Brownie pops

I saw these pops on a blog a while ago and they looked so fun and cute so I had to make them. You don't have to use brownie you could do whatever you like. Chocolate biscuit cake ones would be good, or just thought of doing cheesecake balls and rolling them in biscuit, that would be amazing! Apparently people do cake ones but I read a recipe where it says you make the cake and then crumble it and squish it back together which absolutely doesn't work. You just need to have something that will go hard in the fridge or freezer so the sticks stay on. They would be amazing for a kids party, a sweet canapé or just a funny different way of serving pudding. I have had a plumber here fixing some leak all day who must of thought I was mad covered in icing and sprinkles all over the place, but he was very impressed with them and said they were delicious. He still hasn't fixed the leak though, maybe hanging around in hope of another one.

makes about 35 pops

You need

Brownies
Icing sugar
Food colouring
sprinkles
scewers

Make one batch of my hummingbird brownie recipe. When cooked and cooled, cut the edges off and put them aside. Put the rest into a bowl and mush up. I used the tbsp part of a measuring spoon to make sure they were all roughly the same size. Squish the mix into a rough ball and then put it in the bottom of a wine glass and swish around in circles to form a nice round ball.

When they are all done, place them on a tray lined with baking paper or cling and stick them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This will make them go hard so that the sticks stay on while you ice them.

For the icing, just follow the pack instructions and use whatever food colouring and sprinkles you like. Once I iced them I put the sticks in a tall glass with some paper underneath as the icing drips all over the place and makes a mess. Leave them for an hour of so to set somewhere cool and pop away!

Braised Fennel

I have just spent the week doing a stage at The River Cafe which was amazing! I absolutely loved it and learnt so much and I now have a million ideas and recipes I want to try, I think I am going to have to have people over for dinner every night so I can get out all the things i've learnt while it's all fresh in my head.

This is just one side dish that was served with spinach, roasted monkfish with lemon and marjoram. 

Braising the fennel like this makes it really soft and has the most delicious flavour. You could serve it with anything you like, as a vegetable side or just do a big bowl of it cold with a salady lunch would be perfect.

serves 5

2 fennel bulbs
1 large garlic clove, chopped finely
chicken stock about 500ml
olive oil
tbsp picked thyme leaves

Cut the fingers off the fennel and then cut it in half and slice into thickish pieces. take the green hairy bits off the fingers and put aside for later. Chop the fingers in chunks too.

In a heavy based pan with a lid heat up enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan generously. Add the fennel and cook on a medium heat until they have a golden colour. Then add the chopped garlic, thyme, some seasoning and cook for a minute stirring so not to let it burn.

Pour the stock in and you want enough to almost cover the fennel. Turn the heat down and stick the lid on and leave to simmer gently for about 30 mins until the fennel is soft all the way through. Take the lid off and reduce the stock down so that it is all gone then take off the heat.

Roughly chop the green hairy bit from the fingers and sprinkle on top with a drizzle of good olive oil and serve away.

Sweet Labneh with mango, pomegranate, pistachio and warm honey

If your looking for a simple, fruity, summery, light pudding this is so delicious. The yogurt needs to be drained for 4-6 hours minimum but best left overnight to get it really thick, rich and creamy.

800g greek yogurt
80g icing sugar
a few pinches of cinnamon

1 sliced mango
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
20g coarsely chopped pistachios
5 tbsp runny honey

Mix the yogurt, icing sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Get a clean bowl and place a sieve resting in the top of it. Lay a clean tea towel on the sieve and spoon the yogurt into it, fold over the excess tea towel to cover the yogurt and place in the fridge overnight, or for at least 4-6 hours. This will take most of the moisture out of the yogurt and turn it into labneh.

The yogurt should be nice and thick by now and all you need to do is spoon it into a bowl and scatter it over your fruits and nuts. The honey you can either drizzle over cold or heat in a pan so it goes really runny.

The labneh is also really good for brunch with some crunchy granola, berries and honey if you feel like treating yourself at the weekend.