AFTER a tough day at the coal face – or, as is the case for many of us, in front of a computer – it’s often hard to rustle up any enthusiasm for cooking.

While you can get away with grazing on salads, barbecued sausages and the odd sneaky takeaway during the summer holidays, it’s hard to sustain this kind of eating when proper sustenance is called for. An army – even of sedentary workers and school kids – marches on its stomach, after all.

The Good Housekeeping’s Easy To Make series (Collins & Brown, £5.99) – roasts, puddings, pies and Christmas – each contain more than 100 triple-tested recipes that really work with essential cooking techniques.

The puddings and desserts book is particularly good and proves you can do more than opening a tub of ice-cream.

It’s packed with drool-inducing recipes for treats such as white chocolate mousse, sticky toffee pies and panettone.

This pear and blackberry crumble is a real winner

Serves six.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes.

Cooking Time: 35-45 minutes.

Each serving: 525 calories, 21g fat (of which 9g saturates), 81g carbohydrate, 0.3g salt.

450g (1lb) pears, peeled, cored and chopped, tossed with the juice of 1 lemon

225g (8oz) golden caster sugar

1 tsp mixed spice

450g (1lb) blackberries

100g (3½ oz) butter, chopped, plus extra to grease

225g (8oz) plain flour

75g (3oz) ground almonds

Cream, custard or ice cream to serve

Method

Put the pears and lemon juice in a bowl, add 100g (3 1/2oz) of the sugar and the mixed spice, then add the blackberries and toss thoroughly to coat.

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan oven)/gas mark 6. Lightly butter a 1.8 litre (3¼ pint) shallow dish, then carefully tip the fruit into the dish in an even layer.

Put the butter, flour, ground almonds and the remaining sugar in a food processor and pulse until the mixture begins to resemble breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl and bring parts of it together with your hands to make lumps. Spoon the crumble topping evenly over the fruit, then bake for 35-45 minutes until the fruit is tender and the crumble is golden and bubbling. Serve with cream, custard or ice cream.