Amaretto Cream Shot

This is a cheeky little espresso sized shot of set amaretto cream. Delicious!

Ingredients:
300ml double cream
1.5 sheets of gelatine, soaked for 5 mins in cold water
25g caster sugar
3 tablespoons amaretto

Easy Summer Berry Ice Cream

You can't beat homemade ice cream, but sometimes it can be quite a hassle and turns out all grainy and full of ice crystals. Well you don't have to worry about that with this recipe. I made this batch with mostly raspberries, although I did add our small crop of blackcurrants as well. I've been picking and freezing them as they've become ripe as there have been so few. I think they've made the ice cream just a little bit more tangy and delicious! 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Icing

When you need a chocolate hit but don't have any actual chocolate in the house - these little beauties are the way to go. The only problem once you've made them is to stop eating them!


Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
160g plain flour
65g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
125g unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
3 large eggs
100ml milk

For the icing:
100g soft butter
100g icing sugar
2 tablespoons of Nutella

HOW TO MAKE

Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale and fluffy, add the eggs - one at a time. Add the sieved dry ingredients alternating with the milk until you have a smooth batter. Line a muffin pan with the cupcake cases and fill each case two thirds full. Bake at 180ºC for 20-25 minutes.

Once the cakes are baked and cooled completely on a wire rack, make up the icing. Beat together the sugar and butter. Once it's lovely and smooth, add the Nutella and beat again. You could be posh and pipe it on, or you could just smear it on and enjoy!

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Drop Scones Recipe

I have tried many drop scones (Scotch pancakes) recipes in my time, but this is by far the very best one I've come across. Hugh has really done it with this one! I find these tasty drop scones are great for a special breakfast. I think I first came across this recipe in the Guardian.

I've been making drop scones on our budget weeks because I've always got these ingredients kicking around the kitchen and kids absolutely love them - it feels like a real treat. They are just right for little ones finding their way around finger foods. My little girl loves the soft texture and can easily chew away with her two little teeth. They are also perfect for Pancake Day as an alternative to the usual flat crepe-style pancake.

I can't remember if Hugh uses plain flour with baking powder, but they are great made with just self raising flour. I always make double this recipe too because we're very greedy, but they are great to save for the next day if you have any left over. Just give them a quick toast and they're as lovely as they were the day before!

The kids love to help when it comes to making drop scones. My oldest is even flipping them in the pan now! If you want them a little thicker and fluffier, I always add a little less milk. As you are using rising agents, always make sure you start cooking the batter as soon as you have made it to ensure you get fluffy, gorgeous pancakes.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Drop Scones Recipe

Serves 4
Ingredients:
125g (4.5oz) self raising flour
pinch of salt

25g (1oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
100ml (4floz) milk
25g (1oz) melted butter

HOW TO MAKE:

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl, stir in the sugar and make a well in the centre, pour the eggs in and add a little of the milk. Start to beat and gradually add more milk until you have a smooth batter that drops reluctantly off the spoon. Stir in the melted butter.

Heat a heavy-based pan over a medium heat and grease with a smear of butter or oil. Drop tablespoons of the batter onto the pan, leaving room for it to spread. When bubbles start to form, flip them over and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve with golden syrup, jam, fruit compote, yoghurt, Nutella - anything you feel like!

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Poached Pear

I like to please... and this Valentine's Day, I think I have outdone myself! Oh yes, this Panna Cotta is more than just a bit sexy - it's full blown lurrve. The silky smooth Panna Cotta and the delicate, fruity Poached Pear are the perfect pudding match.


Ingredients:
Vanilla Panna Cotta:
100ml whole milk
250ml double cream
40g golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 gelatine sheets soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
100ml creme fraiche


Poached Pear:
500g pears (three large pears)
100g golden caster sugar
4 slices orange zest
1 vanilla pod
dry white wine and water

HOW TO MAKE:
For the Panna Cotta, heat the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla in a pan. Bring just to the boil then take off the heat and whisk in the pre-soaked gelatine sheets. Leave to cool until tepid then whisk in the creme fraiche. Pour the mixture into four ramekins and chill for four hours.

Peel the pears, leaving the stalk in place. Place in a saucepan with the sugar and half cover the pears with the wine and top up with water. Add the orange zest and vanilla and simmer gently for one hour until the pears are tender.

If the liquid gets too low, top up with water. Once the pears are done, take them out of the pan. Now turn the heat up and reduce the liquid by half. This should take about 30 minutes. Once done, pour over the pears and leave to cool and chill for two hours.

To serve:
Have a bowl of boiling water ready to dip your Panna Cotta ramekins for a few seconds. Turn out onto a plate. For the pears, cut the bottoms off so they stand up. Add some of the syrup around the pear.

Apple, Prune and Raisin Compote

I like nothing more than food that is free, and when my son's teacher at nursery school asked if we wanted any left over fruit before half term, my shopping bag was out in a flash. So, what to do with nearly a kilo of little apples? Make it in to a yummy fruit compote!

This will keep in the fridge for over a week and is delicious with ice cream, yoghurt, a slice of almond cake and breakfast. This morning I had a particularly tasty mix of Dorset Cereals' Organic Fruit, Nut and Seeds Mix Muesli, Activia Vanilla Pouring Yoghurt and this cheeky compote - yum!

Ingredients
800g eating apples, peeled, cored and diced
250g ready to eat prunes - sliced
70g raisins
75g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice of half a lemon
juice of 1 orange

HOW TO MAKE
Put all the ingredients in a pan and cook down on a low heat for 30 minutes. If it looks too dry add a splash of water.

Rhubarb Eton Mess

I think this is even better than the traditional Eton Mess made with strawberries. It is absolutely yummy. The tartness of the rhubarb and lovely pink colour if you can get the forced variety is wonderful! You can also use the rhubarb in other recipes.

Ingredients
For the rhubarb compote:
4 stalks of rhubarb
juice of 1 orange
tsp vanilla extract
60-85g caster sugar (depending on tartness)
Meringues:
2 large egg whites
100g caster sugar

Double cream

HOW TO MAKE
First of all, make the meringues (although you could easily buy some ready-made from the supermarket!).  Place the egg whites in a very clean bowl and whisk until it forms soft peaks, now start adding the sugar little by little and keep whisking! The mixture should be smooth and glossy by the time all the sugar has been added. Place spoonfuls onto a lined baking tray and bake at 120ºC for 2 hours. Allow to cool completely before using.

Now for the compote: preheat the oven to 160°C/gas 3. Put the rhubarb in an oven dish. Scatter over the orange juice, vanilla and sugar and gently mix the whole lot together. Cover loosely with foil and roast for 45 minutes, or until tender, giving it a gentle stir half-way through. Leave to cool.

When it's time to serve, whip up the double cream. Layer the broken meringue with rhubarb and cream in a individual serving bowl.

Annabel's Lemon Verbena Dessert

I hear you asking "Who is Annabel?", well Annabel is my sister and appeared on Britain's Best Dish with this recipe - fame in the family!! Anyway, this is a lovely recipe for a special pud. If you can't find lemon verbena, just leave it out, it'll still be as yummy. Try adding vanilla instead.

If you can't get your hands on rhubarb, try a compote of plums or apples or summer fruits.

Ingredients
Lemon Verbena Custard:500ml double cream
4 sprigs of lemon verbena
5 medium eggs
100g caster sugar

Rhubarb Compote:750g of forced rhubarb, chopped into 4inch pieces
½ bottle of orange muscat
zest of one orange
1 vanilla pod
150g caster sugar

Pistachio Biscuits:35g softened butter
30g finely chopped pistachio nuts
10g ground almonds
1 egg white
60g caster sugar
2 tbsp plain flour

For the lemon verbena custard:
Preheat the oven to 170°C / 150°C fan.
Place the lemon verbena and cream in a pan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and let it steep for at least 15 minutes. Whisk together 5 egg yolks with the sugar and slowly add the cooled cream. Pass the mixture through a sieve. Place ramekins in a roasting tray and fill with the custard.  Pour a little cold water into the bottom of the roasting tray (to prevent the ramekins cracking) then place in the oven and pour boiling water into the tray to create a hot water bath. Bake the custards for 20 minutes. When done they should be slightly wobbly in the middle. Cool in the fridge for 1 hour.

For the rhubarb compote:
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan. Put all the ingredients in a shallow baking dish. Place the dish in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Cool in the fridge. Pour a little of the rhubarb juice into a pan and reduce slightly to produce a syrup.

For the pistachio biscuits:
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan. Finely chop the pistachio nuts by hand. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the almonds or ¼ tsp almond extract and egg wh and egg white and mix until smooth but not frothy. Sieve the flour into the mixture and fold in the pistachios. Spoon 1 teaspoon of mixture onto a Teflon mat and spread out to create 2 inch rounds (make sure you keep each round 3 inches apart). Bake for 5 – 8 minutes until golden around the edges. As soon as they come out of the oven, curve round a rolling pin to shape, then cool.

Place a baked custard on the plate then about 4 strips of the rhubarb on the side. Rest a biscuit or two on the side of the custard dish and garnish with a couple of lemon verbena leaves on top of the baked custard.

What a fancy dessert! It appeared on Britain's Best Dish on September 15th 2009! http://www.itv.com/lifestyle/food/britainsbestdish/recipes2009/lemonverbenawithbakedcustard/default.html