Okay, now brace yourself, these chocolate muffins are (deep breath) egg-free, fat-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, nut-free, but definitely NOT flavour free! There is a good reason they are called Free From Everything Healthy Chocolate Brownie Muffins you see! I know what you’re thinking, what do they actually contain? The answer is basically all the good stuff.

In fact, there is so much good stuff in here that they would be a fabulous breakfast for anybody who doesn’t ‘do’ breakfast. They’re the healthiest choice you could go for if you need a sweet snack at coffee time, and the kids will think you’re being the best parent ever giving them this delicious treats when you know that they are actually bulking up on goodness. They are packed with iron, zinc, magnesium and antioxidants so this is certainly a situation where cake really is good for your health!

Overall then – a muffin case of perfect. I hope you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how fluffy and light these brownie muffins are. Serve them with the optional topping which is like a chocolate  fudge, So sweet and squishy but with only a few simple ingredients.

As soup season and courgette’s rarely co-inside I’ve never tried courgette soup.  But faced with a haul of them from a kind friend and the sudden stormy week I’ve been working on a soup which will work now and also keep in the freezer for the autumn too.

This is the most simple but surprisingly tasty recipe which I’ve come up with which suits so many diets. It’s also delicate in flavour so great for smaller children too. It takes around 20mins to make (the thicker the pieces are chopped the longer it will take to cook) and is so creamy despite having no added cream or thickener. It’s amazing how much flavour the courgettes have!

Do you ever find that you go through stages of cooking certain things? Like you will always make that particular salad or pie when people are over for lunch? When you have to think of a dessert to make, one will always be front and centre of your mind? Then a couple of months later you move on and those easy and nailed recipes are forgotten again? I am totally guilty of this which is why I’m resurrecting this Chocolate and Raspberry Cake from the vaults of my cooking brain – which to be fair is most of my brain!

This was such a classic in my household and always got such a great reaction I made it as part of my two-courses-in-one-hour challenge on MasterChef UK. And it was very much a hit with Gregg Wallace and John Torode who polished the served slice off. After that I just stopped making it. But while working out what to make for friends coming for dinner recently I remembered it and thought this cake would finish off the meal perfectly, as it did.

Couple of notes, I have found adding the raspberries at the end is the best way of ensuring they don’t all drop to the base of the cake. But you can stir them through the mixture before cooking if you would prefer. This cake will crack on top. If you would prefer you could turn it upside down to cool and then cover with a chocolate ganache and perhaps garnish with fresh berries or free-dried raspberries. I have served this with a raspberry coulis, crushed Amoretti biscuits and mascarpone mixed with Amaretto liqueur.