I’m not going to give much preamble for this, since it’s a bit of a mammoth recipe, but definitely worth it, if you’re a fan of chocolate orange. All I am going to say is: take a deep breath; take one step at a time; and remember that it will all be worth it in the end… also, please ignore my appalling decorating skills. As my sister always points out, it’s just going to get eaten, anyway!

Chocolate Orange Cake

Ingredients

• 1 medium orange
• 175g soft margarine
• 175g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp warm water
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200g wholemeal flour (or plain flour with 1 tsp bran flakes)
• 5 tbsp plain natural yoghurt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease an 8” cake tin, lining the bottom.
2. Grate the rind of the orange and juice it, keeping the rind and juice separate.
3. Beat the margarine until it is soft and smooth, before adding the sugar and orange rind and continue beating until it is light and fluffy.
4. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and lightly beat. Add the beaten eggs into the margarine mixture a little at a time, beating well between each addition.
5. Put the cocoa powder and warm water into a small bowl and stir it to make a smooth paste. Then, add the cocoa powder mixture to the margarine and stir it in
6. Sift together the flour and baking powder (be sure to add and trapped bran flakes back in) and add half to the mixture. Add half of the yoghurt and gently fold the ingredients together. Repeat the process with the other half of the ingredients.
7. Add in the orange juice and fold it in.
8. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour. If the cake does not feel firm at this point, put it back in the oven until it is firm. If it is baked, remove it from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing it from the tin.

Marmalade glaze

Ingredients

• Marmalade
• 240g dark chocolate
• 150ml plain natural yoghurt

Method

1. Heat approximately 2 tbsp of marmalade in a small pan over a low heat, stirring constantly. When the marmalade is fully melted, place it through a sieve to remove any peel.
2. Spread the glaze over the top of the cake, making sure that it does not run down the sides.

Note: this part is subjective. I’ve been told that I have a tendency to turn things into Jaffa Cakes, which for some reason is not always appreciated, hence the 2 tbsp limit, and there are people in my life who do not like chunky marmalade (I know that they are heathens, but they are not to be reasoned with). My point is that you can tailor this step to your own tastes. If you just want a mild glaze, then 1 tbsp might suit you better… or you can follow my example and melt an entire jar and just slather it on!

Chocolate Topping

Ingredients

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (a pan of boiling water with a heatproof bowl over it).
2. When the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat and whisk in the yoghurt.
3. When it is cool, spread it over the cake.

Note: the yoghurt cools this mixture very quickly and you can’t let it get too hard otherwise it will be difficult to spread, as the photo of my cake proves!

Orange Mousse Chocolates

Ingredients

• 1 medium orange, juiced and zested
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2oz butter
• 75g sugar
• 150ml double cream
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp orange essence
• 1 tbsp condensed milk
• 200g orange chocolate, or as needed

Method

1. Make an orange curd: place the juice of 1 medium orange, the butter and sugar in a double boiler and heat until melted. When they have melted and combined, reduce the heat to low and start slowly adding the eggs, stirring constantly. Keep stirring until the custard has thickened. Remove from the heat and put aside to cool completely.
2. Whip the cream and 1 tbsp sugar to soft peaks (about 50%) and add in all the curd, the essence and the condensed milk. Whisk until thick and holding its own shape.
3. Set aside.
4. Melt the orange chocolate of your choice. There are different tempering techniques depending on if you are using white, milk or dark chocolate, so if you want to check that out, I’m going to have to suggest you look up better instructions than I can offer for your specific chocolate type.
5. Fill chocolate moulds with the melted chocolate (bonus points if they are in the shape of citrus segments), make sure all the sides are covered and then tip all the chocolate you can back into the bowl, leaving you with space to put your filling. Clean off the top of the mould to try and stop them all sticking together.
6. Once the moulds are set, fill a piping bag with your ‘mousse’ and fill the moulds, being sure not to fill them all the way, or sealing them off will be difficult.
7. Put the filled moulds in the freezer for 20 minutes, as this will make sealing them a lot easier.
8. Remelt your remaining chocolate and cover the openings, sealing in your chocolates.
9. Refrigerate until solid and then remove them from the moulds.

Decorating

Finely grate white chocolate over the top of the cake. Arrange the filled chocolates decoratively. Scatter candied orange peel for some colour. If you have any of the chocolate orange left, rather than throwing it away, fill moulds with it completely and add to the decorations! Go wild!

Serve with

Rum spiked orange and cinnamon hot chocolate.

• 80g Dark Chocolate
• 1 medium orange (zest of the whole orange and juice of half)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 400ml milk
• Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum to taste (at least 1 tbsp) https://courtneys.online/rum/grumblebee-honey-spiced-rum-70cl/
• Double cream
• 1 pinch powdered cinnamon

Method

1. Gently heat the milk over a low heat and add the orange zest and cinnamon stick. Stir continuously to prevent the milk from burning. Simmer for a minute to let the oils infuse.
2. Remove the cinnamon stick and add the chopped up dark chocolate. When the chocolate is completely melted, add the orange juice.
3. Add the rum and increase the heat to medium, stirring until the mixture is bubbling. Remove immediately.
4. Serve with soft whipped cream sprinkled with powdered cinnamon.

This is exactly what it sounds like: simple and delicious.

Take two slices of your favourite bread (if you’re looking for a pretty fab, Courtney’s approved recipe, then see our no-knead air fryer cider bread) and toast them lightly. Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Spread a layer of apple chutney on each piece of toast and then cover thin slices of brie over the entirety of the toast. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the brie is melted.

In the meantime, fry your bacon. 2-4 slices, depending on how indulgent you are being.

Remove the slices of toast from the oven, lay the bacon on each slice (1-2 pieces) and either pile everything up into a sandwich, or eat open-faced. I, personally, always find that my sandwich fillings like to escape, so tend to eat them open-faced.

Now, since that is all obviously far too easy, here’s an apple chutney recipe, just to make things complicated… just in case you like planning your sandwiches 6 months in advance!

Recipes will be divided on the type of apples you should use.  If you have an apple tree, use your own fruit.  If you have apples you haven’t eaten, use those.  Cooking apples ‘fall’ and your chutney will be more pulpy.  Eating apples will, sometimes, retain more of their integrity and give your chutney more texture.  It’s your preference.  Whatever you use, please leave the chutney to mature – minimum 3 months and better the nearer to 6.  If you take the lid off new chutney and smell vinegar, put the lid back on, sigh deeply and wait for another few weeks: it will be worth it.

Remember to sterilise your jars ahead of making the chutney.  Wash the jars and lids, and put into a pre-heated oven @ around 120 degrees.  15 minutes should be enough.  The jars should be cooled by the time you are filling them (easier to handle).

Ingredients: per pint of chutney (scale up if you have more apples)

• A generous pound of apples (500g)
• 1 medium (on the large side of medium) onion
• 375g dark soft brown sugar
• 250g of dried fruit (recipes state raisins, but mixing raisins with chopped prunes or figs adds a different depth – depends what you have open in your cupboard)
• 2tsp of mustard or onion seeds (or a mixture of the two)
• 1 tsp of ginger or mixed spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 350ml cider vinegar (the cider vinegar does make a worthwhile difference)

Method

1. Peel and chop the apples into small pieces.
2. Peel and chop the onion finely (do not use a food processor)
3. Put all the ingredients into a heavy bottomed, large pan.
4. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down and simmer (with a lid) for about 15 minutes, or until the apples are soft.
5. Take the lid off and simmer uncovered to evaporate most of the liquid.  Stir occasionally to check nothing is sticking to the base.
6. When you can draw a wooden spoon across the chutney surface, and the motion leaves a shallow trench, remove the chutney from the heat.
7. Let it rest and cool a little.
8. Ladle into your sterilised jars while the chutney is still hot, and seal.  Store in a cool, dark cupboard.  Once open, refrigerate.

Serving Suggestion

Silly Cow Cider https://courtneys.online/cider/silly-cow-cider/ 

Or over-planning, really.

I don’t know what happened, but one moment I ask the innocent question of what everyone had any ideas for Christmas treats and suddenly I have a list as long as my arm! It’s fantastic. I will never, ever get round to making it all, but I can dream.

So far, for Christmas day, there is a mincemeat crumble; a chocolate and mint Boston Cream Pie (my personal favourite); of course, since there will be egg whites left from the crème légère, some meringues are de rigeure; cinnamon buns for breakfast and homemade sausage rolls for lunch.

And then there are indulgences for throughout December.

Minced Pies, of course! Lots and lots. The minced meat is fully stocked and a battle plan has been drawn up to get through it all.

Baked apple truffles (not sure these will work, but excited to try them out)

Yorkshire puddings with spiced vegetable stew… I haven’t had it in ages, but it’s a family favourite and I don’t know why we don’t do it more often.

Great-great-grandmother’s ginger biscuits that can only be made in December and the rest of the year talked of in hushed and reverent whispers. It’s the only recipe I will never give up the secret to and the day I was allowed to write it in my recipe book will forever live in my memory.

Caramels

3 types of fudge (vanilla, chocolate mint, and hazelnut). More were about to be added, but I had to put my feet down.

‘Beethoven chocolates’. I don’t know if anyone else does this. They’re little balls of marzipan, with chopped up rum-soaked apricots in the middle of them and a toasted almond on top, covered with chocolate, so kind of like a homemade Mozart chocolate, but with some extra frills… not that Beethoven is especially frilly, but his name seems to have become affixed to these magnificent monstrosities in this household. My mum’s been talking about them since August.

A list of new carrot recipes, about six so far.

Cinnamon and ginger cake, obviously.

Star anise ice cream with candied orange peel. It tastes like being round a Christmas smells when you’re about 5. I swear, it makes the room glow when you eat it. Pure excellence but rather dividing (pretty much exactly 50-50), so I get to eat it into the new year!!!

More is being added to the list daily and I swear I will be put into a sugar coma just by reading it. So, if you need to find me in the next month, I will be passed out in a bowl of chocolate, very happy and very hyped up. 

1. What flower are apples related to?
   1. Lilacs
   2. Magnolias
   3. Daisy
   4. Rose
2. In 1664 John Evelyn wrote about the health benefits of drinking cider. Which of these did he NOT claim cider could do?
   1. Aid digestion
   2. Cleanses the stomach
   3. Strengthen the heart
   4. Prevents kidney stones
3. What common word comes from the drinking of rum?
   1. Jingled
   2. Groggy
   3. Symposium
   4. Glorious
4. Apart from juniper berries, what is the plant most often used in gin?
   1. Coriander
   2. Cumin
   3. Cardamon
   4. Cicely

(Answer: d) Rose. Apples are related to roses.)

(Answer: c) Strengthens the heart. John Evelyn said that ‘Generally all strong and pleasant cider excites and cleanses the Stomach, strengthens Digestion, and infallibly frees the Kidneys and Bladder from breeding the Gravel Stone’)

(Answer: b) Groggy. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, grog was served on naval vessels to combat drunkenness (grog is rum mixed with water, lemon juice and sugar) but many sailors saved up their rations and got drunk on it and ended up feeling the effects of ‘grogginess’ the next day.

Jingled is an American term to describe being mildly drunk

Symposium comes from the Greek word meaning to drink together, or have a drinking party.

Glorious can be used to describe the funny stage of drunkenness. It is not a quantitative measure of drunkenness, but a qualitative one.)

(Answer: a) Coriander)

This is essentially an Apple Genoise, which sounds really complicated, but is actually one of the easiest cakes to make, in my opinion/experience. The only thing you have to do is make sure that you prep everything ahead and take the time to get lots of air into your batter. If you do that, you will be left with a light and fluffy, heavenly textured apple cake.

First off, I’ll give you my great-gran’s tip for a guaranteed light sponge: sieve the flour three times. It sounds like a gimmick, but it makes a huge difference. If you want to guarantee a perfectly light cake, take the extra 60 seconds and sift away! This isn’t just for Genoises (I don’t think she had much truck with ‘fancy’ cakes like that) but it makes it is also an indispensable tip for Victoria sponges and Yorkshire puddings. Get the air into the flour and 50% of your work is done for you.

My other tip is to work fast. You have to take 6 minutes to whisk your eggs with an electric whisk (apparently 8 minutes with a stand mixer, but I’ve never tried that), again to get the air in, and as soon as that is done be sure to get your dry ingredients and apples in quickly and get that cake straight in the oven. Sugar reacts with egg yolks and if you leave the egg/sugar mixture standing there while you get other ingredients sorted out, you’re going to end up with a tough cake. Pre-prepare your ingredients!

Anyway, enough with my rambling, here’s the recipe:

• 6 eggs
• 200g granulated sugar
• 150g flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp melted butter or neutral oil
• 680g sour apples (e.g. Granny Smith or Braeburn)

1. Preheat Oven to 180°C. Line bottom of un-greased 9” springform tin with a ring of baking paper.
2. Peel, core, chop and thinly slice your apples. Cover with a tea towel to prevent them from discolouring and set aside.
3. Add 6 eggs to the bowl and whisk for 3 minutes on high speed. Keep whisking for another 3 minutes on high speed, slowly adding in the sugar. This might sound like a faff, but I promise, it works every time.
4. Add the flour and baking powder mixture into the beaten egg batter in 3 increments, folding between each addition. Scrape from the bottom of the bowl to ensure pockets of flour aren't missed (they hide). Make sure everything is incorporated, but don’t over-mix! Quickly fold in the vanilla extract and butter just until incorporated.
5. Fold in sliced apples, reserving 1 couple of handfuls for the top. Fold just until combined into the batter then pour batter into prepared tin. Spread batter evenly with a spatula (do not tap the pan) and scatter the remaining apple evenly over the top. Bake at 180˚C for 50-55 minutes. The top will be golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and rest in tin 15 min. Slide a thin spatula or knife around the edges of the pan to loosen then transfer to a cake platter to cool to room temperature.

Serving Suggestion

Serve with Gin and Tonic.

https://courtneys.online/gin/the-exe-gin/

This cake is pictured with preserved bilberries, but raspberries and blueberries work very well too. 

This is a Japanese snack and really, truly, utterly delicious.

I’m a big fan of pumpkin, but do sometimes find it takes a lot of time to deal with, when you’ve got to roast it off, let it cool remove the flesh, etc. etc. So, imagine my delight when I found a recipe for pumpkin that’s done in 4 minutes, is comfort food and tastes like the best aspects of pumpkin, paired with the best things about sweet potato fries!

To be honest, I’m a bit in love.

My only warning about this recipe is that these things are FILLING. I only made half a Hokkaido Pumpkin’s worth of these babies, but it still took me three days to finish them (they reheat really well in the oven or air fryer), because my goodness do they fill you up.

They can be eaten on their own, or dipped in soup, or (if you’re going non-vegan) into runny egg yolk, which is my new dream lunch. Actually… they really go with everything.

• 1 small pumpkin, like a Kabocha or Hokkaido
• 90g flour
• 30g additional starch (potato starch, cornflour or arrowroot (p.s. arrowroot is gluten free and low carb and behaves exactly like cornflour)
• 230ml sparkling water, slightly frozen (put it in the freezer an hour before you need to use it)
• Neutral oil (for frying)
• Salt, to taste

1. Wash your pumpkin, cut it in half, scoop out the guts and slice into ½-1cm slices. Leave the skin intact.
2. Mix together the flour, starch and sparkling water until smooth.
3. Dredge the pumpkin slices in the batter.
4. Heat 2cm of oil to 180°C and add pumpkin slices. Don’t add too many at once, or your oil will cool down too much. Somewhere between 4-6 slices, depending on the size of your pan.
5. Cook pumpkin for 4 minutes, until golden and crispy.
6. Remove, drain and sprinkle with salt. 

Serving suggestions

Strawberry and Lime Frapple goes so well with tempura!

https://courtneys.online/cider/frapple-strawberry-and-lime/

A Drop fell on the Apple Tree - 

Another - on the Roof - 

A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves - 

And made the Gables laugh -

A few went out to help the Brook 

That went to help the Sea - 

Myself Conjectured were they Pearls - 

What Necklaces could be -

The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads - 

The Birds jocoser sung - 

The Sunshine threw his Hat away - 

The Bushes - spangles flung -

Let’s ignore the fact that this is technically a poem about summer showers. Rain persists, even in the latter stages of November. I like Emily Dickinson. So, I’m going to make this a poem about autumn turning into winter, because why not? (Because it’s not. It’s about summer showers. Please don’t let my shoehorn poetry habits mislead you!)

It’s very hard to remember, when sitting in the middle of three days of drudging damp rain, how exciting it is when those first drops fall when you’re least expecting them. There’s a skylight in my attic and one of the things I love to do is go and sit up there (in amongst a lot of stuff that really needs to be sorted through) and listen to the drops of rain falling on my head, while I stay lovely and dry!

How special is it that Emily Dickinson felt the same way!

I know, it’s a very common thing that lots of people like, but it’s still cool!

So, my dear Emily,

The apple trees will grow well, because the drops falling on them have fallen into a downpour.

The hundreds of thousands of raindrops that followed soon after are definitely helping the stream! It’s running a torrent outside right now, but it’s nice to think about that random little raindrop that’s trying to fall on my head, eventually rolling out to the sea. Lots of adventures await it, I’m sure.

Do you think they are pearls of wisdom, falling from the sky? That wisdom is most certainly to stay inside, or invest in a better raincoat! Pearls make sense, Emily. I can see where you’re coming from. The luminescence of a raindrop, with all the colours of the rainbow potentially trapped within it, just waiting to escape with a ray of sunlight… which is most assuredly trapped behind a cloud at this moment, but I suppose you were writing about a summer shower.

I could make you several thousand necklaces, if you like. As you said, the drops are spangling the bushes so much that it look like fairy lights are being thrown from every bush around. How many necklaces should I make you? I’m inclined to say ‘all’. It would not do to let that image go to waste.

As I say, I am writing this as autumn turns to winter. The singing birds are robins, the dust never has time to settle between the storms and the sunshine has most definitely thrown his hat away! But he will come again another day, just as the rain will go away. There are advantages to writing to you at this time of year, though, since the pearls that have captured my imagination so are beginning to seem more solid on the leaves. So much easier to turn jeweller in those circumstances. I will send them to you, from the tips of my fingers.

I hope you are keeping well in the ether. You are alive and well on the page.

1. How old is an apple tree before it bears its first fruit?
   1. 2-3 years
   2. 3-4 years
   3. 4-5 years
   4. 5-6 years
2. Which Roman Emperor (or more likely his army) took cider back to Rome after invading Britain?
   1. Julius Caesar
   2. Claudius
   3. Vespasian
   4. Agricola
3. In the British Navy, a daily ration of rum was introduced in 1655. When was it abolished?
   1. 1900
   2. 1920
   3. 1950
   4. 1970
4. It’s coming to the end of foraging season. What colour is sloe gin?
   1. Clear
   2. Dark red
   3. Bright blue
   4. Deep orange

(Answer: c) 4-5 years.)

(Answer: a) Julius Caesar. When Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55BC, he and his army found the Celts making a drink out of fermented apples. They liked it as a drink and took it back to Rome as a better alternative to wine than beer)

(Answer: d) 1970!)

(Answer: b) dark red and delicious looking)

Tiramisu is the perfect dessert and I will physically fight anyone who tells me otherwise. You have cake (technically ladyfinger biscuits, but once they’re soft, it’s basically cake), you’ve got rich mousse, you’ve got whatever you’re topping it off with… actually, it’s not that complicated when I put it like that, but that’s the point: it’s simple, easy to make, and perfect every time.

I’m not a big coffee lover, though, so to change it up a bit and add to perfection (in my opinion) I like to do twists on this classic and so this is my version of an apple (and rum) tiramisu.

Recipe (Serves 8)

• 1 packet Ladyfinger biscuits
• 100ml apple juice
• 2 tbsp Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum
• 500g Mascarpone cheese
• 75g sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 200ml double cream
• 1 jar of Apple Curd https://courtneys.online/apple-and-rum-curd/
• 6 tsp Apple Butter (optional) https://courtneys.online/anglo-saxon-apple-butter/
• 100g Rum Caramel (optional)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1tsp powdered cinnamon

1. Mix the mascarpone cheese, sugar, egg yolk, 1tbsp Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum, Curd and cream into a bowl and beat with a spatula until smooth and soft peaks form.
2. Pour the apple juice and 1 tbsp of Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum into a shallow dish and dip the ladyfinger and lay into a 25x30cm serving dish.
3. (optional) Spoon the apple butter over the ladyfingers and spread evenly.
4. Spread all the mousse over the ladyfingers, or (if using a smaller dish) use half the mousse and repeat the dipping, lining and spreading process.
5. (optional) spread a thin layer of rum caramel (recipe below) over the mousse.
6. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dish.
7. Put the tiramisu in the fridge for at 12-24 hours.

Serving Suggestion

I served this recently with a liqueur glass of Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum and my guests were blown away by the combination!

 https://courtneys.online/rum/g... 

Rum Caramel

• 200g sugar
• 5 tbsp Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum
• 230ml cream (room temperature)
• 85g butter (cubed and room temperature)
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Put the sugar and rum in a heavy bottomed pan and stir over high heat until it is melted. Brush down the pan with water regularly to prevent burning. Stir occasionally.
2. When the sugar, rum mix has caramelised into a deep gold colour, add the cream. This will make the mixture bubble violently, so be careful and mix vigorously.
3. As soon as the cream has been combined, add the cubed butter and mix in.
4. As soon as the butter is melted, remove the pan from heat and add salt and vanilla. Mix.
5. Serve.

I don’t have very much to say about this recipe. It’s quite simple, but perfect on a foggy, drawn in night and so I thought I would share it with you. The only thing that is remotely ‘complicated’ is the onion sauce, the recipe for which is below.

Cook your sausages (I made beef sausages for the first time for this and they were absolutely delicious and worked really well with the rich onion) in your preferred manner. I’m personally not very fond of fried sausages, so tend to do mine in the oven (25 minutes at 180°C) or air fryer (10-15 minutes at 180°C). Boil new potatoes until tender. Serve with peas and carrots and the sauce.

French Onion Sauce

• 3 medium onions
• 1 oz butter
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 2 large ladel-fuls of beef stock
• 1 tbsp Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum (optional) https://courtneys.online/rum/g...

1. Peel and thinly slice the onions.
2. Cook onions over medium heat with the oil. When the onions are softened, add in the butter and continue cooking, stirring regularly.
3. When the onions have browned off, add the garlic and cook for another minute.
4. Add the beef stock and thyme and cook over a low-medium heat until the mixture has reduced to the desire consistency/amount (about half).
5. Season to taste with any extra salt and Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum.
6. Serve over the sausages.

Serving Suggestion

Whimple Orchards Cider 

https://courtneys.online/cider...