Recipe | Sticky Sloe and Nut Clusters

These snacks are gooey, sweet, sticky, crunchy… and hard not to finish all in one sitting.

We were inspired to some sweet and slow cooking by the sloe recipes in our feature Let it Sloe in our November issue. It included Sloe Syrup, Sloe Gin Chocolate Cake and a Sloe Treacle Tart. But these munchy Sticky Sloe and Nut Clusters were too good not to share. Find the rest of the recipes in our November issue…

Makes 36

40ml rapeseed oil
140g demerara or soft brown sugar
200g sticky sloes, pitted
70g plain flour
1 heaped tsp cornflour
150g almonds or hazelnuts, roughly chopped

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6 and line a large baking tray (30 x 40cm) with baking paper.

2 In a bowl, mix the oil and sugar, plus 1 teaspoon of water and the sticky sloes. Stir, then add the flour, cornflour and nuts and stir well to combine.

3 Make the clusters by distributing heaped teaspoons of the mixture evenly across the baking tray, with enough space between them for the mixture to spread out a little.

4 Bake for approximately 12 mins, or until the clusters are bubbling and dark brown at the edges. Remove from the oven immediately and leave for 5 mins before gently transferring from the tray to a cooling rack.

Cook’s note: These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Taken from Wild and Sweet by Rachel Lambert (Hoxton Mini Press) Photography: Elliott White

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Cook | hazelnut pesto and gnocchi with fennel

Deeply nutty toasted hazelnuts make a brilliant alternative to pine nuts in pesto. Delicious dolloped over your own homemade gnocchi

In our May issue (in shops and available to order online now), we have a feature by Lisa Leendertz from our series Today, Tomorrow, To Keep, with recipes for a tart for today, a bhaji for tomorrow and a kimchi to keep. So we thought we’d dig another out of our archives. This recipe is from our ‘Hazelnuts’ Today, Tomorrow, To Keep from issue 76. We hope you enjoy it again.

Serves 4

For the pesto
1 large bunch of parsley, leaves only
60g blanched and toasted hazelnuts
60g hard goats’ cheese, finely grated
150ml cold-pressed extra virgin rapeseed oil
Juice of ¼ lemon

For the gnocchi
500g potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 egg, beaten
125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Olive oil and butter, for frying and drizzling

For the fennel
50g butter
2 large fennel bulbs, each cut into eight wedges to serve
A few toasted hazelnuts
Hard goats’ cheese, for grating

1 If you have a food processor, put all the pesto ingredients into it and blitz together. If you’re using a pestle and mortar, crush the nuts first, then finely chop the herbs, add these and the rest of the ingredients, and pound to a paste. Whichever method you use, taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. Add a little more oil if you prefer a looser consistency.
2 To make the gnocchi, push the potatoes through a ricer, or mash them (riced potatoes make lighter, fluffier gnocchi). Roughly mix in the egg with a fork, then sieve over the flour, season with salt and work into a dough, kneading a few times. Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the mixture to 2-3cm thick. Cut into short lengths and mark with a fork.
3 Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and drop in the gnocchi in batches. Lift out with a slotted spoon when they bob to the surface after a minute or so. Drain on kitchen paper.
4 For the fennel, melt the butter in a frying pan and gently fry the fennel until caramelised (at least 10 mins). Turn and caramelise the other side.
5 If you like, you can brown the gnocchi. In another frying pan, melt a knob of butter with a little olive oil and fry the gnocchi until golden. Divide the gnocchi and fennel between four plates and top each with a spoonful or two of pesto, some toasted nuts and a little extra grated goats’ cheese.

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Homemade nut butters

All you need is a blender and a bag of nuts and you can make your own homemade nut butter in no time. Delicious spread on hot toast or oatcakes, stirred into porridge or sneakily licked off a finger.

Hazelnut butter

Makes about 150g
130g hazelnuts, skins removed
1 tbsp neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder (optional)

1 Blitz the hazelnuts in a food processor for 8–12 mins, depending on your machine. First you’ll get a fine powder, but continue blending until you get a denser, softened nut butter.
2 Add the oil, vanilla, salt and cocoa or cacao powder (if using) and blitz to combine for 2–4 mins until smooth. Store in the fridge in an airtight jar for up to a month.
 

Cashew butter

Makes about 250g
240g raw cashews
Pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Place the cashews on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake in the preheated oven for 6–9 mins until lightly toasted.
2 Allow the cashews to cool completely before transferring to a food processor. Add the salt and blitz. Once you have a rough paste (after 6–7 mins), slowly add the oil with the motor running. Blend for 8–12 mins in total. Be patient: you will get a nut butter eventually! 

Cook’s notes: You’ll have to scrape down the sides a few times between blitzes. Store in the fridge in a jar for up to a month.

Recipes from The New Porridge by Leah Vanderveldt (Ryland, Peters & Small).
 

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Recipe | Turmeric balls

A delicious snack with health benefits, these balls are loosely based on a traditional Ayurvedic preparation of turmeric and honey. They offer a simple way to introduce the antioxidant-rich super spice into your diet

2 tsp high-quality turmeric powder (or freshly grated turmeric)
1 tbsp set/thick honey
1⁄2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp ground almonds, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp coconut oil

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together to form a stiff paste.
Roll the mixture into balls about the size of a chickpea, then coat with a dusting of ground almonds.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month.
Eat 1–2 balls daily.

HEALTH BENEFITS
Turmeric has long been used throughout Asia with mentions of the herb dating as far back as 4,000 years. Traditionally it was used as a digestive and to promote longevity. It is rich in antioxidants and recent research shows it can lessen the effects of oxidation damage. Incorporate it into your diet to reduce inflammation in chronic conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism and in skin conditions such as acne and eczema. Turmeric has also been shown to lower cholesterol.

Taken from The Handmade Apothecary by Vicky Chown and Kim Walker (Kyle Books). 
 

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Recipe: Hazelnut & cacao chocolate balls

Energy balls are pleasingly round, pack a punch and they’re everywhere

Simple to make and very, very tasty, energy balls are brilliantly handy ball-shaped snacks – just the job in a lunchbox, for picnics in the woods, to fuel some digging in the garden, or as a little boost before bed! They can be sweet or savoury, any size you fancy, packed with healthy ingredients or just a few simple leftovers, but always full of natural energy.

Hazelnut & cacao chocolate balls

A little chocolatey treat! Cacao is the raw version of cocoa powder and packed with antioxidants and iron. A great reason to eat raw chocolates

Makes 15–20 balls
150g hazelnuts
300g dates
2 tbsp peanut butter
3–4 tbsp cacao powder, plus extra to coat
1½ tbsp coconut oil

1 Put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz until combined. Add extra cacao powder if you’d like a more decadent-tasting ball.
2 With the motor running, add a little water if necessary (1–2 tbsp) until the mixture starts to form a sticky ball.
3 Scoop out little handfuls of the mixture and roll into balls, any size you like. Roll the balls in extra cacao powder for a more trufflesque look.
4 Put the balls in the fridge for an hour or the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up before eating. They will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for around a week.

Turn to page 46 of February’s The Simple Things for more energy ball recipes, including Brazil nut & broccoli balls, Spicy black bean burrito balls, and DIY energy balls.

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