Green Beans with Sesame and Chili

 

With a family of fussy eaters, I realised that I'm stuck in a rut of cooking the variations of the same meals from week to week. I told my guys that from now on I would be cooking at least one new recipe a week and hopefully find some new family favourites.

Last week I tried a recipe for Ribollita with Yondu. Yondu is a Korean seasoning which unlocks natural flavours in blander foods. This Vegetable Umami all-purpose savoury seasoning is perfect for plant-rich cooking.

A few days ago they shared another recipe, which I wanted to try - Green Beans with Sesame and Chili.

Fall in love with Autumn’s most underrated vegetable

 

Chef Bettina Campolucci Bordi, author of Happy Food, 7 Day Vegan Challenge and most recently CELEBRATE, is sharing her killer green bean recipe with Asian-inspired flavours and a kick of her a favourite umami ingredient: Yondu. Bettina has show her 128k Instagram followers that, with the right seasoning, even the most simple greens can be dressed to impress.

 

As home cooks get excited about medleys of roasted root vegetables, Bettina warns to not overlook one of this season’s most nutritious choices - the humble green bean. Fresh, vibrant and vitamin-rich, these greens are in season from late summer right into the heart of Autumn. Adding just 50ml of Yondu’s umami seasoning will add depth of flavours, and bring this versatile vegetable to life.

 

For the dressing, Bettina suggests combining Yondu with chili, garlic and maple syrup to infuse these greens with natural flavour. The result will be ready in ten minutes and can be served warm as a side with dinner or cold as a salad for lunch. Sprinkled with spring onions and crispy shallots, you’ll never turn your nose up at green beans again!

 

The Best Green Beans with Sesame & Chili (recipe courtesy of Bettina Campolucci Bordi and Yondu)

Ingredients

400 grams of green beans

2 sprigs of spring onions chopped

 

Dressing

50ml of Yondu

10 mm of maple syrup

1/2 thumb of ginger grated

small garlic clove grated

1/2 red chili sliced

 

Sprinkles                                                                                                                                     

Crispy shallots ( the ones you buy)

2 tbsp of sesame seeds

 

Method

Get a pot of water boiling while you wash and trim the ends of your green beans. Once water is boiling add a pinch of salt along with your green beans and let them boil for about 5 minutes. You still want them to have a bite. While they are cooking mix Yondu, maple syrup, grated garlic and ginger and mix. Slice the spring onions and chili and set aside.

 

Drain the beans and plate or add to a shallow bowl, pour the dressing on top and sprinkle with spring onions, crispy shallots and chili. Give the beans a bit of a mix and eat straight away. They will be sweet and salty, crispy and spicy all at the same time! Incredibly delicious!

 

Notes

 

Yondu is available to purchase via its UK website and Amazon, retailing at £6.88 for 275ml. Visit www.yondu.co.uk/recipes/ for cooking inspiration.

 

Follow the brand on Instagram: @yondu.uk and Facebook: @yondu.uk.

 

Notes about Yondu:

 

• Yondu’s philosophy of healthy living stems from its creator company, Sempio, an established Korean food company
• For over 70 years Sempio is committed to expanding the world's culinary horizons through the art of fermentation
• Yondu is a 100% plant based product. It includes organic soybean, sea-salt, eight vegetable broth, and yeast extract  
• Yondu is clean label, certified Organic, non-GMO, vegan, and gluten-free 
• Non-GMO organic soybeans are triple-fermented over the course of 100 days, then blended with the savoury broth of onions, white radishes, leeks, cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, ginger and garlic to create Yondu’s unique flavour that enhances the taste of a variety of cuisines 
• The Yondu Culinary Studio in New York is where Yondu develop culinary solutions and ideas. Including a team of chefs that create healthy recipes. The team is led by Jaume Biarnes who was previously the culinary director at Alicia Food & Science Lab founded by Ferran Adrià, a pioneer of molecular gastronomy 

My notes:

I have halved the ingredients, as I had a pack of 200g green beans. The recipe is easily halved (or doubled if you are cooking for a bigger family). Instead of the grated ginger I used a ginger paste.

It is a delicious side dish, which will work perfectly well with a vegetarian meal, or served with fish or chicken. I will definitely be making this side dish again. Typically I just add a dressing of lime/lemon juice and maple syrup or honey to green beans, but Bettina's recipe is inspired. Love the combination of flavours and textures. I think sesame seeds might be better toasted. And I would give the green beans another minute or two of cooking time. 

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Yondu for testing and reviewing. All the other ingredients are not supplied.

The recipe is being published with kind permission from Yondu. 

All images are my own.

Maple oat cookies

After spending a month with us, it was time for my Mum to go back home. She left early on Tuesday morning, and was still travelling yesterday, as though she was in Moscow on Tuesday, it takes another 22 hours by train to get to my hometown.
Every time she leaves, we say Good byes with a heavy heart. With her health issues and me being a "prisoner of Zenda" - not being able to travel far due to the elder son's mental health problems, we never know if we'll see each other again.
To cheer up myself and treat my boys, I was baking maple oat cookies.

After a recent debacle with Flora, I'm on the lookout for a new margarine for baking cookies with. While I prefer a real butter when I bake cakes, I used to add either Flora or Stork as an ingredient in cookies, as they help to keep the shape.
After Flora has antagonised the Mumsnet members, I am now trying to find an alternative. I'm not a very active Mumsnetter, more of a reader than a contributor, and resent the fact that all members were insulted en masse. So, it's a good bye from me, good bye, Flora.

If you know of a decent alternative which is good for baking cookies, please let me know.
In this recipe I used a Baking block by Sainsbury's. It's the first time I used it, and can't say that I'm impressed. The cookies did spread quite a bit and lost their pattern. This means, I'm still on the lookout for the perfect margarine.

Maple oat cookies (makes 18 cookies)
Ingredients:
100g demerara sugar
120g margarine
1 medium egg
60ml maple syrup
50g oats
180+ g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
a pinch of sea salt

Cream the sugar with margarine, beat in one egg, add the maple syrup, oats, flour and baking powder as well as a pinch of sea salt. The cookie dough will be quite soft and sticky.
Dust hands with flour and pinch walnut-sized balls of dough, roll between your hands, then flatten and put on the tray, lined with a baking parchment paper or baking silicone sheet.
Bake for about 13-14 minutes. The cookies will be slightly golden and very soft.
Let them cool a bit before lifting off the tray, they are fragile at this stage and will break easily.
If you prefer crispy cookies, let them bake for a couple of minutes longer.

These are lovely chewy cookies, perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. My boys loved them.
The maple syrup adds a distinct aroma and flavour to the bakes.

Baked halloumi with caramelised onions and tomatoes

Waitrose is running a 25% price reduction for their own Waitrose 1 range at the moment, with a wide selection of foods offered. While checking out what's on offer, I spotted a pack of halloumi with mint which I haven't bought before.
Just the day before I was recycling newspapers and saw a recipe for baked halloumi with tomatoes printed in The Observer magazine. This was one of Nigel's Midweek Dinner recipes.

I have adapted the recipe, if you want to see the original recipe, follow the link above.

Baked halloumi with caramelised onions and tomatoes
Ingredients:
a punnet of mixed baby tomatoes (220g)
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
1tbsp soy sauce
1tsp maple syrup
1 big red onion, sliced
2tbsp olive oil
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
1tsp maple syrup
1 pack of halloumi (250g)
a few sprigs of fresh thyme

First start by roasting tomatoes. Put tomatoes in a small roast dish and pour olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and maple syrup over them. Place the dish in the oven preheated to 180C and cook for about 20 minutes.
I used mixed baby tomatoes, but any colour would do. If you have bigger tomatoes, just halve them and cook the same way.

In the meantime cut a big red onion in half and slice into crescents. Add oil to a medium sized frying pan, and fry the onions on low for about 10-15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. The onions will turn a lovely dark colour. Once cooked, set aside. Take the tomatoes out of the oven.

Take two square pieces of foil, first layer the caramelised onions as a base. Cut the halloumi in half, then in half again. Put two pieces of halloumi on caramelised onions (two per foil pocket).
Add the roast tomatoes, any juice from the tomatoes and fresh thyme.

Pull the edges of the foil up together and slightly scrunch them to create a pocket. Place the pockets on a tray and into the oven. Cook at 180C for 20-25 minutes.
Serve hot, with a nice chunk of bread to mop up the onion sauce.

In this recipe I used Waitrose 1 traditional halloumi with mint. It has a firm texture, and is made from pasteurised ewe's and goat's milk. Flavoured with mint, it is hand folded the traditional way in Cyprus.

Baked cheese was tasty enough, though I do prefer halloumi fried or grilled.
I also recently cooked Foil-baked feta with caper berries and Greek basil, and prefer the texture of baked feta.

Which baked cheese is your favourite?

Adding this post to #KitchenClearout linky hosted by Cheryl at Madhouse Family Reviews, as I have conveniently used the end of the bottle of maple syrup in this recipe.

Odds and ends flapjacks

I've been rummaging through my kitchen cupboards, checking what needs to be eaten, what has to be thrown. I had the remains of peanut butter in a jar and coconut oil, literally a few tablespoons left over, then the end of the ground almonds packet and the remains of brown sugar with stevia. I also had an overripe banana - not enough for a banana cake, but might do for flapjacks.
There was a box of MOMA bircher muesli (raspberry & coconut) in the latest Degustabox, which I thought would be a great base for flapjacks. These are quick gluten free oats with fruit and seeds including raisins, dried apple pieces, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut flakes and dessicated coconut, raspberries and blackcurrants.

Odds and ends flapjacks
Ingredients:
1 ripe banana, mashed
70g brown sugar (with Stevia)
3tbsp maple syrup
3tbsp peanut butter
4tbsp coconut oil
20g ground almonds
200g oats (bircher muesli)
50g strong white bread flour
50g walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C.
Mash a ripe banana with a fork in a medium mixing bowl. Add sugar, maple syrup, peanut butter, coconut oil, ground almonds, oats, flour and chopped walnuts and mix well, until you get a sticky ball. Slightly oil the brownie 20x20 tin and put the mix into the tin, flattening it with a fork, and evening it. Make sure the ends are filled in evenly. Place the tin in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until golden on top.
Make the indentation marks with a knife on the flapjacks while the mass is still warm Once cooled a bit, cut with a knife into rectangular or square slices.

Despite the fact it was all bits and bobs, it is a very tasty flapjack. You don't need a lot of butter to bind the oats, as you use a banana. I've seen some recipes online for flapjacks where they use 250g of butter, that's way too much.

I think any flavour bircher muesli will work in this recipe. Or plain oats, with a handful of dried fruit or coconut flakes. Ground almonds could be swapped for dessicated coconut, maple syrup substituted by golden syrup or healthier date or carob syrup. The possibilities and combinations of flavours are endless.

Adding this recipe to #KitchenClearout linky hosted by Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews.

Red kidney beans, peas and ham hock salad

There are days when I don''t feel like cooking anything elaborate. I can just about throw some ingredients together in a semblance of a meal. Salads are very forgiving in a sense that you can layer them up with whatever you have in the kitchen, mixing fresh ingredients with tinned foods and other staples that you might find in the cupboard. In my case, I had some ham hock in the fridge, the remains of lentil sprout mix and half a bag of salad. It could have easily turned out differently - ham hock could be replaced by tinned tuna, lentil sprout mix by tinned chick peas etc.

Red kidney beans, peas and ham hock salad (serves 2)
Ingredients:
1 tin of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (240g drained weight)
80g frozen peas, cooked
3tbsp lentil sprouts mix
1/2 bag of mixed salad leaves with beetrout
50g shredded ham hock
3 cherry tomatoes, halved
1tsp English mustard
2tbsp olive oil
2tbsp cider vinegar
1tsp maple syrup

Open a tin of red kidney beans and rinse them in a colander under a running cold water. Drain well.
In a medium mixing bowl toss together beans, cooked peas, lentil sprouts mix, halved tomatoes and ham hock.
Divide the salad between two plates and arrange the bean-ham mix on top. Prepare a simple dressing from English mustard, olive oil, vinegar and maple syrup and drizzle it over the salad. Season with a little bit of salt, if you like.
Serve with bread.

And just because I used some odds and ends of packets in the fridge, I'm adding this recipe suggestion to #KitchenClearout linky hosted by Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews.

Pancakes with apricots and mascarpone

Pancake day is almost here, and the Internet is buzzing with the pancake recipes and serving suggestions. There's even a cyberspace rivalry challenge Maple syrup versus Lemon juice and sugar (just follow the hashtag #MapleVLemon). Being the maple syrup camp follower, I'm happy to use the maple syrup in both sweet and savoury pancakes. To encourage me to make more pancakes, lovely people from Clarks Marple Syrup sent me a big bottle of their maple syrup.
I have posted a savoury pancake recipe earlier today. Now it's the turn of the sweet pancakes with apricots and mascarpone.

Pancakes with apricots and mascarpone
Ingredients:
6 apricots
1tsp apricot kernel oil (or any mild vegetable oil)
2tbsp maple syrup
for batter:
2 medium eggs
100ml kefir
200ml milk
100g plain flour
1tbsp sugar
1tbsp apricot kernel oil
for the filling:
mascarpone cheese and maple syrup (1 heaped tbsp of cream cheese + 1tsp maple syrup per pancake)
icing sugar (optional)

Apricots baked with the maple syrup

Halve the apricots and discard stones. Place them in a baking tray, and drizzle with the apricot kernel oil and maple syrup. Roast at 180C for 25+ minutes, until soft but not mushy.
Make the batter by beating the eggs with the milk, kefir, flour, oil and sugar. The batter has to be smooth.
I buy a Polish kefir from Tesco (Mlekovita). Kefir is quite popular in Russia as an ingredient for baking and making pancakes. It adds a light note of acidity and lightness to the pancakes. If you don't have kefir, use 300ml of milk and a couple of tablespoons of Greek style yogurt or even plain yogurt.
Fry each pancake for about 3+ minutes on each side. This batter makes thin crepe-style pancakes, which are perfect for being filled with whatever delectable foods you fancy.

Mix the mascarpone cheese with maple syrup. Spoon it on top of each pancake, add a few apricot halves, fold the pancake. Dust with a bit of icing sugar and enjoy.
This is truly a heavenly combination of flavours.

Yet if you don't fancy this filling, or don't have time to faff with the apricots, just make the pancakes and drizzle with the maple syrup or honey. Less ingredients, but as tasty.

Disclosure: as mentioned in the previous post, I received a bottle of maple syrup and subsidiary fees to buy the ingredients in order to do two pancakes recipe posts. All opinions are mine.

And if you fancy more pancake recipes, have a look at these mouth-watering creations -

Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog made lush Spiced Kefir Pancakes with Manuka Honey and Creme Fraiche Chocolate Sauce;

Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen cooked delicious Cinnamon Spice Pancakes with Cinnamon Poached Plums;

Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes made a batch of lip-licking Chocolate Chip and Raisin Scotch pancakes;

Dom from Belleau Kitchen rocks with his Two-Ingredient Nutribullet Banana Pancakes.

Savoury beer pancakes with wild mushrooms and bacon

Beer pancakes with wild mushrooms and bacon

I am always surprised when I read people saying on their blogs that they only eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. Why limit yourself to just once a year? Pancakes are a staple breakfast food in Russia, especially at the weekends. My guys love pancakes, and every Sunday is a pancake day in our family. They prefer the sweet varieties, topped up with sliced bananas, berries and cream. I love mine with honey or maple syrup. Savoury pancakes are also fabulous. Beer is one of the ingredients which adds a definite lightness and a savoury note to the pancakes.

Beer pancakes (makes 6)
Ingredients:
2 medium eggs
150ml beer
100g self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
butter, for frying

for the filling:
1tsp olive oil
100g cubed bacon
100g wild mushrooms
1tbsp maple syrup
1tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
100g mozzarella, cubed

Beat the eggs with the beer and flour, add a pinch of salt. The batter should be smooth. Pour a ladleful of batter into the buttered hot frying pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. There's enough batter to make 6 pancakes.

Beer pancakes

Chop the bacon lardons into cubes, fry them in the frying pan with a bit of olive oil. After 3-4 inutes of add the chopped wild mushrooms and a tablespoon of maple syrup, as well as some fresh thyme. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn down the heat and add the cubed mozzarella. Divide the filling between the pancakes and fold each pancake in half.

Wild mushrooms + Mushrooms with bacon and mozzarella

Drizzle more maple syrup if you like. The sweetness of the syrup works well with the salty savoury flavours of the bacon and mushrooms.

I have been asked by Clarks Maple Syrup to come up with a recipe for Clarks Pancake Challenge. Well, I am definitely in the maple syrup camp. As much as I love lemons in cooking, for me classic pancakes with lemon juice and sugar are just too boring plain. If I fancy a simple version, I would opt for maple syrup, or honey. Or do it the Russian way, with the soured cream and sprinkled sugar.

For more pancake recipes and cooking inspiration, visit Clarks recipes page.

If you're in the pancakes-once-a-year group, make sure you cook the best ones. And don't worry about the flipping bit. In fact, I have read that it's only the rubbery pancakes which flip easily. You cannot flip a large thin crepe or Italian lacy crespelle without tearing it.
Whichever recipe you choose, have fun with your pancakes and stack them high!

Disclosure: I received a bottle of maple syrup and a subsidiary fee for buying the ingredients. All opinions are mine.

If you liked this recipe, you might be interested in the following recipes:
Pancakes for Findus
and
Ricotta pancakes

Top that! (pancake toppings)

This Tuesday many households all over the country will be flipping their pancakes. Shrove Tuesday is preceding the first day of Lent, it is the last chance of enjoying the rich foods before long fast of 40 days. Did you know that the earliest known record of the pancake recipe goes back to 5AD? That Roman recipe suggested adding honey and pepper to the pancake. The Tudors liked their pancakes made with the good old ale, and used plenty of spices like cinnamon and ginger in the batter. The pancake as we know it today is a later creation, thanks to the influence of the French cuisine of the 18C.

Pancakes with mascarpone and fresh berries

Judging by the numerous pancake polls, the Brits like to eat their pancakes the traditional way, with lemon and sugar. As a girl who grew up in Russia, I don't fancy lemon-sugar combination. It is either honey for me, or the soured cream with sugar. Of course, there are so many recipes and variations of pancakes, that you could probably eat them every day for a year and serve them differently each time.

For the classic American style pancakes you will need bacon rashers and maple syrup.
I use a standard recipe, that works well in many pancake recipes.
You will need
2 medium eggs
80ml milk
1tbsp soured cream (optional)
1tbsp wholemeal flour
3 heaped tbsp self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
1tbsp melted butter (optional)
butter for greasing the pan
sugar from 1/2tsp to 1tbsp (whether you want them savoury ot sweet)
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt and sugar. In a measuring jug whisk the milk and eggs. Pour the egg mix and melted butter into the bowl and mix well. Leave it to stand for 10 minutes.
When the pan is hot, pour the ladelfuls of batter. Turn them carefully and cook until both sides are golden brown.
Serve with the crispy bacon and maple syrup.

For a vegetarian version, skip the bacon. Add the blueberries to the batter and serve with the maple syrup as well.

For my American style pancakes I used Clarks original maple syrup (blended with carob fruit syrup). It is a classic combination of sweet and salty flavours.

If you are more of a chocoholic, perhaps you would prefer to drizzle some liquid chocolate over your pancakes?
Choc Shot Liquid Chocolate by Sweet Freedom is a versatile ingredient. You can make a cup of hot chocolate with it, just stir into hot milk. Drizzle it over ice cream, toast, fruit salad or porridge. It has 25% fewer calories than regular hot chocolate.
From the list of credentials: it is 100% natural, GM & gluten free, with Low GL.
One teaspoon of liquid chocolate is 13.7kcal (per 5g).

Daddy's pancake

My guys, big and small, love their pancakes with lots of fresh cream, squirted from the Anchor bottle. Slice half a banana per each bigger pancake, squirt lots of cream and drizzle the liquid chocolate.

Eddie's pancake

Choc Shot on pancakes? mmm, yummy

If you like, swap the cream for ice cream or thick Greek style yogurt. Add any berries you like, or caramelized fruit like pears or banana.

Or do a mini-tower from pancakes, mascarpone and fresh berries. You will need about 2tbsp of mascarpone, 1tbsp of maple syrup, 1tsp lemon juice and a handful of raspberries and blueberries. Eddie loves blueberries and calls them chuckleberries (in case you don't watch Tree Fu Tom, these are sweet juicy berries which can laugh). As mascarpone is quite thick, mix it with the lemon juice and maple syrup to make it more spreadable. Add half a tablespoon of the cheese mix to each pancake, top up with berries.

Whichever recipe you enjoy, have fun on the Pancake day! And don't forget, pancakes are not just for Pancake day.

For more information about Clarks maple syrup range visit their page Clarks Maple Syrup UK.
I suggest you visit their Recipes page, as it has some fabulous mouthwatering ideas like Cinnamon and Clarks Maple Syrup Pancakes with Caramelised Pear and Pecan Brittle, White Chocolate and Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Syrup Drizzle and many more.

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Clarks maple syrup and Choc Shot Liquid Chocolate each, to write a post on pancakes, though as you might know well, I do talk about pancakes very often.

Clarks maple syrup giveaway (c/d 24 October 2013)

I have recently tested and reviewed a couple of Clarks maple syrups (see my post Family Fun with Clarks maple syrup). I love the sweet smokey taste of the maple syrup, and it is one of my kitchen staples.

Maple syrup is a versatile ingredient, a perfect accompaniment to pancakes and blini.

It transforms a simple dish of porridge into a Royal meal.

It works wonderfully in baking, enhancing the flavours of cupcakes, cakes and cookies.

For more recipe ideas and suggestions visit Clarks Maple Syrup.

Lovely people from Clarks have kindly offered a selection of their tasty syrups as a prize for 3 of my lucky blog readers.

Each of three prizes will include:

Clarks Pure Canadian No.1 (Medium) Maple Syrup
Clarks Pure Canadian No.2 Amber Grade Maple Syrup
Clarks Original Maple Syrup (blended with carob fruit syrup)
Clarks Vanilla Maple Syrup (blended with carob fruit syrup)


If you would like to win this prize, please fill in the Rafflecopter form.
T&Cs:
Only the first step is mandatory: all you need is answer the question by leaving a comment (there is no right or wrong answer)
(if you login as Anonymous, please leave you Twitter name or FB name, so that I could identify you, I do not suggest leaving the email address in the comment)

All the other steps are optional, you don't have to do them all. All it takes to win is just one entry.
Only one entry per person is allowed (however, you can tweet daily to increase your chances).
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
Once the Rafflcopter picks the winner, I will check if the winner has done what was requested. I will contact the winner, if they do not reply within a week, the prize will be allocated to another person.

If you haven't used the Rafflecopter before, you might want to watch this simple video.
The giveaway will close on 24 October 2013 at midnight (the night from the 23rd to 24th)



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

Family fun with Clarks maple syrup

When it comes to the maple syrup, Clarks, the UK's best selling maple syrup brand, knows a thing or two about it. Family-run Clarks Maple Syrup offers a varied range of delicious syrups.

Clarks explains:

"Small farm producers in Quebec, Canada, harvest the sap of the maple tree and then boil it; this simple process creates deliciously sweet Clarks Maple Syrup - it really is as simple as that!"

Maple syrup is a wonderfully versatile product which could enhance a whole range of dishes, from sweet to savoury. Cupcakes, sponge cakes, ice cream, milkshakes, salad dressings and sauces: maple syrup is not just for pancakes and waffles

In the last week or two I was testing two different syrups from the Clarks range:

Clarks No.2 Amber Maple Syrup 
"A pure blend, with a rich colour and deep flavour. Ideal for marinades, baking and dressings, or simply as a healthier alternative to sugar, rrp £2.99"

This blend has a gorgeous deep colour (I wish my hair was this rich shade) with a tint of auburn. The taste is intense and delicious.

Another flavour that I tested was:
Vanilla Maple Syrup blended with Carob Fruit Syrup
"A blend of pure Canadian maple syrup, carob fruit from the Mediterranean and natural vanilla flavouring. This syrup works well for sweet dishes and baking.  Try it mixed in with porridge or on waffles for breakfast - or poured over ice cream for a sweet treat, rrp £2.10"

This syrup is milder in flavour than the Amber maple syrup, and more delicate. The labelling on the bottle is very clear that this is a mix with the carob fruit syrup. It was lovely used in Maple syrup, vanilla and oat cookies (see below). And also lush on porridge.

"Maple Syrup is a good source of zinc to aid the immune system and has as fewer calories weight-for-weight than sugar and honey. It can also be a great ingredient for those looking to make small changes for a healthier lifestyle - try adding a dash of Clarks to your morning coffee instead of sugar."

I love baking, and if you follow my blog, you might have noticed that we often have a baking session with my kids.

Carrot and maple syrup cupcakes (about 8)
Ingredients:
1 orange (juice and zest)
2 medium eggs
100g granulated sugar
100ml olive oil
100g grated carrot
2tbsp maple syrup
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp ground ginger
1tbsp ground almonds
150g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
3tsbp sunflower, pumpkin seeds and pine nuts (topping)

Grate the carrot in the mixing bowl. Add the zest and juice of one orange, eggs, sugar, olive oil, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, ground almonds, self-raising flour and baking powder. Mix well.
Spoon the cupcake mix into the paper cupcake cases and sprinkle the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and pine nuts on top. Place the muffin tin (with the cupcake cases in) in the oven preheated to 180C and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Insert the wooden skewer to check if it comes clean.
The cupcakes are fluffy and delicate in texture.
Lovely eaten warm, but nice cold as well.

I have also baked a batch of Maple Syrup, Vanilla and Oat cookies yesterday to celebrate my little man's first day at the nursery. It was a stressful day for us both. I think we were both happy to be reunited after three hours of separation. My little man is all grown up now. To calm down our nerves, what could be better than a cooking session? Freshly baked cookies were a perfect snack for a relaxing afternoon. I used Clarks Vanilla Maple syrup in this recipe for the more delicate flavour. The sweet aroma of baking was comforting and tempting, and these cookies are ideal for the afternoon munchies or before bed with a glass of milk.

You can find out more information, along with lots of recipes, at Clarks.

Disclosure: I received two bottles of Clarks maple syrup for the purposes of reviewing, all opinions and recipe suggestions are mine.