7 sizzlers for a British heatwave!

Hot! Hot! Hot! If you’re feeling the heat… eat, drink and get creative!

1 Affogato 

The Italians perfect it again, combining two quality ingredients for the ultimate cool down pick-me-up or super sleek cheats dessert. Pour espresso over a scoop of luxury vanilla ice-cream. Best served in a little glass with a teeny spoon.

2 Pimm’s ice-lolly

Ok I’m far too impatient to wait for my lollies to freeze and photograph a sexy, drippy shot (I want this out before the sun goes in!). So enjoy the art!

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3 Kiwifruit gets it’s summer hat on!

This blingy variety of Kiwifruit – SunGold, is the perfect snack for when you need to get out of the door – the skin is smooth enough to eat! It contains about 3 times more vitamin C than an orange, for a healthy weekend breakfast try this SunGold kiwifruit, coconut and granola breakfast pot;

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Blitz 2 peeled and chopped SunGold kiwifruit in a blender until smooth, place 30g of your favourite granola in a glass, spoon over a pot of coconut yogurt, top with the kiwifruit and decorate with toasted coconut flakes.

Available from May through to September in Waitrose,Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and M&S.

4 Aperol spritz

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Always keep a bottle of Aperol and a small bottle of soda water in the cupboard for an unexpected heat wave when, shock-horror, you haven’t chilled the Prosecco! This little cocktail, usually drank as aperitif in Italy, is mixed over ice. Gorgeous on a summer’s evening with a few nibbles! Fill a large wine glass with ice, add 75ml of Prosecco, 50ml Aperol and a dash of soda. Garnish with a slice of orange.

5 Seaside cake

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Baking may be the last thing you want to do when it’s baking! But when you’ve got a super cool design like this it might be worth taking on the extra heat. For a smaller project (great for kids in summer holidays!) simply make the ice-cream cone cupcakes. To scale down the cake mix use 175g butter, 175g caster sugar, 3 large eggs and 175g self-raising flour.  You should have enough for around 10-12 cones. For the full recipe visit Homemade with Sainsbury’s & The Huffington Post

6 New drink alert!

cranes

Cambridge twins Dan & Ben Ritsema invented this red-hot drink. Whilst at uni, they enjoyed an alchololic beverage or two (!) but wondered if it was possible to make a healthier alternative? They loved cranberry juice for its health benefits, so tried fermenting cranberries to make a cranberry ‘cider’ and that was the beginning of Cranes! Original cranberry available from Ocado  three bottles for £5. Visit drinkcranes for more info.

JUST EAT Food Fest 

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Pulled pork from Whaam Banhi

Even one of the world’s leading digital marketplaces for takeaway food is telling us to go out and eat in the sun! A celebration of world cuisine, visitors are invited to try three dishes for £8 (or £4 each) from the pop-up street food vendors. Just a handful include Italian Pizza from Sapore Vero, Jerk Chicken from Panda Berry, Caramelised Pork Belly Rice Bowl from Whaam Banh Mi and Strawberry Cheesecake flavour doughnuts from Dum Dum Donutterie. With live music and DJs. Visit www.just-eat.co.uk/london/foodfest for more info.

 

 

 

 

#11 FOOD NEWS: World cake-in-a Cup; Italy vs England re-match, frozen yogurt & hello Moscow mule!

KEEPING AN EYE ON ALL THINGS BRITALIAN…
 Every monday

World cake-in-a Cup

Inspired by these fun flag mugs, it only one meant thing…an Italy vs England World cake-in-a Cup re-match! Using Sainsbury’s cake-in-a-cup recipe as the base, will my country-inspired additions make it a new winning recipe or as disappointing as an own goal?

Ingredients

To kick off, I start with a risky decision and take out solid performer; Vanilla Extract and for England add 2tsp Pimms and 2 Chopped Strawberries.  For Italy, I add 2tsp Limoncello – possibly a disastrous choice or it could be a touch of magic for the mix. Just before the second half (before putting in the microwave), I top off team Italia with 1 fine Lemon Slice.

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When the England team think they’re finished we’ll top them off with a fresh strawberry. Both teams will get a good shower of icing sugar before the next round.

england final

England: Not a great looker – a bit lumpy and bumpy, but Chopped Strawberries added a whole new dimension to the game.

italy final

Italy: Rose to the occasion perfectly, an extremely slick performance, however Limoncello could have been slightly stronger up front.

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Final score….

1 – 1 

Personlised mugs from £8  http://www.moonpig.com, for Sainsbury’s original Cake in-a-cup recipe click here

Top theme

Wild west strip

The Wild West in Kent; The Garden of England. It may not be a combo that instantly springs to mind but as an advocate of having the best of both worlds it was the perfect location for one awesome party!  Two (very strong) Moscow mules, led me to constantly daydream (whilst attempting to dance like a cow-girl) about farming on the surrounding hop fields and orchards, then as dusk fell I put full attention into toasting marshmallows, eating popcorn and gorging on local and speciality cheese. Bliss.

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For a wonderful family run campsite in this beautiful tranquil spot (with lovely quirky touches such as a communal tipi and camp fire starter packs!) visit www.bedgeburycamping.co.uk

Frozen assets

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On honeymoon in Puglia I had the best gelato I’ve ever tasted; full-on creamy-dreamy satisfaction! The honeymoon/ holiday feeling probably added to the whole experience but I must say I did get a sweet little holiday feeling at Yog this week, a little stroll along Exmouth Market, nipping into the ice-cream parlour-style shop was a real treat. Going with the ‘healthier alternative to ice-cream’ idea my coconut, cherry and tropical fruit combo was delicious, but I think my friend Jen got it right loading her pomegranate frozen yogurt with Oreo cookies! Get experimenting and that holiday feeling at Yog http://www.yogyogurt.co.uk/

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Yog selfie – had to be done 

Top 2 Britalian frozen treats:

Britalian iced canapes

strawberries

Instant summer fruits ice-cream 

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