Sometimes when you preparing a meal and simple dessert made with fresh fruit goes down a treat. One such dessert which is easy to make yet delicious is a traditional Fruit Crumble.

Use seasonal fruits from your garden or local market and don’t be afraid to mix more than one fruit together and experiment with the crumble topping by adding nuts, spices or even oats to add flavour and crunch. Other things to add are dried fruits like raisins and sultanas, oats, museli, branflakes, coconuts and variety of nuts.

Remember to use your cookery notebook so you can remember what you change so you have it for future reference when you guests tell you how much they enjoyed this version to a previous one.

For your fruit crumble you are going to need:100g flour (I like to mix 50g wholemeal and 50g of plain together), 50g brown sugar, 50g margarine or butter, 500g fruit of your choice.

Prepare your fruit, peel, chop and place in small amount of water 2 to 3 tablespoons in a saucepan with 25g sugar and bring to the boil before simering for 5 minutes. Place your fruit in a oven proof dish. Mix your crumble by rubbing in the fat (margarine or butter, I prefer butter), into the flour mix until mixture resembles breadcrumbs and add the other 25g sugar and stir. Now spoon this crumble mix over your fruit then bake in the oven at 190 c or gas 5 for 20 minutes until the crumble top is golden.

To serve some traditional puddings in this great generic ethos hells kitchen standard ovenware 5 piece red and white set is ideal with a range of different shapes and sizes for all the different recipes you will cook including lids.

Find another great traditional pudding recipe on my previous blog a mouthful of heaven and milking it.

Serve hot with custard, ice cream or cream. Tell me about your favourite traditional dessert recipe, another of my personal favourites has to be bread & butter pudding, whats yours?

At this time of year we are inundated with fruits as we harvest from the fruit trees and hedgerows. I seem to have a abundance of apples, pears and plums this year (blame it on the weather). So with jams and preserves being made aswell as freezing to preserve for later use I love to cook this Swedish Apple Dessert my grandmother shown me.

In this dessert we use bread which is a important contribution to our daily intake of carbohydrates, B vitamins, iron, calcium and protein along with fibre if wholemeal variety used. This recipe gives you another way in which to use this ingredient to make a scrumptious dessert which is happily served with cream as a dessert or as a afternoon cake with tea, the choice is yours so have a go its delicious!

For my Swedish Apple Dessert you are going to need:1kg cooking apples peeled, cored and sliced, 1 lemon, 100g caster sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 100g butter, 225g breadcrumbs of your choice, 1 tblsp icing sugar and toasted almonds to decorate.

Cook your apples in a covered saucepan in minimum water (around 6 tblsp), once soft add the grated rind of the lemon and 4 tblsps lemon juice, the cinnamon and sugar then beat to a pulp. Melt the butter in another saucepan and add the breadcrumbs stirring well until the butter is fully absorbed. Now grease a 15 to 18 cm cake tin of your choice remember to line with greaseproof paper if not using silicone bakeware or a loose bottom tin. Press one third of the breadcrumbs onto the bottom of your prepared tin, then add a layer of the apple and continue layering breadcrumbs and apples finishing with a layer of breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes then cool before turning out. When cooled sift the icing sugar over the top and decorate with toasted almonds and slices of apple if you wish.

You can use plums for this recipe well which also tastes delicious. This dessert is also great for freezing as I like to have one for christmas ( I know that banned word) but you can freeze this for 6 months.

For great silicone bakeware which you always hear me praising as everyone who trys them never goes back to conventional tins take a look or see my previous blog silicone bakeware makes it oh so easy to clean.

Find a great preserve recipe in my previous blog apples falling early in freak british weather, another great apple recipe can be found on my blog fathers day roast, and for the apple pie recipe everyone loves see my blog meanwhile back in the kitchen to celebrate apple day.  Have you got a seasonal fruit recipe to share with all of us, drop me a line.

Tip - If you have got alot of pear and apples my grandmother taught me to wrap the good fruit in paper and place in a box in a cool area off the floor for keeping and this does work. Keep you box somewhere dry away from damp.

Well did you try my fantastic Red Mullet? I have some very fond memories of great Red Mullet Dishes over the years, as many of my friends and family know this is one of my favourites.

I first tried Red Mullet while enjoying a Jazz River Cruise down the River Thames in London. It was a special anniversary and boy what a night! All dressed up to kill, as we say; in my long black dress, jewels & high heels. Everything that night was perfect, the food was excellent, as was the Entertainment & the Company, well as delicious as the rest of the evening! Have you a favourite dish connected with a great memory? Tell us all about it, go on!

Right, I promised you a lovely scrummy dessert, you can make in quick time for one, well here it is, my Mango & Orange Oatey Crunch. Quick, easy and your could try it using different fruits of your choice too, so don’t be afraid to experiment, that’s where all the very best recipes come from.

You will need: 1/2 ripe mango peeled, 1/2 orange peeled, 2 tblsp rolled oats, 1/2 tblsp demarara sugar, 1 tblsp plain flour, pinch of ground cinnamon, pinch of ground or fresh grated nutmeg and a small knob of butter.

Cut your mango flesh into dice and segment your orange (discarding the pith and pips), and put into a large microwaveable ramekin. Mix your oats with the sugar, flour and spices then rub in the butter and spinkle on top of the fruit to make a crunchy fruity crumble. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until thoroughly heated and serve with homemade icecream or custard of your choice. A hot, scrumptious healthy pud! Hmmmm!

For another great quick dessert to delight check out my previous blog berried treasure and pick your own or if you like yogurts why not make your own see my previous blog yogurts recipes depends on milk used, loads of great homemade desserts and icecreams etc in my blogs so take alook. Let me know if there is something you would like me to cover or you need help with?

Year on year even though I plant simular vegetables in my vegetables plot, the crops differ. Alot of this is down to the typical British Summer Time, if you can call it that. It seems each year earlier and earlier the leaves start falling and differing fruits or vegetables are affected by the monsoon rains we experience with high humidity, followed by damp cold days and then scortching hot days. In these extremes its not only us that suffer.

This week my friend Allyson was only telling me how all her apples had fallen in her orchard so we were busy collecting apples to try to save the fruit. Again Blackberries have been turning earlier and earlier on the hedgerows. This year my potato crop had to be harvested early due to the heavy rain destroying the tops supplying nutrients to the root vegetables below ground and my poor outdoor tomatoes. Well these were terrible this year and again fruit fell and the plant suffered in the weather. However I had a fantastic crop of large cauliflowers!

Anyway with bags of apples in hand we set about baking and preserving. One of our favourite is our homemade Apple & Tomato Chutney.

You will need: 1.3kg apples, 1.3kg tomatoes, 2 large onions, 2 garlic cloves, 250g pitted dates, 2 red bell peppers, 3 dried red chillies, 1 tblsp black peppercorns, 4 cardamon pods, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 2 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp sea salt, 600ml distilled malt vinegar & 1kg sugar

First peel and chop your apples, tomatoes, onions & garlic. Quarter the dates and core and seed the peppers before cutting into chunky pieces. Put all but the peppers into a preserving pan. Slit the chillies, put the peppercorns & remaining spices into a mortar and roughly crush with a pestle then add the chillies, spices & salt to the pan. Pour in the vinegar and sugar and simmer for around 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the red peppers and cook for a further 30 minutes stirring as the chutney becomes thicker. Spoon the chutney into warm, dry sterilised jars. Seal each with a waxed circle and cover with a tightly fitting cellofane top and leave to cool before labelling and storing away in a cool dry place ready to be used.

If you like making homemade jams and chutneys you should check out my previous blogs filled with great tasty easy to make recipes and for more fun why not see the great storage jars I used in my blog how berry nice to meet you for some great ideas. Also perfect raspberry jam for your toast and cakes, homemade tastes so much better!

Sometimes while partying through the summer and lighter nights after eating all those nibbly bits from your barbecue, your simply looking for a simple dessert to satisfy both those savoury and sweet tooths amoungst all of your guests.

Recently, while gathering friends and family were busy munching away at my homemade burgers, my friend Claire disappeared to my freezer to find out what homemade icecreams I had on the go. I tell you there are no secrets in my house. Followed closely by Mel the 2 of them emerged from my garage with wide beamed smiles.

One icecream variety each, before chaos persued in my kitchen. But hey, in my house thats normal, and we always end up in the kitchen! Funny that, all these rooms in my house and suddenly all your guests try to fit in one room!

Anyway, Claire having a savoury tooth loves my pistachio nut icecream and after finding the biggest spoon she could lay her hands on; both Emma and Claire dug in to the icecream to make themselves a big bowl full. Before they disappeared up my garden with bowl in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, before they ate all their icecream and started on the cheese and fruit.

However, Mel has a sweet tooth and she had my vanilla and honey homemade icecream, which by now everyone was having a taste of. So I decided, lets make some sweet fruity kebabs and serve them with this delicious sweet icecream.

Brilliant, just like “can’t cook won’t cook”, everyone wanted a go. So preheating the grill so some people could use the barbecue and the others my grill & griddle, we set about making our kebabs. Your going to need for my sweet fruity kebabs - 75ml freshly squeezed orange juice, 15ml honey, 30ml water, 16 strawberries, 1/2 mango peeled, stoned and cut into 8 pieces, 1/2 pineapple, peeled, cut into 16 pieces, 1 banana peeled and cut into 8 pieces and of course a tub of icecream (whether thats homemade or from your local farm shop).

First preheat the grill as I had above, then slowly bring the water, orange juice and honey to the boil, stirring until the honey is dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes, until slightly thickened. Meanwhile thread the fruits alternately on to 8 wooden skewers. Place onto a grill rack or barbecue and cook the kebabs for about 8 minutes, basting them occasionally with the honey syrup. Once golden serve the cooked fruity kebabs with a scoop of your favourite ice cream and drizzle with any extra syrup. A dish to delight any sweet tooth, trust me and loads of fun to do!

Never the less to say, I spend nearly an hour making batches of kebabs and syrup for everyone, before joining the rest of them now all under the glowing lanterns in my garden where all was in full swing with a great game of pictionary, (while a bit tipsy) in teams which was hilarious! and while I am thinking about Jacob you owe me a meerkat statue!!! Nothing can beat a great night of good food, good company, great friends and family and loads of memories!

What games do you get up to at your barbecues, and whats your favourite party dishes? Check out my blog the big dipper for some more party gadgets. Why not have a look at some of my ice cream recipes in my blog dark, delcious chocolate icecream and homemade icecream in a flash plus many more too.

Sweet juicy melons are the taste of summer. With plenty of varieties to choose from, melon can make a healthy treat that can be enjoyed as a instant low calorie snack or dessert. Whether you prefer the fresh flavour of a watermelon or the fragrant flesh of the canteloupe.

Melons are a refreshing way to help all of us to eat our five portions of fruit and vegetables per day as recommended for a healthy diet.

So pick your favourite Melon from super-sweet charentais, crisp watermelon, juicy canteloupe, galia or honeydew varieties.

A very simple appertiser and something to take on a picnic with you is Proscuitto (Italian dry cured ham) wrapped in melon balls. Really easy to make by making balls of honeydew melon with a melon baller and wrap these in prosciutto and fresh mint to make a great snack/ appertiser which is simple to make, low in cost, delicious and uses few ingredients. 

The melon baller is a simple kitchen gadget that you can use for a variety of fruits and you can also use your melon balls for desserts decorating trifles, cakes, adding to salads and don’t forget you can add them to your cocktails too. 

Find more dessert ideas in my blog berried treasure at pick your own farms and a mouthful of heaven with many more great recipe ideas for you in all of my blogs to try.

With a local fete, carnival or charity event nearly every weekend at the minute, an essential item on any cake stall has to be the Victoria Sandwich Cake.

Although I have played with this recipe with family members with food intolerances using gluten free and wheat free flours and egg substitutes which work well I have to say although these ingredients do mean you have to adjust the liquid quanities in your recipes I have found. There is absolutely nothing to beat this traditional cake. Whether its a birthday cake or for a stall you cannot go wrong with this favourite of cakes and once the recipe is mastered you can add different flavours, fruits etc its endless to this timeless classic.

For my classic victoria sponge cake you are going to need: 100g butter (cut into peices), 100g caster sugar, 2 eggs (beaten lightly), 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 100g self raising flour, pinch of salt, 1 tblsp milk, 3-4 tblsp homemade strawberry or raspberry jam, 120ml double or whipping cream and caster sugar to sprinkle on top for finishing.

First position your oven shelves towards the middle of your oven and preheat your oven to 180 c/350 f/gas 4. Lightly grease 2 X 18cm sandwich tins with oil or butter and line the bases with circles of greaseproof baking paper which should then be oiled or buttered. Start your sponge by creaming together the butter and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl. You can do this using a wooden spoon or a hand-held mixer (or even a food processor), until light and fluffy. Then gradually beat in the eggs a bit at a time being careful not to let it curdle. You can add a little flour with the egg to stop this if needed. Stir in the vanilla extract and sift the flour and salt into a bowl then using a large metal spoon fold the flour and salt into the cake mix gently, before gently adding the milk. Be gentle to keep the air bubble in the mixture which you have took the time to add which cause the cake to rise.

Then divide the mixture between the prepared tins and level the surface. Place in your preheated oven and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. The cake is cooked when the surface is golden brown, and when lightly touched it springs back. Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for a few minutes. The remove the cakes from their tins and cool on the wire rack and then remove the lining paper.

When completely cooled sandwich the cake together with the jam and whipped cream before sprinkling the top with caster sugar and placing a sliced strawberry to decorate before serving.

Tips - remember to keep your cake in a airtight tin and in the fridge if it lasts more than one meal sitting that is (mine never make it that far, its always eatten in full!)  Also make sure you use the right cake tin size for the recipe else as my daughter Emma found you could end up with a biscuit. If your using 20cm cake tins you need to have 175g butter, caster sugar, self raising flour and 3 eggs for instance to get the same light and fluffy sponge. Also if you haven’t got a wire rack to cool your cake on use the rack from you grill pan and improvise!

Why not tell me about your cake greats and dissastors too, and we can put them together with my own collection for a future fun blog for us all!

Check out my previous blogs perfect raspberry jam recipe for your toast and cakes, irresistable eggless cake and quick homemade teatime treats just to name, but a few of blogs containing delicious cake recipes for you to try!

Fruit and Cheese together can make a fantastic mix, one favourite that sort of came together with my love of feta cheese and my man’s love for pears, (I bet I hear you say!)

Well, this warm salad is quick, simply and delicious and once made you will be making this over and over again as I do! Ideal for a light lunch, supper or even a starter for your dinner party.

I use small, sweet and versatile Rocha pears which have a russeted skin, and you can enjoy this variety when firm and crunchy, or soft and juicy, either way they are delicious.

For my ‘warm Feta Cheese and Pear salad’, you are going to need: 6 slices of pancetta, 2 tblsp honey, 4 tblsp olive oil, 2 tblsp white wine vinegar, 1 tsp chilli flakes, 4 pears ( I like rocha), 850g watercress, 120g greek feta.

Preheat a frying pan and dry fry the slices of pancetta until crispy and golden. Transfer onto kitchen paper and allow to cool. Once cool slightly crumble into pieces and set aside. To make your dressing, mix together the honey, olive oil, vinegar and chilli flakes in a bowl. Core your pears & cut into wedges, add these to the dressing bowl and toss in the dressing. Reserving the dressing, transfer the pears to a hot griddle pan and cook for around 5 minutes, turning them occassionally until they are golden. In a salad bowl, toss the pears together with the watercress and crumbled pancetta, scatter with cubed feta and drizzle the remaining dressing before serving immediately with warm homemade crusty bread.

Tip - You can use cheese of your choice this is nice with a herb cheese or shilton even, try to your own taste as that is what true cooking is all about. I have added garlic croutons to this recipe and on other occassions I have added herbs and nuts such as walnuts too, which were all delicious as well.  So you can vary this recipe, so have a play and let me know what you come up with?

Check out my blog easy recipe for a Italian supper in minutes for a great frying pan and my previous blog regarding griddles too. Find some quick picnic recipes in my previous blog royal ascot food frollicks and lots more ideas within my blogs too.

What fun! fields and fields of various bushes, plants and trees, me and my neice Rosie with a bucket to hand and were off. How many fruits are going to make it to the punnet before your mouth,  (now be honest! I know so many who have eatten more than there fair share while picking, or before you are ill!).  Looking at the state of beautiful Rosie, my sister is going to kill me, when she sees the colour of her beautiful little dress, now stained with berry juice where she has duely wiped her hands down it, bless!

A trip to a local pick your own farm is a great way for you to discover newly harvested fruits, picked at there peak, fresh and usually cheaper than the shops and markets. Plus its a great day out for the kids too.

Presently you can pick not only the last of the strawberries but raspberries, currants, cherries and  gooseberries throughout both June and July, with further fruits and berries to be available from september for picking.

These soft summer fruits are at their best when freshly picked, so packaging and storage of your freshly picked fruits are very important.

There are over 400 PYO (pick your own) farms through out the UK so theres sure to be one near you, check your local press and plan your visit. Some PYO Farms also have restaurants, cafe, farmshops etc too which make a great day out.

Some sound tips for picking from the Farm shop and pick your own association (FSPA) make great sense they are:

1. Pick at least half inch of stem to avoid touching and bruising your freshly picked fruit
2. Wear sensible clothes and shoes
3. Pick just enough for yourself as its very easy to get carried away
4. Punnets are usually provided but you may wish to take your own containers too.
5. Fruits nearest the entrance get picked first so stroll to the far side of the field.
6. Pick strawberries and raspberries last as these are the most fragile
7. Make sure to put your fruit in a cool place as soon as possible after picking.

For a great Raspberry Fool with your freshly picked produce, you will need: 350g raspberries, 75g icing sugar, 2 tblsp port, 450g fromage frais and extra fruit or cream to decorate (can use chocolate shavings too)

Wash and dry your raspberries and place in your food processor. Puree until smooth and pass through a seive to remove the seeds, into a bowl. Then stir in the sugar and the port before folding in the fromage frais into your puree. Spoon into wine glasses or dessert bowls and decorate before serving. Summery, delicious and simple, what more can you ask for?

Take at look at my previous blog perfect raspberry jam for your toast and cakes, also  its very sundae (check out the great sundae glasses in this blog too), and seasonal june strawberry food events with a great cheesecake recipe!

Whats your favourite PYO fruit, have you got a recipe to share or tip? Why not tell us all about a PYO farm near you?

Well to cheer us all up and take our minds off the ever increasing petrol pump prices again, June is the season to eat like the Gods! The first of the British Fruits is reaching our shops. Lucious Strawberries with that unbeatable British flavour, Asparagus as in my previous blog  quick and easy Asparagus recipes can still be found. With the first crop of new potatoes, peas and broad beans and of course salad crops too. I have started picking mine straight from out the garden you cannot beat that fresh from the garden taste & of course, the great cost - as its FREE. 

Its best to eat in season, as seasonal produce is fresher and higher in nutrients, with less food miles and its kinder on your purse strings too. So just take a look at whats about as great seasonal foods for June to enjoy are:

Fruit: blackberries (early), cherries, elderflowers, gooseberries, raspberries, redcurrants, rhubarb (outdoor), strawberries, tayberries. Imported figs.Vegetables: asparagus, baby carrots, broad beans, broccoli, chervil, chives, courgettes and flowers, cucumbers, fennel, globe artichokes, green beans, horseradish, lettuce, mangetout, new potatoes, peas, peppers, radishes, rocket and other salad leaves, samphire, spinach, sorrel, spring onions, tomatoes, watercress. Imported aubergines.Fish & shellfish: black bream, brown and rainbow trout, brown shrimp, cuttlefish, first fresh kippers (run until Oct), grey mullet, haddock, hake, john dory, lobster, pollack, prawns, sardines, sea bass, sea trout, signal crayfish, spider crab, whitebait, wild salmon. Don’t bother with oysters, mackerel, mussels, scallops and flatfish - they’re all spawning. Meat: hogget lamb, Welsh lamb.

So with the start of wimbledon days away now and great racing at Ascot lets find you a tantalising dish to serve made with the one and only strawberry. Strawberries are low in fat and calories and strawberries are naturally high in fiber, vitamin C, folate, potassium and antioxidants.

With fathers day upon us here is one of my dads own favourites, a yummy Strawberry Fudge Cheesecake:

You will need:75g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing, 250g HobNobs biscuits (or homemade oat biscuits), 250g strawberry or vanilla fudge, 300g mascarpone, 400ml double cream, softly whipped, 250g British Local strawberries, quartered and 2 tsp icing sugar to decorate.

Start by lightly buttering a 23cm springform cake tin. Pulse the biscuits to crumbs in your food processor. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined and clumped together. Tip into the base of the tin and press down evenly, then chill. Put 200g of the fudge in a large bowl and melt in a microwave for 1 minute on High, until it forms a soft paste (or alternatively you could melt in a pan over a very low heat). Cool slightly, then beat in the mascarpone in a bowl with a wooden spoon, until soft, add to the melted fudge and mix until all combined and then gently fold in the whipped cream. Chop the remaining fudge into small chunks and stir into the filling. Spoon this over the chilled biscuit base, smoothing the top. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours or overnight – the fudge will set the cheesecake. Put your strawberries in a bowl and toss with the icing sugar. Set aside to macerate for 20 minutes. Once the cheesecake is set, run a knife all around to loosen and remove the springform collar. Slide onto a serving plate and spoon over the strawberries to serve. If your feeling really indulgant serve with champagne or a good chilled sparkling wine for something just that bit special.

This is a great recipe to do and take with you to one of these great outdoor concert events up and down the country, no matter what the weather we British can always enjoy good food and a party!!!

Why not tell me about your favourite strawberry recipe? Also check out other food processor recipes like on my previous blog chocolate profiteroles with chantilly cream made with your mixer.