Hello you, It’s the Summer holidays here in Scotland and my blog is – for the first time in the eleven years (!) I’ve been writing it – going to have a wee Summer holiday. We’re meant to be moving house and I am working on a very exciting writing project that I can’t wait to tell you all about so I need to focus my energies there at the moment. In the meantime, you can find me on Instagram and I’ll still be sending out my weekly newsletter so make sure you’re signed up! Plus there are so many archives to go and revisit, one baking post a week over all those years! You can find s ..read more

Summerfruit season is here, and I had my first fresh Scottish raspberries this week – they were absolutely worth the wait! This white chocolate and raspberry caramel shortbread is made with freeze dried raspberries; their sharpness perfectly balances the sweet white chocolate. A delicious treat to celebrate Litha, the Summer Solstice, which was earlier this week! To make it, you will need: For the shortbread: 125g plain flour 40g caster sugar 90g butter For the caramel: 300ml condensed milk 40g butter 40g soft brown sugar For the topping: 100g white chocolate 5g freeze dried raspberry pieces ..read more

This Tuesday marks the Summer Solstice or Litha in the Celtic Wheel of the Year. It’s the longest day and shortest night and the beginning of many Summer baking adventures to come. To celebrate, I wanted to create something that just sings of Summer – and came up with these apricot, lavender and honey cakes. The stone fruit is given an aromatic twist with the lavender and lifted by the sweet honey. To make them, you will need: 120g butter 2 tsp dried culinary lavender 80g brown sugar 40g caster sugar 60g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 2 eggs 6 apricots, halved For the glaze: 40g honey 1 tsp ..read more

These white chocolate, strawberry and vanilla cookies balance sweet and fruity and taste of Summer in every mouthful. The brown butter in this recipe stops them being overly sweet and adds a nutty dimension to the flavour profile. The cookies are best eaten on the same day – I challenge you not to eat one fresh from the oven, its scent will call to you… To make them, you will need: 75g unsalted butter 140g plain flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp sea salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 135g soft brown sugar 2 tbsp milk 75g white chocolate, chopped 45g strawberry, chopped f ..read more

This weekend was the first really warm, Summery one here in Edinburgh and so my thoughts began to turn to ice cream. Nigella’s no-churn ice cream to be precise. This is so easy to whip up (literally) and can be customised with all manor of flavours: see my archive here. I had some mint to use up in the fridge that was looking a little sad, so I decided to experiment with a fresh mint choc chip no-churn ice cream. A balance of fresh and indulgent perfect for this time of year. To make it, you will need: 150ml double cream 90ml condensed milk Two handfuls fresh mint leaves 75g Matchmakers or ot ..read more

Last night in my newsletter I shared a round-up of celebratory street party bakes fit for the Platinum Jubilee. I’m no royalist but love baking with a theme in mind – and any excuse to celebrate by making something a little different. Trifle is synonymous with British celebrations – in fact, the official bake of the Jubilee is lemon Swiss roll and amaretti trifle (recipe by Jemma Melvin). I was after something a little simpler, but with the fruit, custard and cream flavours. Enter my strawberry trifle layer cake: sponge soaked in Summerfruit cordial, layers of fruit and mascarpone “custard” c ..read more

At this time of year so many plants are in bud and trees are in leaf and the foraging season is well underway – hooray! This is the best time of year to forage young pine buds, which are more tender and flavourful than the mature pine needles. Larch buds are easy to notice as they are a vivid green and form soft brushes of new growth on that are easily reached on low-hanging branches. It’s delicious made into a pine sugar, which I talk you through in this recipe (which includes some tips for safe pine foraging). Here, the aromatic notes of pine add a grown-up twist to traditional lemon d ..read more

Recently my brother brought me back some culinary lavender from his holiday in the South of France and, opening the tin, I was transported straight to sunny Provence. To capture its essence in the kitchen, you can infuse lavender in dairy products – and so I thought up this idea for a lavender crème brûlée, perfect for the end of the hungry gap when we might be craving sunnier flavours. It has just the right hint of floral, and the creaminess is balanced by the crunch of the topping. To make them, you will need: 20g caster 3 egg yolks 1 tbsp dried culinary lavender 275ml cream 100ml milk Deme ..read more

Trying to think of a recipe to use up egg whites recently, I settled on friands: the French patisserie made with egg whites and almonds, which are deliciously light and dangerously moreish. These lemon and pistachio friands have a richness from the nuts and freshness from the lemon zest that’s perfect for this time of year. I’ve given the quantities per egg white below so you can scale up to use as many as you have! This made six friands in a standard bun tin. 1 egg white 30g butter 40g icing sugar 10g flour 20g ground almonds Zest 1/2 lemon 10g pistachios, finely chopped. Preheat the oven t ..read more

One of my favourite eateries in Edinburgh is Elliott’s, purveyor of simple, seasonal food, baking and homewares here in the Southside. Owner Jess also writes cookbooks and I had the joy of recipe testing for her latest book, ‘Lazy Baking’. I was very much hoping her recipe for one of Elliott’s signature bakes, frangipane galette, would be in there and was delighted to see there was one for an apple version! This week I had the first seasonal Scottish strawberries and probably the last of the pink rhubarb, and I thought they would go perfectly with Jess’ frangipane so I adapted the topping and ..read more