Recipe: Proper custard

Top your pie or crumble with this delicately f lavoured custard made with your own fair hands, from Vanilla by Janet Sawyer.

Serves 4–6

100g golden caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
250ml whole milk
125ml clotted or double cream
4 egg yolks, beaten
1⁄2–1 tsp vanilla paste (or seeds of 1⁄2–1 vanilla pod)

1. Mix the sugar and cornflour in a bowl. Whisk in the milk.
2. In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the cream gently, adding the milk mixture a little at a time. Slowly bring to the boil, stirring constantly, and reduce heat when it starts to thicken.
3. Pour a little of the hot milk mixture onto the egg yolks, stirring well, then gradually stir this back into the remaining milk in the pan.
4. Gently bring the mixture back to the boil and stir in the vanilla paste or seeds. Serve the custard immediately, or cover with cling film to stop a skin forming, and reheat gently when needed.

Variations: To pimp your custard, add the finely grated zest of half an orange, a pinch of saffron or a tbsp of toasted flaked almonds. 

Recipe: Buttered bourbon apple cider

Make two batches of our November cover recipe – one boozy, one kid- and driver-friendly – for a warming autumn treat.

Getting together with friends and family happens so easily in summer – good weather and that holiday feeling being the natural allies of socialising. Yet there’s plenty to celebrate come bonfire season: autumn’s fiery canopy, the crisp, cold air and fast-falling dusk lend themselves to gathering outdoors, wrapping up, wellies donned, and feasting around the fire. We’ll raise a glass of mulled cider to that.

Recipe: Buttered bourbon apple cider

Serves 6–8

500ml apple cider*
100ml apple juice
1 tbsp light brown sugar
Cinnamon sticks (one, plus some to use as stirrers)
Cloves
Star anise
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of ginger
Sliced fresh fruit (orange, apple)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
150ml bourbon

1. In a large pot add the cider, apple juice and sugar; heat until it starts to simmer.

2. Add all other ingredients except for the butter and bourbon.

3. Let the spiced cider simmer for 10 mins, then add the butter and bourbon, stirring gently until the butter has melted.

4. Remove from the heat, pour into glasses, add a cinnamon stick to each glass and serve. You can strain the mixture before pouring, if you don’t want ‘bits’.

* To make a children’s version, replace the bourbon and cider with apple juice (600ml in total).

Salted caramel toffee apples

Possibly the best Bonfire Night recipe ever. Salted caramel toffee apples. Sticky, sugary heaven for children – and a salt-laced caramel treat for grown-ups.

You can make them to eat there and then or they’ll keep in the fridge in cellophane for 2-3 days, ready for your weekend bonfire gathering.

Makes 10

10 apples (Granny Smiths work well)

Toffee apple sticks*

300g light brown sugar

3 tbsp maple syrup

6 tbsp golden syrup

220g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 heaped tsp flaked salt

Note: Unlike traditional toffee apples, getting a caramel sauce to stick to the apples is a little more tricky. You need a sugar thermometer and to work really quickly when dipping the apples. It may require a little more effort but the result is worth it!

1. Wash apples, dry thoroughly, remove the stalks and replace with sticks. Place the apples in the fridge (washing and chilling helps the sauce to stick).
2. Line a baking tray with parchment. Into a large pan, add the sugar, maple syrup, golden syrup, butter and vanilla, and stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved – around 15 mins.
3. Add the thermometer, increase the heat, bringing the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring slowly but constantly until the temperature reaches 113 C/236 F (around 10 mins).
4. Carefully pour the caramel into a glass bowl, stir in the salt. Add the thermometer and allow the caramel to cool to 99C/210F (this should take around 10–15 mins).
5. Have your apples and baking tray ready and, working really quickly, submerge each apple into the caramel, twist, ensuring all but the top is covered and place on your baking tray.
6. Continue til all the apples are done. You can then go back and tidy up the bottom of each apple: either press into shape or scrape off excess caramel if you so wish.
7. If the temperature cools too much the caramel will slide straight off, so you may need to reheat and recool the remaining caramel to finish coating your fruit.
8. Allow the coated apples to set (2–3 hours) before placing in cellophane bags; store in the fridge.

* Toffee apple sticks are a seasonal supermarket buy, or surf for confectionery or lolly sticks; skewers work, too.

If you want more bonfire party inspired recipes, we’ve got pumpkin soup, vegetable skewers, chicken & chorizo jambalaya and buttered bourbon apple cider in the November issue. On sale in newsagents now or you can buy a print copy here and download the digital version here.

Two ways: the jam tart

November's The Simple Things features Alice's favourite bake - the jam tart. Want two more ways to make them? Try these alternative methods fit for a Queen (of Hearts).

The Lattice jam tart

This effect is achieved by criss-crossing strips of pastry over a tart filling. These strips can be plain or decorative, laid flat or twisted, or even woven. Use cloves to anchor the pastry strips together where they overlap. Neaten the edges of the tart by laying a pastry rim over the ends of the strips. Brush the pastry with milk syrup and bake.

Slits Tart

Cut a covering strip of pastry for neatening the edge of the tart; set aside. Roll an oval the width of your pie plate, using the remaining scraps. Cut lengthways down the middle then cut a slit lengthways down the middle of each half. Pull the pastry apart to create the shape of a capital D. Moisten the pastry with water and then lay both D-shaped pieces of pastry back to back, with a small space in-between. Your tart should divide into 5 crescents. Glaze and bake blind. Fill each section with a preserve of a different colour.

From Great British Bakes by Mary-Anne Boermans (Square Peg)

Image: Pinterest

Recipe: Garibaldi biscuits

Lia Leendertz, our regular Seed to Stove columnist, remembers forgotten foods in the November issue of The Simple Things. Here, she shares her delight in the Garibaldi biscuit, plus a tried and tested recipe. “The garibaldi is one of the oldest biscuits on the block, and is mentioned in Mrs Beeton’s original ‘Book of Household Management’ in 1861. It has stood the test of time, and I thought it might make a lovely fruity addition to the savoury biscuits on my cheese board. I was right.”

Garibaldi biscuits

110g self-raising flour Pinch of salt 25g spreadable butter 25g golden caster sugar 2 tablespoons milk 50g currants A little egg white, lightly beaten A little granulated sugar

A large baking sheet, with a non-stick liner

1. Put the flour, salt and butter into a mixing bowl and rub to the fine crumb stage. 2. Then add the sugar and after that enough milk to mix to a firm dough that will leave the bowl clean. 3. After that transfer it to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a rectangle 20cm by 30cm. 4. Now sprinkle the currants over half the surface and then fold the other half on top and roll everything again so you end up with a rectangle 20cm by 30cm. 5. Then trim it neatly using a sharp long-bladed knife, so you end up with a shape about 18cm by 28cm. 6. Cut this into 24 fingers approximately 3cm by 7cm. 7. Now place the biscuits on the baking sheet, brush with a little egg white and sprinkle with granulated sugar. 8. Bake near the centre of the oven for 12–15 minutes, then cool on a wire tray and store in an airtight tin.

Recipe from Delia's Cakes by Delia Smith.

Image: Pinterest

Cake in the house: Sticky toffee loaf

Gooey, gingery and cockle-warming, this sticky toffee loaf is comfort on a plate.

Sticky toffee ginger loaf

Serves 6–8

200g pitted dates, halved 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 75g unsalted butter, softened 115g soft brown sugar 2 tsp ground ginger 3 eggs 80g (about 4 balls) stem ginger, finely chopped 225g self-raising flour, sifted

For the caramel glaze: 110g caster sugar 40g butter 225ml single cream

1. Line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment and grease it. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F.

2. Put dates and bicarbonate of soda in a large mixing bowl, cover with 330ml boiling water, stir and set aside for at least 20 mins.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar until thick and pale. Add the ground ginger, then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Stir in the soaked date mixture, the stem ginger and flour and mix until well combined – the mixture should be quite loose. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50-60 mins until a skewer comes out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

6. To make the glaze, choose a pan large enough to ensure the sugar is no more than 2mm thick over the base, otherwise the heat won’t distribute evenly through the sugar. Set the pan over a gentle heat and add the sugar and 1 tsp water. Shake the pan rather than stir it with a spoon to avoid the sugar hardening before it liquifies – this will take around 15 mins and you want a deep, golden caramel. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter until melted and well combined.

7. Heat cream in a separate pan over a gentle heat, then whisk it into the caramel until smooth and glossy. Set aside to cool and firm up slightly so that it has a good spreading consistency. Spread over the cooled cake and serve.

Recipe taken from Café Kitchen by Shelagh Ryan (Ryland Peters & Small, £17)

Recipe: Tangerine and nutmeg hot chocolate

There is a spectrum of hot chocolates. At one end, the instant and saccharine; at the other, chunks of the real deal – melted and laced. This warming number sits at the luxurious end, with hints of citrus and aromatic nutmeg lifting it onto an altogether cosy, autumnal plane.

Tangerine and nutmeg hot chocolate

Makes one small cup 20g plain chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) 1 piece dried tangerine or orange peel 100ml cold water 1–2 tsp icing sugar, according to taste and quality of chocolate

To serve: 1–2 tsp double cream Extra nutmeg

You will need: Nutmeg grater Small skewer or cocktail stick

1. Put the chocolate and tangerine peel in a non-stick pan. Add the water and gently bring to simmering point on a low heat, stirring to melt the chocolate. 2. Add sugar to taste, simmer and stir for 5–10 mins until the mixture just begins to thicken. 3. Remove the peel and pour into a small cup or tea bowl and float cream on the top, swirling or marbling using a cocktail stick or small skewer. Serve sprinkled with a grating of nutmeg.

Tip: For a comforting bedtime treat, add 100ml milk to the pan and, once the chocolate has thickened and heated through, pour into a mug to take to bed.

Variation: Try adding a 1cm piece of vanilla pod and a pinch of ground cinnamon or chilli in place of the tangerine and nutmeg.

Hot chocolate recipe from Artisan Drinks by Lindy Wildsmith (Jacqui Small, £25)

Three new baking bibles

In celebration of National Baking Week (13-19 October) – in case you needed an excuse - here are three new baking bibles…

Great British Bakes by Mary-Anne Boermans (Square Peg, £20) A collection of ‘forgotten treasures for modern bakers’ from a previous Bake Off finalist. Find yourself back in Granny’s kitchen with Chelsea buns, King and Queen cakes and Bakewell pudding in wonderful variations and designs.

Making Bread Together by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou (Ryland, Peters & Small, £17) Grab a little helper or two and knead, sprinkle, twist and plait your (play) dough together while discovering all the joys of bonding over baking.

Pâtisserie Made Simple by Edd Kimber (Kyle Books, £20) The book that makes all those things you thought you couldn’t possibly create (tarts, choux pastry, macaroons…) seem easy. For the home cook, there’s minimal equipment, ingredients and fuss.

Want more cookbooks? This month, Team Simple Things digs out our most-thumbed volumes and the memories they hold.  Turn to page 74 of October's The Simple Things for a look at what makes a cookbook great.

Buy or download your copy now.

Want, knead, love: Real, down-to-earth bread baking

There's something about bread that is so fundamental, so magical, so right. Our passionate baker boy, Alex Gooch, is here to pass on his bread baking knowhow.

Meet Alex Gooch, our new baker boy, in the first of his new series about baking bread.

“Good bread takes patience, passion and instinct. Making it brings you into the moment completely. It stimulates all of the senses, whether it be the feel of the dough, the sweet smell of the baking bread, or the crackle as you squeeze a ciabatta. “When I was growing up, my brothers and I ate toast, toast and more toast! And that was about as close to bread as I got until I started as a kitchen porter when I was doing my A levels. “I loved the camaraderie of the kitchen and felt at home there. They offered to train me, so I ditched the idea of college and settled into the chef’s life of long hours and a surrogate family of fellow foodies. “I liked baking bread and worked at a few Italians where I mastered focaccia pretty well and at hotels I made plenty of pastry and croissants. But it was while at Penrhos Court in Herefordshire that I started experimenting, encouraged by chef Daphne lambert (who I named my first sourdough starter after). In 2007 she let me take over one of the kitchens at night and this was my first bakery. I began selling bread and jams at farmers’ markets and food festivals, then the following year I opened my bakery called Alex Gooch Artisan Baker in Hay-on-Wye. “There are so many possibilities with bread: rye sourdough, mixed grain, ciabatta, brioche but one of the things that keeps me excited and inspired is following the seasons, and letting them dictate the bread I make. It turns out that pink fir apple potatoes make the most scrumptious potato and onion bread, and the magical cep makes a mind-blowing garlic and cep foccacia with herb oil. “Baking is a hard job – pulling all-nighters and the need to step up a gear when things are busy. But baking at home is different: one of the reasons I think it is now so popular is because the results are so rewarding. The process is so enjoyable, too. It is very natural; you can listen to the radio or chill out for a while – bread is at its best when it is left to rest a lot.”

Turn to page 49 of October's The Simple Things for Alex's seasonal bread bakes, including Black garlic flatbread with sesame, nigella and a kale, miso dressing; Roast pumpkin and apple rolls; and Plum and ginger bread with a cider and honey glaze.

Buy or download your copy now.

Alex Gooch supplies restaurants, hotels, delis, functions and events and sells at markets in different towns four days a week. He also runs bread-making courses: www.alexgoochbaker.com. Tweet Alex @alexgoochbaker to let him know how your bread bakes.

Recipe: Vibrant autumn coleslaw

No need to wait till next summer with this vibrant autumn salad from The Natural Cook by Tom Hunt.

This slaw is a great way to ‘eat the rainbow’ – colourful veg contain a range vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to ward off winter bugs.

Vibrant autumn coleslaw

Serves 4

200g carrots 1 small beetroot 3 beet tops or kale leaves, shredded 2 tbsp sunflower seeds 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds Juice of 1 lemon Small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped 150g blackberries Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Grate the carrots coarsely, dress with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a little lemon juice and salt and pepper. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until they brown slightly. mix with the carrots.

2. Grate the beetroot and add it to the dish, but don’t mix the salad until you’re ready to eat, so the colours stay separate.

3. Add all of the remaining ingredients and season the mix to taste. Toss gently with a glug of the oil to coat, then serve.

Seasonal twist

Play around with different ingredients as the seasons change. As winter arrives, substitute the blackberries for dried fruits and grate in whatever raw root vegetables you have handy, from kohlrabi to celeriac.

Storage

The salad will keep for three days in a sealed container in the fridge, but is best eaten straight away.

Recipe from The Natural Cook by Tom Hunt.

Buy or download October's The Simple Things now.

Recipes: Garlic

Spicy or smoked, raw or roasted, garlic comes in many guises and varieties to make your dishes sing. Try these three garlic recipes.

Is there a more amazing a plant than garlic? Venerated by the Egyptians, eaten by the first Olympians before competitions and worn as buttonholes by Palestinian grooms to guarantee potency on their wedding night, it has been credited with medicinal, aphrodisiacal and magical powers. Ulysses apparently used it to escape from the clutches of Circe the witch, while King Tut took enough into his tomb to last him for all eternity.

In September's issue of The Simple Things, we meet Mark Botwright, who owns South West Garlic Farm in Dorset and believes “there is nothing more beautiful than a field of garlic.”

Three garlic recipes

In celebration of the stinking rose, we've hunted high and low for three top garlic recipes that really bring out the best of allium sativum.

Fancy a fragrant garlicky mayonnaise? Try aioli - perfect with prawns in this recipe.

Ottolenghi's legendary caramelised garlic tart recipe brings out the sweetness without the stink.

But if it's vampires you want to avoid, go for Alice Hart's very garlicky roast chicken - the epitome of garlic recipes.

Turn to page 47 of September's The Simple Things for the full garlic feature. Buy or download now.

Recipe: Chocolate rum and raisin fudge

There’s something satisfying about making fudge. This chocolate rum and raisin fudge recipe from Will Torrent’s Chocolate at Home is a great place to start.

Chocolate rum and raisin fudge

Makes about 40 pieces

100g raisins 50ml dark or spiced rum 1⁄2 vanilla pod, split 500g caster sugar 170g evaporated milk 170ml whole milk 50g unsalted butter 125g dark chocolate (70%), chopped 1 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted

You will need: 18–20cm square pan, lined with baking parchment

1. Tip the raisins, rum and split vanilla pod into a small saucepan set over a low heat. Gently warm but do not allow rum to boil. Stir well, remove from the heat and set aside until the mixture is cold and the raisins have absorbed all of the vanilla-scented rum.

2. Place the sugar into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan (at least 2 1/2 litre capacity). Add the evaporated milk, whole milk, butter and salt. Simmer over a medium heat and stir gently to dissolve the sugar.

3. Put a sugar thermometer into the pan and bring the mixture to the boil, reduce the heat and continue to cook, without stirring, at a low, steady boil until the mixture reaches 114C (230F). Add the remaining rum and immediately remove the pan from the heat. Set aside for a few mins until the bubbling subsides.

4. Tip the chopped chocolate and sifted cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl and pour over the hot fudge. Stir gently until the chocolate has melted, the mixture combined; leave to cool for 10 minutes.

5. Using a wooden spoon, beat the fudge until it thickens, cools and becomes slightly grainy. Add the rum-soaked raisins and mix thoroughly. Pour the fudge into the prepared baking pan and level using a palette knife. Set in a cool, dark place for 3–4 hours, or overnight, until firm.

6. Once firm, cut the fudge into small squares before serving or store in an airtight container for up to one week – you’ll be lucky if it lasts that long!

Recipe from Will Torrent’s Chocolate at Home (£20, Ryland Peters and Small).

Want more homemade sweets? Try these recipes.

For the rest of our Could Do list, turn to page 17 of September’s The Simple Things. Buy or download now.

Fruits of the hedgerow

Go foraging this month and find out what you can make with the fruits of the hedgerow.

More than mere borders, our hedgerows host amazing biodiversity. Here's a little of what they hold.

Turn to page 127 of September's The Simple Things for a guide to hedgerow berries, and try these ideas for using them in the kitchen.

Rosehip

Jekyll and Hyde of a species. Rich in vitamin C, delicious in wine and jam. Just avoid the fine hairs - a key ingredient in itching powder.

Try: Rosehip syrup

Damson

Higher in sugars than its kin in the plum family, and the go-to ingredient for a flavoursome home-pimped vodka. Peak harvest time is right about now.

Try: Damson cheese

Rowan

Too sharp in taste to enjoy solo, but a piquant addition to many a conserve. Try with roast meat. Note to bee lovers: its scent is catnip to pollinators.

Try: Rowan and rosemary jelly

Hawthorn

Staple hedging material. Fruit good for syrups, magnificent for brandy. Beware pedants insisting that, botanically, they're not berries, but pomes.

Try: Hawthorn berry ketchup

Sloe

A foraging favourite, the fruit of the blackthorn tree is among the last around before winter. Pick from now until early November, bottle with gin and sugar.

Try: Salted sloes

For the rest of our Fruits of the Hedgerow identifier, turn to page 127 of September's The Simple Things. Buy or download now.

Recipe: Shakshuka

Shakshuka: Tom Hunt's Middle Eastern breakfast, taken from The Natural Cook.

A breakfast of substance - for traditional Brits, at least - involves quite a bit of frying. How lovely, then, that this Middle Eastern-hailing dish poaches its eggs. In spiced passata, no less.

"We serve this in huge pans from my festival cafe," says Tom Hunt, "with hundreds of eggs poaching in the rich tomato sauce."

We'll take four, please.

Shakshuka

Serves 2

For the passata:

600g ripe tomatoes
2 basil leaves

For the shakshuka:

1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
Glug of light olive oil
1 mild green chilli, sliced (optional)
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 eggs
3 sprigs of parsley or coriander, roughly chopped

1. To make the passata, wash the tomatoes, then blend to a fine pulp in a food processor. Gently simmer in a wide saucepan for 15-30 minutes, until they have reduced to a thick sauce. Taste them as they reduce, decide when you have reached your desired consistency and flavour, then stop cooking.

2. To store passata, line a sterilised jar with basil, pour in hot passata and seal.

3. Gently fry the onion with the cumin and paprika in the light olive oil, adding a pinch of salt and half the chilli for ten minutes until soft. Add the garlic and fry for a further five minutes.

4. Add 300g passata and simmer for 10 minutes. If the sauce becomes too dry, add a little water.

5. When you're ready to eat, make four hollows in the sauce and crack in the eggs. Cover with a lid and simmer for five minutes for soft yolks, ten minutes for hard. Serve, sprinkled with the herbs and a little pepper, on your favourite toast. Sprinkle with the rest of the chilli.

Taken from the book The Natural Cook by Tom Hunt.

Organic September

Make one small change this month with Organic September.

That's the theme of Organic September: whether it's trying out an organic veg delivery box or swapping your usual face cream or chocolate bar for an organic product, every little helps to make a difference.

Here are ten ideas to make it easy to go organic:

Eat at least one piece of organic fruit each day Switch one beauty product such as shampoo Sign up for an organic veg box Join the Soil Association Have an organic cake bake off at work Buy organic tea & coffee Plant organic bee-friendly seeds Take part in #organicbeauty weekend Buy an organic pair of jeans Throw an organic dinner party

Find out more by visiting the Soil Association's Small Change Big Difference website.

Autumn fruit jam recipes

Go foraging for fruit and get jamming with some autumn preserve and jam recipes. Make the most of all the blackberries, plums and damsons this month. Stew with a bit of sugar and serve cool with cream on late summer days when you want to be outdoors, or pass a rainy afternoon happily in the kitchen making jars of homemade jam or jelly.

Jam recipes

How about trying one of these jam recipes for rosewater plum compote, bramble jelly, damson jam, or plum and Earl Grey jam?

For more ideas on our September 'could-do' list, turn to page 17 of The Simple Things. Not got your copy? Buy or download now.

Food from afar: Pasteis de nata recipe

It's got sweet, flaky pastry, it's got custard - what's not to love about Portugal's Pasteis de nata?

There’s something divine about the transformation of eggs, cream and sugar into gently set custard. So it is fitting that the most revered of custard tarts has monastic origins.

Portugal’s pastéis de nata were created in a monastery in Belém. When the cloisters closed in 1820, its clergy sold their trusty tart recipe. The buyer founded a bakery dedicated to the pastel de Belém: a flaky pastry tart filled with egg-yolk custard and baked until its crust is patchily blackened. It soon became a national treasure, travelling wherever the Portuguese went, too. In Hong Kong, via the colony of Macau, they became a staple of the dim sum house.

The Portuguese originals are still made by hand in Belém, where people queue to eat them warm, dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Like the keepers of secret recipes everywhere, the guardians of the monks’ prized formula hint at a ‘mystery’ ingredient. Various cookbook versions suggest vanilla, cornflour, even lemon. But then they also recommend – oh, the sacrilege – shop-bought puff pastry...

London’s Lisboa Patisserie is the place to sample their melt-in-the-mouth authenticity, with shots of bracing Portuguese coffee. A word of warning to the frugal, however: one is never enough.

Want to make your own? Try this Pasteis de nata recipe from Leite's Culinaria.

For more, turn to page 32 of August's The Simple Things. Not got your copy? Buy or download now.

Recipe: Chocolate fridge cake

No need to bake in August with our indulgent chocolate fridge cake.

This cocoa-laden treat embodies indulgence, not least because you only need a fridge to make it. And it's the perfect way to celebrate National Afternoon Tea Week (11-17 August 2014).

Chocolate Fridge Cake

150g unsalted butter 100g golden syrup 200g dark chocolate, chopped 1 medium egg, lightly beaten 330g digestive biscuits (or similar) 60g walnuts 60g sultanas 100g glacé cherries 75g brazil nuts

1. Line a 23cm square tin or similar flat dish with baking parchment.

2. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a pan and bring to the boil. Add the chocolate, reduce heat to low and whisk until the chocolate has melted.

3. Gradually add the beaten egg and continue to stir with the whisk until the mixture has thickened a little and formed a shiny emulsion. The egg will cook in the heat of the mixture but don’t let it boil (it shouldn’t reach above 85C). Remove from the heat.

4. Break the biscuits into chunks (quarters are fine), put them in a bowl with the walnuts, sultanas and half the cherries. Pour the hot chocolate mix over the dry ingredients and mix gently. Decant into the prepared tin, leaving the runny chocolate on the side of the bowl for now. Press the mixture flat in the tin.

5. Put brazil nuts in the chocolatey bowl and, using a spatula, coat them in the leftover chocolate. Sprinkle in a loose pattern over the biscuit cake, then add the remaining cherries. Chill for 3 hours or until set.

Recipe taken from Konditor & Cook: Deservedly Legendary Baking by Gerhard Jenne (Ebury Press, £20)

Cake in the House - page 51 of August's The Simple Things. Buy or download now

Recipe: Three ways with cherries

Go cherry crazy! This year’s crop of British cherries looks like it is the longest and largest ever, mostly due to our mild winter. They’re around until September so find a ‘pick your own’ and use with gay abandon to add colour and sweetness to meals.

Here, we've picked three delicious recipes for a sweet treat this summer.

Cherry Compote

The original, simple way with cherries. We love what Rachel writes about her favourite fruit. Cherry Compote recipe by Rachel Eats.

Image above: Rachel Eats

Sour Cherry Milkshakes

These sound incredible. Although it may be a job to hunt down Montmorency or Morello cherries at a 'pick your own', we think it looks worth the effort. 

Sour Cherry Milkshakes recipe by Orangette.

Image above and at top of page: Orangette

Pluot Summer Salad

Not a fan of sweet desserts? Cherries make a surprising addition to a summer salad.

Pluot Summer Salad recipe by 101 Cookbooks.

Image above: 101 Cookbooks.

Find more seasonal recipe delights in August's The Simple Things (buy or download now).

Recipe: Berry coconut ice lollies

Berry coconut ice lollies are perfect for hot days. The good news? You’re only two steps away from this wholesome treat on a stick...

Berry coconut ice lollies

Makes 6

300g fresh blueberries 400ml coconut milk 150g live probiotic yoghurt 1 tbsp runny honey Juice of 1/4 lime

You will need:

Ice lolly moulds Ice lolly sticks

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and whizz to a smooth purée. 2. Pour into ice lolly moulds, add the lolly sticks and freeze overnight.

Recipe featured in August's The Simple Things. Buy or download your copy now.

(Recipe from The Medicinal Chef: Healthy Every Day by Dale Pinnock, Quadrille, £18.99)