The puds of the pros

From apple crumbles to sticky toffee puddings, this is what the professionals crave when the weather gets colder...

Food is fuel, but it’s also highly emotional. our cravings can depend on everything from our mood to the weather – and as the days get shorter and colder, our food preferences shift. Here, chefs share the warming, comforting puddings they’ll be cooking up this autumn and winter...

NADIYA HUSSAIN

“It’s got to be sticky toffee pudding, hasn’t it?” says Nadiya Hussain. “Sticky toffee pudding with dates. I like to add a little bit of star anise and orange in my sticky toffee pudding and I like to serve it with cold ice cream.”

Nadiya’s Everyday Baking by Nadiya Hussain (Michael Joseph, £25)

HUGH FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL

“It’s definitely a good time for those cocklewarming dishes,” agrees Hugh Fearnleywhittingstall.

“I always love a crumble – we’ve already had quite a few crumbles since the blackberries and apples have been [in season], but I’m also really looking forward to cobblers – which is, if anything, even easier than a crumble, because the cobbler dough comes together really well.”

River Cottage Good Comfort by Hugh Fearnley-whittingstall (Bloomsbury, £27)

YOTAM OTTOLENGHI AND NOOR MURAD

For both Yotam ottolenghi and Noor Murad, it’s all about sweet, spiced fruit.

“I like to cook fruit and now there are really nice plums and blackberries, so I often make crisps and crumbles,” says ottolenghi. “I always have a container with cooked fruit in the fridge, [for] the kids to put on their yoghurt in the morning.

“We’ve just had apricots, but they’re gone now – but plums are in [season] and, for me, this is the beginning of winter. Cinnamon, star anise, some brown sugar, plums and blackberries. It’s a slow roast that sits there [in the oven] – it’s really perfect. You can eat it warm, but it’s also really nice fridge-cold.”

For Murad, one fruit reigns supreme: “I love apples, I eat them every day and I love cooked apples,” she says. “My mum says when she was pregnant with me, she used to stew apples and eat them a lot” – which might be why Murad loves them so much. This season, she’ll be keeping it simple and satisfying her cravings with apple crumble.

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £25)

GINO D’ACAMPO

Despite his Italian roots, Gino D’acampo favours something a bit more British as a sweet treat at this time of year.

“Well, it’s an English pudding – but I made it Italian,” he admits. “I’m a huge fan of bread and butter pudding – done well. Proper custard, raisins, fruit and stuff life that. The only difference is instead of using bread, I use panettone – the Italian Christmas cake, which nowadays you can buy all year round.

“I picked the best English recipe and the best Christmas cake in Italy and I make what I call a panettone and butter pudding.”

Gino’s Italy: Like Mamma Used To Make By Gino D’acampo (Bloomsbury, £25)

MELISSA THOMPSON

Food writer Melissa Thompson recently found herself in Wales for the Abergavenny Food Festival and she visited her partner’s family while she was there.

“They have loads of pear trees and pears are my top five – if not top three – fruit. I love pears so much – conference pears are my favourite,” Thompson enthuses.

“They gave us a load of pears and Kate [Thompson’s partner] made this pear crumble and she thought she’d messed up the topping, because she did flour and sugar, but then she also added ground almonds to it.

“When she blended it up, the fat in the almonds made it almost into a dough. It baked beautifully and I would happily eat that every week from here until May, with custard or ice cream.”

Motherland by Melissa Thompson (Bloomsbury, £26)

TOM KERRIDGE

Tom Kerridge is craving something fruity from his new cookbook.

“As we we’re in autumn, you always want something that’s a little bit more cakey and warming,” he says. “There’s a lovely spiced pear and caramel upside down cake [in the book], a bit like a pineapple upside down cake, but using spiced pears. That’s a delicious one.”

Real Life Recipes by Tom Kerridge (Bloomsbury Absolute, £26)

RUKMINI IYER

Like D’acampo, Rukmini Iyer likes to give a classic bread and butter pudding a twist – this time, by injecting Indian flavours.

She uses “saffron and cardamom and blackberries” in hers, saying: “You can use any seasonal fruit – you can use figs, you can use raspberries. You can make an amazing saffroninfused milk – it makes a really easy custard, so you don’t need to make full custard, [just] your saffron milk with some eggs.

“Pour it all over, I use brioche, put the fruit and then pistachios on top to make it nice and crunchy. It’s so tasty. Put it in a tin in the oven – you can even arrange the bread nicely or just chuck it in.”

India Express: Fresh And Delicious Recipes For Every Day by Rukmini Iyer (Square Peg, £22)

Ingredients

For rough puff pastry:

250g Carr’s plain flour

1 tsp fine sea salt

250g butter at room temperature, but not soft

150ml cold water

For pie filling:

450g lamb shoulder, cubed

1 red onion, roughly chopped

½ small pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 350g) 1 large carrot, peeled and cubed 400ml lamb stock 2 tsp ground cumin 2 tbsp Carr’s plain flour Salt and pepper for seasoning 2 sprigs rosemary 1 egg and a splash of milk mixed together for glazing

Method Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Break the butter in to small chunks and rub in – do not rub into breadcrumbs, you need to see bits of butter.

make a well and pour in 100ml of the water, mixing until you have a rough dough. Cover with clingfilm and rest for 20 minutes in the fridge.

Turn out on to a lightly-floured board, knead and form into a smooth rectangle.

APPLE & BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE BARS

Ingredients

1 Bramley cooking apple, peeled, cored and cut into small cubes (approx 100g)

150g frozen blackberries

100g oats

200g light brown sugar + 1 tbsp for filling

250g plain flour + 1 tbsp for filling

1 egg

125g unsalted butter, melted

½ tsp mixed spice (optional)

(can also be made with fruit of your choice)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan). In a small mixing bowl, combine the cubed apple and frozen

Roll the dough in one direction only to about 20 x 50cm, keep edges straight and even. Don’t overwork the butter streaks – you want a marbled effect.

Fold the top third down to the centre, then the bottom third up and over that. Give the dough a quarter turn and roll out again to three times the length. Fold as before, cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200ºc (Fan 180°C, Gas mark 5). Place the pumpkin/squash, carrot and sprigs of rosemary on to an oiled roasting tray and season. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan, add the onion and brown. In a bowl mix the flour, cumin, salt and pepper and dust the cubed lamb. add the lamb to the pan and brown. Remove veg from oven and add to the pan with the stock. Put a lid on and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn the oven up to 220ºc (Fan 200°C, Gas mark 6). Remove from the heat and ladle into a pie dish. Take a rolling pin and roll out the pastry to fit the top of the pie dish. Place on top, brush with egg and milk glaze and put in the oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Serve with seasonal green vegetables and any leftover gravy.

SAVOURY CRÊPES

Ingredients

2 large eggs 200ml milk

120g plain flour Butter for greasing pan

For the fillings:

blackberries with 1 tbsp light brown sugar and 1 tbsp flour. Set to one side.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, light brown sugar, flour and mixed spice (if using) with a spoon. mix in the egg and melted butter with the spoon, then get your hands in the bowl and bring the mixture together until it forms clusters.

Pour two thirds of the crumbly mixture into the prepared square tin and lightly press down with your fingers to create an even layer.

Spread the apple and blackberry mixture on top, then sprinkle the remaining third crumble mix over the top, don’t worry if there are gaps, you want to see the fruit coming through.

Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden on top and the apple is cooked through. Leave to cool before portioning into eight bars and serving.

Grated cheese and ham (torn into pieces) Grated cheese and mushrooms (sliced and pan fried in butter – but these can be made with any filling of your choice!)

Method

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, milk and flour with the whisk to form a runny batter.

Place your pan over medium heat and grease lightly with butter before

spooning in about 2-3 tbsp of batter and swilling it around to form a thin, even crêpe.

Return the pan to the heat and leave to cook for 30 seconds then, using the spatula, or flipping if you feel confident to, flip the crêpe over and cook the other side for a further 30 seconds. Place the crêpe on a plate and repeat steps two and three until all of the batter has been used, stacking them up as you go.

To fill, take one of the crêpes, place it back in the pan and sprinkle with grated cheese and the toppings. Leave for 30 seconds, then fold the crêpe in half and then half again to create a quarter fold. Flip the whole thing over to brown the other side lightly and ensure all the cheese has melted, then serve.