Serves: 4 children (makes about 8 pancakes)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1 Start by putting the flours, milk and eggs in the liquidizer and blitzing for about 2 minutes.
2 Peel and core the apples and slice quite thinly. Heat half the butter in a frying pan and add the cinnamon. Let it bubble for a minute before adding the sliced apples. Sprinkle over the sugar and very carefully turn the apples over so that they are coated in the buttery syrup. Turn the heat down and allow to cook gently. Keep an eye on them while you are cooking the pancakes and turn them over from time-to-time to allow them to cook evenly.
3 While the apples are happily cooking away, melt the rest of the butter in another frying pan and start frying the pancakes. The first pancake always seems to be a disaster, so I usually eat it myself. Pile the pancakes on a plate beside you until you have made them all.
4 Divide the apple mixture between the pancakes and roll up. Drizzle a little maple syrup over each one to guarantee a good day ahead!
Tip
• It’s a good idea to make the batter the night before and leave in the fridge until the morning. As well as saving time, it improves the batter by allowing it to rest.
I love sending the children off to school with a tummy full of porridge – you know they will have enough in there to last until lunchtime with great energy! If I am going running I know it helps my energy levels.
100g/4oz porridge oats
1 300ml/10½fl oz water
600ml/1 pint whole milk
150g/6oz blueberries
soft brown sugar or maple syrup
Serves: 4 children
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1 If I am making this for breakfast the next day, I always try to remember to put the oats and water in a saucepan the night before and leave it with the lid on overnight. It just reduces the cooking time, which is always a good thing when I’m trying to get everyone to school on time.
2 Pour the milk onto the oats and water and gently bring to the boil, stirring all the time.
3 Turn the heat down and simmer for about 7 minutes, until the porridge is thick and creamy.
4 Divide between four bowls, sprinkle with blueberries and a little maple syrup or sugar.
Although this might seem a slightly odd choice for breakfast, it is very quick to make, especially if you make the batter the night before and leave it in the fridge. You can then simply pour the batter into the dish, pop in the fruit and put it in the oven to cook while you dress the children and yourself!
The aim of this dish is that the fruit should be surrounded by a soft, only just set, cake. It’s almost like having Yorkshire pudding with jam on top! You need to serve it straight from the oven, otherwise it will continue to cook and become hard and stodgy.
butter to grease the dish
6 plums/apricots/nectarines
425ml/15fl oz milk
3 eggs
75g/3oz plain flour
50g/2oz caster sugar
50g/2oz ground almonds
1 tsp good-quality vanilla extract
seeds from vanilla pod (optional)
Serves: 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20–25 minutes
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/GM6
2 Grease the dish and put to one side.
3 Slice the soft fruit in half and remove the stones.
4 Put the milk, eggs, flour, sugar, almonds and vanilla into the liquidizer and blitz for about 2 minutes.
5 Pour the liquid into the prepared dish and then gently arrange the fruit, cut-side down, so that all you see is the softly rounded fruit peeking out from the batter.
6 Place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes.
7 Serve immediately.
boiled eggs with cheesy fingers
My children think this is the ultimate treat for breakfast – again, it’s more of a weekend breakfast, as it takes too much thinking about for a weekday morning …
4 large organic free range eggs
4 slices wholemeal bread
100g/4oz mature cheddar cheese, grated
Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
1 Preheat the grill on high.
2 Bring to the boil a large deep saucepan of water and carefully add the eggs. Remember to set the timer for 5 minutes – I easily get distracted so always work by my timer! Toast the wholemeal bread and cover with the cheddar. Place under the grill until the cheese is bubbling.
3 Remove the eggs from the pan, place in a sieve and run under the cold tap to stop overcooking – eggs that are too hard-boiled are not the same!
4 Crack the top of the egg and remove the shell on the top third. Place into an egg cup and slice off the white to reveal a lovely runny yolk.
5 Cut the cheesy toast into soldiers and dip into the yolk! Serve.
Tip
• If you keep your eggs in the fridge, allow them to reach room temperature before boiling – this helps prevent them cracking as they boil.
It’s only when you taste boiled eggs that you remember how good they are.
This may sound like a very grown-up breakfast