Charlotte Pike

Food & Drink Expert

Recipes

Butter and milk buns

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There’s something special about a really good bun. Home made burgers are a wonderful thing, and I published my best-ever recipe in one of my cookery books. I think most people will now recognize that a bad burger patty is just not nice, but I think more and more people are coming to realize that a bad bun is just as bad.

This is a great, easy recipe for an enriched dough, made with butter and milk. It’s half way towards a brioche, which I also really like, but I feel as though this is a slightly more versatile bun, which also goes extremely well with the aubergine burger recipe in my vegetarian cookbook.

Butter and milk buns

Makes 12 large buns

Ingredients

550g strong white bread flour, plus extra for kneading.

1 tsp sea salt

2 heaped tsp quick action dried yeast (I find Doves Farm the best)

300ml full cream milk

50 butter, melted

2 egg yolks

You may wish to glaze the buns with 1 egg yolk and a sprinkling of sesame seed

Method

1)   Place the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre.

2)   Then, put all the remaining wet ingredients into a jug and whisk together.

3)   Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix to form a sticky wet, dough.

4)   If using a stand mixer, knead for 10 minutes on a medium speed. If making the buns by hand, then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for around 10 minutes until smooth and ever so slightly tacky to the touch. Try not to add too much extra flour.

5)   Place the dough into a large mixing bowl and cover well with cling film. I like to put a tea towel over the top, too. Leave for around 4 hours until the dough has doubled in size.

6)   Knead the dough again briefly now, knocking the air out of it. Divide it evenly into 12 pieces and form evenly shaped balls.  Place on a floured tray, cover with clingfilm again, and allow the buns to rise again. This will take around two hours.

7)   Preheat the oven to 230C or equivalent.

8)   Glaze the buns with egg wash and sprinkle over some seeds if you’re using them.

9)   Bake for 25-35 minutes until they feel light, but crusty. They will be a deep, glossy brown.

10)  Allow to cool on a wire rack and devour.

Summer fruit salads

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There is something wonderful about the abundance of delicious fruits in season at this time of year. When ripe, juicy and fragrant, you need nothing more than a napkin to enjoy summer fruits at their best.

That said, a fruit salad is a pretty perfect way to end a meal. An elegant bowlful of fruit is simple to prepare, looks sensational and makes a light, refreshing and nutritious pudding.

These fruit salads are hardly recipes – more of a pairing of ingredients. Together, they are almost greater than the sum of their parts, and work with a wide variety of cuisines.

When making a fruit salad at home, I don’t use sugar on the fruit. This is simply for health reasons, and I happen to enjoy the flavour of the fruit on its own. But, a fruit salad is a wonderful option when cooking for friends and family. In this case, I’d make a sugar syrup, cool it and pour it over the fruit and allow it to macerate for an hour or two before serving. This creates plenty of perfumed juice, which is even better enjoyed with some homemade vanilla ice cream, and also keeps the fruit for a little longer when cut. Just be sure to use the most perfectly ripe fruit you can find – it’s not worth making this with flavourless fruit. 

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Strawberry, lemon and mint

Hull and halve 400g of strawberries. Mix with a tablespoon of lemon juice, and the zest of half a lemon, (I use Amalfi lemons) a tablespoon of caster sugar, if desired, or 75ml sugar syrup. Add 3 tbsp chopped mint and stir.

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White nectarine, blueberry and mint 

Quarter and de-stone three white nectarines. Mix with a tablespoon of caster sugar, if desired, or 75ml sugar syrup. Add 100g blueberries and 3 tbsp chopped mint and stir.

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Nectarine, strawberry and sweet geranium

Quarter and de-stone three white nectarines. Mix with a tablespoon of caster sugar, if desired, or 75ml sugar syrup. Add 200g hulled and quartered strawberries and 6 small sweet geranium leaves and stir.

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Pineapple blueberry and mint

Cut a large pineapple into 1” chunks, ensuring you cut out the woody core first. Mix with a tablespoon of caster sugar, if desired, or 75ml sugar syrup. Add 100g blueberries and 3 tbsp chopped mint and stir.

Fresh ginger gingerbread

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This is a great little recipe to have up your sleeve. It’s so simple to make and can be rustled up quickly using mainly store cupboard ingredients. What’s more, adults and children love these biscuits. I make them for friends and they are delighted, and I make them with children and they adore both making them and eating them. They can even be made into Christmas decorations by using a drinking straw to punch out a hole through which you can thread some ribbon and hang them on the tree.

In terms of flavour, I am not sure the fresh ginger adds that much to the biscuits. I do think the texture is very pleasant though. The combination of ground ginger and nutmeg adds a delicious spiciness to the biscuits – if you prefer a more subtle flavour, do omit a teaspoon of ground ginger.

Fresh ginger gingerbread

Makes 18 large biscuits

Ingredients

250g plain flour, plus a little extra for the work surface

85g light brown soft sugar

3 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch salt

75ml golden syrup

120g butter, softened

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated with any liquid discarded

Method

Start by sifting the flour, sugar, ginger, nutmeg, bicarb. and salt into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Add the syrup, butter, egg yolk and fresh ginger and mix well to combine. This is easiest done in a stand mixer. The mixture will form a fairly firm dough when it’s mixed together. Bring the dough into a ball and flatten to form a disc, around 3 cm thick. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C and line two large baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment.

Once the dough is chilled, remove from the fridge and unwrap. Sprinkle the work surface with extra flour and roll out the dough to around 7-9mm thick. Cut out shapes and lay them out on the baking sheet, remembering to leave at least 15mm between each biscuit, as they do expand in the oven.

Once all the shapes have been cut, bake for 7 or 8 minutes for a soft gingerbread texture and 8-10 for a crispier biscuit.

When the biscuits have been cooked, transfer the gingerbread to a wire rack to cool fully. They are rather nice enjoyed warm though. They keep for 7-10 days stored in an airtight container.