Manor Farm
Fringford
Bicester
Oxfordshire OX27 8DP
A classic dessert:
Try enhancing these flavours with the subtle clove-like notes of basil.
If you don't like vinegar, use fresh lemon juice instead.
Slice or quarter 300g strawberries into a bowl and add 1tbsp balsamic vinegar + 1 ½ tbsp caster sugar.
Take 8 large basil leaves and roll them together to make a cylinder, then thinly shred them widthways and add to the strawberries.
Add 4 – 5 grindings of black pepper and gently mix everything together.
Leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes but no longer than 2 hours. Toss gently before serving and garnish with basil sprigs.
This is a sweet / savoury combination that can either be served with a spread of salads
or as a dessert with ice-cream and maybe some shortbread on the side.
For a sweeter combination this is the ideal time of year to try combining strawberries with that summer classic herb, lavender.
This gives surprising depth to the fruit flavour.
First extract the lavender flavour and aroma:
Serve this with vanilla ice-cream or some clotted cream, or just lovely on their own!
This is a really easy recipe — quick and no trouble to prepare.
It can served traditionally as a cake with your coffee or at tea-time, or warm with cream or ice-cream it makes a great pudding.
We have used cooking apples in the recipe but any robust apple like a Cox or Granny Smith would make a good substitute.
Method:
Cool the cake in its tin on a rack for 20 minutes before removing the cake tin sides. The cake is rather fragile when it is hot, so leave to cool completely on the cake tin base before transferring to a serving plate and dusting with icing sugar.
Eat and enjoy - or wrap tightly in foil and freeze!
This is a great summer fruit salad to make when there is loads of soft fruit available, the bergamot syrup really enhances the flavours of the fruits.
Warm together the juice, water, sugar and bergamot leaves over a low heat.
Once the sugar is dissolved increase the heat to a boil for 5 minutes until the syrup has reduced.
Remove the bergamot and add the redcurrants.
Simmer gently for a further 5 minutes then leave to cool.
Remove the green tops from the strawberries and halve them.
Put into your serving dish with the raspberries and pour over the cooled redcurrant syrup.
Decorate with the bergamot petals as an edible garnish.
Makes 4 ramekins.
Chop the lemon zest and add it to a pan with the thyme sprigs, cream and milk.
Bring just to the boil and then remove from the heat and leave for the flavours to infuse for 30 minutes.
After the flavours have been extracted strain through a sieve to remove the zest and thyme sprigs,
return to the pan and reheat to hot but not boiling.
Fill a roasting tin which will hold your 4 ramekins with 1cm boiling water, place in the oven and preheat to 325F,
Gas Mark 3, 160C (140C fan).
In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks and the 60g sugar
and add a little of the lemon zest and thyme leaves from the strainer.
Beating constantly, add the cream mixture to the egg yolks a little at a time until it is all incorporated.
Divide the mixture between 4 ramekin dishes, make sure that you fill each dish well
as the filling tends to shrink after cooking. Place in the pan of hot water in the oven.
The water should reach no more than half way up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges are set and the centres are just a little wobbly.
The time may vary according to your oven - oven temperatures being notoriously unreliable!
Turn off the oven and leave the brûlées inside for a further 10 minutes before removing and leaving to cool.
Refrigerate until required.
When you are ready to serve, sprinkle each ramekin with the brown sugar - about 1 tsp each or more to taste.
If you have a special cook's blowtorch then you are well away, but for the rest of us...
Preheat the grill to as hot as possible. Heat the ramekins for a few minutes until the sugar is melted and caramelised,
taking care that they do not burn.
Serve immediately decorated with a sprig of thyme.
Serves 4 - 6
Method:
Warm the spirit until hand hot in a small bowl and add the flowers.
Leave for one hour to infuse, with a lid on the bowl.
Strain well through a tea strainer, squeezing the flower heads to extract all the scented spirit.
Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with an electric beater.
Heat the honey to boiling and slowly pour onto the egg yolks whisking all the time.
Continue to whisk until cool, and then stir in the lavender flavouring.
Fold in the thick cream, whipped double cream maybe used instead.
Transfer to either a freezer proof bowl or an ice-cream machine and freeze.
Serve decorated with lavender petals.
Boil the sugar and water together until the sugar is dissolved.
Chop the mint leaves finely and add to the syrup, leave to one side to cool for 30 minutes.
Add the chosen juice to the mint mixture and strain into a freezerproof bowl or an ice-cream maker.
Freeze until semi-frozen, this will take 45min to 1hour in the freezer -
times in an ice-cream machine will vary according to the model.
At this point, beat the egg white stiffly and fold into the semifrozen mixture.
Refreeze until firm but not completely solid.
Serve decorated with the lime mint flowers or leaves.
Warm 500 ml of water in a saucepan with the caster sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved,
do not allow the syrup to get too hot.
Add the washed violet flowers to the warm syrup and leave to infuse for up to 1 hour.
Remove the violets with a slotted spoon, and rewarm the syrup in the pan.
Add a little syrup to the cocoa in a small bowl and blend well before returning the cocoa mixture to the pan.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and add to the pan, whisking well to dissolve the chocolate.
Bring the mixture to the boil, then immediately remove the pan from the heat
and place in a pan of iced water for at least 15 minutes.
When the mixture is completely cold pour into an ice-cream maker and churn until set,
then transfer to a plastic container and freeze overnight before serving garnished with violet flowers.
This sorbet is lovely at the end of a rich meal
and can be served with a raspberry sauce easily made by processing raspberries
with a squeeze of lemon juice in the food processor
and then straining the sauce through a sieve to remove the seeds before serving with the sorbet.
Mix together the sugar, yoghurt and orange juice and fold the mixture into the whipped cream.
Stir in the fruit and the herbs and spoon into a decorative serving dish.
If the ingredients were not chilled, then refrigerate before serving, garnished with sprigs of the herbs.
The fruit content of this salad is infinitely variable, according to the season.
Put the prepared fruit into a pretty serving bowl and sprinkle over the herbs.
Pour over the juice and the brandy and mix gently.
The juice maybe sweetened if desired before adding to the fruit.
Chill the salad in the fridge for 2 hours before serving.
An unusual and delicious dessert.
Start the night before you need to dessert!
Very gently warm the cream in a small pan, but do not allow it to boil.
Add the torn basil and cool, refrigerate overnight in the pan.
The next day beat the sugar with the egg yolks in a large heatproof bowl.
Reheat the cream, but do not boil, strain through a sieve onto the egg mixture,
mix the cornflour with a little water and stir this into the cream and egg mix.
Place the bowl containing the basil flavoured cream over a pan of boiling water and heat gently, stirring all the time,
until the cream has thickened. This will take about 10 minutes.
Divide the mixture between 4 individual ramekin dishes.
Sprinkle over the raspberries and leave to cool.
Either serve immediately or refrigerate until required.
(Serves 4)
Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave or over in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water.
Stir until smooth. Beat the egg yolks together and add to the chocolate.
Beat thoroughly and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Whip the egg whites to the soft peak stage and fold gently into the mousse.
Spoon the mixture into 4 pretty glass bowls and chill for 2 hours.
Just before serving, decorate with swirls of whipped cream and mint flowers.