ZEST GRATER RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Place the butter in a small saucepan on a low heat. As it melts, finely grate over the clementine zest and squeeze in the juice, add the cinnamon, then bring to the boil and turn the heat off.
  2. Lay out 4 sheets of pastry on a clean tea towel, slightly overlapping, so they cover the tea towel completely, with a little overhang at one of the shorter ends. Working quickly so your pastry doesn’t dry out, drizzle over half of the spiced melted butter, then brush all over, using it to secure the pastry where it overlaps – this will help protect the pastry and flavour it. Sprinkle over 1 heaped teaspoon of sugar to add a nice bit of crunch, then carefully layer the rest of the pastry sheets on top and brush over half of the remaining melted butter.
  3. Use your hands to crumble the leftover goodies over the pastry from a height, making sure they are evenly distributed, and leaving the two shortest edges empty (about 10cm). Bash up the nuts in a pestle and mortar, then add them to the party and break over the chocolate. Using a box grater, coarsely grate over the fruit (cores and all), break in the biscuits, then drizzle everything with the honey.
  4. Fold the shortest edges inwards, then lift up your tea towel at one of the longest ends and use it to help you carefully roll up your strudel.
  5. Brush a large non-stick baking tray with a little of the remaining butter and confidently transfer the strudel to the tray. Brush or rub it all over with the last of the butter, then sprinkle over a little sugar. Bake on the bottom of the hot oven for 35 minutes, or until crisp, golden, and gorgeous.
  6. Once the time’s up, leave to cool, then dust with icing sugar and use a serrated knife to cut the strudel into 5cm slices. Delicious served with hot custard, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of Greek-style yoghurt.

Steps:

• Put the bran cereal and milk in a large mixing bowl and stir just to mix. Leave to soak for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper muffin cases.
• Add half the zest to the cereal and milk and put to one side. In a small bowl, add the cream cheese and caster sugar to the remaining zest and mix well – this will be your filling.
• Using the coarse-hole side of a grater, grate the carrots onto a board. Weigh out 150g/5½oz grated carrot and add to the large bowl. (Save any leftover carrots for a salad.)
• By now the cereal will be very mushy. Add the brown sugar and mix well with a wooden spoon. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger but don’t mix them in just yet.
• Break the eggs into another bowl and add the oil. Beat with a fork just until the egg yolks are broken up and mixed with the whites. Tip into the large bowl and mix everything together with the wooden spoon.
• Using a medium-sized spoon, drop a dollop of the carrot mixture into each paper muffin case in the tray. Drop a small spoonful of the cream cheese filling into the middle.
• Cover the filling with the rest of the carrot mixture, dividing it evenly among the cases. Place in the heated oven and bake for about 20 minutes until golden-brown. Check the muffins are cooked by gently pressing the centre of a muffin with your finger – if it springs back then it’s ready.
• Remove the tray from the oven and leave for five minutes, then carefully transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container and eat within 24 hours.