Get in the spirit of Halloween with these frightfully delicious Toffee Apples
It’s the time of year when ghosts and ghouls come out to play and these delicious, rich and golden brown Halloween Toffee Apples are the perfect ending to any fright night feast.
Kirstie Allsopp, the queen of homemade cooking brings you a recipe that combines sweet, creamy caramel flavours and crunchy apple. As always, they are simple for you to make in the comfort of your own home.
The Nestlé Carnation Caramel is what makes this sweet desert so special, as it gives the toffee a delightful creamy flavour and glossy texture. Make sure there is plenty to go round as these toffee apples will definitely get the trick or treater’s knocking at your door again.
Log on to www.carnation.co.ukto find new delicious recipes every month from Kirstie Allsopp.
Recipe
Makes 6 Toffee Apples Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients
6 eating apples
175g (6oz) light buttery spread
100g (3½oz) maple or golden syrup
225g (8oz) light brown soft sugar
200g (7oz) Carnation Condensed Milk
Method
1.Dunk the apples into a large bowl of boiling water for 30 seconds, remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool slightly before wiping the skins with kitchen paper – this will remove any wax from the apples and allow the toffee to stick better to the skin.
2.Holding the apple firmly, insert a chopstick or lolly stick into the apples near the core. Place a piece of parchment onto a baking sheet.
3.Place the remaining ingredients into a large pan and melt gently over a low heat. Then bring to the boil for about 15-20 minutes stirring frequently – if you have a food thermometer the temperature you need is about 130C! IT IS VERY HOT SO BE CAREFUL! It will be quite a deep brown caramel colour and will have a cinder toffee smell.
4.Remove from the heat, and very carefully take each apple and roll in the toffee to coat completely. Leave to set on the parchment until hard.
Tips
If your caramel doesn’t set hard on the apples – it will be because the toffee did not get hot enough. It still makes a lovely chewy caramel but a good test of ‘readiness’ is if you drop a small bit of the toffee into ice cold water and it forms very hard toffee. Small strands should shatter, if it is soft and chewy then it needs to get hotter!
Banoffee Muffins
Kirstie Allsopp’s Sticky Toffee Banoffee Muffins
Enjoy Halloween with these gooey scrumptious delights
It is almost half term and Halloween on the way, so what could be better than making these delicious Banoffee Muffins – created by the queen of all things homemade, Kirstie Allsopp.
Packed with banana as well as gorgeous caramel swirls, these delightfully soft, sticky and sweet banana muffins are not only the perfect afterschool treat on occasion but are also ideal for a coffee morning with friends. What’s more, they are really easy to make!
The Nestlé Carnation Caramel gives these muffins a delicious creamy toffee flavour, making them truly irresistible. Share them with your family and friends and be sure to save one for yourself as they won’t last long!
Log on to www.carnation.co.ukto find new delicious recipes every month from Kirstie Allsopp.
Recipe:
Makes 12 large muffins
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
275g (10oz) self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 eggs
150ml (¼pt) milk
5tbsp vegetable oil
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1tsp vanilla extract
397g can Carnation Caramel
100g (3½oz) chopped pecan nuts (optional)
You will also need:
12 hole muffin tin and muffin cases
Method
1.Preheat the oven to 190°C, 375°F or Gas Mark 5.
2.Place the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and mix well.
3.In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, oil, mashed bananas and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, without beating.
4.Drop spoonfuls of the caramel into the mixture, gently swirl through, but don’t mix it in – its nice to see little pockets of caramel bubbles in the finished muffins.
5.Place muffin cases in the tin and spoon the mixture into the cases until quite full. Top with the chopped pecan nuts, if using.
6.Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes and eat fresh and warm.
Mummy and Me: Jo and Olly’s Tuna Spring Rolls
Finding a mid-week meal which is quick, tasty, healthy and everyone enjoys can be a parental nightmare. The Tilda Taste Panel understands this better than most. The panel, made up of three mums, are experts in nutrition and food. Panel member and cookery writer, Jo Pratt, has created a simple recipe that kids will love.
In this video Jo demonstrates how to make her easy to follow spring roll recipe alongside her four-year-old son Olly – who is a particular fan!These tasty treats work well as a side dish or as a main course for smaller children. Best of all they are ready in less than 30 minutes and are packed full of fish and fresh vegetables.
Cook along with Jo and Olly in this handy video. For more information and further recipes please visit us at www.tilda.com or like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/TildaRice and follow us on Twitter @Tildabasmati
Prawn or Tuna Spring Rolls
Makes 6-8
Ingredients
1 pack of Tilda Steamed Basmati Egg Fried Rice (alternatively you could use Tilda Steamed Sweet Chilli and Lime or Tilda Steamed Pure)
100g small cooked prawns or 100g flaked tinned tuna
100g carrot, coarsely grated
½ red pepper, cut into small pieces
1-1 ½ tsp sweet chilli dipping sauce, plus extra to serve (or tomato ketchup if preferred)
12-16 square sheets of fresh filo pastry
Vegetable oil for brushing
Pre-heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Lightly massage the pack of rice to separate the rice grains. Tear the top of the pack halfway across and cook for 2 minutes in the microwave.
Meanwhile, place the prawns or tuna in a mixing bowl with the carrot, red pepper and sweet chilli dipping sauce, then add the rice. Mix well and set aside.
Lay a sheet of filo pastry on the work top or board and brush lightly with oil. Place another sheet of pastry on top and lightly brush with oil. Turn the square so that one corner of the pastry is pointing towards you. Spoon some filling onto the corner nearest you. Fold this corner towards the centre and tuck under the filling.
Fold the two outside corners to the middle so it looks like an envelope. Brush lightly with oil then roll up to look like a sausage shape. Brush once more and sit on the lined baking tray. Repeat until you have made the rest of the spring rolls.
Place in the oven for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden and crisp.
Cool slightly before eating, with extra sweet chilli dipping sauce to serve.
Ps…
For a meaty version of this recipe, finely chopped cooked chicken or turkey make a tasty alternative to tuna or prawns. For a vegetarian option, you could omit the tuna or prawns altogether and substitute with extra vegetables or even add some tofu or tinned white beans.
Bounce into action with Matt Dawson’s edible rugby ball
Be your own rugby hero with thisfun rugby-inspired recipe
Kick-start your family into action by working together to create this easy to make, yet impressive looking edible rugby ball. Your kids will enjoy getting creative in the kitchen and you’ll enjoy seeing them welcome whole grain into their diet so everybody’s a winner!
Using whole grain favourite, Raisin Oats & More, which provides fibre, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals Matt Dawson will teach you how you can make your very own rugby ball so that everyone has a chance to play team captain in the kitchen.
Rugby Ball
130g Raisin Oats & More
250g White chocolate
28 Cheerios, all same colour, or mixed colours
50 raisins, approx 10g
1 strawberry, sliced in half
30g additional white chocolate, for joining and decoration.
Makes 1, weight approx 420g
1)Break the white chocolate into small pieces, and microwave on medium in 20 seconds blasts, stirring every time until melted, but not hot.
2)Mix the cereal with the chocolate and stir well to coat the cereal flakes,
3)Chill for 20 minutes, until set,then take the two halves out of the mould
4)Break the 30g of white chocolate into small pieces, and microwave on medium in 20 seconds blasts, stirring every time, until melted but not hot. Pour into the piping bag.
5)Pipe chocolate onto the back of 1 half of the ball and join the 2 halves together. (This should set in a minute as the ball will be fairly cold)
Using the chocolate in the piping bag decorate the ball with the Cheerios, and write RUBGYby piping a small dot of chocolate and pushing on a raisins to form the each letter. Finally pipe a large dot of the chocolate and press on the strawberry. Serve.
Two sporting legends have fun and get creative in the kitchen
If you’re looking for something to keep your kids busy and away from the TV, why not try making some fluffy sheep as an ideal solution to an afternoon in the house with the kids? Even sports stars can be encouraged to get stuck in to food art with a little friendly competition.Using simple techniques, Matt Dawson, former England rugby player, and Greg Searle, Olympic gold medallist rower, show how to make fluffy sheep made from a Cheerios and marshmallow mixture, with black grape heads and raisin legs.
The kids won’t need much persuading to get their little fingers into this gooey mixture. Just like Greg and Matt, they’ll love to compete with each other to make the best sheep. If your little ones want to have some fun, food art is a great way to learn about the food they eat.This easy-to-follow recipe uses Cheerios which contain whole grain, an important part of a healthy diet.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
40g Butter
20 Large Marshmallows
160g Cheerios
40g Desiccated coconut
6 Black grapes
50g Raisins
24 Currants
50g White chocolate
Makes 6
Method:
1)Place the butter and the marshmallows in a microwavable bowl, and heat on high for 1 minute. Stir until smooth.
2)Stir in the Cheerios until fully coated.
3)Using the tablespoons tightly form mounds of the mixture to make the bodies of the sheep. Slide onto prepared sheet or board. Sprinkle with coconut. Leave until firm.
4)To make the legs take half a cocktail stick and thread on raisins, repeat to make 24.
5)To assemble, push 4 legs into each body shape, stand upright, push in a half cocktail stick for the head and attach a grape to make the head.
6)Break the white chocolate into small pieces, and microwave on medium in 20 seconds blasts, stirring every time, until melted but not hot.
Use the melted chocolate to make 2 dots on each head to make the eyes and push in a currant to form the pupils. Use a little melted chocolate to attach 2 currants to make the ears.
Watch this video where Matt and Greg show you step by step how to create these tasty fluffy summer sheep.
Get arty with food: summer beehive
Get arty with food: summer beehive
Create a hive of activity for the kids this summer
There’s nothing like the long lazy days of summer but entertaining your little busy bees can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.
In the following video, food artist Prudence Staite shows how to make food fun and educational with this superb summer cereal beehive. Using whole grain favourite, Fruitful Shredded Wheat, Prudence creates a stunning golden dome to be topped off with your very own Shreddies buzzy bees.
A great way to spend a summer afternoon, this tasty golden masterpiece with have the kids buzzing with excitement!
Recipe
Ingredients:
500g box of Fruitful Shredded Wheat
3 x 300g Cream Cheese
2 Standard Sliced Loaves Bread (Can be 2 wholemeal or 2 white, or 1 of each for a chessboard effect)
Sandwich Fillings (You can use one or a selection. Fillings such Cheese Spread, Peanut Butter, Marmite, Chocolate Spread…)
Raisins from the Fruitful Shredded Wheat
For Each Cereal Bee:
1 Nesquik
2 Golden Nuggets
2 Shreddies
1 Cocktail Stick
A little Cream Cheese
1)Make sandwiches from the 2 loaves with the fillings of your choice.
2)Build a stack of sandwiches using 1 and a half loaves on a plate or board or cake stand.
3)Carve the stack of sandwiches to form a rough beehive shape; using the additional half loaf of sandwiches to pack around it to form a good shape, cutting these sandwiches as required to fit the gaps.Use a little of the cream cheese as a glue to attach these pieces to the sides of the sandwich stack.
4)Put the remaining cream cheese into a bowl and mix until really smooth. Cover the beehive shape completely with cream cheese.
5)Press the Shredded Wheat into the cream cheese to cover the beehive starting at the base and working upwards in neat rows, to create the traditional beehive effect. Leave a gap for the door and press in raisins to add details.
6)Chill to set firmly.
Meanwhile make the beesusing Nesquik and Golden Nuggets threaded on cocktail sticks, with 2 Shreddies as wings attached with a little cream cheese. Push your bees into the beehive to decorate.
Food artist Prudence Staite’s recipe for a cereal treasure chest full of treats
Kids love anything pirate-related so why not spend time together and help them get creative in the kitchen whilst learning about the food they eat?
Using an easy-to-follow recipe, Prudence Staite uses a variety of Nestlé Whole Grain Cereals, which provide fibre, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, to make an entirely edible cereal treasure chest to fill with your favourite treats.
Watch the following video to see how you and your kids can have fun with your own patterns and decorations. Perfect for the whole family to make together and enjoy, you’ll have some very happy little pirates indeed!
Pancake Recipe A Quick and easy recipe for any time of the year that can be filled with sweet or savoury fillings of your liking. This recipe makes 6-8 pancakes.
Ingredients:
* 1 medium Egg * 125 grams Plain Flour * 300ml Milk * 1 Tablespoon of oil for frying
Method:
Put the flour into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the egg, then gradually add the milk and whisk until smooth. Adult: Add a few drops of oil to the pan on a medium heat. (Never leave the pan unattended at any time)
Pour enough batter into the pan to cover the base, and cook on each side till a nice light golden colour. (1-2 mins.)
Traditionally served with caster sugar and Lemon juice, but you can serve them with any filling you fancy, sweet or savoury! Why not do something different with your pancake and use your creative side!
Easy and healthy banana bread recipe
Ingredients: 2 Mashed Bananas 1 medium Egg 1 tbsp of semi-skimmed milk 2tbsp of melted sunflower spread. 225g (8oz self raising flour 110g (4oz) Sugar ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda ½ tsp salt
Method :
1. Preheat the oven to 400 F 200 C Gas mark 6
2. Weigh out the ingredients.
3. Grease a small loaf tin or lay out 6-8 muffin cases on a tray.
4. Put all the wet ingredients in to a mixing bowl.
5. Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl.
6. Mix well together.
7. Pour the mixture into the bread tin or muffin cases.
8. Bake in loaf tin for 20-30 mins or 10-15 mins if using muffin cases.
Enjoy your tasty banana bread! Healthy, quick and easy.
Recipe For Gingerbread Men Make a special Treat! ( Yummy!)
Ingredients:
200g Margarine
200g Sugar
450g Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda 2-4 Teaspoons of Ground Ginger
1-2 Tablespoons of warmed Golden Syrup
Tubes of coloured Icing, coloured chocolate buttons etc to decorate.
Method:
Set oven temperature to 180degrees or gas mark 4. Grease your baking tray.
Place margarine and sugar in a bowl then cream together with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy.
Work in the dry ingredients (flour, bicarbonate of soda and ginger.) add gradually and mix in well.
Mix with a little warm syrup to make a stiff dough.
Knead and roll out on a floured surface. Keep adding flour onto the table and rolling pin so the dough doesn't stick.
Cut out shapes with a cutter. Flour the cutter well to avoid sticking. (always try to get as many out of the first roll as you can as this is always the best.)
Put your ginger bread men or shapes on to greased trays. Make sure you have greased the trays enough to avoid sticking. Space them out well on the trays.
The next part is for an adult!
Place the trays in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes.
Remove from oven carefully when ready. ( Light Golden Brown in Colour)
Leave to cool.
Now your little chef can add icing and decorations to the ginger bread men or shapes.
Use a gingerbread man shaped cutter, or any shaped cutters, decorate in your own style and use your imagination.
Dress up your gingerbread men with Icing, fruit, sweets, hundreds and thousands, personalize them for a Birthday or Baby shower!
Bon Appetite!
Enjoy!
Every year in the UK we throw away a staggering one third of all the food we buy. Love Food Hate Waste – a campaign from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) – highlights the fact that wasted food is a waste of money and a major contributor to climate change. And the most frustrating thing is that most of what we throw away could have been eaten – it's not just peelings, teabags and bones. The Love Food Hate Waste website provides delicious recipes to make the most of the food in our fruit bowl, fridge and cupboards, handy hints for storing food, surprising facts on what can be frozen and much more... there is something for everyone, whether you are a keen cook and organiser or more spontaneous. Visit Love Food Hate Waste for more ways to love food and reduce our food waste.
Enjoy! 
