dessert

Crostata di more, or Italian blackberry tart

September 4, 2010
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Every year, I make the mistake of going blackberry picking in shorts. The thorns on the blackberry canes are fine – I can avoid those – it’s the nettles that always seem to grow around them that get me every time, but foraging food isn’t meant to be easy. You should put a bit of [...]

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Alfajores, Spanish spiced fruit and nut biscuits

July 21, 2010
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The coincidence of a week in Barcelona and a publisher sending me a copy of Frank Camorra’s staggering Movida Rustica cookbook has left me cooking a lot of Spanish food. I make no apologies for this, but warn that it may continue for a while yet. Movida Rustica is three hundred and sixty-eight pages long.  [...]

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Cider sorbet

July 3, 2010
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I have one of those little ice cream machines where you freeze the bowl and then churn ice cream using a paddle attached to a small electric motor.  It’s a fairly simple affair and it produces decent enough results, just not on the scale I really want. A pint of ice cream doesn’t last very [...]

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Wholemeal honey and almond cake

April 6, 2010
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This has everything you’d want in a cake – it’s sweet, moist and delicious, it keeps well and it’s straightforward to make. I may go so far as to say that it’s nearly foolproof, but that I don’t want to tempt fate. Start – as you start every single cake baking adventure – by greasing [...]

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A very good chocolate brownie

March 17, 2010
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There’s nothing quite like a good chocolate brownie. It’s not quite a cake, not quite a biscuit, but more of an indulgence than either.  A good chocolate brownie recipe is one of those things every cook should have up his or her sleeve. This recipe is excellent, a straightforward brownie recipe with an extra flourish [...]

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Fifteen’s Hazelnut Torte

October 8, 2009
Fifteen's Hazelnut cake

This is a traditional Italian torte, loaded with hazelnuts and poppy seeds, rich with ricotta cheese. It goes well with a cup of good, strong coffee. First butter and line a 28cm tart or cake tin, one with a removable base, with greaseproof paper. Toast 125g of hazelnuts in a dry frying pan over a [...]

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Librairie Salon de Thé, Bécherel, France

August 26, 2009
Librairie Salon de Thé, Bécherel, France
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Tarta de Santiago – Moro’s almond, oloroso and membrillo tart

August 10, 2009
Tarta de Santiago - Moro's almond, oloroso and membrillo tart

I’m not a huge fan of spirits, so when a recipe calls for a dash of this or a small glass of that, a trip to the off-licence is often needed. This Spanish tart from the superb Moro Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark calls for oloroso sherry, a smooth, dark and nutty wine.  I [...]

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