Quick Apple Tartlets

Jonathan Swift used the phrase ‘life’s too short’ all the way back in 1711. Then Shirley Conran coined the phrase, ‘life’s too short to stuff a mushroom’ in her 1975 book Superwoman, aimed at busy women; it was a transforming book that liberated women and made it OK to take shortcuts and not feel they had […]

Read More

Chocolate Roulade with Sweet Chestnut Cream & Fresh Cherries

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was spread over two lovely days, a fairly quiet Christmas Day itself with son Jonathan, his wife and two little boys. Jonathan, an excellent cook, made us a lunch of perfectly grilled steak on his gas barbecue and opened a fabulous bottle of Bordeaux wine to […]

Read More

Chocolate, Pear & Amaretti Dessert

There was a chocolate crisis in the house this morning. The pot of amazing chocolate & hazelnut cream I brought back from Baratti & Milano in Turin was empty. A spatula was found and the last scrapings recovered before the pot was thrown away. Now, you might say, why don’t you just go and buy a […]

Read More