Summer berry mousse cake

Summer is here and this is the perfect light fruity pudding.

serves 10

For the base

200g digestives

100g butter

For the mousse cake

4 sheets leaf gelatine

142ml carton single cream
 500g carton fromage frais  
140g golden caster sugar 
finely grated zest 1 small orange 
4 tbsp orange juice
 400g raspberries

284ml carton double cream

Coulis

a large handful of frozen berries

around a tbsp of icing sugar

Base

For the biscuit base crush the biscuits in a plastic bag using a rolling pin. Melt the butter and mix with the crushed biscuits. Tip the mix into a loose bottomed round cake tin that is around 24cm. Press down the mix evenly and firmly and place in the fridge.

Mousse cake

Submerge the gelatine leaves in a large bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 5 minutes.

Heat the single cream in a small pan until it just comes to the boil then take off the heat.

Take the gelatine out of the water and squeeze to get rid of the water. Stir into the hot cream and leave to cool slightly.

Beat together the fromage frais, sugar, orange zest and juice with a whisk or wooden spoon and stir in the cooled cream and gelatine mixture. Mix the raspberries in and crush them against the sides of the bowl and stir again to ripple through.

Whip the double cream lightly to soft peaks, then fold it into the raspberry mixture. Pour into the cake tin and leave to chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight, until set.

To make the coulis heat the berries in a pan until they defrost and become runny, add icing sugar to taste. Blitz the mixture.

Serve with fresh berries and spoon coulis on top.

River cafe polenta, almond and lemon cake

This week has been a bit up and down with the weather, lots of rain and then an absolute scorcher yesterday in the 30˚s. Yesterday was an especially good day because not only did I get a little bit less pasty but I also stood up on my surfboard about 10 times!! I did almost die about twice getting absolutely smashed by waves and ended up with my hair looking a bit like a loo brush but very happy!! Since the weather has been crappy I made a huge cake, and I think this could be my newest most favourite cake I have ever made. I have been trawling through my River cafe books and there is so much amazing stuff so since I have all kinds of great ingredients on my door step I am going to go nuts and try loads this month. Serves 12 450g unsalted butter, softened 450g caster sugar 450g ground almonds 2 teaspoons good vanilla essence 6 free range eggs zest of 4 lemons juice of 1 lemon 225g polenta flour or fine semolina 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon of salt Preheat the oven to ...

Caramelised endive with Serrano ham

This is another delicious Ottolenghi recipe, you could do it as a starter or part of a summery lunch. Serves 6 6 endives, cut in half lengthways 40g unsalted butter 4 tsp caster sugar 50g breadcrumbs 70g parmesan cheese, freshly grated 2 tbsp thyme leaves 120ml whipping cream 12 thin sliced of Serrano ham olive oil for drizzling Preheat the oven to 200˚C. Start by caramelising the endive in batches depending on how many you can fit in a frying pan. Put the butter and sugar in the pan over a high heat until the butter starts to bubble, then place the endive halves into the pan cut side down until they are golden. Remove and place into a lined baking tray, caramelised side up. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Mix the breadcrumbs with the cream, parmesan, thyme some salt and ground pepper. Spoon the mix on top of the endives and top with a slice of the ham. Roast in the oven until golden and the endives feel soft when poked with a knife. Serve hot or warm drizzled with a little oli...

Fig, rocket and basil salad with goats cheese and prosciutto

This is the most simple salad to make and the combination of the basil, goats cheese, fig and prosciutto is amazing. Another nice thing to do is turn it into a canape by quartering the figs, putting a small dollop of goats cheese on, season, add a basil leaf and wrap in prosciutto. serves 5/6 as a Starter 1 bag Rocket 2 tubs of soft goats cheese/goats curd 1 Bunch of Basil 1 pack of Prosciutto/Parma ham 10 Figs For the dressing I just make a basic vinaigrette with a little bit of mustard, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. And for the final touch you can either buy a bottle of balsamic reduction or make it yourself by boiling it in a pan until it becomes thicker, but still runny enough to squeeze through a bottle. Then do a swirl over and around the salad.

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