Raspberry and Cinnamon Jam

Makes about 1kg

Ingredients:
900g granulated or preserving sugar
900g raspberries
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick, crushed and tied in muslin

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put the sugar in a roasting tin and warm in the oven for 10 minutes. Put the raspberries in a preserving pan and cook over low heat for 5 minutes or until the juices run. Add the warmed sugar, lemon juice and the cinnamon stick.
Bring to the boil, then simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Bubble for 15 minutes or until set, then remove the cinnamon stick.
Pour the hot preserve into warm sterilised jam jars, then cover and label.

July Fruit and Vegetables

Summer is now well entrenched and, as far as fruit and vegetables are concerned, we are in our seventh heaven; Nature truly spoils us this month with a luscious array of colourful produce. Whole ranges of tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other quintessential summer vegetables are available in copious quantities.

July sees a glut of tomatoes, which although they are not one of the UK's great crops as we don't get enough sun for them under normal conditions, those grown under' plastic' give the Mediterranean tomatoes a run for their money while the weather is good. All sorts of tomatoes are available: the beef tomato, which is great for salads and cooking, cherry tomatoes, wonderful in salads and pastas, and plum tomatoes, too tough for eating raw, but with solid flesh and good flavour that make them perfect for curries and sauces are the best to look for.

Summer is also salad season, and July is one of the peak months for salad ingredients: lettuces, cucumbers and spring onions as well as the ubiquitous tomato. To complete any salad, a dressing made with the new season garlic, which should now be available from France and Italy, puts the finishing touch.

The two other vegetable stars of July are sweetcorn and peas, a couple of vegetables that are not worth buying fresh any time other than now. I can't think of any vegetable more delicious than peas straight out of the pod or a mealie cob picked from the maize field, boiled and served with butter soon after picking! Both of these vegetables, when picked, are packed full of sugar that can make them additively sweet. But that sugar doesn't last very long. These vegetables continue to act as if they were still 'alive' after picking, using their sugar as food or converting it into starch. Sugar loss can be as high as 40% in 6 hours, which leads to a drastic drop in sweetness. The solution is to buy directly from a farm where they are picked daily, or even more frequently, or to pick them yourself and cook them immediately, where possible. If you can't cook them on the same day as picking, refrigeration storage will slow the rate of sugar loss.

Summer fruits are at their best in July, with mountains of berries and stone fruits just begging to be used. With the wonderful weather to begin the month, the English strawberries are ripening under the warm sunshine and the first raspberries are appearing with their succulent combination of acidity and sweetness. This is the time to use these berry fruits, for jam-making, baking, fruit salads or just enjoying them one berry at a time straight from the bush if you should be so lucky. July is probably the best month for making jams and preserves. The cheapest way to buy, which is important for jam makers, is by going to a 'Pick Your Own Farm', or if you don't have one in your area, is to find a farmer's market, where the quality will be good and the prices reasonable.

Cherries, peaches and nectarines should also be making a good showing this month, but choose these fruit carefully as they are picked while under-ripe to help them withstand the long journey they make to grace the shelves of our stores. sometimes they don't ripen; a trick to get them to ripen is to store them in the fridge in a paper bag. Some supermarkets sell ripe-picked stone fruit at a premium price; they may deserve the premium, but sometimes not. Less than perfect fruit can be used for puddings and preserves.

Of the fruit that is available in July, apart from our own previously mentioned berries and stone-fruit, much of the best fruit comes from more southerly climes. Melons are in good supply, succulent and sweet, making them suitable for fruit salads and for serving with cold meats, hams and spicy sausages.

A fruit that is available most of the year, but at it's best in summer is the mango, which come from Pakistan and India. If you are lucky enough to live near an Asian food store, they may have boxes of this delicious fruit from a source of their own at a more reasonable price than you may find in your local supermarket.

Red Berry Meringue Pie

This pie has no pastry, so cuts down on calorie intake in that respect, making it quite a healthy pudding. It still contains some sugar, but the sweetness of the meringue is overshadowed by the sharp taste of the fruit. It has virtually no fat as the only fat, a healthy monounsaturated fat that tends to improve the 'good' cholesterol levels in the body, comes from the almonds, which add extra crunch and texture to this delicious dessert.

Ingredients:
100g unblanched almonds
175g strawberries, washed, drained and hulled
175g raspberries, washed and drained
175g red currants, washed and drained
3 egg whites
175g caster sugar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200C.

Divide the almonds between 4 ramekins, placing them on the bottom of each. Mix the berries together and put on top of the almonds, filling the ramekins to only half way up.

With an electric whisk, whisk the egg whites in a clean glass bowl until they form stiff peaks. Add half the sugar and whisk again until the mixture is glossy. Fold in the remaining sugar and divide the meringue between the four ramekins.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.

Summer Fruit Charlotte

Chill out this summer with this cool light dessert;

it needs time to set but is definitely worth the wait.

Ingredients:
100g caster sugar
250g strawberries, sliced
175g raspberries
1 pack sponge fingers
2 sheets gelatine
500g Greek yoghurt
2ml vanilla extract
a few extra berries for garnish

Method:
Place 75g of sugar in a small pan with 100ml water. Heat gently, stirring until dissolved. Add the strawberries and raspberries to the pan. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Strain into a shallow dish, reserving the fruit.

Dip the sponge fingers one by one into the syrup and use to line the base and sides of a 1 litre pudding basin, cutting the sponges to fit. In another pan, soak the gelatine in about 50ml cold water for about 5 minutes until soft, then warm gently until melted.

Place the yoghurt in a bowl with the vanilla extract and the remaining sugar, then beat in the melted gelatine. Place half this mixture in the basin, add the reserved fruit, cover with the rest of the yoghurt mixture and top with any left over sponge fingers. Drizzle any remaining syrup around the edges and chill for 4 hours.

To serve, invert onto a plate, remove the basin and top with some extra berries.

Fruit and Vegetables in June

The abundance of fresh food in June makes cooking a pleasure. This month heralds midsummer, with the longest day and plenty of sunshine. The promise of long summer evenings provides the ideal time for out door living and good eating.

June keeps up the good work that May began with asparagus remaining the star vegetable, with lower prices than May, but with quality every bit as good, if not better. I have noticed that as we approached June, the spears grew fatter and more succulent, all the better for pigging out on! Make the most of them as they don't last for much longer.

Jersey Royals, those gorgeous little spuds, are also still available, but make the most of them this month as they will also be ending their season at the end of this month. I use them often for a quick salad; boiled and covered in herb butter, they are the quintessential accompaniment of a grilled steak or chop on the braai or barbecue.

Broad beans are also continue in their availability; they are likely to be larger than they were in May so skinning them is a good idea. Use them for extra filling and nutritious salads and stews. Summer cabbages are also in their peak season, tender enough for a stir-fry. Cauliflowers are also available now, but are still a little on the pricey side; their price should come down as the month wears on.

New UK vegetables this month include courgettes and mangetouts, which should get steadily more plentiful as the month progresses. Think about using courgettes cooked on the braai, halved lengthwise and brushed with olive oil. You may want to try them in salads too, where they add a lovely nuttiness and crunchy texture. Salads are of course in vogue this month to accompany outdoor living with Baby Gem lettuces, tangy spring onions, crunchy radishes, cucumbers and lots of tomato varieties becoming widely available. Cherry tomatoes make such colourful additions to a green salad and there are also some delightful little berry tomatoes available now, which are no bigger than blueberries and just as tasty as their bigger cousins; give them a try some time.

Junes fruit basket begins its summer bounty this month. Apricots are starting to ripen, getting the orange hue that indicates good texture and flavour. Gooseberries are also coming along nicely with the best of this fruit arriving in about the middle of the month, but this year looks to be coming sooner because of the unseasonable warm spring. Among imports from the continent should be melons from Spain, including honeydew and cantaloupe, and peaches from Italy. Cherries are another June speciality, with the first supplies coming from Europe, to be followed later in the month by good fruit from British orchards. Raspberries also make a showing at the beginning of this month, along with red and black currants.

But the star among fruit this month, of course, is the strawberry. It is the quintessential summer fruit, forever associated with the Wimbledon tennis season. How could we ever do without strawberries and champers in this season of sunshine!

In recent years a lot of investment in money and time has been made in trying to find varieties that extend the season of this fruit. Some of the modern varieties have been developed to show resistance to disease and for long shelf life, sadly sacrificing flavour. Varieties have been created to look good, but as with any fruit, the proof is in the tasting. With the season progressing as fast as it does, the same variety can taste sharp one week and gloriously sweet the next.

There are three critical elements when it comes to proper strawberries with the perfect balance of sweet and sharp. The first and most important is the variety. It is rare to find a large variety, like for instance an Elsanta, that thrills; big it might be but size counts for very little. The small strawberries like the Mara des Bois, on the other hand, nearly always bursts with stunning flavour, is richly scented and totally bursting with the tang that a strawberry is supposed to possess.

The second critical element is freshness. The shorter the time from plant to plate, the better the strawberry tastes. Time, even in relatively small doses, takes its toll. Only a couple of days away from the plant the fruit already become dull, the goodness dissipates and they all taste mediocre. In practice this means growing your own is best; if you can't do that then pick your own at an open farm or at least buy from a farm shop or farmers market where you can be assured that the fruit has been picked that very same day, or at most, the previous day. It's up to you how quickly you can eat them.

The third element is the right degree of sunshine - plenty of sunshine but not overly hot - as the berries redden to plump ripeness. A little rain is fine, but too much moisture swells the berries to an ungainly, watery mass, diluting the taste and encouraging the berries to rot.

Since there is little we can do about the weather, it makes sense to concentrate on flavour and freshness. As with all the best fruit, the trick to always enjoying good strawberries through the season is to choose the varieties that are at their peak as they ripen through the season.

Look for strawberries that are red from crown to tip, and as always, rely on taste rather than looks alone. Remember, even a strawberry that is a little sharp can be improved with a little sugar.

Monmouth Pudding

Pwdin Mynwy – a traditional Welsh dessert, which is similar to ‘Queen of Puddings’. From the name of this dessert you can surmise that it originated in Monmouthshire – and you would be absolutely right!

Ingredients:

For the pudding:
90g fresh breadcrumbs
30ml soft light brown sugar
450ml whole milk
1 lemon, zest only
30ml caster sugar
25g salted butter
3 large egg yolks

For the topping:
175g raspberry jam
150g fresh raspberries
75g caster sugar
3 large egg whites, whisked until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed

Method:

For the pudding, preheat the grill to a medium setting.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and brown sugar into a roasting tray. Shake the tray to mix the two together, then grill until the breadcrumbs are lightly toasted and the sugar has started to melt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Heat the milk, lemon zest, sugar and butter in a pan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring regularly, until the butter has melted and the mixture is well combined, then stir the toasted breadcrumbs and sugar into the milk mixture and set aside, off the heat, for 30 minutes.

Once the milk and breadcrumbs mixture has stood for 30 minutes, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until pale and fluffy, then add them to the milk and breadcrumb mixture and whisk gently until well combined.

Pour the pudding mixture into a 8inch ovenproof serving dish and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pudding has risen and is just set. (The pudding has set when a skewer inserted into a middle of the pudding comes out clean.)

Remove the pudding from the oven and increase the temperate to 180C.

For the topping, spread the raspberry jam in an even layer over the pudding. Sprinkle over the raspberries.

In a bowl, add the sugar to the whisked egg whites and continue whisking until the mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed.

Spoon the meringue over the pudding and return to the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the meringue is golden-brown.

Serve immediately.