Recipe: Vietnamese vegetable summer rolls

These pretty, light rolls are delicious with a piquant sauce

Makes 14

80g vermicelli rice noodles
14 edible rice papers
14 butterhead or other soft lettuce leaves
100g beansprouts
14 thin carrot batons, peeled
14 thin cucumber batons
2 handfuls fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
14 fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, sliced

For the dipping sauce:
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
4 tbsp peanut butter
lime juice to taste

1 Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing together all the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

2 Cook the vermicelli according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and set aside.

3 Soften the rice papers. Fill a large bowl with warm water. Carefully and slowly dip the rice papers in one by one. Leave each one for about 20 seconds until totally soft. Lay the rice papers out on a dry cloth as you finish.

4 On top of each rice paper, arrange a lettuce leaf (trimmed to size if needed) a small handful of vermicelli and a small handful of beansprouts. Add carrot, cucumber, herbs and chilli, always keeping about 5cm of wrapper uncovered on each side of the filling.

5 Fold the uncovered side inwards, then tightly roll the rice paper into a sausage shape around the filling. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

6 Serve the rolls chilled with the dipping sauce on the side. 

Recipe from Modern Dim Sum by Loretta Liu. Photography: Louise Hagger (Ryland Peters & Small)

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Recipe: Smoked bitter chocolate

In July's The Simple Things, we throw a grown-up barbecue; where veggies and even desserts go on the grill. Ben Tish is chef director at the Salt Yard Group, which runs four restaurants in London. Recipes are taken from his new book Grill Smoke BBQ. 

Try the recipe for Smoky bitter-chocolate puddings with melting whipped cream on page 39 - you can just use plain chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) or try this recipe for smoked bitter chocolate.   

'Smoked chocolate is a revelation, whether you eat it raw or melted and cooked into a pudding. At Ember Yard, we tried several methods and types of chocolate but found that those with a cocoa content of 70% or more works best. I’ve used pistols (buttons) as they are all the same size, so they absorb the smoke evenly. It’s imperative that you leave the chocolate for 24 hours after smoking to allow the flavours to settle and balance.' Ben Tish

Smoked bitter chocolate

Makes about 250g (9oz)

250g (9oz) bitter chocolate (at least 70% cocoa) buttons, or a block cut into small, even-sized chunks
You’ll also need a cold-smoking device and some oak wood dust

Set up the cold-smoking device in the barbecue with the wood dust and get it going.

Place the chocolate in a single layer on a baking sheet. Transfer to the barbecue, then close the lid and vent and cold-smoke the chocolate for 45 minutes. Transfer the chocolate to a container, seal and leave for24 hours before using.

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Recipe: Lavender lemonade

A refreshing, sweetly herbal fizzy drink for the moment the lavender is at its most fragrant, just as the flowers are starting to open. Add a shot of gin for an adult version.

Makes 6 glasses

500ml water
200g caster sugar
10 lavender flower heads, plus more for decoration
12 lemons
fizzy water

1 Place the water, sugar and lavender flowers into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Simmer very gently for ten minutes, before removing from the heat and leaving to cool completely. Transfer to a jug or jar, lavender flowers and all, and chill.

2 When you are ready to serve, squeeze the lemons into a jug, tip in the lavender syrup and top up with fizzy water, aiming for about a third of each ingredient. Serve over ice with a lavender stalk and a piece of lemon. 

For more of Lia Leendertz's Seed to Stove midsummer menu, including Gravadlax with dill yoghurt and crispbreads, Latvian midsummer cheese, and Strawberry, apricot and cherry shortcake, turn to page 24 of June's The Simple Things.

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Recipe: Cherry pie

‘No one does fruit pies quite like our cousins across the pond. When I lived in North America, I ate more than my fair share of pie. I couldn’t pass a bakery or coffee shop without being lured in by golden sugared crusts spilling with bubbling, sweet fruit fillings. This is my version of the ubiquitous cherry pie. I use a small heart- shaped cookie cutter to make holes in the top crust, and it always goes down a storm. Eat it for afters with a mug of ‘joe’, like in Twin Peaks.’ - Rosie Birkett

Cherry pie

SERVES 8

for the pastry
2 tbsp granulated sugar
260g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
40g ground almonds pinch of salt
180g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp demerara sugar, for sprinkling

for the filling
100g good-quality black cherry jam
1 tbsp cherry brandy, kirsch or amaretto (optional)
1⁄2 tsp grated nutmeg
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a paste with 2 tsp cold water
500g fresh black or red cherries, pitted and halved

1 For the pastry, put the sugar, flour, ground almonds, salt and butter in a food processor, and blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add 3 tbsp of the egg and 2 tbsp of ice-cold water, and pulse until the mixture starts to clump together into a dough.
2 Divide the dough into two, flatten each portion into discs, wrap each disc in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
3 Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/400F and grease a 24cm pie dish. Remove a disc of pastry from the fridge, unwrap it and roll it out on a floured work surface to 3mm thick and about 2cm wider than the dish. Transfer to a floured baking sheet and chill for 10 minutes. Repeat this with the remaining disc of pastry.
4 Heat the jam for the filling in a saucepan with 100ml water, the alcohol (if using), nutmeg and the vanilla extract. When it’s all melted together, add the diluted cornflour, and stir together until smooth and thickened. Add the cherries and gently coat them in the mixture, being careful not to mush them up. Remove from the heat and set aside. 
5 Using a floured rolling pin, transfer one of the chilled pastry sheets to the greased pie dish and drape it across
the dish. Let it sink into the dish, and, holding on to the edges, lift and tuck the pastry into the edges of the dish, all the way round, to line it. Trim off any excess pastry, and lightly prick the base with a fork. Fill the dish with the cherry filling. Use a pastry cutter to cut holes in the remaining pastry sheet, covering an area just smaller than the diameter of the pie dish, leaving a large border intact. Place it
over the pie filling, and fold the edge of the top crust over the edge of the bottom crust, crimping it together with your fingers to seal.
6 Brush the pastry with the remains of the beaten egg and sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until the crust is golden, and then reduce the oven temperature to 180C/Fan 160C/350F, covering the top of the pastry with foil if need be, and bake for a further 35–40 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden and firm. Allow to cool and serve with cream.

Rosie Birkett is a food writer, food stylist and home cook living in Hackney, east London. Her book, A Lot On Her Plate (Hardie Grant) speaks of her love of a good meal and enthusiasm for food generally.

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Recipe: Strawberry and thyme pie

June means sunshine and strawberries. This eye-catching pudding oozes natural berry sweetness and could happily accompany you on a weekend picnic or take centre stage at a midsummer soirée. Strawberries and thyme are good friends and the addition of the herb adds an interesting twist to the simple flavour.  

Strawberry and thyme pie

Serves 8

for the dough
125g plain flour
125g almond flour (or use 250g plain flour in total)
125g butter
pinch of salt
30g icing sugar
cold water, as needed

for the thyme custard
200ml milk
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
a few sprigs fresh thyme
2 egg yolks
30g icing sugar
150g cream cheese

for the topping
500-600g strawberries
fresh thyme leaves 

Make the dough: Work both flours, butter, salt and icing sugar into a smooth dough. If dough is too dry, add a few drops of cold water. Shape into a flat disc and wrap in cling film. Rest in fridge for 1 hour.

Start the thyme custard: Bring the milk to a near boil with vanilla and thyme. Turn off heat and let steep until ready to use.

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160/350F.

2 Dust countertop with flour and pat dough into a thin slab that fits a 22cm pie plate or a pie pan with a removable bottom. Grease the pan and line it with the dough. Leave some overhanging the edge. Carefully press a sheet of parchment paper onto the dough, fill with baking beans and blind bake the crust for 15 mins. Use the parchment paper to lift out the beans. Bake crust for 10 mins more.

3 Let crust cool, then neatly trim the edges. Keep the oven on.

4 Return to the custard. Beat the yolks and icing sugar until light and frothy. Pour into the warm milk through a strainer. Whisk it all and pour back into the pan. While stirring, bring mixture to a near boil and reduce it slightly over low heat. Turn off heat and beat in the cream cheese. Pour the mix into the blind-baked crust and put the pie back in the oven for 15 mins.

5 Allow the pie to cool on a rack for at least 30 mins.

6 Quarter the strawberries and use them to dress the pie.

7 Serve garnished with thyme. 

From Home Baked by Yvette van Boven (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) 

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Recipe: Guacamole

Guacamole is an authentic accompaniment to the tacos on page 38 of June's The Simple Things. The rest of the menu? Baby potato and rosemary pizzas, Bagna càuda Melting pork tacos, Cumin and garlic black beans, Cherry pie...

Guacamole

1 tomato, finely chopped
2 ripe avocados, stoned and chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed with ½ tsp sea salt
½ red onion, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
15g coriander, leaves and stems chopped, and some leaves reserved for garnish
juice of ½ lime

Put the tomato, avocado, garlic and onion in a bowl and mash together with a fork. Season with sea salt and pepper, then add the chilli, coriander and lime juice and incorporate. Taste for seasoning and garnish with coriander leaves.

Note: If you’re making the guacamole in advance, pop the avocado stone into the bowl with the guacamole and cover with cling film (plastic wrap) to stop it from going brown.

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Recipe: Honeycomb (for the chocolate honeycomb biscuit cake)

Real honeycomb

Makes about 150g

2tbsp honey
2tbsp golden syrup
100g caster sugar
1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda

Line a small baking tray with baking parchment. In a heavy bottomed, deep-sided saucepan (you need to allow room for the mixture to bubble up), combine the honey, golden syrup and caster sugar over a low heat, stirring a couple of times until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat, bring to the boil and continue to cook until the mixture turns amber in colour. There’s no need to use a thermometer here, but if you want to check, it should read 150C.

Remove from the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda: the mixture will bubble ferociously. Whisk quickly to combine – about 5 seconds – but don’t overdo it or the bubbles will start to collapse in on themselves. Pour onto the prepared tray and leave to set at room temperature. Once set bash your honeycomb into bite-sized pieces. It will keep in an airtight container for several days. 

Turn to page 55 of June's The Simple Things for the recipe for Chocolate honeycomb biscuit cake.

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Staple foods: 3. Milk

An appreciation of milk in infographics

Words: LAURA ROWE Illustrations: VICKI TURNER

MORE THAN SIX BILLION of us around the world enjoy milk, whether in its purest form – drunk by the glass or softening our cereal – or transformed into cream, butter, cheese or yoghurt. Dairy is big business.

The majority of the milk we drink is derived from cattle but other animals can be successfully milked, too – from the more familiar sheep and goat to (perhaps surprisingly) horses and even camels. And while the nutritional content of each varies, fresh milk is undeniably a worthwhile addition to our diet. Cow’s milk, in particular, is a great source of protein, calcium and a whole host of vitamins. 

Extracted from Taste: The Infographic Book of Food by Laura Rowe, illustrated by Vicki Turner (Aurum Press)

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Staple foods: 2. Sugar

Quite literally the icing on the cake, sugar, in all its varied forms, is a tempting treat

Words: LAURA ROWE Illustrations: VICKI TURNER

For something with little flavour and no vitamins, minerals or proteins, it’s a wonder that sugar plays such an important part in our daily diets. But thanks to its effectiveness as a sweetener, flavour enhancer and energy source, and its relative cheapness, it’s hard to imagine living without it. Spooned into coffee, sprinkled on fruit or whipped into fluffy meringues, there are so many ways we consume it.

While historically we turned to honey, our main source of sugar now comes from sugar cane, which was originally grown in the East before commercial agriculture began in the tropics, fuelling a burgeoning slave trade.

Sugar cane and sugar beet compete as our top sources of sugar. Cane can be served at various stages of refinement, while beet can only produce refined white sugar.

The cane is filled with a sweet pulp – the liquid is extracted and refined in stages, finally producing white sugar. Sugar beet, a relative of beetroot, which can be grown in more temperate climates, is our second biggest source of the stuff.

Wherever its origins, though, highly refined sugar has become the new bad boy of the food world, with nutritionists in their masses calling for avoidance and substitution. It’s in part thanks to the rise in consumption of processed foods and fizzy soft drinks, packed with hidden sugars (such as corn syrup) and artificial sweeteners, that many are now turning to alternatives. But if you can’t resist a spoonful or two of the white stuff (and who of us can?), then make sure you look out for the Fairtrade symbol to ensure your sugar has been grown and harvested in an ethical way.

Extracted from Taste: The Infographic Book of Food by Laura Rowe, illustrated by Vicki Turner (Aurum Press)

 

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Recipe: Rhubarb and rosewater tart

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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!

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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. 

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Cake recipe: Cardamom banana bread

A twist on a baking classic, this moist and moreish banana cake contains cardamom, which enhances the fruit’s subtle sweetness

CARDAMOM BANANA CAKE
Serves 8

170g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
5 cardamom pods
4 ripe bananas, mashed
170g caster sugar
3 eggs
115g chopped walnuts
350g plain flour
1⁄4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
23⁄4 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp salt
icing sugar to serve (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160/350F and grease a nonstick 25cm square cake tin.
2 Crush the cardamom pods, removing the seeds and discarding the pods. Crush the seeds to release their flavour, add them to the mashed bananas, and set aside.
3 Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric handheld mixer until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat.
4 Next, add the chopped walnuts and mashed banana and fold in. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt over the mixture and gently fold all the ingredients together.
5 Spoon the batter into the buttered cake tin and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface evenly. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out and let cool completely on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.

Recipe from The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook by Salma Hage (Phaidon). Photography by Liz and Max Haarala Hamilton

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Recipe: Muhammara and an easy flatbread recipe

Want to be wiser? Eating a handful of walnuts a day can improve your memory, concentration and cognitive function, according to a recent study. Swap hummus or baba ganoush for this walnut pepper dip and, as well as treating your tastebuds, you’ll be recharging your brainpower.
Turn to page 128 of April's The Simple Things for a Muhammara recipe.

Want to make your own flatbread? We're trying Nigel Slater's recipe, as it reignited his passion for pita. Try it here.

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Welcome to The Simple Things Supper Club!

A cross between a dinner party and a restaurant, holding your own supper club is a thoroughly modern way to gather food-loving friends and strangers round your own kitchen table for a home-cooked meal. So spread the word, plan a menu and rearrange the furniture – guests are coming for dinner...

Come to The Simple Things Supper Club!

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Recipe: Almond, honey and cinnamon fig rolls

The tip for steaming the still-warm rolls in an airtight container after baking comes from pastry chef Stella Parks’ Brave Tart blog (bravetart.com), and it keeps them wonderfully soft

Almond, honey and cinnamon fig rolls

Makes about 24 rolls
For the pastry
125g butter, softened
75g light muscovado sugar
1 egg yolk
seeds of 1⁄2 vanilla pod
75g plain white flour, plus extra for dusting
75g wholemeal flour
50g ground almonds
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

For the filling
220g soft dried figs, any hard stalks removed
1⁄2 small eating apple, skin on, grated
1 heaped tbsp honey
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
2 tsp orange juice
pinch of ground cinnamon pinch of salt

1 To make the pastry, cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until pale. Beat in the egg yolk. Add the vanilla, flours, ground almonds, cinnamon and salt and gently mix to form a soft ball of dough. Flatten into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill for 15 mins.

2 In a food processor, blitz the figs, apple, honey, orange zest and juice, cinnamon and salt to form a sticky paste.

3 Preheat the oven to 170C/Fan 150C/335F. Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge, place between two pieces of cling film and roll out to a large rectangle about 3mm thick. The dough will be quite fragile and sticky.

4 Cut the dough lengthways into three long strips. Spoon or pipe a third of the fig mixture down the centre of one strip and use a palette knife to help you gently fold one side on top, followed by the other, to create a long, enclosed tube. Press the edges of the pastry together to seal, then repeat with the remaining two strips.

5 Use a sharp knife to cut each length of pastry into 5cm-wide rolls, then place each one, seam-side down, onto the prepared trays.

6 Bake for 20 mins or until lightly golden and slightly puffed. Then carefully transfer to a plastic container with a lid to cool completely. This steaming gives them their characteristic cake-like texture. The rolls will keep in an airtight container for 3–4 days.

Recipes from Homemade Memories by Kate Doran. Photography by Helen Cathcart (Orion Books) 

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Recipe: Chicken Balmoral Pie

A pie is a great crowd pleaser and this won ‘Best chicken pie’ in the British Pie Awards 2015

400g puff pastry
75ml oil
25g butter
2 x 150g chicken fillets, boneless and skinless
50g finely chopped shallots
1 clove garlic, crushed
50g sliced white button mushrooms
25g smoked bacon, finely chopped
150ml white wine
25g plain flour for dusting
300ml fresh double cream
Chopped fresh parsley
100g thinly sliced haggis (optional)
1 medium egg
7-inch foil dish
Salt and white pepper

1 Preheat your oven to 180C/Fan 160/350F. Lightly dust the countertop with the flour and roll out the pastry to 3mm thick, cut to size, lay in a pie dish and rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Leave enough pastry spare for the lid and trimmings.
2 Warm oil in a frying pan, then add butter. Put the chicken fillets into pan and cook 8 mins on each side, then lay on a tray to cool.
3 Add chopped onion and garlic for approx 4 mins before adding the mushrooms and smoked bacon. Cook for a further 4 mins. 
4 Add the white wine and reduce by half, then add double cream and reduce until the sauce thickens for 5 mins. Stir in parsley then leave to cool.
5 When chicken and sauce are cool, remove pastry from
fridge and place 2 tbsp of sauce on the base of pastry. Slice the chicken fillets and arrange slices of chicken on base of pie.
6 Add 2 more tbsp of sauce and sprinkle over a small handful of chopped parsley, then arrange haggis, if using, on top.
7 Egg-wash the bottom of the pastry lid and place on top of the pie to seal it in place. Use the trimmings to decorate the top.
8 Egg-wash the pie and leave in fridge to rest for 15 mins. Make three small holes on top to let steam escape. Bake for 35-40 mins until golden brown.

Pie made by Boghall Butchers in Scotland. The British Pie Awards takes place today, 9 March 2015 in British Pie Week (7-13 March). britishpieawards.co.uk

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Recipe: Lemon, hazelnut and rhubarb cake

This crowd-pleaser of a cake is delicious served with cream for dessert and (if there’s any left!) with an afternoon cuppa the next day

Lemon, hazelnut and rhubarb cake

Serves 8–10

115g hazelnuts
225g white spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
260g unsalted butter, really soft
4 large free-range eggs
130g honey (or golden caster sugar) 
130g maple syrup
finely grated zest of 1 large unwaxed lemon

For the filling and topping
250g caster sugar
1 bunch of pink rhubarb (approx 400g)
350ml double cream
2-3 tbsp honey
fresh flowers to decorate (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F. Grease and flour two 20cm loose-bottomed sandwich tins.

2 Start by toasting the hazelnuts in the oven for 5-7 minutes; check after 5 minutes as they can burn easily. Once they are starting to change colour and release their lovely nutty aroma, remove them from the oven and leave to cool for a minute or two before rubbing off most of the skins. Whizz the nuts in a food processor into a fine meal.

3 To make the cake, sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat in all the other ingredients using an electric hand mixer. Be careful not to over mix – you want a light cake. Scrape the mixture into your tins and level the tops with the back of a spoon or a palette knife. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cakes are golden and risen and a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before carefully taking them out of their tins and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely. If making ahead of time, the sponges can be double-wrapped in foil and frozen. Be sure to defrost thoroughly before filling.

4 To make the rhubarb topping, mix the caster sugar with 250ml of water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, cut the rhubarb into batons of approx 4cm. Add the batons to the boiling sugar syrup, then immediately remove the pan from the heat. Leave the rhubarb batons in the syrup as it cools. Use a slotted spoon to remove the batons from the syrup. Reserve approx half for the top of the cake and purée the remainder with a hand-held blender, adding a splash of water to loosen. Chill the poached and puréed rhubarb until you’re ready to assemble the cake. If making ahead of time, the rhubarb can sit covered in the fridge for 24 hours.

5 When you are ready to fill and assemble your cake, prepare the honey cream filling by lightly whipping the cream until very soft peaks form. Drizzle in the honey and whisk again until incorporated.

6 If your cakes are very peaked, you may wish to trim the tops for a nice flat surface to decorate. Carefully place one cake on your cake plate, spoon over two thirds of the honey cream, marbling through 1-2 tbsp of the rhubarb purée, and place the second cake on top. Spread the remaining third of honey cream on the top of the second cake, then top with the poached rhubarb and a few seasonal flowers, if you wish.

For the full Easter Gathering menu and projects - Fish pie with crunchy salmon and leek topping, Lemon, hazelnut and rhubarb cake, Felt bunny ears, Dip-dyed place-names - turn to page 24 of the March issue of The Simple Things.

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From the March issue

Gathering recipes

Cake recipes

Plenty more delicious recipes in the March issue of The Simple Things, out now - buy, download or subscribe

Recipe: Eggs en cocotte with sorrel

Eggs are a symbol of new life and, eaten with handfuls of bright green sorrel, bring a little colour and sustenance to early spring days

Sharp and lemony sorrel is plentiful now, and it is wonderful in egg dishes. Try it in Lia Leendertz's Eggs en cocotte recipe.

Serves 2
butter, for greasing
75g crème fraîche
4 sorrel leaves, washed and finely sliced across
2 large eggs
salt and pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160/350F.
2 Lightly butter four ramekins, then put a spoonful of crème fraîche in the bottom of each, with a pinch of salt and pepper and the sorrel, making a ‘nest’ to hold the egg.
3 Crack an egg into each ramekin, then place another spoonful of crème fraîche in, and add another sprinkling of salt and pepper.
4 Place the ramekins into a deep baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come about half way up their sides. Bake for about 15 mins. 
5 Serve with toasted soldiers for dipping.

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From the March issue

Seed to Stove recipes

More egg posts

Plenty more delicious recipes in the March issue of The Simple Things, out now - buy, download or subscribe

Staple foods: 1. Eggs

Baked, boiled, poached, fried or scrambled, this healthy favourite is an everyday treasure, as sure as eggs is eggs

Words: LAURA ROWE 

The humble hen’s egg is one of the most readily available, cheap and endlessly versatile food stuffs around, but did you know that it is also one of the most ancient? Us humans have been eating all things ovoid since the Neolithic period, chomping our way through varieties of fowl egg from chickens, geese, quail, pheasant, plovers and guinea fowl, to ostriches, emu, pelican, pigeon and gull (the latter is without a fishy taste, apparently, contrary to rumour).

It’s little wonder, really. The egg is nature’s perfectly packaged hand-held, bite- size snack. It’s packed with vitamins (A, B, D and E) minerals (iodine, phosphorous, selenium, zinc and iron) and it’s a ‘complete’ protein, meaning that it has all of the essential amino acids that our bodies need. Eggs are also a cook’s friend – delicious in sweet or savoury dishes, whole or separated, on their own or as a component ingredient to bind, set, leaven, thicken, enrich, emulsify, glaze or clarify.

They can be boiled (older eggs are best here, as they are easier to peel), scrambled with butter (slow and low), poached (whisk the water to create a vortex before you crack in a fresh egg) or fried (butter and oil are good but bacon fat is better). They can also be baked (see page 43), or ‘shirred’, as the Americans call it, with cream and topped with cheese and breadcrumbs.

Whatever you do to them, they are best approached at room temperature, particularly in baking. You can check just how fresh they are, too, by placing them carefully in a glass of water. If they sink to the bottom they are good to go, while a floater can be discarded, that is unless you’re in China. Thousand-year-eggs are a delicacy here. Preserved in a combination of salt, lime and ashes, the egg is left for 45 to 100 days, whereupon the white turns yellow, firm and raw, presumably eaten with noses firmly pinched thanks to the strong smell of ammonia.

That’s far from the most unusual way to eat eggs, though. Head to South East Asia, specifically the Philippines or Vietnam, and you might stumble across a balut – a boiled, fertilised 17-20 day-old duck egg.

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From the March issue

Taste infographics

Recipe: Goose egg lemon curd

Plenty more delicious recipes in the March issue of The Simple Things, out now - buy, download or subscribe

Extract from Taste: The Infographic Book of Food by Laura Rowe, illustrations by Vicki Turner by Aurum Press, £20. Buy your copy here.

Recipe: Allium broth

This delicious broth has many uses. Use it instead of water for cooking pulses and beans and it brings them to life immediately. Add some diced or shredded green vegetables and simmer until they soften for a nutrient-rich soup or simply stir in some green pesto and lemon juice and pour into a mug for a light lunch on the go.

Allium broth

Makes 1.2 litres
2 large white onions, skins on, sliced
2 leeks, green ends included, sliced
1 bunch spring onions, sliced vertically
4-6 garlic cloves, rolled and smashed, skins on
4 small shallots, skin on, sliced into rounds
2.25 litres water
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns

1 Combine all the ingredients in a large pan. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil.
2 Lower the heat to a simmer, and continue cooking for 2 hours until all the allium vegetables have softened, become totally transparent and are almost reduced to a pulp.
3 Strain the broth through a sieve, pushing through the finer vegetables with a wooden spoon. Set aside to cool.
4 Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days, or freeze for up to three months.

Recipe from Broth by Vicki Edgson and Heather Thomas. Photography by Lisa Linder (Jacqui Small Publishing).

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From the February issue

Soup recipes

Supper on the sofa

February's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe. 

Recipe: Beetroot and caraway seed loaf cake

Based on a traditional seed cake, this is quick to make and is a sweet way to use up leftover roots*, especially beetroot, which gives it a cheery colour

BEETROOT AND CARAWAY SEED LOAF CAKE

100g cooked beetroot**
2–4 tbsp milk
50g ground almonds
11⁄2 tsp caraway seeds
150g butter, softened, plus extra to grease the tin
150g caster sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten 150g self raising flour, sifted
2 tbsp pearl or demerara sugar, to finish

1 Preheat the oven to 160C/Fan 140C/310F. Lightly grease a 1.5-litre loaf tin and line with baking parchment, then butter the parchment.
2 In a bowl, mash the beetroot with some of the milk until smooth. You can do this in a food processor or with a stick blender
if you like. Mix in the ground almonds and caraway seeds.
3 Using a hand-held electric whisk or mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
4 Gently fold in the flour, followed by the beetroot mixture, until just combined.
5 Spoon the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and gently smooth the surface. Sprinkle the pearl or demerara sugar over the top and bake for 55–60 mins, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
6 Leave in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This cake keeps well; if anything, it’s better after a couple of days stored in an airtight tin.

Recipe from Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Photography by Simon Wheeler (Bloomsbury).

* You can replace the beetroot with roast carrots or parsnips. You can use mashed or puréed veg too.
** These can be roasted (or boiled) with salt and pepper, even with some bay and/or thyme, but don’t use any roasted with garlic.

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From the February issue

Cake in the house recipes

Winter dauphinoise recipe

February's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe.