{NEW} SPOON CEREALS RECIPE IN TOWN

 I’m very excited to introduce a new product to our breakfast cereal range. The GRANOLA/MUESLI: MIX



This Granola and Muesli mixing technique is something I do religiously each day, except maybe on the weekends when I’ll bring out full brunch works, including my favourite avo + poached egg on toast.



We decided to include this cereal base recipe into our pop-up bar menu at Old Street station and also into our most recent pop up in Canary Wharf. Happily many people warmed to this idea of the ‘best of both’ in the morning, which we topped up with fresh natural yoghurt, our homemade blueberry compote and a sprinkling of crushed amaretti + flaked almonds.



With the thumbs up from our customers, we gave this recipe a well-deserved place on our website and it is also now sitting proudly on the shelves at Harvey Nichols (nationwide) and also at some of our local delis in London.

Shop the for Granola / Muesli Mix:

Harvey Nichols (nationwide)

The Black Truffle (Belsize Park NW3)

Two Peas in a Pod (Barnes SW13)

Bayley and Sage (Fulham SW6)

MOCHA GRANOLA

Over the last 8 months on our journey with Spoon Cereals, we have learnt many things about our customers and their breakfast eating habits. With the limited time we have in the mornings, everyone seems to have a set breakfast routine throughout the working week.

My routine these days is a healthy one, starting off with a green smoothie and a bowl of Spoon granola + muesli mix. I then treat myself to a top quality coffee to start the day alert and ready.

This Mocha granola recipe combines my love of coffee and top quality breakfast cereal and is the perfect twist on a classic chocolate granola. It uses espresso powder to create a lovely strong taste as well as a whole bunch of other natural ingredients that we use in our current recipes, including rapeseed oil for a crisp texture and no added refined sugar, just our favourite maple syrup. 

Recipe:

Dry ingredients:

90g  rolled jumbo oats

135g blanched almonds (roughly chopped)

20g cocoa

1 ½ tbsp. espresso powder

55g coconut flakes

Wet ingredients:

140g maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

30g rapeseed oil 

Mix all the dry ingredients together, followed by the wet ingredients in a separate bowl with a whisk until it forms a dark brown colour.

Pour the wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until all the dry ingredients are evenly covered.

Spread this onto a baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 mins, turning half way.

Leave to cool after 30 minutes.

Enjoy with some fresh natural yoghurt or simply as a trail mix. 

Annie x 

OLD STREET STATION POP UP

If you live in London, commute to work by tube and have taken a break from your newspaper or electrical device of late, you may have noticed that something’s happening to the retail offering on the underground.

TFL have been working to transform several stations into an inspired environment for Londoners choosing this form of transport. And Appear Here, now partners with TFL, are responsible for the new and improved commercial offerings at Old Street Station. The famous Silicon roundabout is now popping up with all kinds of fresh and young food, fashion and tech businesses in the form of industrial looking market stalls and newly developed units.

We were lucky enough to Pop Up for two weeks as part of the launch of the new Old Street development. Our location was a bespoke market stall made from, essentially, scaffolding – perfect for catching the creative East London crowd on their way to and from work during the week. Our fellow Pop Ups included new companies:

Press London: Cold pressed juice – a new health craze brought over from California by the enthusiastic pair Ed and Georgie who fed us with some of the most invigorating juices we’ve ever tried. Look out for their new shop in Soho coming soon

Mallow and Marsh: 100% all natural marshmallows – like you’ve never tried before

Fully Charged: An electric bike company, which Jonny (a bit of a bike keeno) clocked on day one.

Driftrock: An edgy digital marketing company

Bailey Nelson: A very fashionable opticians

Makers Academy: Educating the nation to code

The highs?

Annie: “meeting other cereal enthusiasts, and converting a few non-cereal eaters!” 

Jonny: “meeting Jamie Oliver’s Mentor, Gennaro Contaldo”


The lows?

The Tube strike threw a bit of the spanner in the works, which put Spoon trading on hold for a couple of days!

With the strike behind us, this was a great bit of exposure for Spoon and we were delighted that people decided to mix up their morning routine to try some of our cereal.

We look forward to seeing what more TFL has to offer – cross fingers for a more permanent location for Spoon very soon! 

Annie x





Photographs taken by Marc Sethi

BREAKFAST BRAIN FOOD

When I struggle to get out of bed in the morning it is often difficult to think of the more alert, sharper version of myself that inhabits my body later in the day. As someone who is not always the most eager to get out of bed I like to know that, aside from the morning shower and the (often very much needed) caffeine-fix to boost my energy levels and alertness in the short-term, there is a breakfast that can help sustain me through the morning and keep my synapses crackling until lunch. I used to cycle to work every day and so would have used up a good few calories just by the time I got to the office and fired up the computer. This led to the inevitable sugar-cravings in the mid-morning

As we have developed the recipes for our cereals, granolas and toppings here at Spoon, we have done so with nutrition and health and energy-levels in mind. We always come back to what tastes the best but if it is a choice of two ingredients that both taste equally good, then we will go with the one that adds the most in terms of kick-starting your morning in the best possible way. Research has shown (in a study published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition) that the best way to boost your alertness between breakfast and lunch is to eat a meal at the beginning of the day that is high in both fibre and carbohydrate. The high-fibre and high-carb meal was associated with the highest level of alertness when compared to a low-fibre carbohydrate-rich breakfast and two high-fat breakfasts.

With this in mind, our mueslis and granolas, as well as the toppings that you can put on them, have been designed to give you a healthy morning dose of fibre and complex carbs from high-quality, great-tasting and low-GI sources. Don’t just take our word for it, have a look at some of the foods that the BBC Good Food recommends to ‘get your brain in gear’: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/10-foods-boost-your-brainpower

We love the taste of wholegrains, nuts, pumpkin seeds and blueberries and love incorporating them into our recipes - it appears that our brains are quite happy to have them included too. So as well as giving you the energy you need to stay alert our cereals can help support healthy brain activity. Which, when it comes to the mornings, is very welcome help indeed!

Jonny

THE ONLINE SPOON SHOP IS NOW OPEN

There are three main questions that we’re frequently asked at the food markets and pop up events we’ve been at since Spoon was founded.

 Q1. Does your granola contain sugar? 

A: We use the natural sweetener maple syrup, which not only tastes rich and gorgeous but also has a lower glycemic load than sugar, agave syrup, treacle and honey. This means that it raises your blood sugar levels less compared to other refined sugars you’ll find in most cereal products on the supermarket shelves.

Q2. Are your cereals and granolas gluten free?

A: All of our products so far are made from grains that either contain glutens or are not gluten-free varieties (eg the jumbo oats we use for our granolas). The reason for this is that we are focussed on making the best tasting product possible and so far we have not found a great tasting gluten-free solution - but we are not letting that stop us. We will be spending a lot more time experimenting and doing taste-tests to create a gluten free granola that doesn’t make you feel like you’re eating cardboard. Watch this space.

Q3. Where can we buy more from you in the future?

A:  We’re very excited to be able to tell you that we’re now selling selected pre-mixed packs of our granola and muesli bases online! 

How we got there

Starting up a business means pulling as many favours as you can squeeze out of people as possible. Luckily we know some pretty talented (and generous) people who have gone out  of their way to help us. Our website has gone from strength to strength with the help of three people, who we’d like to thank.

Firstly, my friend Harry Trussel, who took our brand design and concept and gave us the leg up we needed in developing our inaugural website. It was done within a matter of days with no fuss whatsoever and went down a storm.

Help in getting our online shop off the ground is thanks to web developer Steve Jones. He taught us that it wouldn’t be as simple as shoving a few pretty product photos on your website. What we (very naively) thought would be a two week job has taken a good two months. There was plenty of things to get done to get the upgraded site online, such as sending our cereal off to the labs for nutrition testing, sorting out the payment gateway and tweaking the whole website design and navigation. This was on top of attending pop-up events and dealing with other general Spoon admin.  Steve’s efficiency, knowledge and also patience with a pair of amateur techies has been amazing.

Finally, food photographer/foodie/bacon lover Hugh Johnson, and his assistant and chef Dave Gatenby have been responsible for all the product images on our site. They are both a pleasure to work with.

After lots of hard work from all involved, if you’d like to try a pack (excuse the plug) you can visit our shop by clicking here. And we’ll make sure there’s one in the post to you ASAP.

We’d love your feedback too: spoon@spooncereals.co.uk

Annie x 

NO SMALL TALK BEFORE BREAKFAST : ORANGE, ROSEWATER + PISTACHIO PORRIDGE

Inspiration for this porridge recipe came from the fact that Masterchef is back on our TV screens. Seeing Greg’s eyes light up at any sight of something buttery and biscuity always makes me smile.

It was the rosewater, pistachio + honey polenta cake, made by a contestant in the first episode that got both Greg and myself excited. So I decided to have a try at incorporating it into a refreshing idea for porridge. 

The result? A lovely Autumn – Spring transition recipe. It’s floral flavours lift the porridge to make it feel light and luxurious. I’m not sure how Greg feels about breakfast time but I’m pretty sure the word ‘health’ doesn’t resonate with him very often! Think I’ll try and make the cake next time.

Nutrition : By topping up your diet with lots of pistachio nuts, the oil present will work to prevent the cold winter months from drying out your skin, so you’re ready for the Spring!

Annie x 

FOOD MARKETS

 

Since Spoon started back in September last year, we’ve been popping up at a few food markets in London (See below) 

We realised that finding our perfect fixed location was going to be a lengthy and difficult process, but with our cereal recipes tried and tested at home, we were keen for our cereal to take to the streets.

Luckily, with the food market scene taking London by storm, we found ourselves trading amongst a bunch of other small and independent food businesses who like us love doing something they enjoy and feel passionate about. 

So far, trading cereal from our gazebo has been a great experience. We’ve enjoyed chatting to visitors to our stall, who have listened to us ranting on about cereal. In turn we have taken on board all  their feedback.

We’ve also met some fantastic people within the community - some new to the scene like us, others trading veterans, who have always made us feel welcome.  I’d like to mention a few at this point @chazwinkles (seasonal british chutneys) @SimHChoc (handmade macaroons) @theavocadocafe (delish avocado dips @timmy’s_pies (comfort food at its best) and @arganic_uk (distinctive tasting & super healthy cooking oil) 

You forget about the bitter cold temperatures and the not-so -fun times (as when I managed to drop an entire crate of granola onto the floor whilst loading it into our car) when you have the opportunity to engage with such great people and gorge on so much delicious food!

Barnes Food Fair

Taking place every summer in Barnes, South West London, this market is a yummy mummy haven!

Partridges food market

A family run business and owners of the famous Partridges store on the Kings Road, this is the “up market” market.

One New Change

Run by the same family who bring you Partridges, visit this great little market to support the startisans.

Duckponds markets

Caron loves all things ethical, locally sourced, new and interesting and has done an amazing job at organising these weekly markets in Richmond and Ruislip. 

Annie x