Banana Cinnamon Puddings with Butterscotch Sauce

My kids are what I call faze-eaters or gorge-feeders. My daughter has a bird-like, grazing appetite, and my son is a heavy snacker and eats small main meals. But when they discover something new, they gorge themselves on it like they cannot get enough. I don't mind this when it's a healthy thing, and it always is, or I wouldn't let them do it. For the duration of a week it was strawberries. Now they wont look at them. For two weeks it was bananas. Now they wont touch them. It's been beans, chickpeas, pasta, mandarins and yogurt. The banana faze left me with tonnes of bananas I had to cut up and freeze, hence this recipe perked my curiosity and made me feel I could get a little condensing done from the freezer.
And who doesn't love that banana cinnamon and butterscotch combination? Its like a match made it heaven, and its also made with greek yogurt which makes it light and airy with a bit of a tang. Scrumptious!

BANANA CINNAMON PUDDINGS WITH BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE (From Taste)

100g butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup self raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup mashed banana
2/3 cup greek yogurt

Sauce:
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup cream
25g butter, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add one egg at a time and beat thoroughly between each addition. Add the flour and cinnamon and mix until combined. Fold in the mashed banana and yogurt. Divide between 6 greased ramekins or 6 greased Texas muffin tins.
Cook for 30-35 minutes or until the tops are golden and a skewer comes out clean.
To make the sauce, place the brown sugar, cream and butter in a small saucepan. Heat on low, stirring for 3 minutes or until the butter melts. Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Lower the heat again and continue cooking for a few more minutes until the mixture thickens. Pour over warm puddings to serve.

SERVES 6.

Banana Cinnamon Puddings with Butterscotch Sauce

Strawberry and Pear Crumbles

 Spring has sprung, and all those hearty warm recipes are going to the back of the "must make" pile. There's nothing quite like having a hot oven on in a house that has been at 30C all day, taking that temperature gauge up another notch. Some of you may know, I hail from a much cooler climate than the sub-tropical one I now reside in, and although I love a warm summer's day, I'd be happy if the temperature never exceeded 27C.
And humidity can go jump too. Ever heard the expression, "sweating like a pig"? Hm, then you know what I'm talking about.
So before it really heats up, I'm squeezing in the last of the puddings, crumbles and all those warm comfort foods that are so good on a chilly night. I love baked desserts, so I'm combining the first of the spring berries with the last of the winter goodies with this pear and strawberry crumble that serves two.
Imagine layers of pears and strawberries topped with strawberry cream and buttery, cinnamoned crumble with the crunch of toasted muesli. Doesn't get much better than when its drizzled with a splash of cream or a ball of melting vanilla ice cream.

STRAWBERRY AND PEAR CRUMBLES

1 ripe pear
150g fresh strawberries
1/2 cup cream
1 tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup toasted muesli 
1/2 tsp cinnamon

preheat the oven to 180C.
Peel, core and slice the pear thinly. Take 50g of the strawberries and hull, then slice thinly also.
Layer the two fruits into two ramekins, pears on the bottom, then strawberries, then pears, and so forth until all the fruit is evenly divided between the dishes.
Take the remaining 100g of strawberries and hull, then place in a food processor with the cream. Blitz for 20 seconds. Pour this mixture over the top of the layered pears and strawberries, evenly  between the two ramekins.
In a medium bowl, place butter, flour, sugar, muesli and cinnamon. Combine using your fingers until a crumbly dough forms. Divide the mixture between the two ramekins, covering the cream.
Cook for 30 minutes, remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream or cream, if desired.

Serves 2

Apricot Tarts with Almond Crumble

If you're anything like me, your pantry will be stuffed with those odd ingredients you used once and don't know what to do with the remainder. Unless it comes time to make that special dish or dessert again, and by then you have forgotten you had that ingredient, and go out and buy more. It tends to accumulate. I should just go in and reorganise my pantry, I suppose, but I'm too busy blogging. Baking something new. Or blogging some more. Oh that's right. And looking after my darlings!
Well, I've had a bag of dried apricots in the cupboard for a while now and it has been sitting at the back of the pantry and my mind, just waiting to be used.  I was too lazy to find a recipe that involved them, so I made up my own.
It turned out beautifully--the perfect dessert to eat straight out of the oven, topped with ice cream and drizzled with a little cream or caramel sauce. It involves a crispy puff pastry crust, encasing a sweet apricot filling, topped with crushed almonds and brown sugar crumble with a simple lattice to decorate. I have to say I'm not a huge fan of apricots or almonds on their own, but the combination is surprisingly delicious and most satisfying. It's a winner! They're the prefect dessert for one of those chilly winter nights, and look particularly impressive with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

APRICOT TARTS WITH ALMOND CRUMBLE

1 cup dried apricots
3 tbsp. white sugar
2/3 cup water, plus 1/3 extra
1/3 cup whole almond kernels (or almond meal)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 sheet puffed pastry

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease 6 regular sized muffin holes, or use silicone for added ease.
Place the apricots, white sugar and water in a small saucepan. Cook on high until boiling, reduce heat to medium and continue to boil for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally, until apricots are tender and soft. You may wish to add an extra 1/3 cup water towards the end of this time if the liquid evaporates before the apricots are tender.
Meanwhile, place almond kernels in  a food blender and blitz until roughly chopped up into meal. Place in a small bowl and stir the brown sugar through the almond meal until combined.
When the apricots are tender, place them, undrained, into the blender and process until pureed into a smooth pulp.
Using a 9cm round biscuit cutter, cut 6 discs from the thawed puffed pastry sheet. Push these into the greased muffin tin holes. Place on heaped tablespoon of apricot filling into each. Top with 1 flatter tablespoon of the almond meal mixture. Decorate with remaining puffed pastry if desired. Bake until puffed and golden, about 45 minutes.
Serve with vanilla ice cream and a swirl of caramel sauce.

Makes 6 individual desserts