Hello May and I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. Wasn’t the weather beautiful?
My first recipe is my strawberries, rhubarb and vanilla custard Eton mess. This pudding is so delicious and perfectly seasonal with the rhubarb. Perfect for a May Day pudding. Yummy!
My second recipe is my rhubarb and vanilla jam. Rhubarb as we know is perfectly in season and making this jam with vanilla sugar adds another level of sweetness. Perfect to have on toast with plenty of butter or sandwiched between a homemade sponge cake. Delicious!
My third recipe is my spring onion, leek, mature cheddar and bacon frittata. May is the perfect month for spring onions as they are right in season and adding them to this delicious frittata creates an extremely yummy dinner. Divine!
I hope you all have a truly wonderful May and of course happy baking!
Strawberries, Rhubarb and Vanilla Custard Eton Mess
Makes 6
Ingredients
Fruit Compote
250g rhubarb
250g strawberries
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
Vanilla Cream
300ml double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
350g fresh Madagascan vanilla custard
6 meringues
Method
- First of all, chop the strawberries and rhubarb to small bite sized pieces and place in a saucepan with a little water and the sugar.
- Bring to a light simmer and cook until the fruits are cooked, and the liquid has evaporated. Leave to cool.
- Now whip the cream to soft peaks in a bowl along with the icing sugar and vanilla bean paste.
- You can now start layering. Start with the custard and then the compote, some crushed meringue pieces and finally top with the cream.
- Now repeat the layers until you have used all the components and then serve for a delicious seasonal pudding.
Rhubarb and Vanilla Jam
Makes 2 x 250ml jars
Ingredients
500g rhubarb
500g jam sugar
2 vanilla pods-cut in half lengthways
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp butter
Method
- First of all, place the vanilla pods in the 500g of jam sugar and leave overnight.
- Now chop the rhubarb to small bite sized pieces and place in a saucepan with the vanilla sugar, removing the vanilla pods, and the water.
- Bring to a simmer and then cook until your jam has reached setting point. This usually takes about 5 minutes.
- Now add a tbsp of butter to the jam and allow to melt before stirring through, this will stop it foaming.
- Ladle into sterilised jars and seal, then leave to cool completely.
- This jam is delicious on toast and in a homemade sponge cake.
Spring Onion, Leek, Mature Cheddar and Bacon Frittata
Serves 4
Ingredients
6 large eggs
10 rashers back bacon
Bunch spring onion
1 leek
Fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
250g extra mature cheddar
Method
- First of all, preheat your oven to gas mark 4. Now cook off the leek, spring onions and bacon in some olive oil in a metal handled frying pan until cooked.
- Now beat the eggs in a bowl and season well with salt and pepper.
- Stir through the chopped fresh parsley then pour into the frying pan and cook for 1 minute.
- Place the frying pan in the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and the egg is cooked through.
- Serve with a fresh crisp salad for a delicious summery dinner.
Shopping list for all 3 recipes
Check your cupboards first as you may have a lot of these already
750g rhubarb
250g strawberries
500g jam sugar + 2 tbsp caster sugar for vanilla sugar
2 vanilla pods
300ml double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
Vanilla bean paste
350g fresh Madagascan vanilla custard
6 meringues
Butter
6 large eggs
10 rashers bacon
Bunch spring onions
1 leek
Fresh parsley
Salt and pepper
250g extra mature cheddar cheese
