S’mores (pictured above)
Prep 5 min
Cook 15 min
Makes 6
200ml double cream
1 pinch flaked sea salt
200g 70% dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
6 large marshmallows
12 good-quality chocolate chip and hazelnut cookies
First make the chocolate spread. Heat a saucepan on the fire (or hob), add the cream and salt, then bring to a boil. Put the broken chocolate into a bowl, pour in the hot cream, whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth, then tip back into the pan and keep warm.
Put the marshmallows on skewers (if you’re using wooden ones, soak them in water for at least half an hour first), and toast over an open fire, turning regularly, until golden brown all over.
Lay all 12 cookies on a tray, and spread the side facing up with the chocolate mix. Put a marshmallow in the centre of six of the cookies, top with the remaining cookies sauce side down, and serve.
Baked stone fruits, mascarpone, meringue, amaretto
Prep 20 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 4
6 ripe mixed stone fruit – peaches, nectarines, plums or apricots, say (or stick to one fruit), halved and stoned
250g demerara sugar
250g mascarpone
250ml double cream
50g runny honey
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
100g whole blanched hazelnuts
200g caster sugar
100ml amaretto
6 bought-in meringues, gently crushed
1 small bunch mint, leaves picked
Dip the cut side of each fruit half in the demerara sugar, then lay them cut side up on a large plate or tray.
In a medium bowl, whisk the mascarpone, cream, honey and vanilla seeds to soft peaks.
Roast the hazelnuts in a pan over the barbecue until browned, tip into a mortar, leave to cool a little, then crush lightly.
Now for the praline: tip the caster sugar into the same hot pan over the fire and wait until it starts to caramelise. When the sugar is dark brown and runny, return the crushed nuts to the pan and toss to coat. Pour out on to a tray lined with greaseproof paper – take care: it will be very hot and sticky – then leave to cool and harden.
Heat a frying pan over the fire, then lay in the fruit cut side down and leave to cook for three to four minutes, until you start to see the sugar caramelise. Turn over the fruit, cook for three to four minutes more on the skin side, then pour over the amaretto and stand back because it will very likely catch light. Once the flames have subsided and the alcohol has burned off, transfer the fruit to a platter and leave to cool for five minutes.
Put three pieces of fruit on each plate, spoon the soft-whipped cream over the top and scatter on the crushed meringues and mint leaves. Chop the praline into shards (use a big heavy knife), sprinkle on top and serve.
Scotch pancakes, macerated strawberries, cream
Prep 10 min
Macerate 10 min
Cook 10 min
Serves 4
For the pancakes
360g plain flour
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tsp cream of tartar
80g caster sugar
3 medium eggs, beaten
230ml whole milk
Butter, for frying
For the strawberries
400g strawberries, hulled and halved (use local ones, ideally)
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 splash elderflower syrup
For the cream
400ml double cream (I use Somerset cream, but again, use one local to you, if you can)
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
2 tbsp runny honey
To make the pancake batter, sift the flour, bicarb, cream of tartar and sugar into a bowl. Add the eggs and 200ml milk, then beat into a thick batter, adding the remaining 30ml milk only if needed to thin it out a bit.
Mix the strawberries with the sugar and elderflower syrup, and leave to macerate for 10 minutes.
Whisk the cream, vanilla seeds and honey to soft peaks.
Melt a small knob of butter in a large, heavy-based frying pan set over embers until it sizzles, then wipe the butter around the pan with kitchen paper. Cooking them in batches, drop about two tablespoons of batter per pancake into the pan, and fry for two or three minutes. When air bubbles pop on the top, flip over and cook on the other side for another couple of minutes. Keep warm and repeat with the remaining batter – you should end up with 12 pancakes.
When the pancakes are cooked, divide between four plates (ie, three per portion), and top with a big spoonful of cream and some of the macerated strawberries, making sure to get some of the juices, too.
Rum-soaked pineapple
Prep 5 min
Soak 20 min
Cook 15 min
Serves 4
1 pineapple
80ml rum
2 tbsp demerara sugar
100g flaked coconut
Juice and zest of 1 lime
1 red chilli, finely diced
1 bunch mint, picked
350ml Greek yoghurt
Top and tail the pineapple, remove the skin and cut the flesh into eight wedges.
Mix the rum and sugar in a large bowl, add the pineapple wedges and leave to soak for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, toast the coconut in a pan over the fire, then set aside.
Once the pineapple is soaked, chargrill the wedges on all sides until soft, brushing them with their soaking liquid as you go.
Once the pineapple wedges are softened and nicely charred all over, transfer to a large platter.
Stir the lime juice into the leftover soaking liquid and drizzle over the pineapple. Scatter the chilli, lime zest and lots of mint leaves on top, and serve with yoghurt.
