Summer gooseberry and raspberry upside-down cake

If you're looking for the perfect summer dessert to make for friends try Rosie Birkett's Summer gooseberry and raspberry upside-down cake from her lovely book The Joyful Home Cook.

This juicy upside-down cake is reminiscent of macaroons and Turkish delight, with rose water-laced clouds of whipped cream, baked summer fruit and almond and coconut sponge. Pairing tart gooseberries with raspberries gives it a sweet, sour and textural contrast with pockets of moist fruit keeping every mouthful interesting. The sponge can easily be made ahead and topped with the cream and flower petals just before serving.

Summer gooseberry and raspberry upside-down cake with clouds of rose water cream

Serves 4–6 (depending on greed)

For the cake

butter, for greasing

50g flaked almonds

250g raspberries

250g gooseberries, washed and any little dry brown tails pinched off

100g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder pinch of fine salt

100g ground almonds

100g desiccated coconut

4 eggs

120g golden caster sugar 1

00ml whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp olive oil

rose petals or other edible flowers, to serve

For the rose water cream

400ml double cream

1 tbsp golden caster sugar

3 tsp rose water

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6, grease a round 22cm cake tin and line it with baking parchment.

Scatter half the flaked almonds over the base of the cake tin, followed by the berries and the rest of the almonds.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds into a bowl, add the desiccated coconut and stir to combine.

Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium speed for a few minutes until frothy, then whisk in the milk, vanilla extract and olive oil. Alternatively, use a bowl and an electric hand-held whisk. Fold the frothy egg mix into the dry ingredients to make a thick but wet batter. Pour this over the berries and bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the cake tin, then turn it out onto a plate, with the gooseberries on top.

Using a balloon whisk and elbow grease, or very gingerly with a stand mixer, whip the cream with the caster sugar until it reaches soft, floppy peaks (keeping a close eye on it so that you don’t over-whip it). When it’s almost at the perfect soft consistency, add the rose water and mix it through. Pile the rose water cream on top of the cake and scatter with rose petals or other edible flowers.

What to drink: A light dessert wine like a young Sauternes or similar sweet white Bordeaux or late harvest sauvignon blanc would work really this. Or, given the tartness of the gooseberries, a moscato d'asti or Clairette de Die.

Extracted from The Joyful Home Cook by Rosie Birkett published by Harper Collins. Photo © Helen Cathcart

Doughnuts and hot chocolate sauce

If you like churros you're going to LOVE this recipe for doughnuts with chocolate sauce from chef Nieves Barragan's new book Sabor*: Flavours from a Spanish Kitchen.

"If you don’t have a mixer to knead the dough you can knead it by hand" she advises. (Note the dough needs an overnight rise)

Makes 20 doughnuts

rapeseed or sunflower oil, enough to fill your pan to about 3cm

For the doughnuts

60g cold but malleable butter

450g plain flour, plus extra to dust

60g caster sugar

60ml whole milk

12g fresh yeast or 4g quick yeast

4 medium eggs

For the hot chocolate sauce

300ml water

150g caster sugar

160ml single cream

50g cocoa powder

300g dark chocolate (70%)

For the cinnamon sugar

150g caster sugar

5-6g ground cinnamon

Take the butter out of the fridge 15 minutes before starting and chop into small cubes

Put the flour and sugar into a large bowl and mix together with your hands

Heat the milk until almost boiling then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Mix into the yeast stirring with a whisk to dissolve

Put the flour and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and slowly add the butter - it will look like crumble. Add the eggs one by one then dribble in the milk/yeast mixture until everything comes together in a sticky dough.

Lightly flour a large container or bowl, turn the dough out into it and lightly flour the top. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.

In the morning turn out the dough onto a floured surface - it will have almost doubled. Take a piece (approximately 30g) and roll it in your hands then squeeze down until it’s about 2 1/2 cm thick.

Use the top of a miniature bottle to press out the dough in the middle, leaving a hole. The doughnuts should be around 25g each. Repeat until you’ve used all the dough.

Stick two fingers through the middle of each doughnut and move them around to push out the dough a bit more and double the size of the hole otherwise it will close up when the doughnut is fried and expands.

To make the hot chocolate sauce put the water, sugar and cream into a pan on a low heat and dissolve the sugar. Put the cocoa powder and chocolate into a bowl and place over a pan of simmering water to melt the chocolate (this keeps it smooth). When the chocolate has melted add it to the cream with a spatula. Continue mixing until it becomes dense and thick and perfect for dipping. Keep warm.

Mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

Pour the oil into a shallow pan on a medium heat. When it’s hot (about 180°C) fry the doughnuts until golden brown then remove and drain on kitchen paper. Dust with the cinnamon sugar while still warm and serve with the chocolate sauce for dipping.

What to drink: I'd honestly rather have coffee than wine with these delicious doughnuts (because you're going to have them for breakfast, right?) but a glass of sweet sherry would be pretty tasty too.

*Nieves is opening a new restaurant of the same name in London this autumn (2017)

Extracted from Sabor by Nieves Barragan Monacho which is published by Penguin Fig Tree at £25. Photo © Chris Terry.

Emily's peach and almond tart

One of the things I love about social media is that it's just that: social. You make friends with people through exchanging tweets and 'liking' their images on Instagram.

Emily is an Instagram friend where she posts as emilyscotthk. She's the very talented chef at the St Tudy Inn near Bodmin in Cornwall and uploads beautiful pictures of her restaurant, her food and the surrounding Cornish countryside and coast. I asked her for a seasonal recipe and she came up with this delicious tart.

Emily writes: "Peaches evoke memories for me sitting outside for breakfast on my grandparents’ terrace in the South of France with the wonderful scent of lavender and rosemary and the sound of the busy crickets.

A peach and almond tart is a lovely end to any meal, a perfect summer fruit. Substitute other fruit such as raspberries, apricots, blackberries or plums instead of peaches depending on the season. A household favourite, especially with my children.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the peaches:

4-6 peaches, washed, skinned and sliced.

For the pastry:

250g /8oz plain flour

20g/1oz caster sugar

1 whole free-range egg

1 free-range egg yolk

125g/4oz unsalted butter

A little cold water

For the almond filling:

200g/7oz ground almonds

200g/7oz unsalted butter at room temperature

200g/7oz caster sugar

2 whole eggs

grated zest of 1 lemon

You will also need a 23cm round tin about 2.5cm deep or 6 individual 12x7.5cm/3in fluted mini tartlet tins (as pictured)

Method:

Pastry:

Place the flour in a food processor along with the sugar, whole egg and yolk. Dice the butter into small cubes and add to the bowl. Blitz. Add a tablespoon of cold water and continue to process, the dough will begin to come together into a smooth ball. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Filling:

Place the softened butter with the sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Fold in the ground almonds. When finished you should have a soft paste that quite easily drops from a spoon. Remove from the bowl and stir in the lemon zest.

When ready to use. Generously flour your work surface. Roll out the pastry and line your tart case or cases with it, pressing firmly into the sides with your thumb. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas5. Remove the tart case/s from the fridge. Pour in the almond filling and arrange the peaches decoratively – and return to the middle shelf of the oven. Cook for 35-40 minutes more or until the surface is golden brown and the top is firm to the touch. (Individual tarts will only take 15 -20 mins.)

Cool and serve with a jug of pouring cream or a dollop of crème fraîche.

What to drink: This is exactly the sort of dessert that shows off a good dessert wine like a young Sauternes or similar style sweet wine from Bordeaux or the Bordeaux region. (Monbazillac is good value.)

Emily cooks at the St Tudy Inn, near Bodmin. Tel: 01208 850656

Recipe photograph © David Griffen

Gin and cucumber sorbet

If you're looking to mark World Gin Day this weekend why not rustle up this refreshing gin and cucumber sorbet which was created by Simon Dawson of Bell's Diner in Bristol.

Gin and cucumber sorbet

(makes about 12 scoops)

200 g caster sugar

200 ml water

35 ml glucose syrup

1/2 tsp salt

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

16 mint leaves

2 cucumbers

100 ml gin (we use Beefeater)

Put the sugar, water and glucose syrup in a pan over a medium heat and bring it to the boil, stirring occasionally.

When all the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat, add the salt and lemon juice and zest and let it stand for five minutes.

Slice the mint leaves very finely and add to the syrup in the pan. Pour the mixture into a bowl, let it cool a little then cover and put it in the fridge overnight.

Peel and roughly chop the cucumber and blend in a processor until smooth. Add the pulp to the syrup mixture, strain through a fine sieve then add the gin.

Churn in an ice cream machine or pour into a shallow container and freeze, stirring with a fork from time to time to break up the ice crystals. It’ll take about 24 hours to freeze properly in a domestic freezer.

In the restaurant we serve the sorbet with a dash of frozen gin - generally Portobello Road. We also recommend it with a gimlet.

© Bell’s Diner & Bar Rooms 2014