Recipes
Create A taste. sensation at home!
Cook these easy to follow recipes from our pop ups. See what's in season at "The British Larder"
Beetroot & Chocolate Cake
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200g butter, plus extra for greasing
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250g cooked and peeled beetroot
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200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
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135g plain flour
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1 tsp baking powder
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3 tbsp cocoa powder
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5 free-range eggs, separated
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190g caster sugar
What to do!
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Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm cake tin with a little butter and line the bottom of the tin with a disc of baking parchment.
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Blend the beetroot in a food processor to a rough purée.
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Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot water.
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Stir in the butter in small pieces and leave to soften. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
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Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa together in a bowl and set aside.
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Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks in a bowl until frothy. Stir the eggs into the chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the beetroot.
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Whisk the egg whites until still peaks form when the whisk is removed. Fold in the sugar.
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Fold the sugar and egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the flour and cocoa mixture.
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Pour batter into tin & bake for 40 minutes or until cooked.
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Allow to cool.
Strawberry & Fennel Jam
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1kg strawberries, under ripe
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1kg caster sugar
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2 fennel bulbs, shaved
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1 lemon, juice only
What to do!
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Sterilise the jam jars - first wash the jars in soapy water and rinse in clean warm water. Allow them to drip-dry, upside down, on a rack in the oven set to 140C. Leave them there for at least half an hour while you make the jam.
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In a large pot combine strawberries, fennel, sugar and lemon juice.
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Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.
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Bring the strawberries up to the boil then boil hard until the jam reaches setting point. Check the setting point every ten minutes, although it may take up to half an hour to reach setting point.
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To test the setting point, remove the pan from the heat. Take your saucer from the freezer and place a drop of jam onto the cold plate. After a few seconds push the jam with your finger.
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If the jam surface wrinkles then it has reached setting point and is ready. If it slides about as a liquid, then it hasn't reached setting point and should be returned to the heat and boiled for a few more minutes before testing again.
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When setting point has been reached, turn off the heat. Stir in the butter and skim off any scum on the surface of the jam with a large spoon.
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Let the jam cool and thicken in the pan for ten minutes, so that the strawberries don't all sink to the bottom in the jam jars.
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Carefully remove the sterilised jars from the oven with oven gloves - try to avoid touching the insides of the jars with the oven gloves, which might introduce unwelcome bacteria.
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Stir the jam, then ladle it into the sterilised jars.
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Cover with a lid while still hot, label and store in a cool, dark cupboard for up to a year.
Wandsworth honey & lavender panna cotta
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500ml double cream
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200ml full-fat milk
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1 sprig lavender
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100g Wandsworth honey
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3 sheets gelatine
What to do!
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Pour the cream and milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the vanilla pod and seeds to the cream and milk mixture. Add the lavender. Gently bring cream and milk to the boil, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat. Leave to stand for five to ten minutes to allow the flavour of the lavender to infuse into the cream. Using a sieve, strain the liquid into a clean bowl. Add the honey according to taste.
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Soak the gelatine sheets for about a minute in cold water to soften. Add the gelatine to the honey liquid mixture and stir until the gelatine has completely dissolved. Cover and leave to cool.
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Pour panna cotta mixture into six small dariole moulds or ramekins and leave to set in the fridge for at least two to three hours or overnight. Serve with seasonal fruit, we topped with fig, sorrel and plum in Autumn.
