Red Berry Ripple Cake

Vanilla cake rippled with strawberry and raspberry coulis, topped with vanilla cream and fresh strawberries…heaven!

This recipe makes a little more coulis than you need for the cake, I suggest drizzling it over ice cream or spooning into a glass and topping with prosecco for a gorgeous red berry bellini!

Ingredients

For the Coulis

200g Strawberries, hulled

200g Raspberries

2 tablespoons Caster Sugar

For the Cake

75g Soft Butter

100g Caster Sugar

150g Plain Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

2 Large Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

150ml of the Red Berry Coulis

To Finish

300ml Double Cream

1 Vanilla Pod (or 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract)

2 tablespoons Icing Sugar

Approx. 200g Strawberries

• To make the coulis, tip the strawberries and raspberries into a small pan and sprinkle over the sugar.  Slowly heat up until they start to sizzle softly, shake the pan gently to move the fruit around as the juice slowly comes out.  Continue to bubble, swirling it around occasionally to dissolve the sugar then simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour the contents of the pan into a sieve placed over a bowl and press through with a spoon, you may have to sieve it twice to get all the seeds out.  Set the coulis aside to cool.
• Fully line a loose-bottomed cake tin (approx. 22cm diameter) with baking/greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 175C (fan).
• For the cake, put all the cake ingredients (except for the coulis) into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a mixer.  Whisk slowly at first to combine the ingredients then faster for a short time until creamy and paler in colour.  Spoon the mixture into the lined tin and spread out evenly.  Measure 150ml of the coulis and pour it in a swirl over the cake mixture then run a knife in circular movements through it to create the ripple effect.  Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until lightly golden, firm and risen.  Leave to cool in the tin (it will sink a bit as it cools) then transfer carefully to a serving plate.
• To serve the cake, whisk the double cream with the seeds from the vanilla pod (or the vanilla extract) and the icing sugar until thick but not stiff.  Spoon it over the cooled cake and spread out then top with halved strawberries.

Beef and Blue Cheese Sliders

These sliders (mini burgers) are great for serving alongside other barbecue food, not as filling as a normal sized burger and they are quicker to cook too.  You can leave the blue cheese out if you prefer or substitute it with good mature cheddar.

Makes 8 Sliders or 4 Large Burgers

Ingredients

400g Minced Beef (the best you can get)

1 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup

a couple of splashes of Worcestershire Sauce

A small bunch of Chives

1 medium Egg, beaten

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Approx. 100g Blue Cheese (such as Saint Agur or Stilton)

• Put the minced beef into a large bowl.  Add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and the beaten egg.  Using a sharp pair of kitchen scissors, snip the chives into the bowl then season generously with salt and black pepper.
• Use your hand or a fork to thoroughly mix it, incorporating all of the ingredients into the beef, it will be a bit wet at first then come together after a minute or so of working.
• Cut the cheese into slices about 1cm thick then cut those into 2x2cm squares.
• To make the burgers, take a piece of the beef mixture and form into a ball with your hands, it needs to be a bit bigger than a golf ball (60g if you want to be precise).  Squash the ball lightly between your hands to flatten, then put a piece of cheese into the centre of the meat and bring the edges over to completely encase it.  Repeat this until you have used all of the mixture and you have 8 mini, cheese-filled burgers.  These can then be covered and refrigerated until needed (you can make them the day before).
• The sliders can be cooked on a barbecue or in a frying or griddle pan.  They will need about 5 minutes each side on a medium to high heat then transfer to a warm plate to rest for a few minutes.
• These are good served in cut-up focaccia bread or small rolls (like the picture) then topped with caramelised onions and any other accompaniment you like.  It helps to secure them with a cocktail stick.

Marinated Salmon with Speedy Pickled Cucumber Salad

Super healthy and so tasty, great for a midweek meal.  This marinade gives the salmon a rich savoury yet also sweet coating which is delicious and moreish!

Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients

Approx. 300g Salmon, cut into large chunks

1 tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce

1 tablespoon Honey

1 tablespoon Sweet Hoisin Sauce

3-4 drops Toasted Sesame Oil

For the pickled cucumber

1 Cucumber

1 tablespoon Cider Vinegar (rice wine or white wine vinegar also work)

Pinch of Sea Salt

Sprinkling of Caster Sugar

For the dressing

1 Red Chilli, finely chopped

1 Large Garlic Clove, minced

2 tablespoons Sunflower or Groundnut Oil

1 tablespoon Honey

1 teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce

the Juice of 1 Lime
Freshly ground black pepper

Shredded crunchy lettuce

• Combine the soy sauce, honey, hoisin sauce and the sesame oil in a bowl then tip salmon into it and turn over so that it is covered with the marinade.  Cover and put in the fridge for at least an hour.
• Peel the cucumber into long ribbons using a vegetable peeler and put it into a bowl.  Sprinkle over the vinegar, sea salt and caster sugar then toss it together to coat the ribbons.  Put it in the fridge for 20 minutes or longer.  Preheat the oven to 220C (fan).
• Take the pieces of salmon out of the marinade and place them, evenly spaced on a well oiled baking tray.  Roast in the hot oven for 10 minutes then take it out, baste the salmon with the oily juices (this gives it a glazed sheen) and leave to rest for a few minutes while you put the salad together.
• Make the dressing by simply whisking all the ingredients together.  Toss the shredded lettuce in the dressing then divide it onto your plates. Top with handfuls of drained cucumber ribbons, pile on the salmon then drizzle with a touch more dressing.

Classic Chocolate Fairy Cakes

This is a very reliable recipe which I use for large birthday cakes or fairy cakes, it's easy and the cake is dark and chocolatey.  The quantities below are approximate because this calls for the eggs to be weighed then the main ingredients need to weigh the same.
You can use any icing really, a ganache works beautifully, here I have given the recipe for a simple chocolate butter cream.

Makes 12 fairy cakes

Ingredients

100g Caster Sugar

100g Soft Butter (spreadable is fine)

2 Large Eggs

60-70g Self-Raising Flour

30-40g Cocoa

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

For the Chocolate Butter Cream

100g Dark Chocolate

100g Soft Butter

200g Icing Sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1-2 tablespoons Milk

• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan) and put 12 fairy cake cases into a bun tin.
• Weigh your eggs then weigh the same amount of caster sugar, butter and flour/cocoa mix (I normally aim for two thirds flour to one third cocoa).
• Tip the caster sugar and the butter into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a mixer and whisk until fluffy and visibly paler.
• Break the eggs in then tip in the flour and the cocoa, add the salt and the vanilla extract then whisk on slow to combine until creamy.
• Spoon the mixture into the cake cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes.  The cakes will be risen, dark and cracked on the top and feel firm to the touch.  Set aside to cool completely before icing.
• To make the butter cream, melt the chocolate either in a microwave or in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water.  When melted whisk in the butter then gradually add the icing sugar, adding the vanilla then the milk until it is a soft cream.
• Ice the cakes and top with any decoration you like, I often use bashed up chocolate bars, something with a bit of crunch is good!

White Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins

These muffins are quick, easy and seriously yummy.  I often make them with fresh strawberries or blueberries instead of raspberries and you can also substitute the fresh fruit for dried cranberries or cherries (soaked for an hour in warm apple juice plumps them up perfectly).

Makes 18-24 Cupcake Sized Muffins

Ingredients

250g Self Raising Flour

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

Pinch of Salt

150g Caster Sugar, plus more for sprinkling

150g White Chocolate, roughly chopped

Approx. 150g Fresh Raspberries, whole

50g Butter, melted

100ml Milk

100ml Natural Yogurt

2 Large Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan) and put your muffin or cupcake cases into a bun tin.
• Put the flour into a mixing bowl and stir in the bicarb, salt and the sugar.
• In a measuring jug, measure the milk and the yogurt then pour in the melted butter, the eggs and vanilla extract.  Mix with a fork.
• Tip the chopped white chocolate and the raspberries into the flour, mix together then pour in the wet ingredients.  Mix quickly until just combined then spoon into muffin cases.  Sprinkle the tops generously with caster sugar (this is not essential but gives a lovely crackly finish to the tops).
• Bake it the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the muffins are risen and golden brown.
• They are gorgeous warm but are tricky to get out of the paper case, the price you pay I suppose!  Best eaten the day they are made but also good the day after.

Herby Ranch-Style Dressing

This is a great dressing for any crunchy leaves and is very versatile too.  You can use any favourite soft, fresh herb or leave out the herbs completely and throw in a load of your favourite blue cheese to make a blue cheese dressing.

I use a liquidiser or smoothie maker for this but you can easily make it in a bowl with finely chopped herbs.

Ingredients

50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

125ml Mayonnaise

125ml Natural Yogurt

1 clove of Garlic

Juice of half a Lemon

Bunch of Fresh Basil Leaves

Bunch of Fresh Chives

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

• Put all the ingredients into the goblet of a liquidiser, blender or smoothie maker and whizz until smooth.  Alternatively, combine the olive oil, mayonnaise, yogurt and lemon juice in a bowl then stir in finely chopped garlic, basil and chives.
• Taste and season as you like with salt and pepper.

Roasted Summer Vegetable and Feta Pasta

This is lovely as a salad on its own, with the addition of some baby spinach leaves tossed through.  I make it more often though to be piled into a large bowl and served with barbecued meat or fish or as part of a help-yourself spread.

I normally use a little pasta called rosmarino which is similar to orzo but it can really be made with any small pasta, as long as it doesn't overwhelm the vegetables...they are the main focus of the dish.

                           

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small Aubergines

2-3 Courgettes

 a small punnet of Cherry Tomatoes

1-2 Red Onions

4-5 Garlic Cloves, peeled

2 Red Peppers (peeled if preferred)

1 Yellow Pepper (peeled if preferred)

Approx. 200g Dried Pasta

Generous glug of Olive Oil

1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

a large handful of Fresh Basil Leaves, torn

150g Feta Cheese, cubed 

Black Pepper and (possibly) Sea Salt

• Prepare the aubergines first by thickly slicing them then layering in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt.  Weigh the aubergines down then leave for 30-40 minutes for some of the juices to seep out.  After this time rinse the slices well to get rid of the salt then squeeze them, dry on kitchen towel and set aside until needed.
• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan).
• Thickly slice the courgettes and tip them into a large roasting tin.  Add the whole cherry tomatoes, chunky sliced red onion and the whole, peeled garlic cloves.  Finally throw in the aubergine slices and thick strips of the red and yellow peppers (I normally skin these by blackening them under the grill then peeling the skin off, but you really don't have to).
• Splash over a good glug of olive oil and a few turns of black pepper then toss all the veg together to combine and coat with the oil.  Roast in the pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes, stirring maybe twice during this time to ensure it all cooks evenly.  They are done when all the veg are soft and some have caught a bit, take out of the oven and leave to cool slightly.
• Cook and drain the pasta, then toss in a little olive oil to prevent it sticking together.
• When you are ready to serve, stir the pasta into the veg with the balsamic vinegar then gently stir through the basil and the feta.  Taste for seasoning and add more black pepper if needed...easy on the salt (remember the feta is quite salty).
• This is best served slightly warm or at room temperature, ideally not fridge cold.