HennaCat's ~ sweet stuff ~
Monday Munchies

Ingredients:

• Small packet of Filo pastry
• 1 lemon
• 100g walnuts or pistachios
• 50g sugar
• 25g butter
• 4 x 15ml spoons of golden syrup or honey
• 50g sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 220 deg C / gas mark 7 / 450 deg F
• Scrub lemon, grate rind and squeeze juice.
• Chop nuts and place in small bowl with 50g sugar and lemon rind.
• Place butter in small pan and melt.
• Divide pastry onto 4 and line base of a small square or oblong tin with 1 layer of it. Brush with melted butter and then spinkle with one third of nut/lemon mix.
• Cover with another pastry piece and repeat layering, ending with a pastry piece. Brush with melted butter.
• With a sharp knife score into squares and then across each square to form 12 triangles.
• Bake just above the centre of the oven until golden brown (about 30 - 35 minutes). Leave to cool for about 10 minutes.
• Place remaining sugar, lemon juice and syrup/honey into a pan and stir until sugar dissolved. Then pour over the baklava, let it cool and then cut baklava into pieces and remove from tin...trying to resist trying
• just one....

Makes 12

Traditionally served as after dinner offerings in Persian cooking

Ingredients:

• 250g/8oz of plump dried apricots
• 4 tbsp of shelled pistachio nuts (3 tbsp chopped, 1 tbsp whole)
• 1 tabsp of orange blossom honey
• Icing sugar

Directions:

• Chop apricots very finely in a food processor, then stir in 3 tbsp of the chopped nuts and the honey.
• Shape the mixture into balls about the size of a walnut then roll them in icing sugar. Set a whole pistachio nut on top of each one.

Leave to dry a little on a rack and serve with coffee.

Ingredients:

• 125g/4oz dark chocolate
• 250g/8oz stem ginger in syrup

Directions:

• Melt the chocolate in a small basin over a saucepan of hot water.
• Drain the ginger lightly of syrup and place each piece on a small skewer or cocktail stick.
• Dip the ginger partly into the melted chocolate and then cool on a piece of waxed paper or greaseproof paper.

You can also use dates, crystallised ginger, lemon or orange peel,
crystallised rose petals...

If someone makes you this....you are truly loved x

Ingredients:

• 125g/4oz of finest plain chocolate
• 2 tbsp of water
• 400ml/14fl oz of full cream milk

Directions:

• Chop choc finely, bring water to the boil in a small pan and then add the chocolate.
• Heat very slowly until the choc melted taking care that it does not burn.
• In another pan heat the milk until hot but not boiling.  Pour it slowly into the melted chocolate a little at a time.
• Whisk over the heat until thoroughly hot.

Pour into 4 cups (or one giant one....)

If you fancy cinnamon chocolate - place a cinnamon stick in the milk as it heats and remove before adding to chocolate.

If you need serious chocolate relief then add a mound of shipped cream on the hot chocolate drink and sprinkle with chocolate shavings, mini marshmallows, a drizzle of maple syrup or all three.....

You need nothing other than 125ml / 4 fl oz of double cream to 250g/8oz of melted chocolate.
Kept warm enough for the chocolate to be melted but not burn.

Things to dip in....amaretto biscuits, mini meringues, stem ginger,
cherries, CHOCOLATE....