Rise and shine with a traditional Irish breakfast, from marmalade cake and banana muffins to waffles and wheaten farls

TUESDAY 6 JANUARY

Toast, soup, a bake, a biscuit… When the days are dark and cold, you want simple recipes with a nod to nostalgia and childhood comforts, but with flavours that feel right for now

■ Serves 6 ■ Prep 15 mins ■ Cook 40 mins 1kg Bramley apples, peeled½ lemon, juiced175g golden caster sugar¼ tsp ground cinnamoncustard or ice cream, to serveFOR THE CRUMBLE350g plain flour175g salted

One of the few benefits of the country’s transformation into a cashless society is that schoolchildren in receipt of free school meals are no longer made to standout from their peers. With senior scho

WHEN she was younger, food writer Maggie Ramsay loved helping her grandmother in the kitchen, mixing ingredients in a bowl and, of course, licking the spoon afterwards. Back then, everyone cooked from