fruit delights

Chestnut cake with purple berries 




4 large free-range eggs
4 tablespoons organic chestnut flour
150g organic  unsalted butter, melted
180g organic honey, melted, or light runny honey, plus extra for glazing
Pinch of salt
150g organic blueberries
150g organic blackberries
Unrefined icing sugar, for dusting (optional)


Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease and flour a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, flour, butter, honey and salt with an electric hand mixer until combined. It’s a very runny mixture, but trust me here. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly in the tin before turning the cake out onto a wire rack. When it is completely cool, brush the top of the cake with honey, sprinkle with the berries and dust with icing sugar. Serve as it is or with cream or crème fraiche.








Cardamom, rose and rhubarb cake 



250g organic softened butter or soft margarine
250g organic caster sugar mixed with 1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
4 large organic eggs
250gorganic  self-raising flour
Edible rose or geranium petals, to decorate


For the rose filling 

300ml organic  double cream
3 drops of rose essence
50g organic icing sugar, sifted
200g  organic  rhubarb jam

For the glacé icing:

150g organic icing sugar warm water, to mix


Preheat the oven to 190ºC/fan 170ºC/gas mark 5. Grease and line the two sandwich tins

Beat the butter and sugar using a wooden spoon or electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and adding a tablespoon of the flour with the final egg to help prevent curdling. Sift in the remaining flour and fold in with a large metal spoon until thoroughly combined

Divide the mixture between the cake tins, spreading it evenly. Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until firm to the touch. Turn the sponges out on to a wire rack to cool completely
When the cakes are cool, make the filling. Whip the cream with the rose essence and icing sugar until thick. Spread the jam over the base of one sponge, then cover with the whipped cream and place the other sponge on top

Make the glacé icing by sifting the icing sugar into a bowl and then gradually add about 1–1½ tablespoons of warm water until you have a runny mixture. Pour the icing over the cake and leave to set before decorating with flowers or petals







Chocolate and raspberry cake 




for the base

300g (10oz) organic Hobnobs, finely crushed
60g (2¼oz) organic unsalted butter, melted


for the filling

400ml (14fl oz)  organic double cream
250g (9oz) organic dark chocolate, melted
300g (10oz) organic raspberries, plus extra, to decorate


To make the base, place the ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined. Press into the base of the prepared tin and chill for 1 hour.

To make the filling, gently heat the cream in a heavy-based saucepan, remove from the heat and add the melted chocolate, mixing well to bring it together.

Crush the raspberries over the biscuit base, cover with the chocolate and cream mix, and leave to set overnight or for a couple of hours. To serve, remove from the tin and decorate the top with fresh raspberries. The pie will keep in the fridge for 2 days.






Fig tartlets with orange mascaprone 



For the orange mascarpone

100g/31/2oz organic mascarpone
finely grated zest of 1/2 small organic orange
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp icing sugar, sifted
1 tbsp organic milk

For the fig tartlets

butter, for greasing
1∕3 ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
2 tbsp organic apricot jam
2–3 ripe organic figs, very thinly sliced
1 organic egg yolk
1 tbsp organic milk
icing sugar, for dusting


Beat together all the orange mascarpone ingredients until you have a smooth cream. (You can prepare the mascarpone up to 24 hours in advance and keep it in the fridge)

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6 and lightly grease a large baking sheet with butter.
Cut the pas

try into 2 heart shapes or circles about 10cm/4in in diameter using a sharp knife. Put onto the prepared baking sheet, and score a small border of about 1cm/1/2in around the edge of each one and prick the centre a couple of times with a fork.

Put 1 tbsp of the apricot jam in the centre of each piece of pastry. Arrange the figs in a circle on top of each piece of pastry. (The tartlets can be made a good few hours ahead of cooking and kept covered with cling film in the fridge at this stage.) Mix together the egg yolk and milk to make an egg wash. Brush over the top of the figs and the pastry edges with the egg wash and then dust each one fairly generously with icing sugar. Bake for 15 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and golden around the edges.

Dust the tartlets with icing sugar and serve hot, warm or cool with a good spoonful of the orange mascarpone






Chia, date and walnut slice 



150g rolled organic porridge oats
90g organic walnut halves
35g organic shredded coconut
45g white or black organic chia seeds
1tsp ground organic cinnamon
1tbsp unsweetened organic cocoa powder, sifted
2tsps natural vanilla extract
425g pitted dried organic dates, chopped
Pure icing sugar, to serve


Put the oats, walnuts, coconut, chia seeds, cinnamon, cocoa and vanilla in a food processor and process until all the ingredients are finely chopped

With the motor running, start adding the dates a few pieces at a time, processing until all the dates have been added and the mixture is starting to come together. Use clean hands to bring it together completely, adding 1-2tsps of cold water if necessary

Press the mixture evenly into a round 20cm (8 inch) cake tin, smoothing the surface firmly with the back of a metal spoon. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve
Dust with icing sugar and cut in to thin wedges before serving





Gooseberry and elder-flower ice cream 



950g (2lb 2oz) organic gooseberries, topped and tailed

6tbsp (90ml) organic elderflower cordial

finely grated zest 1 organic lemon

600ml (1pt) organic double cream

8 organic Amaretti biscuits, lightly crushed


In a heavy-based saucepan, gently simmer the gooseberries in the elderflower cordial and lemon zest until very soft and pulpy. Remove from the heat, push the fruit through a sieve and leave to cool thoroughly.


Lightly whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and fold through the gooseberry and elderflower purée. Pour into a large plastic container and freeze for several hours or overnight. Scoop into chilled glasses and scatter over the crushed amaretti biscuits.