FLOWER POT KITCHEN: QUEEN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE STREET PARTY

WHAT A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO BE PART OF THE QUEEN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE, I REMEMBER MY FIRST JUBILEE STREET PARTY IN 1977, SO I WAS REALLY EXCITED FOR MY SON AS THIS WAS HIS FIRST STREET PARTY, SO I WENT ALONG THE TRADITIONAL AND REGAL THEME, WE MADE OUR OWN BUNTING AND FLAGS AND HAD A VERY BRITISH TEA PARTY WITH CORONATION CHICKEN, AND CUCUMBER SANDWICHES, ROAST BEEF AND YORKSHIRE PUDDING SANDWICH, GOOSEBERRY TRIFLE, ELDERFLOWER AND PINK CHAMPAGNE JELLY, SUMMER FRUIT PUDDING WITH CLOTTED CREAM AND BAKEWELL TART

SCRUMMY ALMOND AND FRESH RASPBERRY CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

4oz caster sugar

4oz stork

2 free range eggs

4oz supreme self raising flour

200g fresh raspberries

2 tbsp homemade raspberry coulis

5ml vanilla extract, (not flavouring)

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees. Cream the sugar and stork together till pale in colour and fluffy, beat in one egg at a time slowly, then fold in the flour and vanilla, beat for one minute and then take 2 tablespoons of the raspberry coulis and swirl through the cake batter, don't mix it in just do a couple of figures of eight, so that your cake will have wonderful raspberry swirls through it.

To make the raspberry coulis, take four tablespoons of raspberries, place in a sauce pan and add two tablespoons of water, and two again of icing sugar, bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes. Pass through a sieve, job done.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake case's, place one dessert spoon in the bottom of each case, (this recipe will make approx 10), place two or three raspberries on top of the cake batter, top off with another dessert spoon of cake batter, at this point you could add a chunk of white chocolate. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

To top the cupcakes, I mixed butter with icing sugar and then topped with jubilee red, white and blue sprinkles, I also used coloured sugar paste and rolled out the union and jack flag in strips.

GREAT BRITISH BAKEWELL TART

INGREDIENTS
For the short crust pastry
225g plain flour
115g butter diced
55ml chilled water
pinch of salt

Place the flour and salt in a bowl, rub in the butter to resemble bread crumbs, add the chilled water and bring to a dough. Do not over work, wrap in cling film and rest for thirty minutes in the fridge.

FOR THE BAKEWELL
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
115g caster sugar
115g melted butter
50g ground almonds
5ml almond extract
3 tbsp raspberry jam
200g icing sugar
2-6 tbsp water
30g chocolate
10ml double cream
1 skewer

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, roll the pastry and line the tin, spread the jam over the base of the pastry. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar till light pale and fluffy, gently stir in the melted butter, ground almonds and essence, pour over the jam and bake for approx 30 minutes until the filling is just set.
To make the icing topping, mix the icing sugar and water to a thick smooth paste and pour over the cooled bakewell cake, then melt the chocolate and cream together gently, take a skewer and dip the end in the chocolate and draw lines every inch apart sideways across the white icing topping, then with a clean skewer drag the skewer length ways gently to the top, this creates the famous decorative pattern on the top of Bakewell tarts.

GOOSEBERRY AND AMARETTO TRIFLE

INGREDIENTS

500g fresh gooseberries

100ml water

4 tbsp icing sugar

300ml double cream whipped

6 boudoir (sponge) biscuits

50ml amaretto

70%-100% cacao chocolate

FOR THE CUSTARD

3 egg yolks

200ml double cream

200g caster sugar

5ml vanilla essence

Make the custard first, whisk the egg yolks, and sugar until light, pale and fluffy, heat the cream until almost boiling, add the vanilla and then pour the hot cream over the egg mix, whisking all the time, return to the pan and on a very gently heat cook till the mixture thickens, at this point take off the heat immediately, as you don't want the mix to curdle.

Take all the gooseberries and place in a saucepan with the watter and icing sugar, bring to a simmer and melt for just a couple of minutes, take off the heat and leave to cool. The point is to keep the gooseberries whole, and just sweeten the coulis.

This is such a treasure of a dish, so easy to assemble and yet a really welcoming dessert, take the boudoir biscuits and place in your trifle dish, pour over the amaretto, add some of the gooseberries, then mix some off the gooseberries in some of the whipped cream, and layer on top, then add some of the custard, now add some more gooseberries, then more whipped cream and dust the top with some grated chocolate, I love that some of the best desserts are what we loved as children, simple...

GROWN UP JELLY, PINK CHAMPAGNE AND ELDERFLOWER JELLY

WITH FRESH RASPBERRIES

INGREDIENTS

420ml pink champagne

100ml boiling water

1 pack raspberry jelly or

3 gelatin leaves

150g fresh raspberries

50ml elderflower cordial

RASPBERRY COULIS

100g raspberries

1 tbsp icing sugar

30ml water

To make the coulis, place all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer till the raspberries can't hold their shape. Push through a sieve and leave to cool. Place the jelly in the boiling water and once dissolved top up with the pink champagne and elderflower, OR soak the gelatin leaves in cold water for 5 minutes, then bring up to heat the pink champagne and add the gelatin leaves and stir till dissolved, then add the cordial, water and raspberry coulis. In some pretty glasses add some raspberries, pour over some of the jelly, if you want the raspberries to be set in the jelly and not just in the top, place the jelly in the fridge to 3/4 set, then repeat the process two or three times, or place the raspberries in the glass and fill with the jelly, the raspberries will float to the top and set there. Decorate with a edible flower from the garden.

GLORIOUS DIAMOND AND GOLDEN CORONATION CHICKEN FINGER SANDWICHES AND SIMPLE EGG MAYONNAISE AND CRESS

OLD FASHIONED YORKSHIRE PUDDING SANDWICH, LAYERED WITH RARE BRITISH SALTED ROAST BEEF, WATERCRESS AND A CREAMED HORSERADISH DRESSING FINISHED OFF WITH FRESH SEASONED FRIED ONION RINGS

TRADITIONAL SALT & DILL HOME CURED WILD SALMON WHOLEMEAL FINGER SANDWICH, CLASSIC CUCUMBER FINGER SANDWICH ON WHITE AND THEN A OPEN WHOLEMEAL SANDWICH WITH MATURE CHEDDAR GORGE CHEESE FROM PAXTON AND WHITFIELD WITH HOME BAKED HAM AND WATERCRESS FINISH

INGREDIENTS
Fresh white and wholemeal bread, crusts off
100g soften salted butter
1 bunch water cress
1 tray cress
100g mature cheddar cheese
1 cucumber, peeled and shaved
1 bunch of dill
4 eggs just boiled
100g ham on the bone
FOR THE MAYONNAISE
150ml light olive oil
3 egg yolks
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of lemon
FOR THE SALT CURED SALMON
1 fillet of wild salmon
300g sea salt
1 bunch dill fine chopped
FOR THE YORKSHIRE SANDWICH
250g plain flour
4 free range eggs, (our girls)
550ml whole milk (not our cow)
1 pinch salt & pepper
6 slices of rare beef salted
100ml creme fraiche
4 tsp horseradish sauce
1 onion fine sliced in rings
100g flour seasoned
500ml oil for frying the onion rings
FOR THE DIAMOND AND GOLDEN JUBILEE CORONATION CHICKEN
For the marinade
1 lemon juiced
1 lime juiced
6 chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp curry paste
100ml yogurt
FOR THE CURRY SAUCE
6 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp curry paste
1 lemon juiced (as needed)
Salt and pepper
1 bunch fresh coriander chopped
Seasoning to taste
To make the a corrination chicken, take the thighs and rub in all the ingredients, leave in the fridge for a couple of hours if you can, to develop the flavours. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes on 200 degrees, leave to cool and take off the skin, pull off all the meat and mix with all the curry sauce ingredients and season to taste, adjust seasoning as required.
To make the mayonnaise for the egg mayonnaise, take the egg yolks and place in a blender, turn on and add the olive oil in a slow drizzle until nice and thick, then add some lemon juice and season to taste.
To boil your eggs, (I use fresh eggs from the girls in the garden), I wait till the water is boiling, add my eggs and then time for six minutes, take off the heat immediately and run cold water over the eggs, this stops the cooking progress, if you don't do this the eggs will overcook and go rubbery.

To make the cucumber sandwich, I peeled the cucumber, then using a peeler, peel off slices, making care not to go deep enough to revel the seeds. Sprinkle with a tiny dash of salt and layer on your white bread.
To make the cured wild salmon, take the side of salmon and rub well, covering with the salt and dill, place on a board with a bed of salt and then cover with cling film, place a second board on top of the salmon, place in the fridge for 24hrs. Now the salmon is ready to be served, brush off the salt and dill and slice finely.

To make the beef and Yorkshire pudding sandwich, take the eggs and milk, whisk really well add a good pinch of salt and the flour and whisk well again. Place in the fridge overnight if you can, a few hours will be fine, but it is better rested overnight. Bring the batter back up to room temperature and whisk before use. In a pre heated oven 200 degrees place your batter tin with a tsp of oil in each well, place back in the oven till smoking hot, approx ten minutes. Really quickly and gently take the batter tin out of the oven, close the door, pour in the batter and place back in the oven as fast as possible trying not to knock the tin, close the door and set the timer for approx 20-25 minutes, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! These are not as robust as what I cook for a Sunday roast, these are softer which makes then more suited for use as a sandwich.
Using scissors cut open your Yorkshire puddings and layer with some watercress, rare seasoned beef, horse radish creme fraiche and finish of with the fried onion rings, these only take a couple of minutes, dust the sliced onions in the seasoned flour and fry at 180 degrees for a couple of minutes.

To assemble the cheese & ham open sandwich, butter your wholemeal finger with Dijon mustard and butter, then place a slice of mature cheddar almost the same size as the finger, wrap your ham around the finger leaving a larger loop on the top and place your watercress or rocket salad in the loop.

ALMOST TRADITIONAL SAUSAGE ROLLS, THESE ARE LOCAL PORK WHICH I SEASONED WITH SALT, PEPPER, THYME AND SAGE, THEN ADDED SOME CAMEMBERT CHEESE AND RASPBERRY COULIS

INGREDIENTS

1 pack of puff pastry

500g sausage meat

2 sprigs fresh thyme

4 fresh sage leaves

Salt and black pepper

200g le rustic Camembert

100ml raspberry coulis (see above)

1 egg beaten for glaze

Roll out your puff pastry to approx 30cm x 20cm, cut into approx 5" wide strips, place some of the sausage meat just off centre in a long line, place the Camembert along one side of the meat and drizzle over a little raspberry coulis. Egg wash the far side of the pastry, roll over the sausage meat and place the sealed side of the pastry on the bottom. Score the top of the sausage roll and cut to the size you want, from mini rolls to large ones, egg wash and bake for approx 20 minutes till golden brown.

FANTASTIC SUMMER FRUIT PUDDING STUFFED WITH FRESH HEDGEROW BERRIES AND CLOTTED CREAM

INGREDIENTS

White bread, crusts off

500g mixed hedgerow berries

30ml water

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tub of Devon clotted cream

Take a pudding basin or glass bowl of medium size or make smaller individual puddings and line with cling film, cut out a circle of bread to fit the bottom of the bowl and then cut the slices of bread in half to line the sides of the bowl, then a larger circle to fit the top of the bowl. Take half of the berries and place in a saucepan with the water and icing sugar and bring to just a simmer, once soft pass through a sieve and place the berry sauce in a wide bowl.

Take the bread and dip it into the berry sauce and cover completely then place the round disk in the bottom of your bowl, line the sides, you can overlap a little, making sure there are now gaps. Place some of the reserved fruit in the pudding, top with clotted cream and finish off with the rest of the berries, right to the top, pour over any left over berry sauce and place the bread lid on, wrap over the hanging clingfilm and place a plate on top with a weight. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour, bring out half hour before serving and once turned out onto your serving plate finish off the dish with some extra berries on the side and some more extra clotted cream, naughty...

TRADITIONAL BUTTERMILK SCONES SERVED WITH DEVON CLOTTED CREAM AND HOMEMADE DAMSON JAM

INGREDIENTS

500g plain flour

70g caster sugar

2tsp baking powder

70g milk powder

60g butter

250ml buttermilk

1/2 tsp salt

1 beaten egg to glaze

Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees, place in a large bowl the flour, sugar, baking powder, milk powder and butter, rub together to a fine breadcrumb consistency, add the salt and butter milk and bring together gently with your hands to a dough, do not over work this mix as it will encourage you scones to be heavy and flat.

Without any flour, push the dough out with the heel of your hand to approx 4cm thickness, using a scone cutter cut out your scones, don't turn the cutter, the straight lines from the cutter encourage your scone to rises straight up in the oven, paint the tops only with the egg wash and bake for approx 15-20 minutes. Serve with Devon clotted cream and homemade jam, as for Devon scones, the jam must always be served on the bottom, where over the border in Cornwall it must have the clotted cream on the bottom and the jam on the top.