This is one of those dishes which make you look really smart, but is actually really easy to make. Lemon, lime and coconut are good friends and this is an interesting way to present them. The dish is assembled at the last minute so that, when your guests jump in, it...
Flourless chocolate and raspberry cakes with rose cream
These cakes are outrageously rich. Buy the best chocolate you can afford, as it will make a huge difference to the flavour. A word of warning: do make sure that your microwave is on the lowest setting and that you stir the chocolate every 10 seconds, as it can burn so...
Chocolate and walnut oil pâté, orange peel muesli and walnut cream
A rich, indulgent dessert which shows a little quirkiness. It also feels a bit restauranty, so you may want to save it for when you have guests. On the other hand, you may feel as if you deserve it yourself, so go ahead. The muesli is actually crossed with a kind of...
Boozy prune and honey cake
Soaking prunes in brandy (we like to use Somerset cider brandy) makes this a great dinner party dessert, and it can be made the day before. Serve it with good-quality vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche. If you want to add a further touch, soak a few more prunes, say...
Peanut butter cheesecake with salted toffee sauce
A very bad dessert, almost an overload of naughtiness, if there is such a thing. We have included cocoa nibs, which are roasted cacao beans; they are quite bitter, yet have a deep chocolate flavour that helps to give the base an intriguing taste. As there is no baking...
Baked pineapple with crispy rice and roasted white chocolate
This is an amazing dessert; however, with this recipe you are entering a chef’s world: using caramel and roasting white chocolate. Those of you who have worked with chocolate before will know that it does not like extreme heat. However, the results are quite...
White chocolate, apricot and coconut scones
Scone-making requires a gentle touch. Any heavy handling will result in flat, dense scones, because it risks overworking the protein (gluten) in the flour and that makes the scones tougher.Don’t be a slave to this recipe; if you want to use dark chocolate, or to...
Sally Lunn buns
As the story goes, Solange Luyon (or Sally Lunn from an English tongue) was a young French Huguenot refugee who fled to Bath in the late 17th century and began baking the brioche-like buns that became her namesake. They’re very delicious and should be eaten the day...
Pineapple and rum upside-down cake with brown butter filling
Browning the butter first gives the filling a flavour which is rather intriguing, while adding the vanilla at this browning stage produces a more pronounced taste, too. We use some spelt flour in the cake batter as it gives a delicious background nuttiness which...
Pear cakes with white chocolate icing
This recipe uses buckwheat flour, which is gluten-free (despite the deceptive name), making it a great cake for anyone with gluten intolerance. Pears have a delicate flavour, so it’s best to buy them ahead of when you want to bake and let them ripen in a fruit bowl,...