The British Larder Inspirational recipe diary

The natural fragrance and aroma from fresh raspberries is simply scrumptious. This year so far we have had particularly large, fragrant and sweet raspberries. Almonds and raspberries are a naturally good combination, throw in a spoonful of local honey and you’re even better off.

Our beehives are doing well – fingers crossed we shall gain a few jars this season for our own pleasure and joy. John Buzz our bee man has warned me that with the cold and wet the bees are not particularly productive, well only time will tell and we still have a few more weeks of summer to go.

Here at British Larder HQ we make everything in bulk, I usually make a test batch large enough for tasting and selling, in this case I made 12 tarts for the restaurant and one for me. However the honest truth and I feel confession time coming on,

We are living the dream, and as chefs we are pampered and spoiled rotten. We live in a vibrant community which takes food seriously and we happen to live in the centre of a county that grows and rears fantastic produce supplying the catering and supermarket trade. Foskett, our local Bromeswell farm, has land as far as the eye can see, and it produces outstanding quality organic produce such as broccoli, potatoes, onions, green beans, corn, salad leaves and I’m sure much more that I don’t even know about – oh, nearly forgotten about the wonderful Brussels sprouts!

The friendly lanky farm manager Thomas delivers crates of Bromeswell glory to our gate every week. While the rest of the country is struggling to get Broccoli we have a regular and steady supply. I do feel spoiled!

We do on the odd occasion go to people’s homes to pick mulberries, wild plums and

I’m a sucker for a good curd. I ramble on about making curds for a long long time. It’s the sumptuous sour sweet butteryness bordering on silky creamy smoothness that gets me every time. Mmm, I can almost taste it as I’m writing…. The success to a good curd, however, is choosing a fruit with a good acidity level. Lemons, gooseberries, rhubarb and quinces all come to mind.

Since I had the thermomix I have made all curds using this machine, partly because it’s as simple as putting all the ingredients in, setting the timer and pressing a button; the machine does all the work, cooking and stirring automatically. Once done all I need to do is to pour it into a container, chill and serve. However, I also recognise that not everyone has this piece of machinery at home, and for that reason I have also added the conventional cooking method

Blackcurrant and coconut is a lovely combination. Mr. P told me a few weeks ago, perhaps more, that he has an abundance of desiccated coconut that needs using up. Strangely that has stuck in my mind, so when I received a punnet of fresh blackcurrants recently, this marvellous idea popped into my head and so I had found a use for the coconut. I’m extremely pleased with this resulting super-delicious recipe, taking the idea of making traditional financiers that usually require ground almonds, and replacing the almonds with ground desiccated coconut instead.

The financiers are made using ‘burnt butter’ (also known as beurre noisette) combined with finely ground desiccated coconut, flour and meringue. This mixture is left in the fridge overnight, then the following day it is spooned into metal moulds with some blackcurrants added and then baked until the edges are crisp and golden. When the financiers come out