Recipes

Serves 4

Ingredients
Generous handful of pine nuts
Olive oil for toasting
2 small Fairtrade avocados (not too ripe)
3 small or medium, ripe Fairtrade mangoes
1 ripe Fairtrade lime
Good quality balsamic vinegar

Method

• Mix the pine nuts with a little olive oil and place in the oven on a baking tray to toast for five minutes, or until nicely golden.
• Meanwhile, peel the avocados and mangoes and slice them lengthways into generous pieces. Mix and arrange them on a plate – but avoid damaging the delicate fruit.
• Add a generous squeeze of lime juice, a drizzle of the stickiest balsamic vinegar you can get your hands on, and scatter the toasted pine nuts on the top.

This recipe is reproduced with the kind permission of Joanne Harris.

By Jane Asher

Ingredients for the chocolate cake mixture
150g/6 oz butter
150g/6 oz caster sugar, plus another 50g/2 oz for meringue
7 eggs, separated
175g/7 oz dark Fairtrade chocolate, melted
125g/5 oz self-raising flour, sifted

Ingredients for the buttercream
100g/4 oz butter, softened
175g/7 oz icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon of Fairtrade ground coffee, or 1½ teaspoons of Fairtrade instant coffee

Method for the chocolate cake

• Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F/ Gas Mark 5.
• Grease and line the base of a deep 23cm/9 inch round cake tin.
• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in egg yolks one at a time, and then stir in the melted Maya Gold chocolate.
• Whisk egg whites until stiff, then fold in sugar to make meringue.
• Alternately fold in flour and meringue to the chocolate mix.
• Transfer mix to tin and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is firm to touch and a skewer can be withdrawn cleanly.
• Leave to cool in the tin, then transfer to a cooling rack until cold.
• Split cake in half and fill with Fairtrade coffee buttercream.

Method for the buttercream

• Infuse the ground coffee in a tablespoon of boiled water, then strain; or dissolve the instant coffee in half a teaspoon of boiling water.
• Beat the butter until light and fluffy.
• Add the icing sugar to the mix a little at the time, beating well in between.
• Gradually beat in the coffee.

By Andrew Rose, Floridita, London.
Made for the 10th Anniversary of the FAIRTRADE Mark.

Ingredients
300g Fairtrade dark chocolate
100g ground almonds
175g butter (softened)
Fairtrade cocoa powder for dusting
175g Fairtrade sugar
1 tbsp mixed spice
25g plain flour (sieved)
6 eggs (separated)

Method

• Preheat oven to 170c Grease a 8 – 8 1/2-inch cake tin and dust well with Fairtrade cocoa powder.
• After separating the eggs, cream together the egg yolks and 130g of the sugar until they become light and fluffy.
• Mix together the ground almonds, flour and mixed spices.
• Whisk the egg whites and remaining sugar to stiff peaks.
• Melt the chocolate with the butter and leave to cool.
• Mix the melted chocolate and butter with the egg yolk mixture.
• Then fold in the whipped egg whites, starting with 1/3 of the mix followed by the rest.
• Finally, gradually fold in the flour mix, making sure that the batter remains light and aerated.
• Pour the finished batter into the cake tin and bake for approximately 1 hour or until the cake becomes firm and springy to the touch, when lightly pressed in the middle.

Once left to cool, slice and serve with clotted cream. To use as a birthday cake, simply dust with icing sugar and arrange 10 candles around the top.

By Ken Hom. Serves 8.

Ingredients
340 g dark Fairtrade chocolate, broken into pieces
142 g unsalted butter
125 g Fairtrade sugar
50 g crystallised or candied ginger, very finely chopped
4 large egg yolks
6 large egg whites
40 g plain flour
Unsalted butter to grease tin

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
• Combine the chocolate, sugar, butter, and ginger in a double boiler (a bowl in a pan of hot water would do). Melt over a medium heat, stirring until the ingredients are thoroughly blended.
• Allow the mixture to cool, then whisk in the egg yolks, then the flour. Mix thoroughly.
• Beat the egg whites until they form firm peaks.
• Add one third of the egg whites to the chocolate batter and mix vigorously. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.
• Butter the tin and add the mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the cake is firm.
• Allow the cake to cool for several hours before removing from the tin. Dust with powdered sugar.

By television chef Michael Barry. Makes one loaf.

Ingredients
225 g (8 oz) self-raising flour
100 g (4 oz) butter
150 g (5 oz) caster sugar
450 g (1 lb) Fairtrade bananas (the gooier the better)
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
175 g (6 oz) mixed dried fruit

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Peel and mash the bananas, and then mix all the ingredients except the dried fruit together. You can do this in a food processor, or by hand in a basin. When they’re all thoroughly mixed, add the dried fruit. Spoon the mixture into a 1 kg (2 lb) non-stick loaf tin, spread it out evenly and bake it for 1½ hours. The loaf is done when a skewer pushed into its middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes about 12 brownies.

Ingredients
50g dark Fairtrade chocolate, roughly broken up
110g butter
2 eggs, beaten
225g unrefined (golden) Fairtrade sugar
50g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
100g hazelnuts (chopped in half)

For the frosting
100g butter, softened to room temperature
100g icing sugar
100g cream cheese
1 tablespoon strong black Fairtrade coffee

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a tin measuring approximately 27cm x 18cm and line with baking parchment, allowing paper to rise 3cm obove the tin. Toast hazelnuts in oven for 10 minutes (maximum) until lightly browned. Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Stir in sugar. Beat in eggs and chocolate mixture until well-mixed. Stir in hazelnuts. Pour mixture into the tin and bake for 30-40 minutes until centre springs back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in tin. To make frosting, beat butter and icing sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in cream cheese and coffee. Spread frosting on cooled Brownies. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes, then cut into squares.

Ingredients
175g Fairtrade sugar
175g margarine
225g self raising flour
100g porridge oats
2 medium Fairtrade bananas, mashed
25g Fairtrade sultanas (or similar)
Caster sugar

Method

• Warm your oven to 200°C
• Cream the sugar and margarine together
• Cut in the flour and oats to make a crumbly mixture
• Sprinkle half into a baking tray (12 by 8 inch) and press down lightly
• Spread over the bananas and sprinkle the dried fruit
• Sprinkle the rest of the mixture over and again press down lightlyBake it for 25 to 30 mins until golden
• Sprinkle with caster sugar
• Wait until it cools (if you can) and cut into appropriately-sized chunks

Makes 7-8 large muffins.

Ingredients

100g plain flour
40g cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
90g unrefined (golden) Fairtrade sugar
40g melted butter
1 egg, beaten
2 ripe Fairtrade bananas, well mashed
80ml buttermilk
50g Fairtrade milk chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Sieve flour, cornmeal, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a large bowl. Stir in sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, egg, bananas and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix gently (do not over-mix). Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill a muffin tin (ideally lined with muffin cases) to just under the rim. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden-brown and firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin.

Makes about 9 whirls.

Ingredients
250g bought puff pastry
60g Fairtrade raisins
finely grated zest and juice of 1 Fairtrade orange
60g unrefined (golden) Fairtrade sugar
½ teaspoon ground Fairtrade cinnamon
40g pecans
15g melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon warmed runny Fairtrade honey

For the icing
75g icing sugar
1 teaspoon instant Fairtrade coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tablespoon boiling water (or use 1 tablespoon made-up strong Fairtrade espresso coffee)

Method

• First put raisins in a bowl with the orange juice and leave to soak for 1 hour.
  
• Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
• Roll out the puff pastry to a square, measuring about 24cm. Brush with melted butter, leaving a 2cm gap down 2 parallel edges.
• Mix sugar well with the cinnamon and orange zest. Break pecans into pieces about the same size as the raisins and mix into the sugar.
• Drain the raisins and add to the sugar mixture.
• Spread onto pastry, avoiding the gap along the 2 edges. Brush the gaps with beaten egg. Starting with one of these edges, roll up tightly like a swiss roll. Seal the edge as tightly as possible, using more beaten egg. With a sharp knife, slice the roll into 2cm wide rounds.
• Place on a baking tray and brush top and sides with more beaten egg. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
• Brush tops with warmed honey straight from the oven. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Make up icing by beating the coffee into the icing sugar until smooth. When pastries are cool, drizzle with icing.

Tip: To save on soaking time, put raisins and orange juice in a bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute then stand for 10 minutes.

Makes about 10 biscotti.

Biscotti are very hard Italian biscuits which are lovely dipped into coffee for breakfast or a mid-morning snack.

Ingredients
100g plain flour
30g Fairtrade cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
120g unrefined (golden) Fairtrade sugar
½ tablespoon Fairtrade ground coffee
30g dark Fairtrade chocolate, roughly broken up
2 eggs, beaten
2 balls of stem ginger, finely chopped

Method
Heat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Sieve flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Add sugar, coffee and chocolate. Process until finely ground. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs and continue to process until mixture binds together into a firm dough. Carefully add milk by the teaspoonful if dough is too dry. Fold in the stem ginger. On a floured surface, roll dough into a log and place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and turn down to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Allow log to cool, then, using a serrated knife, cut into 1cm wide slices. Lie slices flat on baking sheet and return to oven for 15 minutes or until firm. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Courtesy of Waitrose. Serves 4-6.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: Ovenproof dish or 6-8 ramekins, frying pan, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, teaspoon, tablespoon, scraper, saucepan, fish slice, chopping board and a knife.

Ingredients
200g pack soft cheese
50g light brown Fairtrade sugar
1 level tsp ground Fairtrade cinnamon
50g unsalted butter
6 large firm but ripe Fairtrade bananas
3 tbsp double cream

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180OC, gas mark 4. Cream the cheese, sugar and half the cinnamon together in a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon.
• Melt the butter over a low heat in the frying pan.
• Either slice the peeled bananas lengthways for the ovenproof dish or slice them thinly for individual ramekins.
• Add the cut bananas to the melted butter and fry gently until golden brown on both sides. Distribute the browned bananas evenly, either in a large shallow ovenproof dish or ramekins.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture over the bananas. Drizzle the double cream over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon.
• Place the banana dish in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown. Serve immediately.

By Gary Rhodes. Serves 4.

Ingredients
300ml (10floz) sweet cider
100g (4oz) plain flour plus a little extra for coating
25g (1oz) Fairtrade caster sugar
4 Fairtrade bananas, peeled
vegetable oil for deep frying

Bitter chocolate sauce ingredients
300g (10oz) Fairtrade bitter dark chocolate, chopped
150g (5oz) unsalted butter
75ml (3fl oz) double cream

Method
To make the fritter batter, mix the cider, flour and sugar together. Cut each of the bananas horizontally into 4 lengths and lightly four each piece. Dip them in the batter and deep fry in hot oil for about 5 minutes until golden and crispy. Drain well.
To make the sauce, place all of the ingredients together in a bowl over simmering water until the chocolate has completely melted. This sauce must be served warm.
To serve, place the fritters on a plate and pour the chocolate sauce next to them. Alternatively serve the chocolate sauce separately and decorate the fritters with a sprig of mint.

By Ainsley Harriott

Ingredients
50g/2oz unsalted butter
50g/2oz light muscavado sugar
50g/2oz pecan nuts
Half a Fairtrade pineapple cut into slices
2 large ripe Fairtrade bananas
2 tbsp dark rum or Malibu
25g/1oz Fairtrade raisins

For the pancakes
100g/4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
300ml/1/2 pint milk
sunflower oil, for frying
icing sugar, to dust
single cream, to serve

Method

• To make the pancakes, sift the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
• Add the egg and whisk well with a balloon whisk. Gradually beat in the milk to make a smooth batter. Cover and leave to stand for 20 minutes if time allows.
• Heat a large frying pan and brush with a little of the oil. Pour in just enough batter to thinly coat the base of the pan. Cook for 1 minute until golden brown. Turn or toss and cook for another 30 seconds or so until golden. Layer up the cooked pancakes between squares of greased paper and keep warm while cooking the remainder.
• Place the butter and sugar in a large frying pan, stirring until well combined. Add the pecan nuts and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.
• Cut each pineapple slice into quarters and cut the bananas into thick slices on the diagonal. Add to the pan, tossing to coat. Cook for another 3 minutes or so until the fruit is lightly caramelised, stirring constantly.
• Pour in the Rum or Malibu, add the raisins and allow the alcohol to cook off. Remove form the heat. Spoon some of the fruit mixture on to each pancake and fold up. Arrange two filled pancakes on each serving plate. Dust with icing sugar and drizzle around a little of the cream. Serve at once.

By Michael Barry

Ingredients
2 eggs, separated*
10 sugared sponge biscuits
75g/3 oz icing sugar
300g/12 oz mascarpone cheese
125ml/5 fl oz double strength Fairtrade ground coffee
75g/3 oz Fairtrade chocolate
Aerosol can of whipped cream

Method

• Place the mascarpone cheese, two yolks and a little sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until well mixed.
• Whip egg whites until stiff, then add the rest of the sugar. Fold into the cream mixture.
• Pour some double strength filter coffee into a bowl, and dissolve a couple of teaspoons of icing sugar into it.
• Dunk five of the sponge fingers into the coffee, soaking thoroughly before placing them in a serving bowl or basin. Make sure they don't get too soggy.
• Grate half the chocolate over the mixture.
• Create the second layer by repeating steps 4 - 6.
• Finally, decorate with cream.

* If you are concerned about the use of raw eggs in this recipe, Michael Barry has suggested that as an alternative you could use 100 ml/4 fl oz of Greek yogurt. However, he added - with a hint of regret in his voice - that it wouldn't taste quite the same.