With the beautiful sunny weather, the UK is experiencing now, there is nothing better than eating al fresco. And, let’s face it, who wants to cook in this weather hey?! So, this week’s recipes are fruity based dishes along with a couple of cocktails, they are: – Strawberry Shortcake Slice, Peach & Raspberry Fruit Salad with Mascarpone and Chipotle Gazpacho. The cocktails are a Blue Lagoon and a Mojito Pitcher.
My first recipe is Strawberry Shortcake Slice, recipe by Anna Glover. Courtesy of BBC Good Food Magazine first published June 2019.
Makes 14, Prep 25mins plus overnight chilling, No Cooking needed
600ml x Double Cream
1 tbsp x Vanilla Bean paste
1 tbsp x Orange Blossom Water
125g x Icing Sugar, plus 2 tbsp
500g x Shortcake Biscuits, plus 3 crushed
350g x Strawberries, sliced
Line a 20cm cake tin or dish (either a square or rectangle works well) with cling film, leaving an overhang. Whip 500ml of the cream, the vanilla, orange blossom water and 125g icing sugar with an electric whisk until thick and billowy.
Add a layer of biscuits to the tin, and spoon over some of the cream, about 1cm thick all over. Add a layer of strawberry slices, then repeat with the cream, biscuits and strawberries until you fill the tin, finishing on a layer of biscuit. You’ll have some strawberries left over to serve. Press everything down well so every biscuit is covered in cream. Cover and chill overnight.
To serve, flip the tin onto a serving plate, and remove the cling film. Whip the remaining 100ml cream with 1 tbsp icing sugar and dollop on top of the cake, swirling it around. Top with the remaining strawberry slices in lines, sift over the remaining 1 tbsp icing sugar, and sprinkle the biscuit crumbs in between the rows of strawberries. Cut into slices to serve.
My 2nd recipe is Peach & Raspberry Fruit Salad with Mascarpone, recipe by Tom Kerridge. Courtesy of Courtesy of BBC Good Food Magazine first published June 2019.
Serves 4, Prep 10mins, No Cooking needed
2 x Ripe Peaches or Nectarines
50g x Caster Sugar
1 tsp x Lemon Thyme Leaves
100g x Mascarpone
100ml x Double Cream
A drop of Vanilla Extract
16 x Raspberries, halved
Small handful of Pistachios, roughly chopped
1 tbsp x Maple Syrup
Stone and finely slice the peaches or nectarines and arrange the slices over four plates. Sprinkle over a little of the sugar and scatter over most of the thyme leaves.
Whisk together the mascarpone, cream, vanilla extract and the remaining sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Spoon or pipe blobs of the mixture over the peaches or nectarines and arrange the raspberries over the plates. Finish with a scattering of pistachios, the remaining thyme leaves and a drizzle of maple syrup to serve.
And my final food recipe is Chipotle Gazpacho, recipe by Esther Clark. Courtesy of BBC Good Food Magazine first published June 2019.
Serves 4, Prep 25mins plus 2hrs chilling, No Cooking needed.
1kg x Ripe Tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 x Large Red Pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
1⁄2 x Cucumber, sliced
4 x Spring Onions, finely sliced
1 x Small Garlic Clove, grated
40g x Blanched Almonds, roughly chopped
3 x Limes, juiced
2 tbsp x Olive Oil
2 tsp x Chipotle Paste
1 x Large, ripe Avocado, cubed
1 x Small Red Chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1⁄2 Small bunch of Coriander, finely chopped
Put the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, two of the spring onions, the garlic, half the almonds, half the lime juice, and all the olive oil and chipotle paste into a blender. Whizz until almost smooth. Pour into a jug and chill for at least 2 hrs.
When ready to eat, toss the remaining spring onion, avocado, chilli and coriander with the remaining lime juice. Ladle the soup into four bowls and top with the avocado salsa and reserved almonds.
Finally I have two cocktails to sup on these balmy evenings, in the garden. Firstly, Mojito Pitcher, recipe by Miriam Nice. Courtesy of Courtesy of BBC Good Food Magazine first published June 2019.
Serves 6, Prep 5mins.
6 x Limes, plus 1 lime sliced, to serve
4 tbsp x Granulated Sugar
4-5 x Mint Sprigs
Ice
350ml x White Rum
600ml x Sparking Water
Chop each lime into six pieces and drop them into a two-litre jug. Add the sugar and squish the lime wedges with a muddler, or the end of a rolling pin. Keep crushing to get out all the juices.
Pick the leaves off a mint spring and lay them on one of your hands. Clap the other hand on top to bruise the leaves ever so gently, then drop them into the jug. Repeat with the rest of the mint spring.
Fill up the jug about three-quarters full with ice, then add the rum. Stir with a long-handled spoon to mix all the ingredients together gently and top up with the sparkling water. Stir once more, then serve poured into tall glasses with a few extra ice cubes and lime slices.
And secondly, Blue Lagoon, recipe by Miriam Nice. Courtesy of Courtesy of BBC Good Food Magazine first published June 2019.
Serves 4, Prep 5mins.
few handfuls ice cubes and some crushed ice
100ml x Blue Curaçao
100ml x Vodka
1 x Lemon, juiced
1 x Orange, juiced
1 x Lime, juiced
8 x Maraschino cherries and 1 tsp of the syrup
200ml x Soda Water
Put the ice cubes in a large jug. Pour over the curaçao, vodka, fruit juices and 1 tsp syrup from the cherries. Stir until the outside of the glass feels cold.
Half-fill four hurricane glasses with crushed ice, then strain in the cocktail. Top up the glasses with the soda water and gently stir, then garnish with the maraschino cherries.
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