB IN your bread, but oh no, weird is so far wrong.

But maybe you've never made anything bready or yeasty before and you're thinking, 'hang on now, this all looks a bit too extreme for me'. Well it's a good job I'm here to tell you...WRONG, you're WRONG. They're easy as long as you follow along, step by step, and you don't really need anything (HA, geddit, KNEAD joke), no loaf pans or extract of parrot or whatever some actual hard and extreme recipes require.

So pleaseplease make these, if only so that you can actually see how incredibly off the charts yumsters they are in real life and you'll realise that I'm really not a raving loony, they are just that good. Please. With Love and Cake.

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Whirls.

Adapted from my Skillingsboller recipe

A few notes:

• For lots of handy tips which apply to pretty much all things bready and yeasty, check out my White Bread post from last year.
• You don't neeeeed to ice these, but when has need ever come into it?
• My favourite ever peanut butter in this one. So good.

Makes about 10

You will need

2 tsp dried, fast acting, yeast

200ml milk, luke warm

350g strong white bread flour

2 tbsp caster sugar

pinch salt

1 egg, lightly whisked

1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

For the filling

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

For the icing

1 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

150g icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

• Firstly, mix together the yeast and the milk and let them get acquainted for 5 minutes or so.
• In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt and make a well in the centre.
• Add the egg and peanut butter to the well, followed for about 3/4 of the milk/yeast mix.
• Time to get your hands in there and bring everything together to a soft dough, adding more of the milk if you need.
• Turn out onto an oiled surface and knead for 5 minutes, or until the dough is shiny and springy.
• Pop the dough back in his bowl and leave somewhere cosy for an hour or until just about doubled in size.
• Meanwhile make the filling by mixing the cinnamon and sugar together.
• Turn the dough out onto a clean floured surface and roll or press out to a rectangle of about 40 x 25 cm.
• Spread peanut butter over the rectangle and roll up from one of the long ends, like a Swiss roll.
• Cut, with a nice sharp bread knife, every 2.5 cm and lay each bun, swirl side up/down onto the baking tray with a couple of cm gap between each one.
• Now leave them to rise back in the cosy place for another 30-45 minutes while you preheat the oven to 200°c.
• When the buns have puffed up a bit, pop them in the oven for 15 minutes, until they look golden and beautiful.
• Allow to cool completely while you make the icing.
• Beat together the cream cheese and peanut butter until well combined and smooth.
• Add the icing sugar and beat gently so that when everything's well mixed, you have a fairly loose and oh so delicious paste.
• Slather over your buns and thank me after devouring. 

Peanut Putter Granola.

Feeling preeeeetty proud of myself with this one. I didn't really mean it to be anything fancy or 'write home' worthy. I just saw the words 'peanut butter granola' on Pinterest and knew I had to get me some of that....asap.

In fact it isn't fancy at all; a handful of store cupboard ingredients and a bit of stirring and you honestly can have this come together in less than 30 minutes, and not in a Jamie Oliver way. It's one of those recipes that you want to show people that don't cook and can't be bothered to learn and go "LOOK, it's SOSO easy". As well as easy, it's also soso good; one of those recipes whose equation doesn't make sense; you get WAY more pleasure out than the amount of effort and resources you put in.

Turns out it's also pretty great in terms of being something useful to eat...you're bod needs pretty much all of the things that it has to offer, and you can definitely count it as a contribution to my answer to your healthy snacks question (and my rant).

And one more thing to tell you...it's not all that sweet; sweet enough for me (sugar fiend), but I think lots of people are put off cereal type things like this because they think they are sugar laden and aren't ready for such a sweet hit first thing in the morning (WHY??). This is not like that; just mellow and peanut buttery. YUM. With Love and Cake.  

Peanut Butter Granola.

A few notes:

• If you don't have maple syrup, honey would work just as well I should think.
• As with all cereal thingys, add whatever you want to the final mix; dried fruit, nuts, spices, and serve with whatever you fancy. I love it plain and simple with milk though.

Makes 4 large servings or more snacky sizes

You will need

1 x baking sheet, greased

2 tbsp your fav peanut butter

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

1 tbsp flavourless oil, like groundnut or vegetable

• Get that oven going at 150°c.
• Pop the peanut butter and maple syrup in a bowl and blast in the microwave for about 30 seconds; until the pb kind of melts and is easy to stir.
• Add the cinnamon, vanilla and salt and whisk to combine.
• Stir the mixture into the oats and give everything a really good mix to combine as best you can, though don't worry if you have a few dry oats floating around.
• Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, redistributing about halfway through the cooking time.
• Leave to cool completely on the baking tray so it crisps up and you're left with some bigger clusters and smaller rubble.
• Store in a air tight jar and munch as desired.

Chocolate and Pecan Puffs.

These are the result of a little Twitter chat I had with a school friend who, until recently, I hadn't conversed with for YEARS (how can there be THIS many years between me and school....are you suuuuure I'm 25?).

He told me he and his lady friend had just eaten the most amaaazing pecan and chocolate puff and I must make it immediately. No picture, no description, just chocolate and pecan puff.

I love such cakey chat because it's a twist to how I usually approach this whole bakey thing. Usually I look at a recipe and it looks yummy so I make it, or I want a cheesecake, so I look up cheesecake recipes and twiddle with them until I have one that suits, or I have some really nice something that would go great in a something so I make it.

But this way it's sort of a puzzle. And everyone loves puzzles. There's no better game than squishing pastry and chocolate and nuts together and seeing what you can come up with. Come to think of it, maybe you should ignore my recipe and squish them together in your own way...it's fun. My recipe is reeeeeally good though, so either way. With Love and Cake.

Chocolate and Pecan Puffs.

A few notes:

• These are the sort of things that could happily be tinkered with in accordance with what you fancy or what you have in your cupboards...maybe no chocolate but lots of cinnamon, maybe no nuts, maybe different nuts....
• You could of course use your own homemade puff pastry. They might not be quiiiite as light and puffy, but your sense of pride might be.

Makes about 10

You will need

1 x baking sheet, well greased

150g pecans

175g butter, softened

100g soft brown sugar

pinch salt

500g block puff pastry

100g dark chocolate, chopped

• Preheat that oven of yours to 180°c.
• Lay out your pecans on the baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes, until bronze and smelling yummmmy.
• When they're cool enough to handle, give the nuts a rough chop.
• Mix the butter, sugar and salt together to a smooth paste.
• Roll out the pastry on a clean floured surface to a large rectangle; about 30 x 50cm.
• Spread the butter mixture over the pastry, leaving a 1cm border.
• Sprinkle over the pecans and chocolate, saving back about a tablespoons worth of each for sprinkling later.
• Now roll up the pastry like a Swiss roll from one of the longer sides.
• Cut into 3cm-ish slices and lay each one flat on your baking tray with a few cm gap between each one to allow for them to expand. 
• Sprinkle a bit of the reserved chocolate and nuts over each slice
• Bake for 40 minutes, by which point they should be golden and crispy.
• A fair amount of buttery goodness may have leaked out and be sloshing around the pan. I just scooped it up with a spoon and gave everything a good baste.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

PB&J French Toast.

So how was your bank holiday weekend? I'm guessing it went something like "oo SUN, lets play outside, lets have a picnic, lets go to the beach, lets go to the fair, lets take loads of of pictures and put them all over the internet and share the joy that summer is HERE".

Well I am very happy for you and hope you had a lovely time and basked and baked in the warmth that we've been missing for so long. The only sliiiiiight problem is that mine didn't quite go like that...it went more like "Oh this is a lot of snow, haha, Scotland you're funny and very beautiful, oh no, it's raining a lot, oh no it's REALLY windy, oh no our tent is broken, mmm is wearing 76 layers too much, nope, I'm still cold.....whhhhy is everyone talking about how summery it is???"

Yep. I decided to accompany the Mr and his pals on a little dive trip to Skye (I don't dive let's be clear, I was just along for the views), and while the views were really very wonderful, I would have enjoyed them more if I wasn't concentrating quite hard on keep both feet on the floor and being sad that I wouldn't get to sleep in an actual bed later that night.

On the plus side however, the terrible weather caused an early homecoming (thank the LORD) and therefore excess supplies of PB&J sarnies which I had lovingly packed, imagining I would enjoy them snuggled on a beach after a bracing run around (reality = devoured in a car being buffeted by the wind with my socks and gloves draped over the heaters). And how better to enjoy stale PB&Js than dunked in vanilla-ey egg, fried in butter and curled up on a squishy sofa on a day when I am clean and dry and there is even actual sun. You don't need to suffer an epic trip to enjoy them, though it does make you more appreciative.

PB&J French Toast.

A few notes:

• This is easy; make a sandwich and fry it, and therefore lends itself well to many variations....Nutella and PB perhaps?
• If you're not using a sandwich that has been carted across the country for days, it would work best if you were able to use quite stale bread.

Serves 1

You will need

2 x slices white bread

1 tbsp your fav peanut butter

1 tbsp your fav jam, I went for black cherry

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp caster sugar

1 big knob butter

icing sugar for dusting

• Make a generous sandwich out of the bread, peanut butter and jam.
• Whisk the egg, vanilla and caster sugar in a wide, shallow bowl or plate and dunk the sandwich in it.
• Leave it to soak up the egg for a minute or two before flipping the sandwich over to let the other side soak up the rest.
• Meanwhile melt the butter in a frying pan until just starting to bubble and brown.
• Fry the sandwich for a few minutes a side until bronzed and firm.
• Remove from the pan, cut in half and sprinkle with lots of icing sugar.
• Mmmm thank heavens for duvets.

Coconut Granola...NUTRITIOUS, not healthy.

Sister, oh dear sister. Asking me the other day, she was, about healthy snack ideas, because she is a grazer and is bored of fruit and nuts and dried fruit and stuff. But when she said healthy, she meant that weird version of healthy that means just fruit and nuts. When I mentioned cheese, WoooW, you’d think I’d told her to go and down a whole fondue. And then, AND THEN, The bloomin’ One Show (yesyes I watch it ironiiicallly) had a feature this week all about how much sugar is in the drinks we buy and WHAT? Fruit juice and smoothies have loads of sugar in them? WHAT? Implying that we should only evER eat fruit and drink water.

Helllllooooo. Have we forgotten that, hold the front page, we need calories to survive, and, WHAT? fruit juice has sugar in because fruit has sugar in? NEVER? Yes, sugar and vitamins and good stuff. Take a look at my 'in regular rotation' smoothie recipe and you tell me not to make them because they’re bad for me (I warn you, don’t actually do that, it will not go down well). And cheese? Yes cheese has fat, but I’m a girl, and a veggie and I need lots of calcium and protein thank you very much and cheese is full o’ the stuff. 

Yesyes, I go along with the whole, we should probably remember how much sugar is in Coke because it is a lot so we shouldn't drink Coke and Coke alone, and I know that this isn't exactly a place that preaches the gospel of celery. But come ON, we need to be clever about this eating thing if we aren’t all going to be the size of houses in 50 years time. Telling people to only eat fruit and drink water is not clever.

I think of it like this...healthy doesn't really mean anything when you’re only talking about one aspect of life. Yesyes my dessert habit? Not so healthy. But hang on, I make ALL my food from scratch, I make it mindfully, and it is NUTRITIOUS...plus, I work HARD at being a fitty because I know how to make myself love it. It doesn't mean I never have to go to the doctor, or that I won't get hit by a bus tomorrow, but it does mean that my life is HEALTHY and I am happy. So here’s a NUTRITIOUS snack for you to munch on you big grazer you. Yes there’s sugar, but, errm we neeeeeeeeed sOMe sugar, and heck, there’s a whole lot of other good stuff in there as well. Don’t you tell me smoothies are bad. With Love and Cake.

Coconut Granola.

A result of fiddling with this recipe

A few notes:

• I am stating the recipe in cup measures, because, to be honest, I couldn't quite be bothered with playing with conversion charts and transferring to grams; it's the sort of recipe that doesn't warrant that. Don't worry if your don't have an exact cup measure just use a small coffee or tea cup, a bit bigger than espresso size, and you'll keep the proportions near enough perfect. 
• As with most granola recipes, you can chop and change as you feel like it. Want to use all the same nut? Go ahead. Want to leave out the spices? Feel free. Stir in dried fruit at the end...use other grains....you make it tasty for you.
• I managed to find some dessicated coconut that was quite moist, if your's is more dry and sandy, have a look at this little tip from the folk at nigella.com.

Make 1 large jar

You will need

1 x baking sheet, greased

2 cups oats

3/4 cup dessicated coconut

1/2 cup flaked almonds

1 cup mixed whole nuts

2 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

4 tbsp flavourless oil, like groundnut or sunflower

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

• First, preheat the oven to 160°c.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
• Add all the other ingredients and mix so everything is really well combined.
• Lay out the mixture on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
• Use a big metal spoon to turn the mixture over and mix it up a bit.
• Pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so; you want it bronzed all over.
• Once out the oven, leave to cool completely on the tray, before putting the spoon through it again and breaking it up into clusters.
• Store in a jar and add to it what you will....this morning I had it with almond milk and grapes.

The Humble Crêpe.

I've harped on and on about my love of the pancake, but I have yet to include a recipe for the humble crêpe here on my teensy little corner of Kingdom Blog.

The reason is not profound, not that they are difficult in any way, only that I don't really ever make them, because, well, if I'm going to make pancakes, I really am wanting the fat fluffy American/Scotch Pancake type ones. They are my jam.

But for some reason, I can't even remember the thought process, I got a little hankering for them....ow, no, wait, IIIIII remember now. It all started with a freshly made jar of my homemade Nutella (perfect post training fuel you see) and I was just looking for another vehicle for it. They really are a fab vehicle for anything scrummy that you want to savour, but need a sort of 'turn into a meal' justification to be able to shovel directly into your mouth

I show you them here in their most basic, most delicious form, and the way in which they graced my breakfast table (lap) this morning. But fear not...I am concocting a veryvery Nutella-ey notion that will be winging its way to you very shortly. In the meantime though, get that frying pan heating and perfect that toss, you will be needing plenty of these beauties. With Love and Cake.

Crêpes.

A Delia recipe from her Complete Cookery Course

A few notes:

• With traditional batters, you're usually asked to let them stand, which I think is so the flour particles can soack up all the liquidyness and you get a nice juicy pancake or whatever (though I may be tttttotally making this up). Delia says that you don't have to do this with her batter however, which I guess is because it's quite eggy and therefore quite juicy anyway. I, in fact, did let it stand for a bit, just because it worked out best in terms of my schedge...but you do as you please.
• I think the most important variable factor in terms of your success rate when it comes to pancakes, of any kind, is your frying pan. I want a heavy based one, with good quality non-stick (which NEVER goes in the dishwasher and NEVER comes into contact with metal utensils)....this one is my pride and joy.

You will need

an 18-20cm frying pan

200ml milk plus 75ml water

2 eggs

110g plain flour

pinch salt

2 tbsp butter, melted, plus a bit extra for the pan

• First get your pan on the heat so it gets fairly hot while you get on with the batter.
• Measure out the milk and water in a measuring jug and whisk in the eggs.
• Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour and whisk in the milk mix.
• Finally, whisk in the melted butter...your batter is ready. 
• I find it easiest to pour the batter into the pan from a jug, so at this point transfer the mix to the measuring jug you already used.
• Swirl a tiny bit of butter around your hot pan, just to get it started. 
• Pour about 2 tbsp batter into your pan and immediately swirl it around so it covers the base of the pan.
• Leave the batter alone on the heat for a few minutes, until you see the edges brown and curl away from the pan.
• Time to flip, tossing is deffo my preferred method but feel free to use a turner.
• Leave to cook for another few minutes; you want both sides golden and molted dark brown.
• Set the pancake aside, transferring to a warm oven if you want to keep it warm, and continue to use up the rest of the batter in the same way.
• Get going with some lemon and sugar, or stay tuned for a rather exciting crêpe based recipe coming soooon.