Lemon posset pots with ginger crunch

Easy to make ahead, and refreshing with orange and mint

Serves 8
600ml double cream
150g caster sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
150g stem ginger biscuits
1 orange
1 small bunch fresh mint

1 Place the cream, sugar and lemon juice into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, simmer for 4 mins, stirring constantly to avoid it catching on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2 Once cooled, tip the mixture into a jug and pour into small vintage glasses (you could also use pretty china tea cups, ramekins or wine glasses). Chill for at least 4 hours in the fridge to firm up.

3 Roughly crush the stem ginger biscuits using a pestle or heavy-duty rolling pin and scatter on
top of the possets.

4 Finely slice the skin of the orange so you get a flat piece of orange peel. Cut it into thin strips with a sharp knife and arrange the strips of zest on top of the biscuits. Top each glass with a couple of small, fresh mint leaves and serve.

Turn to page 22 of the April issue for more from our salon Gathering, including Beetroot & horseradish dip, Mixed olives with lemon zest, Asparagus spears with parma ham & toasted almonds, Spring lemon & cardamom chicken, Rainbow roasted carrots with cumin and Jewelled couscous with watercress, peppers & pomegranate.

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here.

More from the April issue:

More pudding recipes:

Recipe: Rhubarb and rosewater tart with cardamom and honey cream

A delicious frangipane that balances sweet and sharp flavours, this rhubarb and rosewater tart is the triumphant finale to our supper club menu on page 24 of April’s The Simple Things. 

Rhubarb and rosewater tart with cardamom and honey cream

Serves 10
For the pastry
225g plain flour
100g chilled, salted butter, cubed
50g caster sugar
1 large egg
1⁄4 tsp rosewater
2 tbsp chilled water

For the filling
175g butter
175g caster sugar
4 large eggs
175g ground almonds
1 tsp almond extract
1⁄4 tsp rosewater
110g rhubarb cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tbsp slivered almonds

1 To make the pastry, put the flour and butter into a food processor and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and whizz again, then add the egg, rosewater and water and pulse until the mixture starts to come together a little. Tip it into a large bowl and bring together with your hands, kneading briefly until it is a soft ball. Slightly flatten it with one hand, wrap in cling film, and chill for 30 minutes.
2 Roll the pastry out on a floured surface and use it to carefully line a 28cm loose-bottomed flan tin, pushing it gently into all of the corners but leaving the extra hanging over the edge. Prick the base all over using a fork and then chill again for ten minutes.
3 Preheat oven to 190C/Fan 170/375F and place a flat baking tray on the oven’s middle shelf. Take a large piece of kitchen foil, scrunch it up to soften it, then spread it out and use it to cover the pastry. Tip in baking beads to cover the surface well (use rice if you don’t have beads), then place this carefully onto the heated tray and cook for 15 minutes. Remove foil and beads and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully trim off the excess pastry, using a serrated knife drawn in small movements horizontally across the edges.
4 Make the filling by blending the butter and sugar in a food processor or with a handheld electric whisk (or even a wooden spoon and elbow grease) until fluffy. Add the eggs, ground almonds, almond extract and rosewater and blend again. Tip into the pastry base and scatter over the rhubarb pieces and the almonds. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the filling is set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

This fragrant rhubarb and rosewater tart combines with a punchy cream and sweet syrup to make a memorable finale

Rhubarb syrup
250g rhubarb
300ml water
sugar

1 Chop the rhubarb into 2-inch pieces and put it into a small saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes or until the colour has leached out of the rhubarb, staining the water pink.
2 Strain the liquid into a measuring jug and discard the fruit pieces. Note the level of the liquid and then pour it back into the (washed) saucepan, and wash and dry the measuring jug before measuring out double the volume of sugar.
3 Tip this into the rhubarb liquid and heat slowly, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Then simmer gently for about 10 minutes until the syrup starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Honey and cardamom cream
6 cardamom pods
300ml crème fraîche
1 tbsp runny honey

With a pestle and mortar, lightly bash at the cardamom pods to release the seeds, fish out the seed cases, and grind the seeds to a fine powder. Put the crème fraîche, honey and cardamom into a bowl and mix well.

Come to The Simple Things Supper Club!

Want to see how it’s done, or just enjoy an evening out with other readers and The Simple Things team? We are co-hosting events in Dorset, Brighton, London and Manchester in May #supperclubsaturday, thanks to support from Neptune. Book now.
British brand, Neptune, is renowned for its hand-crafted furniture, gorgeous textiles and home accessories. They curate the finest designs for every room of the home, indoors and out. 

Want to run your own supper club?

Download our free supper club stationery. There are three designs to choose from, including menus, invitations, place cards and a donations envelope.

Read more:

From the April issue

Rhubarb recipes

Gathering menus

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

Recipe: Autumn mess

When the evenings draw in and there’s a chill in the air, it’s the ideal time to plan a low-maintenance meal that can be dipped in and out of, while you dust off a pack of cards and cosy up for an evening of relaxed chat, drink and play. With a little forethought – make the dough and tomato sauce ahead, prep some fresh, seasonal ingredients for toppings and salads and assemble a no-cook dessert in pretty glasses – you’re left to enjoy a stylish pizza party. 

Turn to page 46 of October's The Simple Things for a simple pizza, salad and pudding menu, and try one of our seven card games ideas, too.

Autumn mess

Think classic Eton pud but with seasonal fruits

Makes 6
6 meringues
1 jar (300g) organic plums in syrup, plums halved, stones removed
250g fresh vanilla custard
salted pistachios, shelled and roughly chopped 

1 Break the meringues into bitesize chunks and place half into 6 glasses. 
2 Add 1–2 plum halves on top of the meringue in each glass, and spoon over 1 tbsp plum syrup. 
3 Top with 2–3 tbsp custard. 4 Add more meringues, plums, syrup and custard to nearly fill the glasses. 

Read more:

From the October issue

Make: Build an outdoor oven

More Gathering recipes

October's The Simple Things is on sale - buy, download or subscribe now.

May's book club

We've got some absolute corkers in this month's book club, from chilling fairytales to chasing the red-eyed damselfly we've got a good read for all interests.

Cook with Love - Pete Evans

   "Cook with love and laughter" is Aussie chef and outdoors enthusiast Pete Evans' mantra, and he applies it liberally to his new book. There are 150 recipes to choose from, with chapters on breakfast, lunch, seafood, vegetables, canapes, desserts, dinner parties and 'family feasts'. Highlights include the crispy prawn and tapioca betel leaf recipe for posh parties, and yoghurt panna cotta with blueberries as an easy pud, while French toast with figs makes a naturally sweet start to the day.

Patisserie at Home - Will Torrent

  Torrent expertly explains the basics, from choux pastry to ganache, then guides would-be chefs through the delicate step-by-steps. The instructions are in-depth, but there's nothing intimidating about this book. Soon you will be whipping up chocolate coffee eclairs, classic millefeuille and show-stopping gateaux.

Where to See Wildlife in Britain and Ireland - Christopher Somerville

  This treasury of the creatures, plants and landscapes of Britain and Ireland is both a practical guide and a hymn to nature. More than 800 of the British Isles' best wildlife spots are carefully documented, including travel tips and snippets of ecology, history and myth.

The Man Who Plants Trees - Jim Robbins

  Jim Robbins' account of the passions and pitfalls of David Milarch's mission to clone the best tree specimens he could find to save the planet is both sobering and inspiring.

Homecoming - Susie Steiner

  The Archers meets Anne Enright in former Guardian journalist Susie Steiner's involving debut novel, set on the Yorkshire moors. Steiner's novel skilfully captures Yorkshire in all its ordinay beauty - lonesome fells and pastel twilights, swirly-carpeted pubs and rusting tractors and her plot is satisfyingly complex. Homecoming is readable, heart-breaking and true.

The Deception Artist - Fayette Fox

  Eight-year-old Ivy loves to daydream and make up stories, but in reality her brother's ill, her parents squabble and she's lost her best friend. Then she begins to suspect her father of having an affair. Ivy is an appealing narrator, an innocent in a world that wants children to grow up. Although her naivety in the face of adult dilemmas is at times frustrating, The Deception Artist reminds us that the real truths are in how we love each other.

Cooking with Bones - Jess Richards

Sisters Amber and Maya are on the run. They've found refuge in an empty cottage, where Amber discovers a forgotten cookbook and learns how to bake magical cakes. A mix of unsettling fairytale, female power games and helter-skelter dialect with which it's worth perserving.

Was She Pretty? - Leanne Shapton

  The pains, peculiarities and pleasures of modern relationships are gently skewered in Canadian artist and graphic novelist Leanne Shapton's new book. Was She Pretty? is a sequence of wry observations about that most haunting of creatures - the ex.