Spiced cider-poached pears

Ingredients 1L cider 5 hard pears – comice or Williams 100g sugar 5 cloves 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely sliced 5 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed 1 cinnamon stick 1 orange, zest and juice 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out Method Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Put the cider in a saucepan…

Quick filo pastry pudding baskets and fillings

Makes 6 baskets Ingredients 6 sheets of filo pastry 50g butter, melted Method Preheat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4. Grease a muffin tray with butter. Cut the filo pastry sheets into 4 squares. Keep the unused filo covered with an ever-so-slightly damp clean tea-towel while you work, or it will dry out….

Learn to Cook: apple crumble

Serves 6 Ingredients 800g apples (about 5) of any variety about 60g brown sugar: demerara, soft brown or golden caster are all fine (use less sugar if your apples are already sweet) juice of 1/2 lemon For the crumble: 350g plain flour 100g brown sugar 250g cold butter To finish: 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 tablespoons…