Food_Heaven_-_October_2019

60 baking heaven OCTOBER WWW.FOODHEAVENMAG.COM

Lemon and lime

basil posset

SERVES 4

300ml (10fl oz) double cream

50g (1¾oz) caster sugar

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

25g (1oz) lime basil or lemon

verbena sprigs

4 slices of shortbread, to serve

For the garnish

a few leaves of lime basil or lemon

verbena

1 small punnet of blackberries or

raspberries

1 Place the cream, sugar, lemon zest

and basil or verbena (stalks and all) in a

suitable pan and slowly bring to the boil.

2 Turn the heat right down and allow

to simmer for 10 minutes.

3 Remove from the heat and whisk in

the lemon juice.

4 Pass through a fine sieve and pour

into ramekins.

5 Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

6 Garnish with the herbs and berries,

and serve with the shortbread.

the centre shelf and leave the

meringues there for 1 hour. After that,

turn the oven off and leave the

meringues in the oven to dry out

overnight, or until the oven is completely

cold. Then break them all up into pieces.

Whip the double cream with the icing

sugar until it forms soft peaks. Don’t

over whip it or it will go grainy and split.

6 Take 1 punnet of strawberries and

remove the stalks, then slice the fruit

into 4 or 5 pieces, depending on size.

Place in a bowl, pour the lemon juice

over the sliced strawberries and add the

zest and a light covering of caster sugar.

Cover and allow to rest – to release the

juices – for 30 minutes. For the other

punnet, remove the stalks and slice the

strawberries in half, then set them aside.

7 When you’re ready to serve, fold

the broken meringue pieces, and both lots

of strawberries (reser ving some from the

second punnet to garnish), into the cream.

8 Serve in individual glass bowls or on

1 large platter. We like to garnish it with

a few strawberries, plus sprigs of

redcurrants, as they give a nice sharp

contrast to the sweetness of

the strawberries.

1 To make the meringue, you will need

a clean, dry bowl, whether you’re using

a food processor or a mixing bowl and

electric hand-whisk. If there’s any water

or grease in the bowl, it will af fect the

volume of the meringue, so make sure

you give it a good wipe with some

kitchen paper before getting started.

Also, be sure to have all the ingredients

ready before you begin whisking.

2 Place the egg whites in the mixing

bowl and whisk until they form soft

peaks. Then start to add the caster sugar,

about a tablespoon at a time, continuing

to whisk until it is all incorporated.

3 Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas

Mark 3. Line two baking trays with

greaseproof paper. Here’s a little tip if

you have a fan oven: place a small blob

of the meringue under each corner of

the paper to stick it down. This will stop

the paper blowing around and

disturbing the meringues.

4 If you’re making this with kids, tr y

putting the mix in piping bags and pipe it

onto the baking trays with them; you can

create fun designs because it’s all going to

end up in pieces anyway. Or you can

simply dollop heaped spoonfuls of

meringue onto the tray and even them out

with the back of a spoon.

5 Place the baking tray in the oven on

A right old

Eton mess

SERVES 4

300ml (10fl oz) double cream

50g (1¾oz) caster sugar

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

25g (1oz) lime basil or lemon

verbena sprigs

4 slices of shortbread, to serve

For the garnish

a few leaves of lime basil or

lemon verbena

1 small punnet of blackberries

or raspberries

The recipes on this page

are taken from The Pig:

Tales and Recipes From

the Kitchen Garden and

Beyond  by Robin

Hutson, Gill Morgan,

Paul Croughton and The

Pig team, published by

Octopus Publishing

(HB £30). Images by

Emli Bendixen.