I like Indian masala chai. A lot. Maureen once posed the following question: if you could only drink coffee or only drink chai forever more, which would you choose? For me the answer is masala chai. It is much more refreshing in the throat and exciting on the tastebuds. But I do need to be …
Category Archive: Desserts
Cakes, tarts, puds of all kinds
Damsons and meringues
I’ve got a real lust for damsons at the moment, can’t get enough of them. I wish I could forage them easily, but wandering around Shropshire it seems as though every last damson tree is pretty much in someone’s garden and of course they pick the ripe ones for themselves. I would too! If you …
Bilberry Tart, Tarte aux Myrtilles
If you’re familiar with the French bakery-cafe chain Paul then you’ll know they do a mean Tarte aux Myrtilles, so deeply purple as to be almost black and utterly loaded with the tiny berries. For me, Paul are one of the few places helping to rescue the word “chain” from being shorthand for “crap”. I’ve …
Soufflé essentials
It is so often said that soufflés are challenging, precarious concoctions that will collapse pathetically like your dreams of a place on Masterchef if you so much as look at them funny. They’re not! I’ve never had a problem with them, sweet or savoury. It’s not as though I learned from a pro, or spent …
Literally panna cotta
This is ridiculously simple and I feel a bit of a fraud offering it up as a “recipe”. But one of my best friends has never ordered panna cotta in a restaurant in the last five years, and the reason given is: “because it won’t be as good as yours”. High praise indeed! Except this …