Cinnamon toffee apples

I had a brainwave this afternoon - why not make cinnamon toffee apples?! It's already an excellent combination, and toffee really is a lot easier to make than people make out. These turned out fabulously.

The past 2 years I've wanted to eat a toffee apple while watching fireworks and I searched high and low among the marshmallow and Haribo stalls (what's the world coming to? Not even candy floss was available!) at the fireworks/funfair and I could not find a toffee apple. This year Hubby managed to find them in the supermarket buried among Halloween things - perhaps it was because I was looking at the wrong time... Anyhow, now I have my beloved break-your-teeth toffee apples with a glorious twist!

Cinnamon toffee apples

I'm not sure I'd recommend using treacle but I had run out of golden syrup. I think the treacle would lower the boiling point so you'd have to guess when it's going to make toffee which perhaps isn't that safe!


Makes 4 toffee apples


200g caster sugar
50 ml water
1 large teaspoon treacle (but preferably golden syrup)
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Place the apples in a bowl or large pan and pour boiling water over them. Take them out and dry thoroughly. This helps to remove the natural wax coating on the apples, which enables the toffee to stick better. Stick a lolly stick (or in my case, a cake fork!) into the apples and place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Mine stuck to the paper, so there's probably a better non-stick option. You could grease the paper but only put the apples on once they're covered in toffee.

Add the sugar, water and treacle to a pan and agitate (don't stir) over a high heat. When it is all liquid insert a sugar thermometer and watch the temperature creep up to Hard Crack (or just under 150 degrees Celsius). This will take about 10 minutes. While keeping one beady eye on your pan (and keeping all children and pets out of the kitchen – hot sugar really is very hot) fill a large bowl (or another pan) with cold water and set it next to your sugar pan. You can dip the base of the pan into this if the toffee gets too hot. Once sugar is hot, the temperature keeps rising until you cool it with something - otherwise it can burn.

Add the cinnamon and stir it in quickly. When the toffee has reached the right temperature, dip the apples in, one by one, and place on the baking sheet. Leave to cool for 20 mins.

Chicken salad

We've been having unseasonably warm weather recently (even though it's October, temperatures have reached 29 degrees celcius!), and I try not to complain, but it has been a bit too hot at times. I feel able to say this because I hardly ever complain about it being too cold in the winter (what's not to like about wrapping up warm in layers of clothing, and having an excuse to stop and get a hot chocolate, and having rosy wind-beaten cheeks and toasty feet in boots and curling up under a blanket to watch a film on tv at 4pm because it's already dark?). Mmmmm winter...

Anyway, I made this chicken salad because it was too hot to cook anything else. I was pretty impressed with the results, if I do say so myself. My inspiration came vaguely from Pret's Italian Chicken Salad and a Caesar salad (and whatever was in the fridge!). This recipe looks a little complex, with a lot of ingredients, but they're all things you will probably have in the house and once you get going it'll all come together nicely.

Chicken salad
Serves 2

2 chicken breasts
1 teaspoon sunflower oil
Juice of half a lemon
Black pepper


70 g quinoa with a little vegetable bouillon
1 little gem lettuce (and other salad leaves of your choice)
30 g butternut squash (or a couple of thick slices)
A handful of radishes
Cherry tomatoes
Olives
Parmasan cheese


For the dressing:
3 tablespoons low-fat yoghurt
A few teaspoons lemon juice (to taste)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Add the quinoa to a pan of boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes (I didn't overcook it this time!) with a little vegetable bouillon.

Flatten the chicken (I cover it in clingfilm and then hammer it with a rolling pin) then add to a frying pan with the oil and lemon juice and a good sprinkle of black pepper. Fry until it is cooked through (5–8 minutes). The lemon juice caramelises beautifully on the outside of the chicken. You may need to turn the heat up at the end to get it really brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the salad. Slice the radishes (I used a mandolin, which my sister-in-law bought me before I even knew the fun that could be had with it!) and the olives and toss with the salad leaves – I did this in two serving bowls to save on washing-up. Chop the butternut squash and put into a microwaveable bowl with a little water and cling film over the top to seal it. Microwave on full power for 3 minutes. Add the butternut squash to the salad.

Drain any water off the quinoa and add the tomatoes (I have a thing about cold tomatoes from the fridge - I think it's to do with my sensitive teeth) to warm them up. Then add to the salad bowls.

Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. When the chicken is done, place one piece on each salad, drizzle all over with dressing and shave parmasan on the top (I used the same mandolin again).