Crunch time

Only two days remaining to hit the shops before the big day is upon us... But that doesn't have to mean fighting your way through the smellies section at Selfridges. As well as my Christmas Chutney, this year, I'm also filling my stockings with cereal, so to speak. My very own granola.

All the ingredients are available in supermarkets, health food shops, and lots of local convenience stores. I got mine from the very lovely Unpackaged in Clerkenwell, where you get good products, a strong dose of nostalgia (great at this time of year), and a warm sense of ethical well being all thrown in to the deal. Definitely beats braving the crowds on Oxford Street.

Christmas Granola

I used Bill Granger's recipe for cinnamon crunch muesli as the basis for this, and so far it's worked out really well. Aside from the cranberries the key addition is candied clementines. You might be able to buy these in some shops, but even if not, they're simple to make, although you need to do so in advance. If you make extra, you can use them to infuse cream for home-made truffles, decorate cakes or tarts, dip in chocolate as festive treats, or just hang them on your tree.

All the rich flavours of the dried fruit, nuts and spices make this granola great sprinkled over yogurt, poached fruits, or even ice cream, although unless you wake up very hungry - unlikely at this time of year - you'll do well to manage a whole bowl full for breakfast. As with many of these seasonal recipes, it also fills the house with wonderful scents of Christmas as you're baking...

Makes enough for 15 or more small servings

For the candied clementines
100g caster sugar
2 clementines, cut into thin (3mm) slices
a handful cloves

For the granola
125g unsalted butter
40g dark brown sugar
2 tsp honey
2 tsp cinnamon
half a nutmeg, grated
300g rolled oats
a handful flaked almonds
a handful pumpkin seeds
150g mixed nuts - brazils, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc, roughly chopped
75g dried cranberries
75g dried sultanas

First, make the candied clementine; ideally you want to leave these to dry out over night, so do this the day before if you remember. Make a stock syrup by dissolving the sugar in enough water to cover by twice the volume, and bring to the boil. I also added half a dozen cloves to infuse as it was heating. Reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Slice your clementines, removing any pips as you go. Remove from the heat, and add the orange slices to your syrup, and leave them to soak for ten minutes. Preheat the oven to 50 degrees C.

Remove, and place on a baking tray, lined with baking parchment. Stud a few cloves in each slice, then leave to dry out in the oven for a good few hours, as long as you can really. Switch the oven off, and leave it over night. Remove the cloves, and cut each slice into four or more pieces.

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees C. Melt the butter, sugar, honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large pan. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add the oats, seeds, almond flakes and nuts. Stir well so everything is coated with a slight gloss from the butter.

Transfer to a baking try lined with parchment, and spread out evenly. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, stirring once or twice, and checking it's doneness as you go. When it starts the oats start to go golden brown, it's ready. Remove from the oven, stir in the clementine pieces, cranberries and sultanas, and leave to cool completely before storing. It'll keep in an air tight container for a good couple of weeks.

Ricotta hot cakes

Sometimes it's nice to put a bit of effort into breakfast... And this is a good one for a special occasion - Bill Granger's ricotta hot cakes...

I first had these on the last day of a trip to Australia, at the excellent Sydney cafe, Bill's. It's feels like quite a decadent breakfast, and they definitely look pretty impressive, covered in fruit or syrup, but the light, open texture, means they don't slow you down too much for the rest of the morning.

At Bill's cafe, they are served with banana and honeycomb butter, which is very, very tasty, but the honeycomb takes a while to make, and seems a bit more indulgent than just using fruit. Having said that, as well as strawberries, I made a cheats version of blueberry sauce, using some jam, some berries, icing sugar and water, so I suppose mine still had a fair sugar kick. But I did throw in a couple of handfuls of rolled oats to make it (seem) a little healthier.

It seems like there are a few steps involved in this, but it's not that much effort really, and your breakfast companion(s) will certainly be impressed... Have a go.

Serves 4.
For the hot cakes:
225g ricotta
170ml milk
4 eggs, separated
140g plain flower
1 tsp baking powder
2 handfuls of rolled oats
a pinch of salt
a few small knobs of butter
For the blueberry sauce:
a punett of blue berries
2-3 tsps of strawberry or blackberry jam
1 tsp icing sugar
a splash of water

To serve:
Strawberries or seasonal fruit

Method:
Whisk the egg whites so they form stiff peaks.
Mix the egg yolks, ricotta and milk together in a mixing bowl, and then sift in the flour, baking powder and pinch of salt. Stir in the oats if you're using them. Fold the egg whites into the other flour and ricotta mixture, so it's just combined.

Put a small pan on a medium heat, and add the jam, blueberries, water and icing sugar, and bring to the boil. Turn the heat right down then leave to simmer until the berries have softened and the liquid has reduced slightly.

Heat a frying pan on a medium heat, and grease with a small knob of butter. Add the hot cake batter a spoonful or so at a time, and cook in batches.

The hot cakes will take about 3-4 minutes on each side, but you'll know when they're ready to be flipped because they'll come away from the bottom of the pan. Flip them and cook for another few minutes. Breakfast, Sydney style...