Cereal isn’t just for breakfast – here’s how to make a delicious budget dessert from your crunchy nut cornflakes
YOU lucky lot!
Today we have more of Bake Off champ Nadiya Hussain’s mouth-watering and easy to make recipes from her new book and upcoming TV series Everyday Baking – including a cake in a jar.
She says: “If you love fuss-free sweet treats, try these out.”
Neenish tart (Serves 6 to 8)
NADIYA said: “With this recipe, Australia proves it has more to give us than koalas and lamingtons; now it also gives us neenish tart.
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“I love sweet desserts, and this is just that, with its buttery pastry, tangy jam, sweet cream and an even sweeter icing.
“Apart from baking neenish, I also just really like saying the word ‘neenish’!”
YOU NEED:
For the pastry:
- 85g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 20g ground almonds
- 20g icing sugar
- 75g unsalted butter, chilled, cubed
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 to 2 tbsp cold water
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For the cream filling:
- 75g caster sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 30g cornflour
- 375ml double cream
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 125g raspberry jam
For the icing:
- 200g fondant icing sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 tsp cocoa powder
- Pink gel food colouring
METHOD: Start by making the pastry.
Put the flour in a food processer with the ground almonds, icing sugar and butter and whizz to a breadcrumb-like texture.
Add the egg yolk and water and bring the mixture to a clump of dough.
Take the dough ball and pop onto a well-floured surface.
Roll out the dough and use it to line the inside of a shallow 23cm circular fluted tart tin.
Line so there is a little bit of overhang.
Prick the base with a fork and pop into the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas mark 5.
Take the pastry case out of the fridge and line with baking paper.
Add some baking beads and blind bake for 15 minutes.
Take out, remove the paper and baking beads, and bake the pastry for another 10 minutes.
Take out and trim off the edges after 5 minutes, while still warm.
Now make the cream filling by putting the caster sugar, egg yolks, cornflour, cream and vanilla in a small non-stick pan.
Pop onto a medium heat and whisk continuously till the mixture is really thick.
Pour out of the pan into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and set aside to cool.
After 15 minutes, place in the fridge to chill completely.
Spoon the jam into the base of the tart shell and spread in an even layer.
Add the chilled cream filling and spread into an even layer. Pop into the fridge.
Make the icing by putting the icing sugar, water and milk in a bowl and mixing to a smooth paste.
Divide the mixture equally into two small jugs and add cocoa to one and pink food colouring to the other.
Mix well and you should have two vibrant colours.
Take the tart out and pour the icing over the top from either side till both colours meet in the middle.
Where the two colours meet, use a skewer to swirl the colours together.
Refrigerate for an hour and you are ready to slice and eat this sweet, colourful beauty.
Crunchy nut cornflake slice (Serves 6)
NADIYA said: “This old-school classic was on the menu every day when I used to line up for school dinners.
“I fondly remember its crisp – or sometimes soggy! – pastry, raspberry jam and a syrupy-sweet cornflake filling.
“All served with hot custard on top. Here I have recreated the same recipe but of course with a few tweaks of my own.”
YOU NEED:
For the pastry:
- 150g unsalted butter, cubed
- 300g plain flour
- ½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
- A pinch of salt
- Water, as needed
For the filling:
- 125g raspberry jam
- 60g unsalted butter
- 150g golden syrup
- 25g soft brown sugar
- 150g honey nut cornflakes
- 30g salted peanuts, roughly chopped
Hot custard, to serve
METHOD: Start by making the pastry.
Add the butter to a bowl with the flour, vanilla seeds and salt.
Rub the butter into the flour till there are no more clumps of butter left.
Add a few tablespoons of water to the dough, as needed, and gently bring the dough together into a ball.
Wrap in clingfilm, flatten and leave to chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas mark 6 and have a 23cm fluted tart tin with a loose-bottomed base at the ready.
Take the pastry out and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out large enough for the pastry to cover the base and sides of the tart tin, with a little bit of an overhang.
Prick the base of the tart with a fork.
Line the inside with some baking paper.
Fill with baking beads or dried lentils/rice and blind bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the tart from the oven.
Take out the paper and beads/lentils/rice and bake for another 10 minutes.
As soon as the tart shell is out, spread a generous amount of the jam all across the base.
Now, melt the butter, syrup and sugar in a large pan.
As soon as the butter has melted, add the cereal.
Mix till everything is coated and glossy.
Tip right onto the jam in an even layer.
Sprinkle over the peanuts and pop back into the oven for 5 minutes
Take out and now trim off the excess pastry while it is still warm, then leave to cool completely in the tin as this will help to really set the cereal.
Cut into wedges when cold and serve with hot custard.
School desserts all over again, but a little bit better and we can even go back for seconds.
Cake in a jar (Makes 6 x 445ml jars)
NADIYA said: “This fun recipe can be adapted to use any cake you want, whether homemade, leftover or shop bought.
“Because the rest of the recipe is so easy, I personally love to make the cake from scratch, adding sprinkles into the sponge for extra colour.
“The cake gets crumbled and layered up with a smooth cream cheese icing (with more sprinkles!), a fruity strawberry jelly and a surprise hit of popping candy for even more fun.
“Built straight into a jam jar, these are perfectly transportable for picnics or just for when you’re sitting in the garden.”
YOU NEED:
For the cake:
- 125g unsalted butter, softened
- 125g caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 125g self-raising flour, sifted
- 80g rainbow sprinkles
- 75g popping candy
For the jelly:
- 85g strawberry jelly crystals
- 500ml boiling water
- 300g strawberries, cubed
For the icing:
- 100g unsalted butter, very soft
- 100g cream cheese, at room temperature
- 200g icing sugar, sifted
- 80g rainbow sprinkles
METHOD: Start by baking the cake.
Preheat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C/gas mark 4.
Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Put the butter, sugar, eggs and flour in a bowl and whisk for 3 minutes till you have a mixture that is smooth and shiny.
Now, add the sprinkles and fold through.
Spoon into the tin, level off and bake for 25 to 30 minutes
While the cake bakes, let’s make the jelly.
We want a firm set jelly that really holds.
For 85g of jelly crystals, I recommend making it with 500ml of hot water, which is a little less than the amount of water normally advised on the packet.
Put the crystals in a dish, pour in the water and stir till there are no crystals left.
Leave to set in the fridge.
Make the icing by whisking the butter and cream cheese together till totally combined and there are no streaks of butter left.
Add the icing sugar and combine well until thick.
Add the sprinkles, fold through, and then transfer the icing into a piping bag.
Once the cake is done, leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
Remove from the tin and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Now we have all our elements ready: cooled cake, set jelly, strawberries and icing.
Line up the jars and take off the lids.
Crumble up your cooled cake into pieces and drop an even layer into the base of each jar.
Sprinkle on the popping candy.
Pipe in a layer of icing right on top. Do this to all six.
Use a fork to break up the jelly.
Mix in the cubes of strawberry.
Add a layer of the strawberry jelly into each jar.
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Now, repeat the layers (cake, popping candy, icing, jelly), till you run out of ingredients or space in the jars.
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Pop the lids on and you can pack these away into the fridge till you are ready to eat.
- Extracted from: Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, by Nadiya Hussain, published by Penguin Michael Joseph on September 1, 2022, £25.
