I am delighted to announce that the winner of the Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure giveaway is Kerry from Hampshire!  Well done, Kerry, and please check your email ASAP.

It’s always a good sign when you pick up a cookbook in a shop and immediately want to make the first recipe in the book.  And then the second. Third. Fourth… Skip to the back of the book—still yummy? Yup.  It went straight into my basket and I tossed away my shopping list and shopped from the book instead as I strolled round the supermarket.

The book in question is Every Day by Bill Granger.  Bill is the sort of bloke that you’d love to have as a mate.  Endlessly inventive in the kitchen and really reliable.  He loves to make breakfasts—judging from the huge number of breakfast recipes in the book—and serve it to friends, so weekends must surely be a little bit brighter in Sydney when you’ve got the chance to go and eat  brunch at his eponymous restaurants, Bills.  (Or if you’re really lucky, and in wit the ‘in-crowd’, maybe Bill will invite you over!)

This Dried Pear and Cranberry loaf started off life as Bill’s Dried Apple, Cherry and Almond loaf, the very first recipe in Every Day.  I don’t normally fiddle with recipes the first time I make them, but I had some dried pear in the larder so going out and buying some dried apple felt needlessly frivolous.  And then I couldn’t find any dried cherries—plus, Dave doesn’t like cherries—so I went for some gorgeous ruby-red dried cranberries.  I don’t think Bill would mind too much.

Interestingly enough for a fat-free quick bread, this loaf is beautifully moist and the flavour develops over time.  Like fruit cake it also gets sweeter as it keeps, which suited Lucas very well.  He wasn’t overly impressed with the first gently sweetened slice from the newly baked loaf, but a few days later it was much more to his taste.  I loved the cranberries and the occasional crunch from the almonds.  I’d even be tempted to toss in some sunflower or pumpkin seeds next time.  Really, this could be adapted to your own favourite dried fruits and nuts.

This loaf makes a welcome change from all the porridge and muesli I’ve been eating at breakfast-time lately, yet is still astonishingly satisfying and filling.  (And speaking of muesli, there’s still time to enter the Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure giveaway.)  Bill serves his original (apple & cherry) loaf with creamy fresh ricotta and a drizzle of honey, but I found that the salty tang of cream cheese was even better!

Pear & cranberry loaf

Adapted from Every Day by Bill Granger (Murdoch Books)
Makes 12 slices

• 50g rolled oats
• 300ml milk (I used skimmed)
• 240g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 100g dried cranberries
• 75g dried pears, diced
• 75g soft brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 6 tablespoons flaked almonds (4 tablespoons in loaf, 2 for topping)

Put oats in a bowl and pour milk over them.  If your dried pears are a bit on the tough and leathery side, then add them to the bowl to soak and plump up a little before baking.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin with baking parchment, or if you have some ready-made greaseproof liners then those are fantastic.

Stir remaining ingredients, reserving 2 tablespoons of flaked almonds, into the soaked oat mixture.  Mix together well and spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.  Sprinkle the top with the reserved flaked almonds.

Bake for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and it is cooked through (ie a skewer comes out clean.)  Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Picture courtesy of Kellogg’s

A few weeks ago I was completely bemused to receive a large box from a courier. I puzzled over it for a while—had I won a competition? was it a late birthday present from someone?—until I noticed it was addressed to me at A Spoonful of Sugar. And then everything clicked into place.

I’d received an email from Kellogg’s asking if I would be interested in tasting their new muesli and as I am a complete sucker for breakfast cereals, I said yes, expecting to receive a few tiny hotel-breakfast sized samples.  I had completely forgotten about it until this behemoth of a parcel arrived.  That’s an awful lot of packaging for a few sample packets, I thought, as I ripped into it and discovered…

…a charming hamper, with rope handles and little hasp clasp that reminded me instantly of a pirate’s treasure chest.  Inside nestled four full-size packs of Nature’s Pleasure as well as a gorgeous wooden cereal bowl and an exceedingly shiny spoon.  How very lovely.

According to the blurb on the packets, Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure is a baked muesli: whole grains (wheat, oats, barley) are tossed with raw cane sugar, honey and sunflower oil and baked.  To my mind, it is more of a granola than a muesli due to the baking, but this is the tiniest of quibbles.

It is very clear from the packaging that Kellogg’s are aiming this at health-conscious consumers and while this product isn’t organic, it could well tempt customers who are.  Every ingredient listed on the packaging is recognisable and natural, which is both refreshing and reassuring.

Nature’s Pleasure comes in four delicious flavours: Almond, Pecan & Cashews; Apple & Blackcurrant; Cherry & Raspberry and Almond, Pecan & Raisin.

Almond, Pecan & Cashews
This was my least favourite flavour, however, both Dave and Lucas loved it so I was more than happy to gift the box to them.  I like my cashews to be very salty, very sweet or both—honey-roasted cashews, anyone?—so this was doomed to failure for my tastebuds.  It was packed with nuts and very crunchy, so perfect for any nut-lovers you know.

Apple & Blackcurrant
The first flavour that I tried, and still my favourite.  I love fruit in my muesli and granola, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed here.  There were tons of freeze-dried apple pieces and loads of juicy little blackcurrants.  I loved the hint of spice on the grains which really enhanced the sweetness of the fruit, but I wouldn’t complain if they decided to double up on the spices.  A seriously great cereal!

Cherry & Raspberry
My second-favourite flavour.  It is full of the most gorgeous dried cherries and little freeze-dried raspberries which turn the milk a pretty shade of pink—I’m still a kid at heart!  The tartness of the raspberries balanced out the sweet cherries and the whole thing was just pretty awesome.  I’d be happy to have this on alternate days with the apple and blackcurrant…

Almonds, Pecans & Raisins
The combination of sweet, juicy raisins and nuts made this variation much more interesting (and tasty) than the Almond Pecans & Cashews.  A good bridging point between very fruity muesli and very nutty muesli, in my opinion.  Well worth a second bowl!

Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure will be on sale from April from most major supermarkets.

Giveaway time!

Are you tempted by Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure? Fancy trying some before it hits the shops? The lovely people at Kellogg’s are offering one fabulous Nature’s Pleasure hamper (as described above) to a lucky A Spoonful of Sugar reader. (Can only be shipped within the United Kingdom—sorry, international readers!)

To win this fantastic and seriously yummy prize, all you have to do do is comment (with a valid email address) and say that you would like to be entered into the draw. A name will be drawn, at random, out of a hat and the lucky winner will be contacted by email.

The competition is for United Kingdom residents only and ends midnight BST (British Summer Time) on the 19th of April 2009.

Apparently this is the most snow Bristol has seen in 18 years.  I’d love to say that I’m a hardy Scot who has  been striding briskly through the snow and putting everyone else to shame, but… it’s horrible out there.  I have done the sensible thing and stayed firmly indoors.  Yes, Scotland… I’ve gone soft.  Sorry!  Reports from my resident hunter/gatherer, Dave, say that the driveway is barely passable, but he managed to make it across the road to the shop and back without falling over or even windmilling wildly.

Lucas is loving the snow, though.  He went out onto the decking in the back garden yesterday with Dave and made his first snowman.  We’ve dubbed it the Gourmet Snowman as I was out of carrots and had to hurriedly substitute a dried apricot.  For eyes… natural glacé cherries.  Doesn’t he look cheery?  They also made a snowpig as Lucas is more than a little addicted to Peppa Pig.  Oink!

Lucas and Daddy with the Snowman and Snowpig

As is traditional on a snowy day, Lucas had a big mug of hot chocolate once he’d come indoors and been unwrapped.  Another first for him, I think.  He was all excited as he thought that he was getting hot coffee like Daddy, but rapidly discovered that hot chocolate was far superior to coffee.  By the time he reached the bottom of the mug he was looking at me as if I was a god who walked among men.  Which, naturally I am.

Apart from drinking luscious hot chocolate, my cold weather strategy is very simple.  I’ve taken to eating porridge for breakfast as I find it tremendously filling and having a hot breakfast keeps me feeling toasty warm for hours afterwards.  It’s as good as a hot water bottle, but you know… tastier.

Porridge may sound boring, but it doesn’t have to be!  You can ring the changes with different spices, sweeteners, fruit—try cooking it in apple juice with raisins and some chopped apples—seeds and even vegetables.  I’m quite keen on trying a “carrot cake” porridge with carrots, raisins and walnuts.  Yummy!

Pear and maple syrup porridge

Serves 1
WW (UK) points: 4.5

• 40g porridge oats
• 1 dried pear (approx 25g)
• 60ml (4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup) water
• 200ml skimmed milk
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

Snip the dried pear into large dice (pieces about the size of Dolly Mixtures) and combine with the porridge oats and water in a small bowl.  Cover with clingfilm and leave overnight.  You don’t have to do an overnight soak, but I think it gives the porridge a better texture.

Next morning, add the skimmed milk and microwave uncovered on high for 2 minutes.  Stir and microwave for a further 2 minutes or until the porridge is almost as thick as you’d like it. Stir and leave to stand for another minute to allow it to thicken up.  Drizzle the maple syrup over the top to serve.