The perfect roast
The perfect roast potatoes
By Sophie Grigson
Little new potatoes are delicious roasted. The sharpness of the lemon pieces is particularly good with them.
Serves 4
1kg small new potatoes
6 sprigs thyme
1 lemon
4 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
salt
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Put the potatoes and thyme in a roasting tin or ovenproof dish - large enough to take them all in a single layer.
Cut the lemon into wedges, then cut each wedge into three pieces. Add to the potatoes, then drizzle over the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Turn the potatoes and lemon until all are coated in oil. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring twice during that time, until the potatoes are patched with brown and very tender.
· Vegetables by Sophie Grigson is published by Harper Collins, £25. Order a copy for £23 with free UK p&p here
The perfect roast beef
By Clarissa Dickson-Wright and Johnny Scott
It is always better to use a bigger joint than you think you need. If the beef is too lean, ask the butcher to tie some extra fat over the joint. Roasting joints are rib of beef, sirloin or topside. Calculate the cooking time at 12 minutes per 450g for very rare, 15 minutes for rare and 20 for well done on the bone. For a joint off the bone, allow 15, 20 and 25 minutes respectively.
Serves 8-10
a 2.25kg piece of rolled beef
salt, pepper, dry mustard powder
Crosshatch the fat on the top of the joint and rub it with salt, pepper and dry mustard powder. Preheat the oven to 230C/gas 8. Place the joint on a rack in a roasting pan and cook for 15 minutes (20 if the joint is over 2.75kg), then turn the heat down to 160C/gas 3.
Roast for the remainder of the calculated cooking time. Remove and allow to rest for a final 10 minutes in a warm place.
The perfect roast leg of lamb
The classic way of cooking this is to make incisions all over the joint and put slivers of garlic and rosemary into the holes prior to cooking. There are many variants on this theme, including using anchovies or ginger. The recipe I have chosen requires a bit more effort. Allow 10-12 minutes per 500g for rare; 15 minutes for medium-rare; 20 minutes for well done.
Serves 6-8
1 leg of lamb, weighing about 2.75kg
2 lemons
1-2 large garlic cloves (slivered)
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp ground ginger
salt and freshly ground pepper
Peel the lemons, keeping the peel in one long strip. Cut each strip into three so that you have six long strips. Without breaking the skin, score the surface of the lamb with crosshatched diagonal lines at 4cm intervals. Make small holes every 2.5cm along each of the score lines, preferably using a larding needle. Weave the lemon strips along the holes in the score marks, going in at one, under the skin, and out at another - just as if darning a sock. The finished surface of the lamb should resemble a woven basket. Make several small incisions between the lemon rinds and insert slivers of garlic. Place the joint in a roasting tin. Squeeze the lemons and combine the juice with the rest of the ingredients. Spoon this over the lamb and refrigerate for two hours.
Preheat the oven to 230C/gas 8. Roast the lamb in the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 160C/gas 3. Baste every 15 minutes and cook for the remaining calculated cooking time. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
The perfect roast pork
The best way of straight oven-roasting is to put your prepared joint on a rack in the oven tray. Preheat the oven to 240C/gas 9. Roast the pork at this temperature for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180C/gas 4 for the remainder of the cooking time, between 20 and 30 minutes per 450g. This will depend on the size of joint and the amount of bone. A 1kg joint will serve four to six. I, however, use Fanny Cradock's method, which is to roast for the whole time in a preheated oven at 220C/gas 7 for about 23 minutes per 450g. There are also the cheaper and often forgotten joints. These are hand and spring, shoulder, spare rib and belly. The hand is the bit below the knee and above the foot. It is delicious meat with lots of crackling but requires quite careful cooking. Spare rib should be cooked as for leg. Shoulder I find better for pot-roasting, and belly is very good rolled and stuffed, and responds well to both methods.
Crackling: the real secret of crackling is in the scoring. Ideally your butcher will do this for you, or use a scalpel or Stanley knife rather than a kitchen knife. Score the loin about 3mm deep across its length in narrow strips. For other joints, crosshatch this to provide tiny squares which will crackle beautifully. Rub the rind first with salt and then with oil, rubbing in the salt (in the words of the late Fanny Cradock) 'as if into the face of your worst enemy'. The art of choosing pork is to remember that roast pork is indigestible without its fat, and that crackling is one of the world's great joys. The meat should be a good rich pink: too red and it won't taste as good; too grey and it will taste as it looks.
The perfect roast chicken
Serves 4
1 roasting chicken weighing 1.3kg
55g butter (softened)
For the stuffing
3 rashers smoked bacon (chopped)
25g butter
1 onion, chopped
85g old bread (roughly crumbled)
1 large bunch of mixed herbs, to include parsley (chopped)
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
75ml sherry or wine
1 egg
salt and some freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 230C/gas 8. To make the stuffing: in a large frying pan fry the bacon in the butter, then add the onion and fry until soft and golden. Add the breadcrumbs and cook until they have taken up all the fat and coloured slightly. Add the herbs, lemon rind and juice and the sherry or wine. Allow to cool. Break the egg into a small bowl, beat well, then add to the mixture. Stir in well with a fork, then season to taste. Stuff the inner cavity of the bird and use a skewer to close, or sew up. Put the bird in a roasting pan, smear with butter and roast for 1 hour 20 minutes. There are two separate time calculations. A properly raised free-range chicken takes 20 minutes per 450g, the rest about 12-15 minutes per 450g. If you are stuffing the bird, add 20 minutes. A 1.3kg bird will feed four.
The perfect Yorkshire pudding
I was invited this year to dine with the Butchers' Guild in York for their annual Shrove Tuesday Feast. It was a splendid affair full of love of good food and laughter. On this occasion the Yorkshire pudding was served in the traditional manner before the meat course. This was designed to fill you up and make you less hungry for the beef so you would appreciate it more. I was told that it is also customary to save a slice to have later with jam. When I was young the Yorkshire pudding was baked in a roasting pan as a large slab. Today the fashion is for little individual puddings which are quicker and easier to make, but I still prefer the larger piece. The trick is to have the dripping in the pan smoking hot before you pour in the batter.
Serves 6
115g plain flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
300ml milk
fat from the roasting tin, or dripping or vegetable oil
Sift the flour and some salt and pepper into a bowl, and make a well in the middle. Break in the eggs and beat well together, gradually working in the flour. Beat in the milk, using a good wrist action to beat in air. Make sure the mixture is well mixed and free of lumps. Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Heat the tin, or muffin tins if using. Put about 2 tbs dripping in the large tin, 1 tsp in each of the smaller ones. Heat in the preheated oven until the fat smokes. Pour in the batter and bake for 25-30 minutes. If you don't have two ovens you will have to re-calculate your meat cooking time. This is not as difficult as it sounds as the meat will be out of the oven for 15 minutes to rest. Or you can reduce the cooking time by 10 minutes to allow for the higher end temperature.
· Sunday Roast by Clarissa Dickson Wright and Johnny Scott is published by Kyle Cathie, £14.99. Order a copy for £13.99 with free UK p&p here
The perfect beef stew
Beef stew
By Johnny Acton and Nick Sandler
Here is a rich, addictive stew to warm the cockles of your heart. It is a thoroughly British alternative to boeuf bourguignon and the horseradish dumplings pack quite a punch.
Serves 4-6
The stew
16 small shallots, peeled
olive oil
800g diced beef
25g butter
200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
150g fresh tomatoes, chopped
400ml Duchy Originals ale
3 bay leaves
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
The dumplings
120g shredded suet
250g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
11/2 tsp baking powder
40g finely grated horseradish - to avoid an emotional experience, grate it wearing a swimming mask or under an extractor hood
1 tsp mustard powder
Gently fry the whole shallots in a little olive oil in a large pan until browned. Remove them from the pan and reserve. Splash a little more olive oil into the pan and turn the heat right up. Hard fry the beef in small batches until browned and reserve.
Place the butter in the pan and fry off the mushrooms. Then add the tomatoes and ale and reintroduce the beef and shallots. Add the bay leaves and thyme and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add water if necessary.
To make the dumplings, first rub the suet into the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the horseradish and mustard powder, and gradually mix in water until you have a firmish dough. Separate the dough into 12 walnut-sized dumplings. To finish off the stew, preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Pour the hot stew into a casserole dish, making sure there is enough liquid in it. If you are uncertain, add a little water.
Stud the dumplings into the stew, leaving a space between them to give them room to rise. Cover the casserole dish with its lid or tin foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Then take off the lid, turn up the heat to 220C/gas 7, and cook for another 10 minutes to brown the dumplings.
The perfect lamb stew
Serves 4
The stock (makes about 1 litre)
1kg lamb bones and trimmings
2 medium carrots, washed and trimmed
2 sticks celery
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
a sprig each of rosemary and thyme
The stew
a dab of olive oil
400g diced lamb
a large pat of butter
2 sticks of celery, roughly sliced
1 medium leek, roughly sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly sliced
400ml lamb stock
fresh rosemary and a bay leaf
100g dry weight pearl barley, cooked according to packet
To make the stock, preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6 and bake all the ingredients apart from the herbs, for one hour. After roasting, transfer the ingredients to a pan with the herbs. Add enough water to just cover the contents, and simmer for at least two hours (preferably four). Strain off the stock and discard the solids. If you make this stock in advance, store it in the fridge and peel off the solid fat before use. You can freeze any excess. If you are using it immediately, skim off the fat.
To make the stew, splash a little oil into a large saucepan and fry the lamb over moderate to fierce heat for a few minutes until brown. Turn the heat down to moderate and add the butter. Add the celery, leek and carrots and fry for 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the stock plus the rosemary and bay leaf. Simmer for 11/2 hours, topping up with stock (or water) if necessary. Add the cooked barley and season. Serve with slices of crusty bread and buttered Savoy cabbage.
· Duchy Originals Cook Book by Johnny Acton and Nick Sandler is published by Kyle Cathie, £25. Order for £23 with free UK p&p here
The perfect white soda bread
By Paul Gayler
Makes 1 loaf
500g plain all-purpose flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tsp fine sea salt
350-375ml buttermilk or half milk/half natural yoghurt
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour most of the buttermilk in at once to mix to a soft dough using one hand. Add more buttermilk if necessary: the dough should be softish, but not wet and sticky in texture.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead lightly for 30 seconds - the more gently the dough is handled, the lighter the bread will be.
Shape the dough into a round, about 2.5cm thick, and place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Cut a cross, 2cm deep, on the top of the loaf, ensuring the cuts go over the sides of the dough, too.
Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 190C/gas 5 and cook for a further 15 minutes or until cooked and golden. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool slightly before eating.
The perfect pumpkin and green olive bread
This is one of my favourite olive breads flavoured with sweet pumpkin and aromatic oregano. Traditionally Greek breads are made with olive oil, but this one uses butter. It is great with mezze.
Makes 2 loaves
300g pumpkin or squash, peeled, cut into large wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
675g strong white bread flour
1 tbsp fine sea salt
50g unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
20g fresh yeast or 10g easy blend (active dry) yeast
2 tsp caster (superfine) sugar
300ml warm milk
2 eggs, plus a little eggwash for glazing
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
100g green olives, pitted and roughly chopped
50g (3 tbsp) pumpkin seeds
Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5. Line a small roasting pan with lightly greased foil, add the pumpkin, drizzle over the olive oil, and bake for 40 minutes or until the pumpkin is very soft. Pass the flesh through a sieve, then leave to go cold.
Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt in a large bowl, then rub in the chilled butter to resemble coarse breadcrumbs.
Mix the yeast with the sugar, add the warmed milk and leave for five minutes. Add to the flour, along with the eggs, pumpkin purée and oregano, then bring to a soft dough using one hand, adding a little more milk if necessary.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is soft and pliable. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film, leave to rise in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in volume.
Turn out the dough again, then knock back to expel the air. Add the olives and work quickly into the dough. Shape into two equal-sized cylinder loaves, brush or spray with a little water, scatter the pumpkin seeds over and place on a large, oiled baking sheet. Cover again and leave to rise for 45 minutes.
Increase the oven heat to 200C/gas 7. Brush the loaves with beaten egg to glaze. Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden and cooked. Transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool and then serve.
· World Breads by Paul Gayler is published by Jacqui Small, £8.99. Order a copy for £8.99 with free UK p&p here
The perfect tomato pasta
By Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers
Spaghetti with cherry tomatoes
Serves 4
350g spaghetti
600g cherry tomatoes, halved and squeezed to remove juice and seeds
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tbs traditional balsamic vinegar
3 tbs roughly torn basil leaves
Extra-virgin olive oil
In a bowl, combine 6tbs of olive oil with the vinegars and season. Add the tomato halves, pressing them down to absorb the flavours of the vinegar and oil. Add half the basil, stir, then cover and leave to marinate for an hour or more. Do not refrigerate.
Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and return to the pan. Add the tomato mixture over a high heat, tossing to combine and coat the pasta. Add the remaining basil and drizzle with olive oil to serve.
The perfect ricotta and rocket
Conchiglie with ricotta and rocket
Serves 4
350g conchiglie
200g ricotta, lightly beaten with a fork
500g rocket, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
3 tbs torn basil leaves
3 fresh red chillies, cut in half lengthways, de-seeded and chopped
150g parmesan, freshly grated
Extra-virgin olive oil
Heat 2tbs of olive oil in a small, thick-bottomed pan. Add the garlic and fry until it begins to colour. Add the basil and half the rocket. Cover, reduce the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes just to wilt the rocket.Put this mixture, including any liquid, into a food processor and pulse-chop. Add half the remaining rocket, the chillies, seasoning and 2 tbs of olive oil. Blend briefly to combine.
Cook the conchiglie in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain, keeping back a little of the pasta water. Add the rocket mixture to the pasta. Lightly stir in the ricotta and the remaining uncooked rocket. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and the Parmesan.
The perfect chilli pasta
Penne all'arrabbiata
Serves 4
350g penne
4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
4 dried red chillies
3 tbs basil leaves
750g plum tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
extra-virgin olive oil
Heat 3 tbs of olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan.
Add the garlic and fry gently. After 1 minute, add the whole chillies, then continue to fry until the garlic is lightly brown. Remove it with the chillies and save. Add the basil to the hot oil for a few moments to add flavour, then remove and save. Finally, add the tomatoes to the flavoured oil with 1 tsp of sea salt and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Cook the penne in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, add to the tomato sauce, toss to coat and stir in the garlic, chillies and basil. Serve with olive oil drizzled over.
The perfect penne dish
Pasta with aubergine, tomato and mozzarella
Serves 4
350g penne
2 aubergines, thinly sliced
500g plum tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
250g mozzarella, freshly grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbs finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
extra-virgin olive oil
Lay the sliced aubergines on kitchen paper and sprinkle with sea salt. Leave for 20 minutes to allow the bitter juices to drain. Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
Heat 3 tbs of olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add the garlic and parsley and cook until soft. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the chillies and 2 tsp of sea salt, and cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes.
Heat 4 tbs of olive oil in a large, thick-bottomed frying pan. Fry the aubergines in batches until brown and crisp on both sides. Drain on kitchen paper. Cook the penne in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, return to the pan and add the tomato sauce. Stir to coat, then add the aubergine and finally the mozzarella. Serve immediately.
The perfect seafood pasta
Orecchiette with scallops and rocket
Serves 4
350g orecchiette
8 large scallops, cut into quarters
100g rocket, roughly chopped
500g cherry tomatoes, halved and squeezed to remove juice and seeds
2 fresh red chillies, cut in half lengthways, de-seeded and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 lemon, cut into quarters
extra-virgin olive oil
Put the tomatoes in a bowl, add the chillies, garlic and 2 tbs of olive oil and season generously. Heat 1tbs of olive oil in a small, thick-bottomed frying pan and add the scallops. Season and fry, turning the pieces over, until brown. Add the marinated tomatoes and stir over the heat briefly to combine.
Cook the orecchiette in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and add to the scallops. Stir in the rocket and test for seasoning. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and the lemon quarters.
The perfect creamy pasta
Tagliatelle with pancetta and borlotti beans
Serves 4
350g dried egg tagliatelle
150g pancetta slices, cut into 1cm pieces
500g cooked borlotti beans, drained of their juices
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
1 x 400g tin of peeled plum tomatoes, drained of their juices
100ml double cream
3 tbs torn basil leaves
50g parmesan, freshly grated
extra-virgin olive oil
Heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add the onion and cook until soft, then add the garlic and pancetta and cook until the pancetta is translucent. This should take about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chopping them up to make a sauce, and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Season, then stir in the borlotti beans and cream. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the sauce is thick. Add the basil and 2 tbs of olive oil. Cook the tagliatelle in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, retaining 3-4 tbs of the pasta water. Add the tagliatelle to the beans, adding the retained pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Toss together, drizzle with olive oil and serve with the Parmesan.
The perfect carbonara
Tagliatelle carbonara prosciutto
Serves 4
350g dried egg tagliatelle
300g prosciutto slices, cut into strips 1cm wide
100g unsalted butter
150ml white wine
6 egg yolks
50g parmesan, freshly grated, plus extra for serving
50g aged pecorino, freshly grated
extra-virgin olive oil
Heat 1tbs of olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan, add two thirds of the prosciutto and fry very briefly. Add half of the butter and the wine. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, just to combine the wine with the butter and the prosciutto juices. Mix the egg yolks with the cheeses and season. Cook the tagliatelle in boiling salted water until al dente, then drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the pasta water.
Add the pasta to the prosciutto then stir in the egg mixture, letting the heat of the pasta cook the egg. Add the reserved cooking water if the sauce seems too thick. Stir in the remaining prosciutto and serve with extra parmesan.
· River Cafe Pocket Books - Pasta and Ravioli by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers is published by Random House, £8.99. Order a copy for £8.99 with free UK p&p here
The perfect fish pie
The perfect haddock and cod pie
By Sophie Conran
Serves 4
For the filling:
300g smoked haddock fillet, 300g cod fillet
1 bay leaf
450ml milk, or enough to just cover the fish
4 large eggs
4 handfuls frozen peas
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp plain flour
1 handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
For the mash
4 largish Desiree potatoes, peeled and cubed
100g butter
1 small wine glass milk (about 140ml)
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Place the fish in a pie dish with the bay leaf and milk. Pop it in the oven. After 10 minutes, remove from the oven and lift the fish out of the milk. Reserve the milk and bay leaf. Remove the skin and bones. Break up the fish into large chunks and set aside. Put the eggs in a pan of water on a high heat, and bring to a rolling boil. Allow the eggs to boil for two minutes, then add the peas and bring the pan back to the boil for a further one to two minutes. Strain the peas and eggs and run them under cold water. Put the fish and peas in the pie dish while you peel and quarter the eggs. Add them to the dish.
Now melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the flour and let it sizzle for a couple of minutes, but not brown. Whisk in the milk reserved from the fish and the bay leaf. Let it gently bubble away for almost 15 minutes, beating with a whisk from time to time. Stir in the parsley and season with salt. Allow the sauce to cool slightly and then pour over the fish mixture. Stir the sauce through carefully so the eggs and fish don't break up. To make the mash, boil the potatoes salted water for about 15 minutes. Drain and mash with the butter, milk and salt. Cover the fish with the mash. Place the pie in the oven and bake it for 20 minutes.
· Pies by Sophie Conran is published by HarperCollins, £12.99. Order a copy for £11.99 here
The perfect souffle
The perfect cheese souffle
By Michel Roux
Serves 4
50g softened butter, to grease dishes
50g Gruyere, grated, to coat dishes
20g butter
20g plain flour
250ml milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
pinch of cayenne
6 medium egg yolks
10 medium egg whites
240g Gruyere finely grated, plus 4 thin discs
Generously grease the insides of four 10cm souffle dishes with the softened butter. Put about 50g grated Gruyere into one dish, rotate it to coat the inside, then tip the excess into another dish. Repeat to coat them all.
To make the béchamel, melt the 20g butter in a pan. Add the flour and cook for two minutes, stirring with a whisk, to make a roux. Still stirring, add the cold milk and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Let bubble for a minute or two, then pour the béchamel into a bowl. Season lightly with salt, pepper and cayenne, then whisk in the egg yolks. Cover the bowl with cling film and let cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Immediately mix a third of the egg whites into the warm souffle mixture with a whisk, then, using a large spoon, fold in the rest with one hand while showering in the grated Gruyere with the other. Stop as soon as the mixture is amalgamated. Spoon the mixture into the dishes to come 5mm above the rim. Smooth the surface with a palette knife, then use a knife tip to ease the mixture away from the side of each ramekin to help it rise.
Stand the dishes in a deep ovenproof dish lined with a sheet of greaseproof paper and pour in enough almost-boiling water to come halfway up the sides. Bake the souffles for six minutes.
Meanwhile, trim the Gruyere discs to the same diameter as the dishes and cut into four segments. Quickly position a segmented Gruyere disc on top of each souffle and immediately return to the oven for two minutes. Put the cooked souffles on individual plates and serve at once - they won't wait!
· Eggs by Michel Roux is published by Quadrille, £14.99. Order a copy for £13.99 with free UK p&p here
The perfect crumble
The perfect fruit crisp
By Nigel Slater
I insist on serving cream or ice-cream with this. That biting coldness is essential with the mouth-scalding hot fruit. And you really do need only the merest whiff of cinnamon.
Serves 6
1kg ripe plums, apples, greengages or damsons
a knife point of ground cinnamon
125g soft white bread
75g light muscovado sugar
75g butter
vanilla ice-cream or double cream to serve
Set the oven at 190C/gas 5. Cut the plums in half and stone them. Drop the fruit into a buttered pudding basin or shallow casserole and toss very gently with the ground cinnamon. Whizz the bread to rough crumbs in a food processor. You don't want them to be too fine - more of a soft rubble than a fine sand. Mix the breadcrumbs and sugar and cover the plums loosely with the mixture. Melt the butter in a small pan, then pour it over the crumbs, making certain to soak them all. Bake for 35 minutes, till the plums are soft and melting and the crumbs on top golden and crisp.
The perfect almond and plum crumble
Serves 4-6
1kg plums
3-4 tbs caster sugar
For the almond crumble
120g plain flour
85g butter, cut into cubes
4 tbs unrefined golden caster sugar
4 tbs ground almonds
Set the oven to 180C/gas 4. Rinse and stone the plums, removing any stalks as you go. Toss the fruit with the sugar in a deep baking dish. Whizz the flour and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine, fresh breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and almonds. Tip on top of the fruit and bake till the fruit is bubbling - about 40-45 minutes.
· The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater is published by Fourth Estate, £25. Order a copy for £23 with free UK p&p here
The perfect cake
The perfect chocolate cake
By Nigel Slater
This works as teatime cake or dessert, though if using it for the latter, serve some raspberries on the side.
Serves 10
200g fine dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
a small, hot espresso
200g butter
80g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 level tbs very good-quality cocoa powder
125g almonds
5 eggs
200g unrefined golden caster sugar
You will need a shallow cake tin, 23-24cm in diameter, about 5cm deep, the base lightly buttered and lined with a round of baking parchment. Set the oven at 180C/gas 4. Break or chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt it in a bowl resting over a saucepan of gently simmering water. As soon as it has started to melt, pour the hot espresso over the chocolate. Cut the butter into chunks and drop it into the chocolate and coffee. Resist the temptation to stir. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa together. Don't skin the almonds, but blast them in a food processor until they resemble fine, fresh breadcrumbs.
Separate the eggs, dropping the whites into a large bowl. Whisk the whites till they are thick and stiff, then quickly but gently fold in the sugar with a large metal spoon. Remove the chocolate from the heat and stir to dissolve the last of the butter. Mix the egg yolks, then stir them into the chocolate until the ingredients come together. Fold into the egg white and sugar. Lightly fold in the flour and cocoa mixture, then the ground almonds. Don't over-mix or knock the air out. Transfer the mixture to the cake tin and bake for 25 minutes. Test the cake with a skewer. It should come out clean. Leave to cool before turning out and slicing.
