Erin’s salted dark choc brownies with white choc chips

This is a very special recipe.  Our friend Roz emigrated to Australia last year (you might remember I made her some pretty delicious peach melba cupcakes before she went) and when she arrived to start a new life and lots of adventures on the other side of the world, she became fantastic friends with a young woman called Erin. Just before Roz came home to see her family and friends this Christmas, Erin tragically passed away.  Roz kindly shared Erin's famous brownie recipe with me, and it was a privilege to make them yesterday, the day after Erin's birthday.  These are incredible brownies - wildy decadent, fabulously chocolatey, can't-fail-to-make-you-grin, heart-warmingly good! As I baked, and as we ate them, we were thinking of Roz and all Erin's friends and family. I hope that you enjoy them as much.  

Banana, date and rum loaf cake - wheat-free, sugar-free and fat-free!

Our new year's resolution is to try to get healthy. We've started going to the gym (I know, I can hardly believe it myself) and watching the calorie counter on the cycling machines tell you that you've sweated for 10 minutes and only burned about five crisps is slightly soul-destroying, not least as it's made me feel guilty about eating cake.  One of the greatest pleasures in life!  So I have to find a way to make guilt-free cakes. This is my first attempt - it is a fat-free, sugar-free and wheat-free cake - and amazingly, it still tastes delicious!  Made with puréed dates, dried apricots and mashed banana, it's lovely and sweet without the need to add any extra sugar.  Instead of flour it uses a bit of cornmeal (or you could try polenta) to bind it together, and is full of pecans, dried cranberries and sultanas, and finished off with a good glug of dark rum (we all need a little naughtiness...).  As good as any fruit cake, and no guilt attached!

Banana, blueberry and cranberry muffins

A lovely recipe to use up blackening bananas, these combine the background taste of banana bread with classic blueberry muffins, and some fresh cranberries for little explosions of tartness.  

Pear and blackberry sponge flan with elderflower, gin and tonic jelly

For Christmas, my mum gave me a sponge flan tin. This was my first go at testing it, and the results were lovely – really light, airy cake which I topped with fresh pear and blackberries and a jelly made with elderflower cordial, gin and tonic water.  You could use any fruit or jelly combination you like though.