I just adore Autumn. It is my favourite season. I know . . . I say that every season and I guess that every season it is true . . . I love whatever season I am in! Each one brings us a wonderful mix of colour, textures, scents and flavours!! I'm a 365 a day foodie and my gluttony is no respecter of seasons I suppose!

I thought it would be fun to showcase several of my favourite autumnal puddings here this morning . . . the absolute best of the beautiful flavours that this season brings to the table in all it's decadent glory! I do hope that you will see at least one that you will want to try out, if not today, then very, very soon!



Delicious Michaelmas Dumplings, a beautiful mix of bramley apple, blackberries stewed together and topped with soft dumplings. Oh so good with lashings of cream poured over top!



A beautiful Apple and Plum Tart, served warm with, once again, lashings of double cream . . . a good vanilla ice cream would also go down very well!




Delicious Raspberry Buns . . . delightfully buttery and crispy biscuits stogged full of some of those raspberry preserves that you've just made!



Wonderfully scrummy Pumpkin Spice Bread, oh so moreish when toasted and spread with cold butter. You can't get enough of it!



Nectarines Baked in Cream, oh so rich and delish. Sweet fruit, rich cream and a crunchy nut topping. Oh so wonderful!



Break out the Cream again! It's Cinnamon Pudding Cake!!! Rich, spicy and chock full of lovely autumn apples!



Pretty hard to resist, it's Berry and White Chocolate Pudding! A delicious baked pudding stogged full of mixed berries and white chocolate. Pass the cream again!



It's Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Cake, served with a delicious topping of Lemon Cream! Just can't get enough of those little blue gems, and that topping is to die for!



A scrummy Apple Crumble with Maple, Oats and Walnuts. Fall comfort and decadence in a bowl! Pretty hard to resist. Do at the British and serve up with lashings of warm custard, or cream.




Sticky Topped Gingerbread. This is fabulous, comforting and smells beautiful when it is baking! This tastes like Home Sweet Home!



Sour Cream Apple Squares, moreishly delish when served up with a nice dollop of Clotted Cream on top!

I hope that I have given you some autumnal food for thought this morning! This is my favourite part of autumn . . . it's such a delicious season with it's apples and pumpkins and late summer berries. Enjoy some autumn today!



And in The Cottage today, a delicious Autumnal Salad of Apple Dressed Pears and Walnuts with Blue Cheese Toasts! Oh so scrummy yummy!

Did I ever tell you about the time I ate so many raspberries that I made myself sick? I was 11 years old and it was a hot August day. We were moving in to a new house. In the meantime we were staying at my Grandfather's house. My father had gone on to meet the furniture truck and was going to come back and get us when the furniture had been off loaded. To make a long story short . . . the truck was late arriving, my mother insisted on not feeding us because "My father was going to be back any minute," and my sister and I were so hungry we gorged ourselves in the next door neighbour's raspberry patch.



So not cool . . . and I so paid for it later on. I always got car sick anyways, but on that day I got really sick . . . I do believe my father was hoovering raspberry seeds out of the carpet in that car for years . . . and it was truly years and years before I could ever bring myself to eat a raspberry and enjoy it again . . .



Thankfully the brain eventually forgets things like this . . . unless you are feeling sick anyways. (For some odd reason when I'm not feeling well, I start to remember everything I've ever eaten when I've been sick in the past!) Anyways, I now love raspberries again and I adore raspberry season.



It's late raspberry season now and it also happens to be pear season . . . I reckon nature has it right and just as strawberries and rhubarb come in to season together and make a beautiful taste marriage . . . I have come to realize that late season raspberries and autumn pears make another beautiful taste marriage . . . especially when you combine them with ginger . . .
OOhh la la! C'est si bon! ♥♥♥



We went to Gordale Nurseries today and picked up two raspberry canes, a tayberry cane, two blueberry bushes and a new pear tree (to replace the one that got fire leaf blight). . . and of course I could not resist going through the gift section. I came across these adorable little cup and saucer sets which have heart shaped saucers! (Even the handle on the cup is heart shaped. They came in pink and red. I had to have the red!) So perfect for autumnal desserts such as this fabulous Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler!!! They seem to set it off perfectly. (I am picturing a Valentines White Chocolate and Ginger mousse in them now, aren't you?)



Anyways, you just have to make this delicious cobbler. It is the perfect autumnal pudding . . . moreishly scrumptious and oh soooo fabulously tasty!! Sweet and sticky fruit topped with a buttery gingery biscuit topping. What's not to like???



Resistance is totally futile. Trust me on this.



*Gingered Raspberry & Pear Cobbler*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

A delicious combination that will have them coming back for seconds!

1 TBS butter to butter the pan

For the filling:
3/5 ounces granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
2 TBs plus 1 tsp cornflour
pinch of fine seasalt
4 large pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
9 ounces fresh or frozen raspberries (2 cups)
1 TBS cold butter, cut into small bits

For the topping:
8 3/4 ounces of plain flour (1 3/4 cup)
4 TBS granulated sugar, divided
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine seasalt
10 TBS cold butter, cut into small bits (5 ounces)
2 ounces candied ginger, chopped (1/3 cup)
5.5 fluid ounces, plus 1 TBS cold buttermilk

To serve:
Pouring Cream, Custard or Vanilla Bean Ice cream

First make the topping. Whisk the flour, 3 TBs of the sugar, the baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter, and toss to eavenly coat. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you get crumbs the size of peas. Stir in the candied ginger, then pour in the 5.5 fluid ounces of buttermilk, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The dough should be crumbly with visible pieces of butter. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 9 inch deep dish pie pan. Set aside.

Rub the sugar, cornflour and salt (for the filling) together in a large bowl. Add the pears and lemon juice. Toss until evenly coated. Gently fold in the raspberries. Transfer to the prepared pan. Dot with the 1 TBS of butter.

Turn the dough for the topping out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press together into a 9 inch circle. Place carefully on top of the fruit. Brush with the 1 TBS of buttermilk and sprinkle with the remaining 1 TBS of sugar.

Bake in the bottom third of the oven for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and the juices are bubbly and thick. Allow to cool for half an hour before serving. Serve with pouring cream, custard or ice cream. Delicious!



I'm playing with Croissants, Chocolate and Preserves over in the Cottage today with Chocolate and Fruit Filled Croissants! There are also some lovely pictures of our trip the other day to Betws-y-coed in Wales.

We recently signed up to Abel & Cole again for a small veg and fruit box delivery each week and our first one arrived this morning. I was so thrilled to see a big bunch of rainbow Chard in it! We tried to grow chard this year, but the slugs never gave it a chance.



I know we could use slug pellets, but we just don't like to use them (bad for the birds) and the other stuff is largely in-effective. One night Todd went out into the garden and picked up no less than 40 slugs. We are going to have to do something about that before next year for sure.



Anyways there was this lovely big bunch of beautiful rainbow coloured Bright Lights Chard in it and of course I just had to cook it tonight for our supper. It was so very pretty with it's deep emerald green leaves riddled with beautiful veins and stems of raspberry pink, blood red, orange and yellow . . .



I just love chard . . . or silverbeet as it is also called. It has an almost earthy flavour . . . and is beautiful to eat when properly cooked. You don't to over cook either the leaves or the stems . . . it goes without saying that the slimmer stems are a bit more tender than the thicker ones, but no less tasty. They just need to be cooked that little bit longer.



I always separate the stems from the leaves and cook them separately, which seems to work very well for me. It's delicious simply steamed and then sprinkled with a dressing of lemon juice and olive oil, or vinegar as my mother used to use . . . but if you really want it to shine . . . prepare it as a gratin!



Oh so unctuously rich and creamy . . . with earthy undertones, and just a hint of sharpness from some grainy mustard, this is a real winner all round.



Me . . . I could eat just a plate of this and nothing else, but . . . we had it with some steamed and crushed pink firs from the garden and some lightly grilled Barnsley Chops (double lamb chops, English of course!)that I had simply sprinkled with a mixture of chopped rosemary, lemon zest and minced fresh garlic before grilling.



A most scrummy supper indeed! (The quantities given are for 4 as a side dish, but would make a very delicious light supper for two, served on it's own with some crusty bread for mopping up all those lucious juices.)



*A Delicious Gratin of Chard*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Earthy and moreishly delicious! This is quite simply the best.

450g of swiss chard (a scant pound)
400ml of double cream (about 1 2/3 cup)
2 TBS grainy mustard
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 ounce freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (1/4 cup)

Preheat your oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5. Butter a shallow baking dish and set aside. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil.

Wash your chard really well. Cut the stalks from the leaves. Cut the stalks into short to medium sized pieces. Plunge the stems into the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, then scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the leaves and leave in the boiling water only until they are wilted. Toss the stems and leaves together (shake offy excess water) and then place them into the buttered dish. Whisk together the cream, mustard and salt and black pepper to taste. Pour this mixture over top of the chard. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

Bake in the heated oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, until bubbling and the top has lightly browned. Remove from the oven and serve.



And in The Cottage today, a delicous Blueberry Gingerbread.

I don't need to remind you about how very much I love blueberries do I??? Well . . . just in case I do . . . it's a lot, Lot, LOT!!



I love them in pies and in cakes.



I love them in sweet crumbles and buttery cobblers.



I love them in fluffy pancakes and . . . I simply ♥adore♥ them in muffins!!



Especially when the muffins are huge and buttery and so stogged full of the lovely delicious sweet little blue babies that you couldn't possibly stog any more of them in.



Oh . . . and a buttery . . . crispy . . . crumbly . . . sweet streusel topping doesn't hurt either!



Moreishly scrummy!!!



*Blueberry Streusel Muffins*
Makes 8 medium/large muffins
Printable Recipe

Deliciously moist and buttery, with a crisp streusel topping.

210g plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
150g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
75g butter, melted and cooled slightly (1/3 cup)
1 large free range egg, beaten
150ml of milk (2/3 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
150g punnet fresh blueberries (about 1 1/2 cups)

For the streusel topping:
100g granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
35g plain flour (1/4 cup)
4 TBS cold butter, cubed
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/gas mark 6. Line 8 medium to large muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.

To make the streusel topping mix together the sugar, flour butter and cinnamon with a fork until it looks like coarse sand. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. In another small bowl, beat together the milk, butter, egg and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once. Stir just to combine. Gently stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling to the top and sprinkle with the streusel topping.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.



Baking over in The Cottage today, a delicious Moist Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I know I promised more cupcakes today, but never fear . . .they are on my other page. I just couldn't wait to show you this delicious dessert!



Normally I only make desserts when we are having visitors, but today I made a delicious Blackberry Crumble that was big enough just for one! (I doubled it though and so it fed too. It was very easy to do!)



I am sure I am not the only one in the same boat . . . an empty nester with just myself and my husband to please.



Or maybe you are on a diet and you only want to make enough for your husband to eat. . . with no leftovers to tempt you into eating naughty stuff!



This would work very easily with most fruits . . . for what is a crumble, but a mixture of sweetened fruit with a buttery crumble topping baked until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is crisp and golden brown???



Exactly. This would also work well with apples, pears, peaches, plums, blueberries, raspberries, or any combination thereof!

And then there was . . . none!!



*Blackberry Crumble for One*
Serves 1
Printable Recipe

Just the perfect size for one. Sweet blackberries beneath a buttery oat crumble. Delicious!

125g of fresh blackberries (3/4 cup)
1 TBS caster sugar
1 tsp plain flour
1/2 tsp lemon juice

For the Topping:
2 tsp cold butter
1 TBS plain flour
1 TBS soft brown sugar, packed
3 TBS old fashioned rolled oats
pinch of mixed spice
butter to grease baking dish
Warm custard to serve (Or ice cream or pouring cream)

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter an individual sized gratin dish. Set aside.

Toss the blackberries gently togetehr with the sugar, flour and lemon juice. Transfer to the prepared gratin dish.

Mix together the flour and sugar for the topping. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the oats and mixed spice. Sprinkle evenly over top of the berries.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Remove from the oven. Serve warm with custard, ice cream or pouring cream.



Those cupcakes I promised you yesterday, they're over HERE, in the Oak Cottage kitchen, delicious Cherry Almond Fluff Cakes.



VERY Scrummy indeed!!! Nom! Nom!