Pasties in the graveyard and tomatoes in your salad

Please tell me, when ever indeed did the Cornish pasty become the fashionable snack of our railway station concourses? Or have I been under a rock for so long of late it isn't even funny anymore? Maybe one leg up is that the tiddy oggy has recently been awarded Protected Geographical Indication, something that not only specifies the recipe and method by which they can be made, this now gives them location specific status that the likes of Stilton and Parma ham can lay claim to - moving in the circles of special company indeed. Anyway, enjoying a properly made one, crimped down the side and eaten from end to end after visiting a long lost friend is extra special too, whatever your thoughts on the pasty, dining with the dead, or a combination of the two. 

That was lunch, loved loved it. At home, dinner was tomatoes from the Isle of Wight, and an English style feta from Belton farm in Cheshire, watercress from Hampshire and some chocolate mint from the garden. A couple of olives, a few slices of cornichons and a glug of olive oil all tumbled on top of home made granary bread. Delicious in silence.

Cornish pasties

Makes 6 pasties

12oz (350g) plain flour
3oz (90g) margarine
3oz (90g) Trex vegetable fat
12oz (350g) beef skirt
3-4 medium sized potatoes
2 onions
1 egg beaten
Salt and lots and lots of black pepper
A few knobs of butter

Fan oven 180°C/non fan ovens 200°C

First of all make your shortcrust pastry. Whizz the flour, margarine and Trex in a food processor until you have a breadcrumb consistency. Tip it into a bowl and as you cut with a knife, add enough drops of water to make a soft dough which leaves the edges of the bowl.

Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place it in the fridge for half an hour to rest. This prevents the pastry shrinking when you cook the pasties.

Cut the skirt into small pieces. Dice the onion and peel the potatoes. Divide the pastry into six. With a rolling pin, roll it our into six round pieces, less than a quarter of an inch thick. Chip the potato into very small pieces and divide between each pasty. Season.

Add an equal amount of beef to each one, and season again. Then you add a small amount of diced onion. Season.

And then add a small amount of potato on top of that and two small knobs of butter to give it a bit of juice. Final seasoning.

Pull edges of the pasty together, dust your hands with flour and crimp the edges together.

Brush with beaten egg and cook for 35 minutes. Ten minutes before the end, brush again with some more egg to make ensure the pastry is very crispy. Cool on a wire rack

Sausage rolls

So, last week we had all our pre Christmas parties on that mental last series of entertaining that just everyone tries to cram before people start disappearing off to the quiet comfort of their families. At work we probably knocked out the best part of 3,000 of these little chaps, but the recipe listed below will happily make 20-25 or so depending on how big you cut them. I have to admit being sick of the sight of them, but will no doubt turn just a few more around for the festive souls at home, just because the smell of a freshly baked sausage roll coming out of the oven is something quite effortlessly calming.

30g/1oz butter
100g/3½oz button mushrooms, finely chopped
1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Tabasco
1 pinch fresh thyme or sage leaves, chopped
450g/1lb pork sausage meat
2 eggs, beaten

salt and freshly ground black pepper
450g/1lb ready-rolled puff pastry

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.

Melt the butter in a large pan and gently saute the mushrooms until soft. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, thyme or sage and sausage meat and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined, adding all but a splash of the egg reserved for glazing the top of the finished rolls.

Cut the puff pastry into two long rectangles, assuming the sheet is a standard size of approx 18'' x 13''.

Place a layer of sausage meat mixture down the edge of each pastry rectangle, leaving a thumbs width to begind the fold over, then brush each with beaten egg on the larger edge.

Fold the smaller side of the pastry over onto the egg-washed edge and roll to seal. Press down to seal and trim any excess. Cut each pastry roll into 10 or so small sausage rolls.

Place the sausage rolls onto a baking tray and transfer to the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until crisp and golden and the sausage meat is completely cooked through.

Orange and white chocolate biscuits

Makes about 24 biscuits

Middle of the week, and a few baking sessions will be required to get through it. These little ones are moreish, and dead easy to make. You can prepare the mixture in advance: roll it into sausage shapes, wrap in greaseproof paper and store in the freezer. Just remove, slice into discs and bake until golden.

300g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

250g unsalted butter, softened

125g caster sugar

125g light brown soft sugar

1 large egg

Zest of 1 orange

250g white chocolate chips or white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, use an electric whisk to cream together the butter and both types of sugar until pale and fluffy.

Add the egg and beat until well combined. Stir in thoroughly the flour mix, orange zest and white chocolate.

Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on a baking sheet and spoon on equal quantities of the biscuit dough, leaving at least 3cm between each one. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven, leave for 2-3 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla shortbread

Makes 30 fingers

I know it's a day late for Burns Night, but yesterday was a wee bit busier than I expected it to be, so forget the haggis, I'm over it too, let's make some proper shortbread.  My Nana wouldn't exactly dissaprove of the vanilla addition here, but suffice to say the remainder of the recipe is all hers. Totally worth doing at any time of the year, and a hundred times better than anything out of a packet.

100g icing sugar
200g plain flour, preferably Italian OO
100g cornflour
200g very soft unsalted butter
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
vanilla or ordinary caster sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3. Put the icing sugar, plain flour and cornflour into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the double-bladed knife and give them a quick blitz (just to save you sieving, which is my most-hated job in the kitchen) before adding the butter along with the vanilla seeds you've scraped out of a pod.


Process again until the soft mixture coheres and begins to form a ball, loosely clumping around the blade. Turn this out on to a Swiss roll tin and press to form an even (or as even as you can make it) layer, using fingers or the back of a spoon, or both. Be patient, it will fit smoothly.

Using the tip of a sharp knife cut the pressed-out shortbread into fingers. I make two incisions lengthways - i.e. to form three layers - and then make 10 cuts down - so that you end up with 11 fingers per layer. Obviously, the aim should be to cut at regular intervals but don't start getting your ruler out. Just go by eye: uniformity is the province of the conveyor belt not of home cooking. Use the tines of a fork to make little holes in each marked-out biscuit: I press down about three times, diagonally, on each finger.


Now that you've pressed, incised, and punctured, slide the Swiss roll tin into the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, by which time the shortbread will be pale still, but not doughy. Expect a little goldenness around the edges, but shortbread should be not crisp but melting.


Remove the tin from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes or so, before removing, with a palette knife and your fingers, to a wire rack. Sprinkle with sugar and leave them to cool completely before storing in a tin.

Crème brûlée with raspberries

Serves 6

It seems for ever now that it's been impossible to avoid crème brûlée and fashion has fallen out of love with this simple little number. It adoms menus throughout the world and comes with every imaginable flavouring, some nice and some nasty. Don’t let this put you off, the fact is it makes a fine easy dessert, but raspberries are the only addition to the basic recipe that I'd really advocate.

400ml double cream
100ml milk
1 vanilla bean, split in half
4 medium egg yolks
3 tblsp caster sugar
1 punnet raspberries
Caster sugar for dusting

Heat the cream, milk and vanilla bean to boiling point in a saucepan. In a large jug or bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together, then whisk in the cream mixture.

Heat the oven to 180˚c/gas mark 3. Divide the raspberries between six ramekins, and then pour in the cream mixture. Place the ramekins in a roasting tray half-filled with hot water and bake for 45 minutes or until the custards have set.

Lift the ramekins onto a wire rack to cool. Just before serving, spread a thin layer of sugar across the top of each ramekin and caramelize with a kitchen blowtorch.

Christmas pudding

I know, it's barely the end of Summer and we're still making the most of what sunshine is left... but trust me, if you haven't already made this year's Christmas puddings, now is the time to do so. This delicious recipe has the seedy crunch of figs, a sparkle from hand cut peel and a slight tartness from the apricots and orange zest

350g sultanas

350g raisins, or currants

150g dried figs, chopped

125g candied peel, chopped

100g dried apricots, chopped

75g dark glacé cherries, halved

150ml brandy, plus some for flaming

2 apples or quince

2 oranges, juice and zest

6 eggs

250g shredded suet

350g soft muscovado sugar

250g fresh breadcrumbs

175g self raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

You will need two 1.5 litre plastic pudding basins and lids, buttered, two old sixpences or two old coins, scrupulously scrubbed, two circles of greaseproof paper, buttered, large enough to cover the top of each pudding, with a single pleat folded down the centre of each. Soak the sultanas, raisins or currants, figs, candied peel, apricots and cherries in the brandy overnight. The liquid won’t cover the fruit but no matter; just give it a good stir now and again.

Mix the grated apples, orange juice and zest, beaten eggs, suet, sugar, crumbs and pour in a very large mixing bowl, then stir in the soaked fruit and the spice. Divide the mixture between the buttered pudding basins, tucking the coins in as you go.

Cover with the greaseproof paper, folded with a pleat in the centre. Pop the lids on and steam for three and a half hours. Allow the puddings to cool, and then remove the greaseproof paper, cover tightly with cling film and the plastic lid and store in a cool, dry place till Christmas.

To reheat: steam the puddings for a further three and a half hours. Turn out and flame with brandy.

Caerphilly cheese scones

Makes about 10 to 12 scones

Scones are best eaten straight out of the oven, but you can prepare them in advance, particularly these cheese scones. Bake them a day ahead, then top with more grated cheese and reheat in a hot oven until the cheese melts and oozes down the sides of the scones. Utterly irresistible

225g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Generous pinch of sea salt

50g cold, unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

85g grated Caerphilly cheese (or sharp cheddar), plus extra for sprinkling

15g parmesan cheese, grated

7-8 tblsp cold milk, plus extra for brushing

1 tblsp finely chopped chives

Crème fraîche, to serve

Heat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper and salt into a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it in using the tips of your fingers, letting the flour drop from a height to aerate it. After all the flour has been incorporated, the mixture should look like fine breadcrumbs.

Stir in the Caerphilly and parmesan cheese, then make a well in the middle. Pour in the milk and stir quickly using a butter knife to reach a soft but not sticky dough. Add another tablespoon of cold milk if the dough is quite dry. To achieve a light and fluffy result, try not to over-mix the dough.

Tip the dough on to a lightly floured board and roll out to a 2.5cm thickness. Using a 5cm pastry cutter, stamp out as many rounds as you can, reshaping the trimmings until the dough is used up. Place the rounds on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with milk.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown. If you like, sprinkle the tops of the scones with a little more grated cheese and reheat in the oven for a minute or two to melt the cheese. Cool on a wire rack and serve while still warm with a little crème fraîche.

Caramelised hazelnut chocolate clusters

Makes 24

These petits fours are simply clumps of hazelnuts set in a buttery caramel and then coated in melted dark chocolate. If the notion takes you, milk or white chocolate can easily be substituted, and the nuts swapped for some dried fruit. Such a simple recipe for the kids to get involved in the kitchen.

200g caster sugar
2 tblsp water
50g butter
100g whole hazelnuts
200g dark chocolate (55–60 per cent cocoa solids)

Line a baking sheet with a silicone cooking liner or baking parchment. Melt the sugar with the water in a heavy-based saucepan over a very gentle heat. Once all the sugar grains have dissolved, stir in the melted butter. Increase the heat and boil to a mid-golden colour. Take off the heat.

Drop in a cluster of three nuts, scoop out at once with a metal spoon and place on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining nuts to make about 24 clusters. Cool until set and firm.
Melt the chocolate. Dunk each nut cluster into the chocolate to coat and place on baking parchment to set. Store in an airtight tin for up to three days.

Sparkling elderflower and grape jelly

Serves 6

This impactful dessert is simply a jelly set in layers to disperse the grapes from top to bottom for a dramatic professional looking finish. You can apply this method to set all types of fruit and berries in jelly, once you master the timing and consistency of gelatine it really is easy to produce.
4 sheets of leaf gelatine

150ml elderflower cordial

650ml chilled sparkling mineral water or sparkling white wine

150g small seedless red grapes

150g small seedless white grapes

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the elderflower cordial into a small saucepan with 3 tbsp of water. Heat to just below boiling point.

Squeeze the excess water from the softened gelatine, then add to the hot elderflower syrup. Stir until dissolved, then pour into a bowl or jug. Stir in a third of the mineral water or wine and leave to cool.

Divide a third of the red and white grapes between 6 glasses or jelly moulds, about 200ml in capacity. Stir the rest of the mineral water or wine into the elderflower mixture. Fill each glass or mould to about a third with the elderflower mixture, then chill.

Once the jelly has almost set, remove from the fridge. Divide another third of the grapes on top of the jelly layer and pour in more of the elderflower mixture as before. Chill once again.

Repeat with a final layer of grapes and the remaining elderflower mixture and chill to set completely. Serve the jellies in their glasses, or turn them out on to plates

Almond lemon tart

Serves 6

This simple, but intensely rich and lemony recipe uses an unsweetened shortcrust pastry, no need for any extra sugar in the crust. It needs something slightly sour and berry like to cut into it too, crushed raspberries, poached cherries or some pureed redcurrants for example.

225g shortcrust pastry
2 lemons, juiced and the zest finely grated
65g ground almonds
85g caster sugar
3½ tblsp double cream
4 egg yolks
100g butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6. Roll out the pastry and place in a 23cm tart dish. Prick the bottom with a fork, line with greasproof paper weighed down with baking beans and chill for 30 minutes.

Bake the tart base in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, then set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 130c/gas mark ½.

Beat together the remaining ingredients and, once the oven has cooled, pour the lemon mixture into the pastry case and bake for 45 minutes or until golden and just set. Serve while still warm with the berries and a scoop of clotted cream.

Fromage frais, yoghurt and plum purée ripple

Serves 4-6

You could go crazy with this combination of what is basically two levels of flavour. They could be layered up in a glass with a separation of some crumbled cookies for example rather than the blend and swirl way I've described below. It could also easily be semi frozen atop a cheesecake base. The jammy like fruit element needn't always be plums either, go seasonal if you can and take what's cheapest and at its best from the market. There's a bonus of plenty of protein and calcium for strong bones and teeth in here too.

4 ripe plums, about 500g
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2-3 tblsp caster sugar, to taste
1 star anise (optional)
300ml low fat natural yoghurt
300ml reduced fat fromage frais
2-3 tblsp icing sugar, or to taste

Halve the plums, remove the stones and roughly chop the flesh. Toss with the cinnamon and 2 tbsp caster sugar. Place a wide frying pan over a high heat, tip in the plums and add the star anise if using.

Sauté for 4-6 min until the plums are soft, moistening with a splash of water if necessary. Taste for sweetness, adding more sugar if the plums are too tart. Discard the star anise.

Transfer the cooked plums to a blender or food processor and whiz until smooth. For a really smooth purée, pass through a fine sieve to remove any pulpy bits. Leave to cool completely.

Spoon the yoghurt and fromage frais into a large bowl and add the icing sugar. Beat lightly to mix, then ripple through all but 2 tbsp of the plum purée. Spoon into individual glasses or plastic tumblers and swirl the remaining plum purée on top. Serve at once

Apricot jam

Makes about 1.5kg

If jam making was to be any more of a perfect act of culinary genius, soft fruits would be grown in the winter time so you could make your preserves with the season's over production while it was cold and raining outside. Sadly not, it is a Summer treat, and we've been the better for it now for many a generation. This particular jam would be just the ticket spooned onto the slightly bitter ice cream I posted yesterday, although a raspberry number with a hint of lime would work just as well. Spread over thick hot toast or stirred into yogurt, this also makes a mighty delicious breakfast.

1kg apricots

Juice of a lemon

1 vanilla pod, split

400ml water

800g preserving sugar

30g of butter

Put a saucer in the fridge to chill. Wash, dry and halve the apricots. Put them in a preserving pan along with the lemon juice, vanilla pod and water, and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until soft (you want them quite soft, because they won't soften further once you add the sugar) and the contents of the pan well reduced.

Take the pan off the heat and add the sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add the butter and boil rapidly for about 15 minutes, without stirring, until the setting point is reached - that's when a dollop of the jam placed on the chilled saucer wrinkles when you push it with your finger.

Skim off any scum with a slotted spoon, then pour into sterilised jars and seal.

Bitter orange ice cream

Serves 6

It's a tad warm outside, Wimbledon is on the telly, it's the weekend, and we all love a bit of ice cream don't we? This has to be the easiest (buying a fist of cornettos for all aside) of all ice creams ever, really all you do to make this is zest and juice some fruit, add icing sugar and cream, whisk to a firm consistency and freeze. It requires no stirring or churning and it tastes easily as good as anything you could buy. So if you’ve got friends coming over for dinner, or there's a rain delay in the tennis, you can knock this up in no time without giving yourself anything approaching a hard time.

3 Seville oranges or 1 eating orange and 2 limes

175g icing sugar

large pot (584ml) double cream

wafers, to serve (optional)

If using Seville oranges, grate the zest of 2 of them. Squeeze the juice of all 3 and pour into a bowl with the zest and sugar. If you’re going for the sweet orange and lime option, grate the zest of the orange and one of the limes, juice them and add to the sugar as before. Stir to dissolve the sugar and add the double cream.

Whip everything until it holds soft peaks - a hand held electric whisk does the job here perfectly - and then turn into a shallow air-tight container (of approximately 2 litres) with a lid. Cover and freeze until firm (from 3 to 5 hours).

Remove to soften for 15-20 minutes (or 30-40 in the fridge) before eating.

Serve in a bowl, in cones, with some fruit - really anything you have to hand here.

Berry lime mousse

Serves 8 to 10

This is a great way to use up those half punnets of berries in the fridge, and any cherries rattling round in the bottom of the fruit bowl would make a welcome addition too. If you want to lighten the mousse further, you can fold in whisked egg whites at the end, but this really isn't crucial to the success of this recipe.

250g strawberries, hulled
250g raspberries
250g cherries, halved and stoned
100g redcurrants, stripped from their stems
145g golden caster sugar
500ml whipping cream
500ml Greek yoghurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 limes
2 egg whites (optional)
Shortbread biscuits, to serve

Quarter or halve the strawberries, depending on size, then place them in a large mixing bowl with the raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. Sprinkle over 3 tablespoons of the caster sugar and toss through gently. Set aside to allow the fruits to soften and release their juices for about 15 minutes at room temperature.

Meanwhile, prepare the mousse mixture. Pour the whipping cream into a large mixing bowl and whisk to soft peaks with an electric whisk. In a separate bowl, soften the yoghurt if stiff with a wooden spoon, then beat in the rest of the sugar with the vanilla extract. Carefully fold in the whipped cream, followed by the grated zest of 2 limes and the juice of half a lime. If using egg whites, whisk to medium peaks and fold into the mousse mixture.

Pour about one third of the berries and cherries and their juices into a large trifle dish. Spoon the mousse mixture on top, then finish with a layer of the remaining fruit. (Alternatively, divide the fruit and mousse between individual glasses.) Chill until ready to serve. Finish with a grating of lime zest, then spoon into bowls and serve with shortbread fingers on the side

Carrot and pineapple muffins

Makes 12 large muffins

The best carrot cakes if ever made and tasted have an undercurrent of pineapple in there. This adaptation of the cake is a great way to get more fruit and fibre into your children’s diet, particularly if you add wholemeal flour into the muffin mix as I have here. Most kids tend to love sultanas and walnuts, but you can omit the latter if your child has a nut allergy. These also make a fantastic teatime treat, glazed with a mascarpone or cream-cheese frosting that has been sweetened with a few tablespoons of icing sugar

150g carrots

100g plain flour

100g wholemeal flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

100ml vegetable oil

50g salted butter, melted

150g light muscovado sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

225g can of pineapple in natural juice, drained and finely chopped

50g golden sultanas (optional)

50g walnut pieces (optional)

2 tblsp demerara sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with papercases.

Peel and coarsely grate the carrots, then pat dry with kitchen paper.
Mix together the plain and wholemeal flours, the baking powder and the ground spices in a bowl. In another large bowl, beat together the oil, melted butter, sugar and eggs.

Add the grated carrots to the wet mixture, then stir in the pineapple,sultanas and walnuts. Gradually fold in the flour mixture until justcombined. To keep the muffins light and fluffy, do not overwork the batter.

Spoon the batter into the lined muffin tray and sprinkle with demerara sugar, if using. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer inserted into themiddle of the muffins comes out clean. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

Lemon macaroons

Macaroons - when made well, they are as addictive as MSG... made averagely, they're more often than not still a sweet treat worth paying out for. Be warned that making macaroons is not easy and will take practice to achieve perfection – particularly the piping bit, which might make you cranky and quite depressed. There’s also a bit of advance preparation, so it’s not really an option for a last minute whip up on a whim type treat. All that said - should you have the time, notion and desire - they are quite possibly one of the most rewarding reasons to have a cup of tea... the photograph was one devoured in Hong Kong a few days ago, and was a terrific example of macaroon making at it's best...

For the macaroon shells

225g icing sugar

125g ground almonds

125g egg whites (from about 4 medium eggs, but do weigh it out)

A few drops of lemon juice

25g caster sugar

20-30 drops of yellow food colouring

For the filling

Good-quality lemon curd

Mascarpone

In two batches, put the icing sugar and almonds in a food processor and blitz until you have a fine powder. Stop halfway through and loosen any bits that have clumped in the bottom of the processor bowl.

Sieve the powder into a large mixing bowl – again, do it in batches. Try to sieve all but a teaspoonful of chunky almond bits, which you can throw away.

Put the egg whites into a clean metal mixing bowl and whisk until they start to hold its shape. Add a few drops of lemon juice, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar in two lots until the whites form stiff peaks. Finally, whisk in the yellow colouring until well combined.

Mix one-third of the whites into the dry ingredients. Then tip the rest of the whites on top and, using a metal spoon, gently fold them in, using a figure-of-eight motion. It will be stiff at first, but it will gradually loosen. You want it to be smooth and glossy, but not too liquid. The texture is very important and tricky to judge: when you fold the mixture, it should form a ribbon on the surface. Too runny, and you’ll end up with flat crisps; too stiff, and it’s meringue.

Take your piping bag, fitted with an 8mm plain nozzle. Stand it upright in a jug, then turn down the wide opening of the bag. Fill the bag with the macaroon mix, then turn up the sides and twist to seal the mixture inside. The idea is to get rid of any air so that when you squeeze the bag, a solid stream of mixture comes out of the nozzle.

Hold the bag in your right hand and the nozzle in your left (or the other way round if you’re left-handed). Hold the bag in front of you, tilted slightly and with the nozzle just above the surface of the first parchment-lined baking tray. Pipe a round, 2cm-diameter blob of mixture (by squeezing the closed end of the bag). Lift the nozzle sharply to finish the blob. Carry on piping more blobs, leaving about 2cm around each one to allow for spreading (they should spread to about 3cm). Continue until all the mixture has been piped – you should have about 50-60 blobs in all.

If any of the macaroons have nipples, smooth them gently with a wet finger. Leave them to stand for 45 minutes. This helps them to form a smooth shell when baked. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 140c/gas mark 1)

Bake the macaroons in the middle of the oven, one tray at a time. After 5 or 6 minutes, they should have started to rise, forming a lacy collar around the bottom. Cook for a total of 12-15 minutes – don’t let them burn. The exact timing will depend on their size and your oven; try a small test batch first – leaving the uncooked macaroons on their trays won’t hurt them.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on their trays. You should then be able to remove them gently without leaving the insides behind. If not, carefully ease off with a knife.

Beat together the lemon curd and mascarpone to give a lemon cream. Pair macaroon shells of similar size and sandwich together with 1-2 tsp of the cream. Eat immediately, or keep in the fridge for a day – they’ll be even better

Aniseed bread

Mid week baking, if you can be bothered that is, can make all the difference to both mind and body - a real cleanser. This recipe makes wonderful moist and sweet bread with the rich warming overtones of aniseed, and really is as simplistic a 2 part bread recipe as you'll find.

Sponge

500g flour

1g salt

10g butter (room temp)

10g soft brown sugar

3g ground aniseed

10g raisins

Ferment

500g flour

75g water

3g yeast

Syrup
100g sugar
50g water

Set the "ferment" by mixing warm (40ºC) water, yeast and flour in a basin. Leave to stand for 15mins.

Put sugar, salt, butter and aniseed into a bowl, add warm water and bring together slightly then add the "ferment".

Mix a little more and finally add sponge and continue to mix to a fully developed dough (it will be slacker than bread dough but will tighten as it ferments). Add raisins tearing into dough. Put to one side in a warm draft free place to double up in bulk for 1 hour.

Divide into 300g doughs, push out the gas by knocking it up a bit and leave to stand for a 15 minute intermediate prove. Final mould then put in a warm moist atmosphere for 35-40 mins.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200ºC for 25mins. Boil syrup for 10 mins and then brush over bread as soon as it comes out of the oven

Apricot meringue tart

Makes 1 gorgeous tart

I've often been in the mood for sun warmed stone fruit like the apricot but rarely in the right place nor season to enjoy at it's absolute best. In the spring, when the landscape promises so much but offers no berries or buds, preserves are the traditional way to brighten what we eat. Here, crisp pastry holds a layer of conserve under a puddle of semolina covered with meringue. Clearly making jams and chutneys at the time of year when the key ingredient is at it's best isn't a new concept, but with apricots there are few better examples of capturing the spirit of how the fruit should taste at the peak of their season.

100g plain flour
¼ tsp baking powder
175g caster sugar
50g unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
225ml milk
50g semolina or ground rice
125ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond essence, if you like it
About 150g good apricot conserve

Sift the flour, baking powder and a scant tablespoon of sugar into a bowl, and then rub the butter through evenly. Beat one egg yolk (save the white) with a couple of teaspoons of water, add to the bowl and work to a dough with a dash more water if needed.

Wrap and chill for 30 minutes, roll out thinly, and then line an 18cm deep tart case. Press baking parchment against the sides and bottom, weigh down with baking beans, and bake for 30 minutes at 160C/325F/gas mark 3. Remove the paper and bake until golden.

Tip the milk, 50g sugar, the semolina and cream into a pan, and whisk over heat until boiling. Separate two eggs; beat in the yolks, vanilla and almond essence, and cook, stirring, until thick.

Spoon the semolina over the pastry base and spread with conserve. Beat the egg whites and 100g sugar to a stiff meringue, pile it high and bake at 200c/gas mark 6 for around seven to ten minutes until coloured.

Double chocolate chip cookies

Makes 12

50g unsalted butter

450g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

2 eggs

170g soft light brown sugar or light muscovado sugar

¼ tsp vanilla extract

85g plain flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

2 baking trays, lined with greaseproof paper

Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas 3. Put the butter and half the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the base of the bowl touch the water). Leave until melted and smooth.

Put the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat until well mixed. Pour in the chocolate mixture, beating on slow speed until well combined.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a separate bowl, then stir into the chocolate mixture in 3 additions, mixing well after each addition (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Finally, stir in the remaining chocolate until evenly dispersed.

Arrange 6 equal amounts of cookie dough on each prepared baking tray. Make sure that the cookies are spaced apart to allow for spreading while baking. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, checking regularly after 10 minutes. They are ready when the tops start to crack and look glossy. Leave the cookies to cool slightly on the trays before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Passion fruit cheesecake

Serves 8

There is a little comprimise here in that this uncooked version of cheesecake might have the tradionalists muttering, but the ultimate in creamy cheesecakes has to be this 'refrigerator' rather than 'oven' version. Despite sounding like something from the back of a packet this is actually a gorgeous, deep and infinitely sexy recipe. Though the appearance of passion fruit is unusual, it is necessary, so that the sharp fruit prevents the cake from cloying.

For the crumb base

120g butter

400g ginger biscuits

For the filling

250g mascarpone

75g icing sugar

a vanilla pod
400ml crème fraîche

300ml double cream

4 ripe, wrinkled passion fruits

8 sprigs white currants

Melt the butter in a small pan. Crush the biscuits to fine crumbs and stir them into the melted butter. Tip them into a 22cm, loose-bottomed cake tin and smooth them flat. Refrigerate for an hour or so until firm. You can speed the process by putting them in the freezer if you wish.

Put the mascarpone and icing sugar in the bowl of a food mixer and beat smooth. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pod with the point of a knife and stir them into the mascarpone with crème fraîche.

Whip the cream until it will stand in soft folds, and then stir it gently into the mascarpone mixture.

Scrape the mixture into the cake tin and cover with kitchen film. Leave to chill for a good hour. To serve, remove the cake from the tin, cut the passion fruits in half and squeeze the seeds and juice over the cheesecake. Add a few sprigs of white currants, if you wish.