Recipe | No Bake Cheesecake

Photography by Emma Croman

Pretty as you please cheesecake, with fresh fruit and flowers doing decorative duty

You will need

170g digestive biscuits
100g unsalted butter, melted
300ml double cream
100g icing sugar
250g cream cheese
1½ lemons, zested and juiced
A handful of fresh berries (we used raspberries and blueberries), a sprig of thyme and edible flowers

To make

1 Line the base of an 18cm springform cake tin with baking paper. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs. Combine with the melted butter then press evenly into the base of the tin with the back of a spoon. Cover and put in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2 Whip the double cream in a fresh bowl until it forms soft peaks. Sift in the icing sugar and add the cream cheese, lemon juice and zest. Fold the mixture until thoroughly combined.

3 Remove the cheesecake base from the fridge and spoon on the cream mixture, smoothing the top with the back of the spoon. Cover and return to the fridge for 2 hrs 30 mins, or until fully set. When ready, gently remove the cheesecake from the tin and decorate with fresh berries, thyme sprigs and edible flowers.

This is just one of the recipes from our Gathering feature in our April issue, which we’ve called ‘Dinner For Good’. The menu is for a charity supper club and also includes ideas for Smoked Salmon Rostis, Herb Focaccia, Courgette, Mint and Ricotta Polpette and more. Recipes are by Louise Gorrod and photography by Emma Croman.

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Recipe | Ricotta & basil stuffed nasturtium flowers

Packed with vitamin C, everything about the nasturtium plant is edible - and bold and beautiful, too

Makes 25

25 nasturtium flowers
125g ricotta
2 tbsp finely chopped basil leaves
30g finely chopped walnuts
¼ tsp sea salt, plus more to taste

1 Trim the nasturtium stems to around 1cm, then submerge flowers in water for 5-10 mins to remove any dirt or bugs. Gently rinse in cool water before placing on a towel to dry.

2 Meanwhile, combine the ricotta, basil, walnuts, and season with salt.

3 Using about 1 teaspoon per flower, stuff each nasturtium with the flavoured ricotta.

These nastirutium flowers make a wonderful nibble with drinks or a starter to a late summer lunch. They’re just one of the recipes by Lottie Storey in this month’s edible flowers series, Pick n Mix, in which we look at different floral edibles. August’s edible flowers are nasturtiums and chives.

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Recipe | Honeysuckle Posset & Fennel shortbread

The nectar of honeysuckle flowers is sweet and alluring (just ask the bees) and adds a floral perfume to this posset recipe. A sweet way to end a summer lunch or dinner

Serves 6

For the posset :
450ml double cream
2 handfuls honeysuckle flowers, petals removed and refridgerated
125g honey, plus an extra teaspoon
Juice of 1 lemon

For the shortbread :
125g unsalted butter, softened
65g icing sugar
2 tsp fennel seeds, dry roasted and crushed
65g cornflour
125g plain flour

1 For the posset, place the cream, chopped honeysuckle flower bases and honey into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to infuse until cool.

2 Stir in the lemon juice before straining the mixture through a sieve. Pour into six small glasses or jars and chill in the fridge overnight.

3 To make the shortbread, cream together butter and icing sugar and then stir in the fennel seeds. Sieve the cornflour and flour together and combine with the butter/sugar mix and form into a log around 5cm in diameter. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour.

4 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 5. Take the dough out of the fridge and unwrap, then slice the log into ½cm circles. Transfer them to a greased baking tray and bake for 15-20 mins until just golden.

5 Cool on the tray for 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

6 Remove possets from fridge. Brush the remaining honeysuckle petals with the teaspoon of honey and divide between the six possets as a garnish. Serve with the shortbread.

This recipe is part of our series on edible flowes, which we’ve called ‘Pick n Mix’, by Lottie Storey. This month we’re using honeysuckle and lemon verbena to make the pud above as well as a honeysuckle vodka and lemonade, heritage tomato and lemon verbena salad, and herby fish en papilotte.

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Tipple | Lemon Basil Spritzer

A refreshing drink for warm garden days

Serves 6

240g granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon, peeled into strips
3 large lemon basil leaves (sweet basil works, too), plus more to garnish
750ml bottle dry sparkling wine, chilled

1 In a small pan, gently heat the sugar and 250ml water until the sugar has dissolved. Add half the lemon zest strips and the three basil leaves, cover and set aside to steep for 30 mins.

2 Pour the mixture through a coffee filter, keeping the liquid and discarding the peel/leaves. Allow to cool for 1 hr.

3 In a large jug, combine the syrup with the sparkling wine and stir.

4 Fill six glasses with ice and pour over the spritzer. Garnish with basil leaves and lemon zest twists.

This idea is from our regular ‘Pick and Mix’ series on growing and eating flowers and herbs. This month we’re using lavender and basil and Lottie Storey has recipes for Fig Toast with Whipped Honey and Lavender Labne, Rosemary, Basil and Za’atar Aubergines and a Lavender and Honey Cheesecake.

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Recipe | Spinach & Feta Herby Quiche

Summer is definitely here when the first quiche exits the oven. Just add friends and a picnic rug

Serves 6

500g pack of ready-made shortcrust pastry
½ tbsp coconut oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g baby spinach leaves
4 eggs
200ml half fat crème fraîche
Zest of one medium unwaxed lemon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 sprigs of fresh thyme, roughly chopped
10 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
5 large fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
100g feta cheese
8 small edible flowers
3 large edible flowers, to decorate

1 Preheat the oven to 190C/Fan 170C/ Gas 5 and roll out the pastry on a floured surface to make a circle around 5mm thick. Grease a 25cm tart tin and line it with the pastry, then add a sheet of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 mins then remove the paper and beans. Use a fork to prod a few tiny holes in the pastry to stop it bubbling and return to the oven for 5 mins, or until golden brown.

2 In a large frying pan, gently heat half the coconut oil over a medium heat. Fry the onion and garlic for around 15 mins, or until they start to soften.

3 Add the spinach to the pan and stir until it wilts. Tip the mixture into a sieve, pressing down with the back of a spoon to squeeze any excess water out, then set to one side.

4 Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, crème fraîche, lemon zest, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Sprinkle in the chopped herbs and spring onions then add the cooked spinach, onion and garlic. Crumble in the feta and evenly spread the mixture over the cooled pastry case, gently pressing in the smaller edible flowers on the top.

5 Bake for 35-40 mins, or until the top becomes golden and sets. Serve decorated with larger edible flowers.

This recipe is just one of the ideas from our Gathering feature in our June issue, which we’ve called ‘Salad Days’. It also includes recipes by Kay Prestney for Strawberry Mimosas, Asparagus, Goat’s Cheese and Pesto Puffs, Spring greens Floral Salad, Lemon Flower Biscuits and Honey, Orange and Cardamom Cake.

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Recipe | Pansy Crepes

Pansies add instant enchantment to a savoury French crepe recipe. Keep your pancakes thin and lacy for maximum magic

Bring flowers to the table (and the plate) for a summery breakfast that will get the day off to a blooming good start. Though we won’t be telling anyone if you make them for lunch of dinner either.

Makes 12

100g plain flour

2 eggs

300ml milk

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp butter (for greasing)

48 pansies

1 Put all ingredients except for
the butter and pansies into a bowl and whisk to a thin batter. Set aside for 30 mins.

2 Heat up a small frying pan over
a medium heat and melt a small amount of the butter. Use kitchen paper to wipe away any excess, leaving you with a glistening pan.

3 Pour a small amount of the batter into the pan and immediately move the surface of the pan in different directions to coat it.

4 While the crêpe is cooking, quickly place four pansies into the batter
on the uncooked side.

Cook’s note: Crêpes usually take
1 min each side to cook through, but
if your pancake is thin enough, you may not need to flip it. The pansies will stand out more against a lighter crêpe, but equally, you want to make sure it’s cooked all the way through.

This recipe is taken from our new series on edible flowers, which we’ve called Pick ‘n’ Mix. The recipes, by Lottie Storey, also include pansy popsicles, pineapple and mint mojitos, and fig, mint and goat’s cheese salad. Photography is by Kirstie Young.

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Make | a Jasmine Garland for your hair or your wall

Whether you’re going to San Francisco or not, now is the time of year to be wearing flowers in your hair for sure.

This easy make is just one of the ideas for things to do with Jasmine from our July Heart, Body and Soul feature. Once you’ve crowned yourself Queen of Summer, you might like to whip up the jasmine body butter and even use the flowers in some cookery to make jasmine tea and honey chicken or tofu skewers, or the dark chocolate and orange tart with jasmine cream. 

But first things first; let’s get that garland made.

Tendrils of jasmine, with their star shaped flowers, lend themselves for use in a garland that you can wear in your hair or hang on your wall.

You will need:

Several strands of flowering jasmine

Scissors or secateurs

Floral wire

1 Snip off any broken leaves or petals from your jasmine strands.

2 Find your most robust strand and wrap it around the crown of your head to get a rough size for your garland. Take it off your head and wrap some wire around the ends
to secure.

3 With the remaining strands, continue to wrap the garland in both directions covering up or tucking in the ends of the strands where you can, using a small twist of wire to fasten. Keep going until you have a garland that pleases you!

Maker’s note: The circle can be whatever size you like, but for a garland to wear it will need to be around 25cm diameter or go large for a jasmine wreath to hang on the wall.

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More edible flower ideas…

Recipe | Marigold shortbreads

Flecked with petals and dusted with marigold sugar, this is a floral twist on shortbread to fall in love with

MARIGOLD SHORTBREADS

Makes 16
175g plain or spelt flour
40g caster sugar
6 tbsp (14g) marigold (calendula) petals* 
110g cold butter

FOR THE MARIGOLD SUGAR
Marigold petals
50g caster sugar

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4.
2 Put the flour, sugar and marigold petals into a bowl, then rub in the butter as for shortcrust pastry. Gather the mixture together and knead gently on a lightly floured surface.
3 Roll out the pastry to 7mm thick, then cut into rounds with a 6cm cutter or into heart shapes. Bake for 15–18 mins until pale brown, depending on the thickness of the biscuits. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
4 While they cool, make the marigold sugar. Blitz the marigold petals in a blender with the sugar for a minute or two until just broken up. 
5 Serve the biscuits with fruit fools, or compote and ice-cream, and sprinkle marigold sugar over the top.

Cook’s note: Watch these biscuits really carefully while they are baking, they burn easily. They should be a pale golden – any darker and they will be bitter.

Taken from Grow, Cook, Nourish by Darina Allen (Kyle Books).

* The petals of the pot marigold (calendula) are edible. Be sure to use this variety in your
cooking as many varieties of the French or African marigold plants (from the tagetes family) aren’t.

Cake in the House is our monthly recipe feature - get a cake recipe every month in The Simple Things!

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View the sampler here.

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Toast | Spring peas, broad beans & flowers

Full of the things that shine in spring.*

Serves 4
100ml extra virgin olive oil
350g podded broad beans and peas
Handful of parsley, stalks and all, finely chopped
Handful of mint, leaves picked, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 dried chillies
1⁄2 lemon
4–8 slices of sourdough

TO SERVE
Lemon
Ricotta
Edible flowers
Cook’s note: You can now buy edible flowers at the supermarket, usually stocked alongside the fresh herbs.

1 Heat 80ml of the olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a low heat. Add the broad beans, peas and a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for about 10 mins.
2 Grind the parsley, mint, garlic and chilli with the remaining oil to a paste using a pestle and mortar. Add to the pan with the veg and fry for 2–3 mins. Remove from heat and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
3 Boil the eggs for 6 mins and toast the bread.
4 To serve, peel and halve the eggs, spoon the broad bean mix on the toast, then top with the eggs, a squeeze of lemon, some ricotta, a pinch of salt and freshly ground or cracked black pepper, and a scattering of flowers.

Turn to page 31 for more from our Grown & gathered feature to find out how Australians Matt and Lentil have learned to live alongside nature, adapting an ancient way of life for the modern world. Hear their story and try a few more of their recipes. 

* ...if you’re in Australia. In temperate Britain, you’ll have to wait until early summer!

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More from the April issue:

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Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums are plants that just keep giving

From the moment they are planted in spring, they respond to the smallest amount of care (a bit of earth, occasional watering) with vigorous growth, lily-pad-shaped leaves and then, around about now, cheery and abundant blooms. Not only do the flowers look good in the garden as they scramble and tumble about, but they make a pretty, peppery addition to salads, and they can be brought indoors for an instant bit of summery colour. 

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Recipe: Rose and honey cake

This pretty cake is inspired by an Indian rose petal preserve. Aniseedy fennel balances the rosewater while dried rose petals add crunch to the creamy icing

ROSE AND HONEY CAKE

Serves 10–12

100g golden caster sugar
100g clear honey
100g self-raising flour
100g ground almonds
200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
1 tsp rosewater

for the rose mix
20g dried rose petals*
1 tbsp dry-roasted fennel seeds
1⁄2 tsp ground cardamom
4 tbsp caster sugar

for the icing
300ml double cream
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp dry-roasted fennel seeds, lightly crushed

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F. Grease 2 x 20cm cake tins and line them with baking parchment.
2 In a large bowl, mix the cake ingredients with an electric whisk for 2 mins until light and creamy. Divide the batter equally into the prepared tins and bake for 20–25 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.
3 Leave to cool in the tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 
4 To make the rose mix, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 2–3 mins, stirring continuously. Take the pan off the heat as soon as the sugar starts to melt. Give it a good stir and set aside to cool.
5 To make the icing, whisk the cream and sugar together in a bowl until soft peaks form. Fold in the crushed fennel seeds.
6 To assemble, place one cake on a serving plate and spread half the icing over it. Sprinkle with half the rose mix. Place the second cake on top. Spread the remaining icing over this layer and finish by sprinkling over the last of the rose mix. Leave to stand at room temperature for 10 mins before serving.

Note:  This cake will keep, refrigerated in an airtight container, for up to four days.

Recipe from The Cardamom Trail by Chetna Makan (Mitchell Beazley). 

More from the February issue: 

More cake recipes:

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Afternoon Tea Week: Violet scones with honeyed cream recipe

Celebrate Afternoon Tea Week 2015 with a recipe for Violet scones with honeyed cream

Parma Violets can taste soapy, but violet flowers, used sparingly and baked, are far subtler.
The honeyed cream is what provides the real sweetness here. It’s thick and indulgent and removes the need for jam or butter, although a dollop of lemon curd goes well if you have a really sweet tooth. If you don’t have violets, use lavender, rosemary or rose petals.

Makes 12 scones

50g butter, plus extra for greasing
225g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
25g sugar
150ml milk, plus extra for glazing 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 violet flowers, chopped, plus extra for serving
100g clotted cream
2 tbsp runny honey

1 Preheat the oven to 225C/Fan 205/435F and grease and line a large baking tray. In a food processor, mix together flour, butter and sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract and beat to a stiff dough. Add the violets and give a final few pulses of the processor to combine them into the mixture.

2 Lightly dust your worktop with flour, and place the dough in the middle, sprinkling a little flour over the top. Roll out the dough to about 2cm thick. Take a 5cm round cutter and cut out discs, placing them on the baking tray. Roll the leftover dough out again and cut out more rounds, repeating until the dough is used. Try not to roll the dough too many times as this will lead to tough scones. Brush the top of each with a dab of milk and place the tray in the oven for 12-15 mins until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

3 Just before serving, put the cream in a bowl and fold in the honey – you want a ripple effect – and top with a few violet petals. Cut the scones and spread a bit of cream on top.

Recipes from The Herb & Flower Cookbook: Plant, Grow and Eat by Pip McCormac (Quadrille). Photography by Yuki Sugiura 

And if you're inspired to eat more flowers, head to our Petal Power Pinterest board for a sweet and beautiful selection of ideas:

Follow The Simple Things's board Edible flowers | Petal power on Pinterest.

Read more:

Afternoon tea posts

More from the August 2015 issue

Three more edible flower recipes

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Edible flowers: recipe inspiration

Team Simple Things cannot resist anything flowery and perfumed, and our love of edible flowers knows no bounds. Here are three recipes we can't wait to try. White peach lavender soda (above) sounds like the most delightfully delicious way to quench your thirst on a sunny summer's day. Thought up by Emma Christensen, this is one fragrant fancy we're desperate to try. Emma also recommends trying this with a shot of gin.

For the recipe, head to Emma's blog.

Violets are a particularly perfumed flower, and make for a delicate dessert in the form of these violet and lemon eclairs. Head over to Twigg Studios blog for the full recipe.

Raspberries and rose sound like a match made in heaven, coming together in this delightful dessert by Pick Yin. Although the thought of baking a soufflé might be a little intimidating, Pick claims this recipe to be foolproof. Let's give it a go!

For more edible flower goodness, turn to page 38 of May's The Simple Things (buy it here), where Lia Leendertz prettifies salads, desserts and even drinks with edible flowers. Or have a try at making Babousa, a Middle Eastern rose-scented cake.