Recipe | Wild blackberry & rose petal sponge

Using Black Forest flavours to delicious effect, this ice-cream cake is a seasonal treat on
a sunny summer’s day

Make the most of early blackberries with this magnificent sponge. An unusual recipe that results in the lightest cake, which both looks and tastes enchanting

WILD BLACKBERRY & ROSE PETAL SPONGE

Serves 6–8
Melted butter, for greasing
140g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
3 organic eggs
225g granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Pale pink rose petals, fresh or crystallised for the filling
110ml whipping cream
2 tsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
1⁄2 tsp rosewater (optional)
225–350g wild blackberries

1 Preheat oven to 190C/Fan 170C/Gas 5. Brush two 20.5cm cake tins evenly with melted butter and dust with flour (lining the base with a circle of greaseproof paper will make removal easier, too).
2 Separate the eggs. In a food mixer, whisk the yolks with the sugar for 2 mins, then add 75ml water. Whisk for 10 mins until light and fluffy.
3 Sift the flour and baking powder into the mousse in batches. Whisk the egg whites until they hold a stiff peak. Gently fold them into the fluffy base.
4 Pour into the prepared cake tins and bake for about 20 mins until the centre is firm and the edges begin to shrink from the tin edge. Remove the cakes from the tins and cool on a wire rack.
5 Whip the cream, then add the icing sugar and a few drops of rosewater (if using).
6 Sandwich the cold sponges together with the whipped cream and the blackberries. Dust a little icing sugar over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with fresh or crystallised rose petals.

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

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Recipe | Banana split

This retro sundae recipe uses no-churn ice-cream that can be whipped up in no time, and happens to be vegan, too. Tuck in and let those childhood summer memories come flooding back.

Serves 2–4
Vegan
9 frozen bananas
3 tbsp plant milk of your choice 1 vanilla pod, scraped
4 strawberries
2 tbsp cacao powder
to serve
Bananas, sliced vertically
Chocolate sauce*
Cherries
Coconut flakes

1 Start by making the ice-cream. You have three flavours here: vanilla, strawberries and chocolate. Separate the bananas into three clusters, one for each flavour.
2 In a blender, start with the vanilla flavour by adding the bananas, 1 tbsp of plant milk and the vanilla. Once blended, store in a bowl and keep in the freezer until needed. Do the
same with the other two flavours, blitzing and blending them separately, and transferring to separate bowls to freeze.
3 Now you’re ready to assemble. Arrange the banana slices into pretty bowls or dishes, and top with one scoop of each ice-cream and drizzles of chocolate sauce, finishing with a cherry and coconut flakes. Serve immediately.

* Cook’s note: If you fancy making your own chocolate sauce, there’s a recipe here. 

Recipe from Happy Food: Fast, Fresh, Simple Vegan by Bettina Campolucci Bordi (Hardie Grant).

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Plum cordial

Rich, fruity and jewel coloured, this makes a ridiculously pretty pink drink when diluted with fizzy water (or with a measure of gin and a splash of soda)

If you think you will get through 700ml in no time, there is no need to add the citric acid or to sterilise the bottle, as it will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Plum cordial

Makes 700ml
1kg plums
250ml water
1 heaped tsp citric acid
600g granulated sugar per litre juice
YOU WILL NEED
A muslin or jelly bag
A funnel
A 700ml bottle and stopper, both sterilised

1 Put the plums and water into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the plums soften and start to fall away from the stones, and use a wooden spoon to squash them to help to release as much of the juices as possible.
2 Tip everything into a jelly bag- or muslin-lined colander, and leave to drip into a saucepan for a few hours or overnight. Resist squeezing, as this will cloud the juice.
3 Measure the juice into a clean saucepan and add 600g of sugar per litre, and the citric acid, if using. Put the pan over a low heat and stir until all of the sugar is dissolved. Pour into the sterilised bottle and seal. It will keep for 3–4 months, stored somewhere dark and cool.

Turn to page 42 for more of our staple foods feature on plums from Lia Leendertz.

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Recipe | Chocolate sauce for banana splits

Our August issue (out 25 July 2018) includes a recipe for a Banana Split, for which you'll need oodles of chocolate sauce

Vegan chocolate sauce

80ml coconut oil
4 tbsp cacao powder
3 tbsp maple syrup
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla pod (bean), scraped 

Combine all the ingredients and gently heat through in a medium pan for about 5 mins – make sure you don’t overheat as this will separate the sauce. Once well combined, pour into a glass jar and set aside.

Recipe from Happy Food: Fast, Fresh, Simple Vegan by Bettina Campolucci Bordi (Hardie Grant).

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Recipe | Shellfish in parcels

Cooking fish the Mediterranean way in a parcel (en papillotte or cartoccio) allows it to cook in its own steam, resulting in a moist and lightly cooked dish. These shellfish pouches can be cooked on a barbecue or in an oven, bringing the flavour of holidays to your table.

Shellfish in parcels

FOR EACH PARCEL
3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
1 large sprig fresh rosemary or thyme
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice or a splash of dry white wine
250g shellfish, such as cockles, clams and prawns (with shells on)*

1 Take a large 30cm square of baking parchment for each parcel. On one side, place your mixed herbs and spring onions, season and drizzle with a little oil and lemon juice or wine. Lay the shellfish on top, drizzle over the remaining oil and lemon juice.
2 Fold the paper up and over the filling, and pinch all the way round to secure, tucking the corners under a couple of times to ensure the parcel is thoroughly sealed while leaving plenty of space in the parcel for air to circulate evenly during cooking. If you’re barbecuing them, wrap a sheet of foil around the parcel too, taking care not to squash it. 
3 To barbecue: ensure the charcoal grill is medium hot (your hand over the coals should be comfortable for about five seconds). Place the parcels on a grill rack and cook for 3–4 mins until you start to hear the juices bubbling. Cook for another 5 mins with the lid over the barbecue. Take off the heat and set aside, unopened, for 5 mins.
4 To cook in the oven: preheat to 200C/ Fan 180C/Gas 6, place the parcels on a baking tray and cook for 20 mins. Take out and check the cockles or clams have opened or prawns are bright pink. Remember it will continue to cook when out of the oven. Stand for 3–5 mins.

Recipe from Mediterranean by Susie Theodorou (Kyle Books).

* You can replace the shellfish with 175g fish such as sea bass, mackerel or salmon (about 1.5cm thick, keep skin on). Cook until fish is just flaky.

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Recipe | Peach & portobello mushroom burgers

Guacamole takes this veggie burger to another level

Makes 6
6 portobello mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
3–4 peaches, sliced so you have two slices per burger
6 brioche buns
Rocket leaves, to garnish
Gherkins (optional)

FOR THE GUACAMOLE
2 avocados, peeled, stone removed and cut into chunks
Juice of 1⁄2 lime
1⁄2 red onion, finely chopped
Chilli flakes, to taste

1 Brush the mushrooms with a little olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Add to the barbecue and cook for 3–5 mins each side.
2 Brush the peach slices with a little oil and cook for 2–3 mins each side. Slice the brioche buns and place cut side-down on the barbecue for 1–2 mins, until browned.
3 Mash the avocado roughly with a fork. Add the lime juice, onion and chilli flakes. Mix together.
4 Add a layer of guacamole to each bun base, followed by the rocket leaves and two peach slices. Top each with a mushroom, add gherkins, if using, and sandwich with the bun tops. Use a bamboo skewer to keep assembled burgers in place.

Turn to page 24 of the July issue for more of our veg box barbecue ideas, including Halloumi & courgette parcels, Quinoa salad with new potatoes, tomatoes, edamame & nectarines, Vegetarian skewers with a lime & honey dressing and Watermelon triangles.

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Recipe | Black cherry, chocolate and meringue ice cream cake

Using Black Forest flavours to delicious effect, this ice-cream cake is a seasonal treat on
a sunny summer’s day

BLACK CHERRY, CHOCOLATE & MERINGUE ICE-CREAM CAKE

100g dark chocolate
390g jar black cherries in kirsch or 400g tin black cherries in syrup* 
250g black cherry conserve or jam
600ml double cream
85g meringue nests (5–6)

TO SERVE
Fresh cherries (with stalks)
A handful chopped pistachios
Icing sugar, to dust

1 Line the base of a 23–24cm springform tin with a square piece of baking paper, leaving the excess sticking out from the sides.
2 Melt the chocolate in a small bowl suspended over a pan of boiling water. Drain the cherries in a sieve set over a small pan, and set aside the kirsch or syrup.
3 With a food mixer, roughly blitz the cherries into a chunky, textured pulp. Stir the conserve or jam in a small bowl to loosen.
4 In a food mixer or large mixing bowl, whip the cream until just beginning to thicken and barely holding its shape – the trick is to under-whip. Pour in the conserve or jam, followed by the meringues, breaking and crumbling into irregular shapes and sizes as you go. Fold into the cream very gently, leaving a ripple effect.
5 Spread a scant third of the mixture into the tin. Top with all the blitzed cherries by spooning on in blobs, then joining the blobs.
* If you’re using tinned cherries, 1 tbsp of cherry brandy of amaretto is a nice addition when reducing the syrup.
Spread over half of the remaining cream using the same technique.
6 Dribble over all but 2–3 tbsp of the chocolate and spread to cover the cream. Finally, blob and spread over the last of the cream. Using a spatula or the back of a spoon, gently push the mixture into the tin to get rid of air pockets.
7 Cover with cling film, directly on the surface of the cake, and freeze until solid (overnight is best).
8 Boil the reserved cherry liquid fast until syrupy and reduced to around 2 tbsp. It will thicken up when cold and, if too thick when cold, loosen with a drop of boiling water.
9 Serve the cake straight from the freezer. Unmould onto a large platter. Warm the set-aside tbsps of chocolate and drizzle from a teaspoon, zigzagging over the cake and platter; repeat with some of the syrup. 

Pile the fresh cherries in the middle, scatter with chopped pistachios and dust with icing sugar.

Recipe from The Get-Ahead Cook by Jane Lovett (Apicius Publishing).

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Recipe | Samphire frittata with warm lemony courgette salad

A quick veggie supper after a day by the sea; marsh samphire can be foraged or bought locally in summer.

It grows on muddy, sandy flats often on estuaries or creeks. Simply pinch out or snip off the tops to leave the rest of the plant to grow. Samphire is usually served with fish but also goes beautifully with eggs.

Serves 4
FOR THE COURGETTE SALAD
150g runner beans, sliced on the diagonal
3 tbsp olive oil
Shallots, sliced
Yellow courgettes (or green if you can’t find them), halved and cut into chunky slices
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 small vine-ripened tomatoes, halved or quartered if large
2 rounded tbsp chopped oregano leaves
Juice of 1⁄2 lemon

FOR THE FRITTATA
250g new potatoes, sliced
2 tbsp sunflower oil
6 large eggs, beaten
50g samphire
Handful of tarragon, leaves finely shredded
100g soft goats’ cheese

1 To make the courgette salad, steam the runner beans for 5 mins or until tender. Refresh the beans under cold running water and put to one side.
2 Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the shallots for 5 mins until softened. Add the courgettes and garlic, and fry for 3 mins. Stir in the tomatoes, half the oregano and the lemon juice, then reduce the heat slightly and cook
for 5 mins or until the courgettes are just tender but retain a little bite, and the tomatoes have started to break down.
3 Stir in the runner beans, add the remaining olive oil, and season with salt and pepper, then warm through. Keep the salad warm while you make the frittata.
4 Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for 15 mins or until tender, then drain in a colander.
5 Heat the sunflower oil in an ovenproof frying pan. Add the drained potatoes, and the
beaten eggs, most of the samphire and the tarragon. Lay the remaining samphire elegantly on the top. Crumble over the goats’ cheese and season with salt and pepper (remembering the salty flavour of the samphire, so you won’t need much salt).
6 Preheat your grill. Cook the frittata for 7–10 mins on the hob over a medium heat, enough to set the bottom, then finish under the grill until just set all the way through. Add the remaining oregano leaves to the salad and serve it warm with the frittata.

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Recipe | Baked paneer cheesecake

New York usually steals the thunder when it comes to baked cheesecakes. This reworking, however, owes its distinctive flavour to India – made with paneer and spiced with cardamom, it’s a revelation. 

Serves 12
300g digestive biscuits
Ground seeds from 4 cardamom pods
2 drops of vanilla extract
100g unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE CHEESECAKE TOPPING
400g full-fat cream cheese
175g soured cream
225g paneer, finely grated
175g caster sugar
Ground seeds from 8 cardamom pods
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 medium eggs

TO SERVE (OPTIONAL)
Crushed pistachio nuts
Mango or cherry fruit compote

1 Line a 23cm springform tin with greaseproof paper, allowing enough to hang over the edges of the tin. Blitz the biscuits, cardamom and vanilla in a food processor until finely crushed. Add the butter and blitz until the crumbs stick together when pressed.
2 Transfer to the lined tin, using the back of a spoon to spread and press it firmly over the base. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 mins.
3 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 160C/Fan 140C/Gas 3. In the cleaned bowl of the food processor, blitz all the topping ingredients, except the eggs, until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, adding one at a time, until well combined.
4 Pour the cream cheese mixture over the chilled base and spread it evenly. Bake for 1 hour or until set completely. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake inside until it has cooled completely before removing.
5 Chill for 4–5 hours in the fridge before removing from the tin and serving.

Recipe from Gunpowder by Devina Seth, Harneet Baweja & Nirmal Save (Kyle Books, out mid June).

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Recipe | Summer strawberry tart

A light dessert that’s really easy to make, really lovely to eat

Serves 4–6
2 tbsp melted butter
1 sheet of puff pastry
400g strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
Sprigs of mint, to garnish
Icing sugar, to dust
300ml double cream

1 Preheat oven to 200C/Fan 180C/ Gas 6. Grease a rectangular baking tray with half of the butter and place the pastry on the tray.
2 In a large bowl, add the strawberries, vanilla extract and caster sugar. Stir gently to evenly coat the fruit.
3 Arrange the berries in rows, leaving a 2.5cm border of pastry all the way round. Brush this edge with the remaining butter and then place in the oven for 15–20 mins or until golden.
4 Remove from the oven, allow to cool, and top with a dusting of icing sugar and sprigs of mint.
5 Whisk the cream until soft peaks form; transfer to a bowl to serve.

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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.

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Ewe’s cheese salad from The Hidden Hut

Inspired by his Cornish café’s coastal setting, chef and owner of the Hidden Hut, Simon Stallard, picks favourite summer dishes for morning, noon and night on page 38 of June’s The Simple Things.

Want to make the Ewe’s cheese salad to accompany the 12-hour lamb with smoky aubergine? Here’s the recipe.  

Ewe’s cheese salad from The Hidden Hut

60g pumpkin seeds
160g bulgar wheat
4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
80g mint leaves, roughly chopped
120g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1.2kg watermelon flesh, chopped into 2.5cm cubes
350g ewe’s cheese or feta
Sumac, for sprinkling

1 Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry saucepan over a medium-high heat for 3 mins or until lightly browned, shaking the pan regularly. Put to one side.

2 Place the bulgar wheat in a small saucepan and just cover with water. Put a lid on and cook over a low heat for 8–10 mins until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender. Leave to cool completely.

3 Combine the lemon juice and oil in a small bowl and season well with salt and pepper.

4 In a large mixing bowl, combine the mint, parsley, onion and watermelon. Tip in the lemon juice dressing and toss everything to coat.

5 Transfer the salad to a large serving plate. Crumble the cheese over the top of the salad, then sprinkle over the toasted pumpkin seeds. Finish with a sprinkle of sumac.

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Recipe | Olive oil, rosemary & apricot cake

If you’re not keen on an oversweet cake, this one’s for you. The Mediterranean mix of olive oil, rosemary and lemon is sensational

Olive oil, rosemary & apricot cake

5 eggs, separated
165g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp to sprinkle
1⁄4 tsp salt
185ml olive oil
Juice & finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
150g plain flour, sifted
10 apricots, halved & stones removed (or tinned apricot halves, drained)

to serve (optional)
300ml soured cream or crème fraîche
30g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract/essence or vanilla bean paste

1 Preheat oven to 170C/Fan 150C/Gas 3. Grease the ring of a 20–22cm springform tin, then turn the base upside down, so it no longer has a lip. Place a piece of baking paper over it, then clamp the ring around it to secure.
2 In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until just foamy. Add 55g of the caster sugar in two batches, whisking well between each addition, until soft peaks form. Set aside.
3 Combine the egg yolks, remaining (110g) caster sugar and salt in a medium mixing bowl, and whisk with an electric mixer on high speed until pale and thick. Gradually drizzle in the olive oil, whisking on high speed until all of it has been used. Add the lemon juice and zest, rosemary and flour, and stir with a whisk until just combined.
4 Whisk in one-third of the egg whites to loosen the mixture, then add the remainder and stir very gently with the whisk until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and arrange the apricot halves in concentric circles on top, working from the outside in.
5 Sprinkle the extra tbsp of caster sugar evenly over the surface, and bake for about 50 mins, or until an skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
6 To make a vanilla cream, if using, combine the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl and whisk by hand or with an electric mixer until floppy peaks form.
7 Once the cake is cooked, rest it in the tin for 5 mins before releasing the ring and sliding the cake onto a wire rack to cool. Leave to rest for about 30 mins before slicing and serving – warm works for this cake – with your choice of dolloping cream!

Recipe from Poh Bakes 100 Greats by Poh Ling Yeow (Murdoch Books).
 

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Green onion kimchi

This Korean condiment is made by fermenting seasonal veg with fish sauce and spices. Delicious eaten as a pickle, it’s also fantastic in a toasted cheese sandwich.

Makes 1 large jar
100g spring onions
115ml fish sauce
235ml water
2 tbsp rice flour
4 tbsp cayenne or Korean chilli powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced ginger

1 Into a large bowl place the spring onions and fish sauce, and mix thoroughly; leave it all to sit
for an hour.
2 Put the water and rice flour into a small saucepan and heat, stirring, until it starts to boil. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
3 When the mixture has cooled, add the cayenne or chilli powder, sugar, sesame seeds, garlic and ginger. Pour this over the spring onions and then use your hands (gloves are advised!) to make sure each onion is coated in the mixture.
4 Tie each onion into a knot and place it in a large sterilised jar, then tip over the rest of the sauce and seal. The jar should then be kept at room temperature. It will start to ferment almost immediately and can be eaten after a couple of days, but the flavour will develop over the next few weeks. Will keep in the fridge for up to three months.

Turn to page 34 for more onion recipes from Lia Leendertz.

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Recipe | Chocolate croissant tearer-sharer

If you’re partial to a pain au chocolat, you’ll love this effortless version, ideal for feeding the troops on a long weekend. This recipe uses plant-based milk and cream, but you can, of course, use dairy. 

Chocolate croissant tearer-sharer

Serves 4–6
100g dark chocolate
21⁄2 tbsp icing sugar, plus extra to dust
2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
2 tbsp plant-based milk
Handful each of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
Oat or soy cream, to serve

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Break up 75g of the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of barely simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water), stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Mix in the icing sugar, until lump-free, then remove the pan from the heat.
2 Lay one sheet of pastry on a lined baking sheet. Pour over most of the melted chocolate and spread it out, leaving a 2cm gap around the edges. Lay the second sheet of pastry flush on top (you may need help with this bit). Gently press the two sheets of pastry together all the way round the edges.
3 With a sharp knife, make four evenly spaced 5cm cuts into the long edges of the pastry. You should be left with a 3cm strip of pastry down the middle with five sections of pastry either side. 
4 Cut the remaining chocolate into 10 chunks and pop one chunk in the middle of each section of pastry. Roll to encase the chocolate, taking care not to cover the middle section, and press to seal. Brush with the milk and bake for 30–35 mins until golden and crisp.
5 Scatter the berries over the middle section, drizzle over the reserved melted chocolate, and dust with icing sugar. Serve hot, with cream for pouring.

Recipe from Bosh! by Henry Firth & Ian Theasby (HQ HarperCollins)

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Turmeric pickled cauliflower & chilli

Cauliflower makes a good crunchy pickle with a touch of heat – just the thing to go with cheese and crackers

Makes 2 jars
1 head cauliflower
4 chilli peppers
400ml distilled vinegar
400ml water
2 tbsp granulated sugar
11⁄2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp coriander seeds

1 Break the cauliflower into florets, halving or quartering the larger ones so that each is bite sized. Slice the chillies in half and scoop out and discard the seeds (unless you want a very fiery pickle, in which case leave them). Pack these into sterilised jars.
2 In a pan gently heat the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and spices until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins.
3 Pour the hot liquid over the veg, making sure they’re completely covered. Seal and store in a cool, dark place.

Cook’s note: You can eat this after a week, but the flavours will have more chance to mellow and develop if you wait for a month or longer. Will store, sealed, for at least a year.

Turn to page 42 for more cauliflower recipes from Lia Leendertz.

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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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How to host a salon

A salon supper, dotted with informal talks, brings the promise of knowledge to the table, and good food, too

We all know a bit about something – whether from work or study, travel or a hobby. These pearls of wisdom, however, are unlikely to come up in conversation. Yet, with the right setting, good food and willing friends, you can create a memorable evening, peppered with stories shared (see how on page 29). A modern salon calls for dishes that impress without stealing the show – a menu that needs only the lightest of last-minute prep. The result? Appetites sated and minds broadened.

How to host your own salon

Think about space
How much room have you got for people to sit comfortably? A nice full room creates a buzz, but too many people makes the space seem squashed. Where will you position food and drink? It needs to be accessible without disrupting speakers.

Check, one, two
If you’re not meeting in a house or flat, but in a pub or another borrowed venue, it’s worth checking your speakers can be heard without a microphone.

Be the curator
What do you want your salon to look like and who speaks? It could be that you’re
a group of friends and you all share, or that each of you brings an interesting person to speak.

Choose a theme
This will help an evening hang together. Keep it broad to allow for interpretation and creativity. You can either go abstract – new or lost, for example – or concrete – topics such as holidays or school.

Play the host
Beyond serving food and drink, you’ll need to introduce the event (or ask someone else to): thank people for coming, set out the theme of talks, and describe the shape of the evening – how many speakers there are, when breaks will be – so that guests know what to expect. Then just see where the night takes you.
 

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.

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Recipe | Brown butter and toffee cookies

The addition of browned butter gives these cookies a rich, nutty edge, making them all the more moreish. The recipe also works well with white chocolate

BROWN BUTTER & TOFFEE COOKIES
Makes 16
150g unsalted butter
1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1⁄2 tsp mixed spice
300g plain flour
1⁄2 tsp salt
150g light brown soft sugar
100g caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp whole milk
150g chocolate-covered toffees, such as Fazer’s Dumle*, or white chocolate, chopped
Sea salt flakes (optional)

1 Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until it starts to bubble noisily. Eventually the bubbles will become smaller and stop. Swirl the pan – you will see and smell the change from yellow butter to brown. Immediately remove from the heat. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool a little.
2 In another bowl sift together the bicarbonate of soda, mixed spice, flour and salt.
3 Mix both sugars into the browned butter until well incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk, syrup, vanilla extract and milk. Add the dry ingredients, then the toffees or white chocolate and stir to combine. Cover the bowl or wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for a few hours.
4 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Form egg-sized rounds of cookie dough using your hands and place on the lined baking sheets. These cookies spread a lot during baking, so leave a minimum of 8cm between each round.
5 Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, if using. Bake for around 8 mins until slightly brown at the sides but not entirely puffed up. Remove from the oven and let cool (if using Dumle, let cool for a bit longer before eating).

Recipe from ScandiKitchen Summer by Brontë Aurell (Ryland, Peters & Small).

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

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Homemade nut butters

All you need is a blender and a bag of nuts and you can make your own homemade nut butter in no time. Delicious spread on hot toast or oatcakes, stirred into porridge or sneakily licked off a finger.

Hazelnut butter

Makes about 150g
130g hazelnuts, skins removed
1 tbsp neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa or cacao powder (optional)

1 Blitz the hazelnuts in a food processor for 8–12 mins, depending on your machine. First you’ll get a fine powder, but continue blending until you get a denser, softened nut butter.
2 Add the oil, vanilla, salt and cocoa or cacao powder (if using) and blitz to combine for 2–4 mins until smooth. Store in the fridge in an airtight jar for up to a month.
 

Cashew butter

Makes about 250g
240g raw cashews
Pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed or sunflower

1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/Gas 4. Place the cashews on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake in the preheated oven for 6–9 mins until lightly toasted.
2 Allow the cashews to cool completely before transferring to a food processor. Add the salt and blitz. Once you have a rough paste (after 6–7 mins), slowly add the oil with the motor running. Blend for 8–12 mins in total. Be patient: you will get a nut butter eventually! 

Cook’s notes: You’ll have to scrape down the sides a few times between blitzes. Store in the fridge in a jar for up to a month.

Recipes from The New Porridge by Leah Vanderveldt (Ryland, Peters & Small).
 

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