Image: Catherine Frawley
Photography: Steve Painter
Pomegranate cake
This traditional Iranian cake has all the moreishness of a drizzle cake, topped with an indulgent cream-cheese frosting, carrot cake-style. Doubly delicious
POMEGRANATE CAKE
200g butter, softened
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1⁄2 lemon
240g self-raising flour mixed with 1 tsp baking powder, sifted
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
50g fresh pomegranate seeds
for the syrup
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Freshly squeezed juice of 1⁄2 lemon
80g granulated sugar
1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
150g fresh pomegranate seeds for the frosting
250g full-fat cream cheese
50ml double cream
80g icing sugar
1 Preheat oven to 160C/Fan 140C/325F. Grease a 23cm round loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment.
2 Place the butter and sugar into the bowl of the food mixer and beat on a medium speed until fluffy. With the speed set on slow, add the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice and the sifted flour/baking powder and blend until just mixed. Add the pomegranate molasses and pomegranate seeds and carefully mix until just combined.
3 Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake for 45–50 mins until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin slightly while you make the syrup.
4 For the syrup, place all the ingredients except the seeds into a small pan along with 80ml water. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat to high and boil for 5 mins until slightly syrupy. Spoon half of the warm syrup over the warm cake and set aside to cool completely in the tin. Add the fresh pomegranate seeds to the remaining syrup and set aside to cool fully.
5 Place all the frosting ingredients in a large bowl and beat using a balloon whisk or hand-held electric whisk until thick and creamy.
6 Turn out the cooled cake onto a plate. Spoon over the frosting and use a palette knife to smooth it to the edges in rustic style. Carefully spoon the remaining syrup and seeds over the frosting and allow it to drip down the sides of the cake. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe from Lola’s: A Cake Journey Around the World by Lola’s Bakers and Julia Head (Ryland, Peters & Small).
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Image: Audrey Fitzjohn
Recipe | Ciabatta bun camembert burgers
Burgers can be special, grilled outdoors and topped with crisp leaves, crunchy pickles and melting camembert
Serves 6
450g beef mince
1 camembert (approx 250g)
6 ciabatta buns
6 tbsp readymade aïoli
Handful of baby spinach
Gherkins
1 Shape the minced meat into 6 round patties, each roughly 1cm thick, and cut the camembert into slices.
2 Cook the patties on the barbecue,
3 mins on each side for medium rare (or cooked to your liking).
3 Cut the ciabatta buns in half, spread aïoli on one side of the bun, top with baby spinach leaves, a cooked patty, two slices of camembert and a few slices of gherkin.
Turn to page 24 for the rest of our beach barbecue menu, including:
Green summer salad
Pesto and sun-dried tomato pasta
Prawn kebabs
Pineapple coconut juice
Fruit salad
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Photography: Nassima Rothacker
Make your own simple face serum
Serums can feel like an expensive luxury but they don’t have to be.
Used before applying moisturiser, they give a boost to your skin and this homemade version uses vitamin C for its antioxidant properties and its role in repairing collagen.
Great for sun-stressed skin, it’s quick and easy to prepare – just make it when you need it...
1 tsp vitamin C powder (available from health food shops or online. Just make sure you buy a natural one)
2 tsp filtered water
Stir the vitamin C powder into water until fully dissolved. Use before bed after washing your face and before applying moisturiser. Smooth onto your face in a circular upward motion and let it sink in.
From The Art of the Natural Home by Rebecca Sullivan (Kyle Books).
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Image: Karly/Unsplash
A could-do list for July
Things you might want to do this month (no pressure!)
- Have a snooze in the sunshine
- Feel wet grass between your toes
- Eat fish and chips out of newspaper
- Swim outdoors in cold water
- Stay up late around a fire pit
- Wake to the sound of the sea
What would you add? Come over and tell us on Facebook or Twitter.
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Image: Katarzyna Kos
Simple style | Sunglasses
That moment when the sun shines brightly enough to justify wearing a favourite pair of sunglasses is a moment to lift the heart. Snap open the case, slip them on and it’s like saying hello to an old friend.
Of course they offer welcome protection from harmful UV rays but that’s just the start and, to be totally honest, comes quite a long way down the list of priorities when choosing a pair. The right pair of sunglasses provides an instant and easy way to lift your look from normal to almost glamorous. Take a cue from Jackie Kennedy Onassis, whose over-sized pair not only shielded her from public and paparazzi scrutiny but helped to endow her with iconic fashion status.
Sunglasses also have great concealing powers: whether it’s to hide a lack of make- up, laughter lines or baggy and bloodshot eyes. Wear a pair and you can pretend that you are a wasted rock legend or a jet-lagged film star rather than someone who had a little too much prosecco the night before.
Safe behind the tinted lenses and the cheekbone-flattering frames, you can be anyone you choose, or at least a boosted version of yourself. Bono, that inveterate wearer of tinted, wrap-around shades (Emporio Armani, if you’re curious) knows this only too well: without them, he confesses, he would look like “an ordinary little Irish man”.
Read more on the history of eye protection on page 22 of July’s The Simple Things.
THE CLASSIC
Ally Aviator sunglasses | £10
A little bit Top Gun, a little bit Wag, but the teardrop shape is always cool.
topshop.com
TWO GREAT TWISTS
Gracie sunglasses | £59
Brushed stainless steel and pink enamel. Lightweight and with 100% UV protection.
jigsaw-online.com
Rectangular wrap over-sized sunglasses | £9.50
Channel the spirit of Jackie O in these.
marksandspencer.com
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Wander | July cover reveal
To wander is to stray from the path well trodden. But it is also about discovering the unexpected, experiencing the new and noticing the little things, wherever you may be. Remember the moment; take and print out photographs, send and save postcards, learn from songs and sayings in foreign lands. For a more mindful adventure, let wandering be your travel guide this summer and go your own way.
Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe
View the sampler here, buy back issues or try our sister mag, Oh Comely
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Recipe | Strawberry and pesto pasta salad
Strawberries and pasta? Why not! This fun and colourful salad has a bounty of fresh fruit and veg and the pesto avocado dressing is creamy yet light. Enjoy in the sunshine with a glass of something cold.
Strawberry and pesto pasta salad
300g dry pasta
1 broccoli, head and stalk
2 carrots, tops removed and peeled
250g fresh strawberries, hulled
1 nectarine, sliced
1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
1 handful fresh basil leaves
Pesto and avocado dressing:
75g homemade* or shop-bought pesto
1 ripe avocado
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
To serve:
Shavings of pecorino or parmesan
Toasted pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil
1 Cook the pasta until al dente.
2 Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into small florets, trim and roughly chop stalks and place in a sieve over the pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking. Drain pasta and broccoli and set aside.
3 Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, season and mash until combined.
4 Thinly slice the carrots, quarter the strawberries, slice the nectarine and halve the tomatoes. Transfer the pasta and broccoli to a large serving bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and dressing and gently toss to coat. Add a dash of water if you need to loosen the dressing.
5 Serve topped with pecorino, a sprinkling of pine nuts, seasoning and a drizzle of oil.
*To make homemade pesto, you will need:
100g fresh basil, leaves and stems picked
60g grana padano or parmesan, grated
50g pine nuts, toasted
80ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, peeled
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, season to taste and blend until well combined. Store the pesto in the fridge in a sealable glass jar and it will keep for about a week. Alternatively, roll it into a log using a sheet of greaseproof paper and store it in the freezer.
Taken from Green Kitchen at Home by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl (Hardie Grant).
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Photography: Laura Edwards
Recipe | Gooseberry cake
This seemingly plain cake conceals treasure within – pops of delicious, tangy gooseberry to cut through the moist sponge
GOOSEBERRY CAKE
200g very soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
200g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
200g plain flour
75g soured cream or natural yogurt
100g oat flour (see below)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
300g gooseberries
5 tbsp demerara sugar
1 To make the oat flour, put the oats into a food processor and blitz on a high-speed setting for 5 mins or until you have a fine flour. Use on the day of making.
2 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160F/ 350F. Grease a 20cm round, loose-bottomed cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
3 In a bowl, beat the butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding 2 tbsp of the flour with each addition (to stop batter splitting). Once all the eggs are added, stir in the soured cream or
yogurt. Once combined, fold in the remaining plain flour, oat flour and baking powder.
4 When the mixture is smooth, stir in the vanilla and 200g of the gooseberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin, then top with the remaining berries and sprinkle over the demerara sugar.
5 Bake for 45–50 mins until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Recipe from Gatherings by Flora Shedden (Mitchell Beazley).
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Image: Joe Shillington/Unsplash
Mindful moments | Download a chatterbox to colour in
Pretty much any activity can be a mindful activity, it’s fair to say, but colouring in, carefully and attentively, is particularly suitable. These beautiful illustrations by Emma Farrarons combine a colouring exercise with simple, fun and imaginative activities to help make any day a little more mindful. Download Emma’s chatterbox now or turn to page 52 of June’s The Simple Things for more mindful activities and colouring doodles.
Remember how much fun you had making chatterboxes as a child? Create a mindfulness chatterbox filled with eight different activities to help remind you to break your day and make time for mindfulness. Fold a square piece of paper as shown here. Come up with your own ideas or you can use the template as a guide.
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Listen | Songs for wandering
Songs to inspire meandering and wanderlust in equal measure.
Listen to our songs for wandering playlist now
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Competition | Win a stay at Bude Hideaways in Cornwall with i-escape
Cornwall, tranquillity, coastline, countryside, luxury: is there anything in this list not to like?
On page 68 of July's The Simple Things (out 28 June) we visit Bude Hideaways, tucked into the Cornish countryside. Fancy a visit yourself? Entering this prize draw to win a three-night stay there is a good place to start.
What you could win
The winner will stay in Red Barn, which sleeps up to four guests and a baby in one double and one twin room. One of two contemporary conversions on site, it features white walls, bold art, Eames chairs, Orla Kiely homewares, underfloor heating and wood-burners. Everything you could possibly need has been thought of.
Owners Conrad and Karen live nearby and are warmth itself – totally discreet if you prefer to be anonymous, but there if you want tips on all the quaint villages, great eateries and beaches it has to offer.
Best of all, their gorgeous seven-acre smallholding is an enormous, safe haven for kids, with large lawns for kicking a ball around, free-range chickens strutting around, even a woodland den to discover – all of which gives parents the chance to relax, read books, admire the wildflower meadow, or simply do nothing at all.
In good hands
Bude Hideaways is part of i-escape’s hand-picked collection of boutique hotels and stylish self-catering rentals. i-escape’s passionate team is dedicated to helping you find and book unforgettable places to stay, and all the properties in its portfolio are visited and reviewed in honesty.
For your chance to win…
Enter online at thisisyourkingdom.co.uk/competition/bude-hideaways before the closing date, 9 August 2017. The winner will be chosen at random and notified after this date. The prize does not include travel, food, drink or any extras aside from your three-night stay, which must be taken before 1 August 2018. Some weeks are excluded; find full terms and conditions online.
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Escape: A converted barn in Wales
See, do, stay, love the UK. This month: Jeska Hearne heads to the Welsh border for a family stay in an architectural gem
Our regular travel series comes from online UK travel guide This is Your Kingdom, whose handpicked contributors explore favourite places, special finds and great goings on.
You can read about one we love each month in The Simple Things – turn to page 68 of the June issue for more of this rural adventure – and plenty of others at thisisyourkingdom.co.uk.
Jeska Hearne is a contributor to thisisyourkingdom.co.uk and co-founder of online lifestyle store thefuturekept.com. More of her photographs and stories can be found on her blog lobsterandswan.com and Instagram @lobsterandswan.
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Recipe | Peachy lemon verbena iced tea
A thirst-quenching cooler with fresh fruit and herbs
Peachy lemon verbena iced tea
Serves 4–6
1 ripe peach
A handful of lemon verbena
A drop of honey (optional)
A handful of ice
Slice your peaches. Add to a large jug of water along with the lemon verbena. Swirl in a little honey, if you want a touch of sweetness. Let it infuse for 15 mins in the fridge. Add a handful of ice before serving.
This recipe is from our modern afternoon tea feature on page 24 of June’s The Simple Things. Other recipes include:
Rhubarb fizz
Curried egg & chive sandwiches
Crab, chilli & fennel sandwiches
Broad bean, goat’s curd & mint open sandwiches
Dark chocolate chip scones
Jammy raspberries
Cardamom, rose & strawberry cake
Cherry & elderflower cheesecake tartlets
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A could-do list for June
Things you might want to do this month (no pressure!)
- Eat strawberries straight out of the punnet
- Ride your bike with the wind behind you
- Stay up late gossiping with a friend
- Listen to the first album you ever bought
- Play tennis on a warm evening
- Leave the curtains open and wake up naturally with the dawn
What would you add? Come over and tell us on Facebook or Twitter.
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Photography: Kristin Perers
Recipe | Cardamom and rose water lassi
A sultry midsummer’s eve calls out for an exotic dessert. Enter sweet, iced lassi with a mix of fruitily spiced cardamom and delicate rose water that transforms the traditional Indian drink into a grown-up after-dinner treat.
75g caster sugar
6 green cardamom pods, split open
2 tsp rose water
500ml plain yogurt
About 150ml full-fat milk
3 tbsp granulated sugar
Handful of ice cubes
Handful of unsalted pistachios, cut into slivers, to serve
1 For the syrup, put 100ml water in a pan and add the caster sugar, cardamom pods and rose water. Place on a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and you have a thick syrup.
2 Strain through a sieve and transfer to a blender along with the yogurt, milk, granulated sugar and ice cubes. Blitz until chilled, smooth and frothy. Serve topped with pistachio slivers.
Recipe from Round to Ours by Jackson & Levine (Quadrille).
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Illustration: Joe Snow
How to make mosquito repellent
Persuade mozzies to buzz off with this natural spray
You will need:
Small spray bottle
Distilled or boiled water
Witch hazel or vodka
Vegetable glycerin
Essential oils, one or a combination of the following: lemon, citronella, tea tree, rosemary, lavender, mint or eucalyptus
1 Mix your water and witch hazel (or vodka) in the ratio 1:4.
2 Transfer to your spray bottle, leaving space for shaking.
3 Add a tsp of vegetable glycerin and 30 drops of essential oil (essential oils shouldn’t be applied directly on the skin – and keep kids away from them too).
4 Give it a good shake before use. You’ll need to reapply every few hours.
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Photography: Faith Mason
Recipe | Squid with chorizo
Deliciously marinaded and served fresh from the grill, homemade kebabs are nothing like their greasy takeaway cousins and are just the job for a barbecue
This is a version of Madrid’s bocadillos stuffed with fried squid rings. Like the original, these skewers are wonderful, fresh from the grill, piled into a crusty roll with lashings of paprika aïoli.
Serves 4
400g squid, cleaned (ask your fishmonger to do this)
Zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
150g cooking chorizo, cut into 2.5cm chunks
Handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve
for the aïoli
6 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika
1 Cut the squid into 2cm rings and halve the tentacles. Transfer to a bowl and add the lemon zest, garlic and oil. Season and set aside for 15 mins.
2 Thread the squid onto four skewers, alternating with the chorizo, and brush with any marinade left in the bowl. Heat a barbecue or griddle pan to high and cook the skewers for 5 mins, turning halfway through, until the squid and chorizo are charred in places and cooked through.
3 Meanwhile, make the aïoli. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, garlic and smoked paprika.
4 Scatter the skewers with the parsley and serve with the aïoli for dipping and the lemon, cut into wedges for squeezing.
Recipes from Posh Kebabs by Rosie Reynolds (Quadrille).
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Outing | PYO summer traditions
More than a chance to buy the freshest of veg, a day at a PYO farm is a treasure hunt in the sunshine.
Some pick-your-own farms look like they could be in a snap from the 1970s – lines of fruit as far as the eye can see, punctuated only by a small wooden chalet. The simplicity of these places holds a strong sense of nostalgic charm, yet the new breed that can lay on a flat white and a fleet of miniature tractors to entertain accompanying tots as quickly as you can say: ‘One punnet, please’, has an altogether different kind of draw.
Pick Your Own has a number of precursors, such as in the Victorian farmers who invited their urban customers back to their land to harvest their own food, and ‘gleaning’ in the mid-20th century, when villagers were invited to collect and take home the corn that had fallen into the stubble after harvest.
More recently, the entrepreneurial Derbyshire farmer-turned-media personality Ted Moult is thought to have been the first to popularise pick-your-own strawberries by inviting visitors onto his fields in the early 1960s when reportedly, he greeted them one by one. As soft fruit became available in supermarkets all year round due to foreign imports, the pastime lost its allure, but with the 21st century’s renewed interest in seasonal food, it is regaining its rightful place as one of summer’s simple pleasures.
How to fill your punnet with only the sweetest, juiciest fruit
- Select strawberries in the warmest part of the day and, once you’ve established that they’re ripe (red all over), pinch the stalk between your thumb and forefinger and pull.
- Search for plump raspberries at the bases of the canes, which are often forgotten about. They should lift off easily when ready. Place in a shallow container in just one or two layers – they bruise easily.
- Remove the cluster of currants (black, red or white) on a branch before stripping it of its fruits.
- Gather under-ripe gooseberries in June for using in preserves, leaving enough fruits to sweeten for eating in July.
Turn to page 72 of June's The Simple Things for more PYO traditions.
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