Breakfast Club - Kilner Crunch

This breakfast was inspired by the two course breakfast served at Storrs Hall in the Lake District.  Each morning you picked a 'starter' and a 'main course'.  My choices were the same each morning, Kilner Crunch followed by Eggs Benedict with Cartmel Valley Smoked Salmon in place of the ham, I know it as Eggs West Coast because that is how this dish appears on the menu at my fave brunch spot, not sure if that is how everyone else knows it or not! 

Anyhoo, the Kilner Crunch struck me as being very simple but quite effective so I thought I'd give it a go ... minus some of the pomp and ceremony!  At Storrs Hall they serve it in a kilner jar (hence the name!) and it comes out on a slate placemat, the waiter opens the jar one handed ~ this part impresses me greatly as sometimes I struggle to open a kilner jar with both my hands!  It is basically a layer of fruit compote with slices of fresh fruit mixed in, a layer of yogurt and then a sprinkling of granola / muesli (that'd be the crunch part!) over the top.

I was going to make my own yogurt as well as muesli to go with this but I couldn't get some of the ingredients at my local shop ... and then I decided that it would probably be better to just go for one of the ready made ones that would be lower in fat than a homemade number.  The fruit compote and the muesli are both home made though ;0)

For the fruit compote I used a selection of summer fruits which I simmered in a pan with about 2 tsp of vanilla sugar until they were nice and juicy, then I popped the compote in a bowl and sat it in the fridge over night.  For the muesli I followed one of my favourite Donna Hay recipes.  Donna's recipe uses dried peaches but I've never been able to find them over here so I usually just sub whatever I feel like at the time, yesterday I had some dried mango to hand so I used that.

Peach and Coconut Granola
3 cups oats
1 cup flaked almonds
1/2 cup honey (I use half honey, half golden syrup)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups shredded coconut (also hard to find, I replace this with dessicated coconut instead)
2 cups chopped dried peaches (or whatever you fancy)

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Place the oats and almonds in a large bowl and set aside.  Place the honey (golden syrup), oil and vanilla in a small saucepan over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 mins or until the honey is melted.  pour over the oat mixture and stir well to combine.  Spoon the mixture onto a baking tray lined with non stick baking paper and cook for 10-15 mins or until golden.  Stir through the coconut and peaches and allow to cool.

Makes 8 cups
Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 31