nutella milkshake with banana and coffee

Recall slices of the enduring and sickly sweet supercouple of banana and toffee in the form of banoffee pie from the birthday parties of your childhood. Or even your adulthood. It consists of a base, either pastry or biscuit topped with caramel (but ready made dulce de leche will speed up the assembly process), banana slices and coffee-flavoured cream. So while banana and coffee may initially sound unusual, you’ve likely revelled in its pleasure at some point previously.

Have you ever wondered how the inspired spread of Nutella came about? The crème de la crème of hazelnuts can be found in the Piedmont region of Italy with their exceptional quality and bittersweet richness. In the late-nineteenth century, cocoa was hard to come by in this region. To bulk out the chocolate being made here, hazelnuts were added which eventually led to the heaven sent creation that is Nutella, today outselling peanut butter. Although then it was originally sold as a solid loaf and called pasta gianduja. ‘Two whole hazelnuts in every spoon’ is not quite nutty enough for me so I’ve added more to this recipe. If Nutella is a little sweet for you, you could replace it with a couple of Ferrero Rochers and blitz those before everything else – not something I’ve tried but I’m sure it would work.

Walk through the streets of Paris, particularly on a wintry evening, and your olfactory bulb will register the wafting aromas from the numerous crepe stands just before you spot steam rising from them. Clock the chalked up flavour combinations available and you’ll notice Nutella and banana often at the top of the list.

I’ve taken the complimenting flavours from the above and thrown them together in a satisfying and indulgent start to the day – one for a Sunday morning I reckon.

This recipe was developed for the Good Food Channel website and can be found here:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/657611

Afiyet olsun.

hazelnut chocolate pots with orange and rosemary

If I am presented with the dilemma of choosing between a sweet or savoury bite, I’ll select the savoury almost every time. And this includes popcorn – always salty, never sweet - not even a combination of the two (who’s with me?). 

I am almost completely lacking in the often referenced ‘sweet tooth’ – the sugar content in a small bowl of Crunchy Nut is usually more than adequate as a dessert for me (cereal for afters - try it). 

I simply cannot relate to drinking a can of Coca-Cola with limited edition tongue-fur, eating a bag of migraine manifesting Haribo, or snacking on the sugar block kid confectionery that is Dairy Milk clothed in its gaudy wrap – anything above my relatively low sugar threshold and I feel like my teeth are evaporating. 

However, contrary to what seems to be an anti-sugar disposition, I do actually like desserts. I even find that they quite often steal the show of a three course meal if done well. My idea of a good dessert is one that showcases the individual components and ingredients rather than concealing anything that could be half decent with a smothering of something sugar loaded.

I also really like chocolate. 

It’s important to be able to distinguish the difference between confectionery items such as Dairy Milk mentioned above (high in sugar, low on cocoa) and with real chocolate (high in cocoa, lower on sugar) – I’m referring to the latter. 

And so I present to you my humble offering of a small chocolate based dessert a little different from the norm. Chocolate, hazelnuts and orange are familiar friends, but to these I’ve added rosemary infused milk which I think brings a touch of cool and evergreen sophistication to the pots with its pine and floral notes. 

The only sweetness in this dish is from the milk chocolate (also known as plain chocolate) as there is no added sugar – when it comes to this ingredient get something that’s at least a third cocoa. Green and Blacks have a decent offering. 

If you’re even more extreme than I when it comes to the sweet stuff (hats off if so), then feel free to substitute with dark chocolate but be prepared for a bitter finish. Either way, your end result will be light little pots of goodness somewhere between a mousse and a chocolate pot.

This recipe was developed for the GoodFood Channel and can be found on their website here.

Afiyet olsun.

blueberry and almond smoothie

Here's a pretty good start to the day and completely divine. Great for using up berries sitting in the fridge now past their best, that you just haven't got round to using. Alternatively, put them in straight from frozen. This will be ready before you've rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. And here are some of the health benefits of blueberries, which you of course already knew: highest antioxidant capacity of all fresh fruit - they contain 20 different antioxidants while other berries contain just three or four; neutralises free radicals; softens dry skin; reverses age related memory loss; the list goes on.

I think they're deserving of the little flared crowns they have.

Blueberry and almond smoothie

Makes just over 3 x 250ml glasses

225g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

350ml milk

2 x heaped tbsp fat free Greek yoghurt

2 x heaped tbsp ground almonds

1.5 tbsp honey

5 ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a blender and wazz until silky smooth. Decant into glasses and drink immediately. If you let the glass sit for a while before consuming, some settling will occur so give it a quick stir before drinking.

Alfiyet olsun.