Category: Fruit

  • Currant ‘champagne’ recipe – quick fizz

    If you want a fizz that tastes spectacular, this recipe is for you. In under a month you get the full bright fruity taste of currants with a mildly mouth puckering tart-tannin background. The aroma is the wonderful woodland smell of crushed currant leaves. All this surrounded with lively & youthful fizz. I’m delighted with…

  • Sourdough cider

    When I saw on twitter that my Twitter chum Julia Moore had: Decided adding #sourdough culture to some of our freshly pressed apples would be one experiment too far I was intrigued and showed her my Bouza bread beer experiment post. Despite my references to ‘vomit’, Julia changed her mind and took up the challenge.…

  • November Posy

    November Posy The weather forecasters are promising a drop in temperatures and frosts next week. This will put an end to some of the flowers still soldiering on in the garden, giving their all. We are usually lucky here: we live on a peninsula and so we’re surrounded by the sea; our frosts are mostly…

  • Apple Day Recipes

    Today is the day to celebrate the wonderful variety and bounty that apples give us. To help us celebrate, here’s a list of some of my favourite recipes. Apple recipes Apple cider vinegar A doddle to make, very healthy for you and lots of fun. You can use damaged apples, or scraps. So this is…

  • Schug and harissa recipes

    These are a blast for any chilliholic and will add a new dimension to the seasonings on any table. In the northern hemisphere, now is when we need to preserve green & red chillies. If you have a blender or food processor these couldn’t be easier. Chillies and tomatoes are arguably two of the most…

  • Fermenting fruit vinegars at home

      Once you know how to make your own vinegar you can experiment with different flavours. Last year I showed you how to make your own apple cider vinegar. This year, I experimented to see if I could use the same principles to make some blackberry and apple vinegar. I’ve also got into using Kombucha.…

  • Apple custard cake Parisienne

    You’ll love this cake. It has a crispy case;  firm, slightly spiced apple filling and an aromatic vanilla custard topping. What’s more, it’s ridiculously easy to make and you get to play with squidgy pastry. I had a surfeit of apples in the fruit bowl that I wanted to use up and a need for…

  • Winter Panzanella Recipe – Bread Salad

    If you make or use much good bread, you’ll have bits left over that are a shame to waste. Sourdough is great for this because it lasts without going mouldy much longer than yeasted bread. So you can collect a little stash. The bread needs to be a few days old and dry or drying.…

  • Apple, almond & date cake recipe

    This cake is so simple and stunningly satisfying. It has a crunchy top and moist inside. The flavours are pleasingly complex with spicy sweet/tart apples contrasting with rich toffee-like roasted dates. The spelt flour and almonds give the cake a substantial nutty body. It tastes great warm straight from the oven or cool later on.…