Can you ever have too many coleslaw recipes? I think not!  I love coleslaw and I am always figuring out new ways of presenting it, flavours to add to it, etc. I especially like this version here today, which is a tad bit different than the usual variety.  Salad season is one of my favourite seasons!  But then having said that, I could eat coleslaw any time of the year!

  

This just might be one of the ugliest desserts you have ever seen, but it also might be one of the most delicious.  This is a case where you definitely should not be judging a book by its cover because this fabulous cobbler is one of the tastiest I have ever eaten! 

 

I love desserts that include buttery biscuit cobbler toppings.  My Apple Pan Dowdy is very similar to this, except it uses apples instead of pineapple and you actually create a molasses vinegar syrup to cook the apples in. Its a very old recipe.  There is no faffing about with creating a syrup in this recipe.

 

It begins as a Pineapple Upside Down Cake would begin  . . .  with creating a base of melted butter and brown sugar  to lay your fruit on, in this case chopped fresh pineapple.  I am no stranger to Upside down Cakes. I have an excellent recipe for a Pineapple Gingerbread Upside Down Cake on the blog along with another recipe for a Pear and Maple Upside Down Cake, both of which are excellent cakes!

 

This differs in that it is a dessert not topped by cake, but by buttery biscuit cobbles . . .  all shaggy and craggy and buttery with lovely crisp edges . . .

 

I like to use fresh pineapple when I have it. Tinned would do, but if you have fresh pineapple then there is no excuse not to use it really.  It tastes incredible! 

 

The pieces of fruit caramelise in that brown sugar and butter, creating something quite magnificently moreish  . . .  I could just eat the fruit on its own  . . .

 

but then again, that buttery biscuit topping is to die for  . . .  and some a lot of that syrup soaks into the bottom of that lovely topping  . . .  creating, once again . . .  something which is really quite moreish.

 

Served warm and topped with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream, you will find it very difficult to resist  . . .  your spoon wants to dip into it again and again  . . .

 

Carrying that sweet, sticky almost jam-like brown sugar fruit, with that buttery crumble  . . .  mixed with the sweet coolness of the vanilla ice cream up to your lips . . .  you can't help but close your eyes and go . . .

 

Mmmmm . . . . mmmm . . .

 

and mmmmmm  . . . again and again  . . .

 

Just look at that tasty mouthful  . . .  impossible to resist . . . almost dangerous.  Turning something quite ugly into something most beautiful indeed!

 

 

 

 

The original recipe is adapted from one I found in the book entitled, Perfect One Dish Dinners, by Pamela Anderson. (No, not that Pamela Anderson! This one is a great cook!!) 

The Clever Cook could add some halved Maraschino Cherries, or even fresh cherries and coarsely chopped pecans to the base along with the pineapple.

If you make one dessert this weekend, you really can't go wrong with this one!  Bon Appetit! 

 

I like to pull the boat out a bit at the weekend when it comes to breakfast. During the week we keep mainly to the script having cereal or toast and fruit, but when the weekend rolls around, I really like to do something a bit more.  

 

Doing something a bit more however, doesn't have to mean that you slog away in front of a hot stove for hours, as this delicious recipe  for easy Cinnamon Croissants that I am showing you today will prove! They are not quite cinnamon croissants from scratch, but they are the next best thing!

 

And what's more you only need five simple ingredients.  What else could you ask for ?  

 

Not a lot I don't think, and I will pretty much guarantee that your family are going to love these!  You will too, as they truly are a real doddle to make! 

 

You will want to start off with a good store or bakery baked croissant.  

 

In all truth, this is also a great way to pop some life back into stale croissants! 

   

First you melt some butter and you roll the croissants in the melted butter.  Truth here, I have also just spread the outsides of the croissants with softened butter without taking the time to melt it.

 

They have also worked very well. Seriously very well and anything you can do to save time and work is fine with me!

 

Once you have them coated in butter, shake them in a bag with cinnamon sugar to coat.  Easy.  Simple.  

 

I like lots of cinnamon, so I add a lot of cinnamon to the sugar mix . . .  a full TBS, but you can use less if you want to. A full TBS is what works for me.

 

Pop those butter and cinnamon sugar coated pastries onto a prepped baking sheet and then sprinkle them with some toasted nuts.  

 

Walnuts or pecans both work very well. Pat them in a little bit so that they stick.

 

And that's it.  Just pop those babies into a pre-heated oven and bake them until they are golden brown and nicely crisped!  WOWSA!

 

Crisp, golden brown and nutty Cinnamon tasty good. We love these! 

 

These were day old croissants that I used today and just look at how crisp and flaky they ended up. 

 

They look (and taste) pretty perfect to me!

 

I served them with some cinnamon hot chocolate.  I used the milk frother to lay some milk on top of the chocolates . . .  

 

I tried to do the heart thing with it, but failed abysmally.  I am sure there is a trick to it, but I am not in the know  . . .

 

Other than that I like to serve them with some softened butter and a bit of jam.  

 

Today it was black currant jelly, but any jam goes great really.  Just pick your favourite.  These are sooooo tasty! 

 

 

 

It didn't take us very long to snuffle these up.  My husband actually had two today as he was super hungry.  I shouldn't have but I had one and I enjoyed it very much. So there.  I can pay for it tomorrow with a bowl of gruel.  Bon Appetit! 

 

I hope you are not superstitious about things such as Friday the 13th and the like.  I have never been superstitious about such things.  In fact I was born on the 13th of a month, so occasionally my birthday has actually been on a Friday, so it is actually a very lucky day for me. In fact on my 40th birthday, I went to Bingo with my SIL and I won the jackpot.  So, yes, very lucky for me.  Hmmm . . .  perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket!  And this has absolutely nothing to do with today's recipe, except for the fact that today you should absolutely make this, Friday the 13th or not! 

 

These are actually a lot easier to make than one would suppose and use only three ingredients, four if you count patience.  Rosebuds. Sugar.  Water.  That's it! Simple!

 

You want to pick really tiny rose buds.  You want them to still be pretty tightly closed . . . these ones work the best. Loose petals would fall off when you are crystallising them, which isn't exactly what we are looking for here. We want buds. 

 

We don't use any pesticides on our flowers, so they are pure and organic.  It is really important to use pesticide free rosebuds.  You will want to wash them in cool water and then just shake them out gently in a colander.  This will get rid of any insects that you might have inadvertently brought in with your flowers.  

Gently, gently keeps them from bruising. We don't want that. Then you clip off the stems with a pair of kitchen scissors.  I clip them off right below that little ball at the base of the bud, just so you know.

 

 

  

Cook, stirring gently and constantly until the sugar syrup comes to the soft ball stage, at which a small amount of it will form a soft ball when dropped into cold water. That is a ball that is soft and malleable, not hard or brittle.  I use a candy thermometer myself, which gives me a precise result. The temperature you are looking for is in the recipe below. 

 

Once that happens, you just take them off the heat and keep stirring gently.  Eventually, and it really doesn't take too long, you will see the sugar starting to crystallise and clump. It gets rather opaque as well.  That's when you know the hard work is done.  Just pop them into a wire sieve and gently shake them over a piece of newspaper or summat you can just throw away.  This helps to get rid of any excess sugar. You might find some have clumped together and now is your chance  to gently break them apart.  Let them air dry after that and then store in a cool dark place in a glass jar with a lid!  Voila!! You have some beautiful Crystallised Rose Buds. 

 

 

You might think these would smell really rose-like, but they don't.  They just smell like a garden . . .  green and foresty.  I can't wait to use them as a decoration for cakes or cupcakes. Ohh, they would be lovely on sugar cubes, and then when your guests put one into their tea, the sugar would all melt off and they would be surprised with one perfect rosebud in their cup! Magic! Bon Appetit!

 

PS - Have you checked out the cost of buying crystallised flowers?  I did and they are astronomical!  The ones I made literally cost me pennies and there are no preservatives at all.