Make the most of berry season with Rachel Allen's recipes for strawberry and vanilla mousse, summer drizzle cake and raspberry amaretti tart
Strawberry and vanilla mousse
I love a really fresh strawberry and vanilla mousse. This version, which is undeniably simple but oh-so divine, uses the Italian cream cheese mascarpone, which sets the mousse softly like fluffy billowing clouds. Serve with or without crumbly shortbread biscuits, or if you fancy, you could fold in some broken up meringues, Eton mess style.
Serves 3
You will need:
150g hulled strawberries
25g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
4-5 tablespoons lemon juice
1 x 250g tub of mascarpone
100ml cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g caster sugar
2 tablespoons of pistachio nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped — optional
3 glasses or small bowls for serving
1 Cut the strawberries in half and place in a blender with the 25g of caster sugar, the finely grated lemon zest and 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Blend until fine then taste the puree — it should be flavoursome, nicely sweet with a lemony kick. Add more sugar or lemon juice, if necessary.
2 When you're happy with the flavour of the strawberry puree, push it through a sieve sitting over a bowl, making sure to scrape every bit from the underside of the sieve.
3 Place the mascarpone in a separate bowl and add in the cream, the vanilla extract and the 50g of caster sugar. Whisk for about 10-20 seconds, until it is a smooth and softly whipped consistency.
4 Pour approximately two thirds of the strained strawberry puree into the cream mixture, folding the two together until just blended. Divide half of the mixture between the 3 glasses then pour half of the strawberry puree on top, followed by the remaining mousse mixture and, finally, the last of the strawberry puree.
5 Place in the fridge to sit and chill until you're ready to serve before scattering with the toasted and chopped pistachio nuts, if using.
Summer berry drizzle cake
For a summery bake that's just calling out for a nice cup of tea, try the summer berry drizzle cake. Make using fresh or frozen berries, or just raspberries, if you prefer. Now that's berry nice.
Serves 6
You will need:
175g butter
175g caster sugar
3 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
175g mixed berries, fresh or frozen
75g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan), 350F, Gas 4.
2 Line a regular (900g/2lb) loaf tin with parchment paper.
3 Place the butter in a bowl and cream until soft. Add in the caster sugar and continue to beat until soft and light.
4 Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and whisk to break them up. Now pour the egg mixture into the butter and sugar mix, very slowly and gradually, beating well between each addition so that the mixture stays smooth and creamy — see Rachel Recommends, below.
5 Sift in the flour and mix in gently to incorporate.
6 Place half of the mixture in the lined loaf tin and level the mixture out using the back of a spoon. Scatter 75g of the mixed berries over the top then cover with the remaining cake mixture, levelling it out again on top.
7 Place in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8 Now mix the remaining berries with the granulated sugar and the lemon juice, mashing the fruit ever so slightly, and pour over the hot cake to cover the surface. Allow to cool then remove from the tin and peel away the paper.
9 Cut into slices to serve.
Rachel Recommends If you add the egg too quickly to the butter and sugar mix, when making the drizzle cake, it can start to curdle, which can make the cake heavy, so to remedy this add 1 tablespoon of the flour and continue as before.
Raspberry amaretti tart
I adore this raspberry amaretti tart. It works best with the crunchy amaretti biscuits that can be found in some supermarkets and many Italian delis and food shops. The recipe is low in sugar and gluten free. I love the crunchy almond biscuit base that sits under creamy and tangy Greek yoghurt and juicy raspberries. Feel free, if you wish, to replace the ground cinnamon with ground cardamom, or finely grated lemon zest, for a change.
Serves 6-8
You will need:
225g crunchy amaretti biscuits
125g butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
250g natural Greek yoghurt
350g fresh raspberries
Icing sugar, for dusting
23cm diameter tart tin, with a removable base for baking
1 To make the tart base, first place the amaretti biscuits in a clean plastic bag and crush into fine crumbs, using a rolling pin. Alternatively, you can whiz the biscuits in a food processor for a few seconds.
2 Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, then remove from the hob and stir in the biscuit crumbs. Pour the biscuit mixture into the tin — see Top Tip, below — then use the back of a spoon to flatten it into the base and up the sides of the tin by 2cm, so that the sides are higher than the rest of the base. (I find using my fingertips for this gives the edges a good finish.) Put the biscuit base in the fridge to chill for 1 to 2 hours.
3 When you are ready to serve, mix the cinnamon with the yoghurt, then spoon the mixture into the chilled tart base and simply top with the fresh raspberries, and finish with a generous dusting of icing sugar.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
23 minutes ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Sunken Bayesian superyacht lifted out of the water off Sicily as salvage operate completes
Article content PORTICELLO, Italy — A British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank off Sicily last year, killing U.K. tech magnate Mike Lynch and six others, was lifted fully out of the water on Saturday afternoon as salvage recovery crews completed the operation to bring it ashore for further investigation. Article content The white top and blue hull of the 56-metre) Bayesian, covered with algae and mud, was visible clear of the sea in a holding area of a yellow floating crane barge. Article content Article content Article content The local coast guard said the lifting operation will be followed by some technical tests on the hull. On Sunday, the vessel will be transported to the Sicilian port of Termini Imerese, where it will be made available for investigators to help determine the cause of the sinking. Article content Article content The Bayesian sank Aug. 19 off Porticello, near Palermo, during a violent storm as Lynch was treating friends to a cruise to celebrate his acquittal two months earlier in the U.S. on fraud charges. Lynch, his daughter and five others died. Fifteen people survived, including the captain and all crew members except the chef. Article content Italian authorities are conducting a full criminal investigation. Article content TMC Maritime, the company conducting the recovery operation, said the vessel has been slowly raised from the seabed, 50 metres down, over the past three days to allow the steel lifting straps, slings and harnesses to be secured under the keel. Article content Article content Eight steel lifting straps were used to put the hull upright and to form part of a steel wire lifting system that began raising the vessel out of the water Saturday. As the superyacht was raised, sea water was pumped out of the hull. Article content Article content TMC Maritime said the vessel will be held upright, out of the water, for checks and preparations for its final journey. Article content The floating crane platform will then move the Bayesian to Termini Imerese, where a special steel cradle is waiting for it. Article content The Bayesian is missing its 72-metre mast, which was cut off and left on the seabed for future removal. The mast had to be detached to allow the hull to be brought to a nearly upright position that would allow the craft to be raised. Article content British investigators said in an interim report issued last month that the yacht was knocked over by 'extreme wind' and couldn't recover. Article content The report said the crew of the Bayesian had chosen the site where it sank as shelter from forecast thunderstorms. Wind speeds exceeded 70 knots (81 mph) at the time of the sinking and 'violently' knocked the vessel over to a 90-degree angle in under 15 seconds. Article content Lynch, who sold Autonomy, a software maker he founded in 1996, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011, had been acquitted on fraud charges in June 2024 by a federal court jury in San Francisco. Article content
The Herald Scotland
29 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Moises Caicedo says Chelsea will learn from Flamengo defeat
Most of the damage was done in a torrid six-minute spell in which they conceded twice and had Nicolas Jackson – just four minutes after coming off the bench – sent off for a reckless tackle. Caicedo expects the Blues to react to the loss (Zac Goodwin/PA) The result leaves them second in Group D with a win and a loss and potentially facing a more difficult route through the competition, with a possible clash against Bayern Munich in the last 16. 'It was difficult to take, but now we are focusing on the next game,' said Caicedo. 'For sure, we need to learn from this game. We need to react. 'I think the team played well but you need to be focused for 95 minutes in this game because, in one second, you can lose the game and that was what happened.' Flamengo looked the more energetic side but they lacked a cutting edge in the first half and it was Chelsea who carried the greater threat through some quick counter-attacks. Liam Delap, making his full debut in place of Jackson, forced a good save before Pedro Neto broke from halfway to open the scoring with a well-taken strike in the 14th minute. A feisty contest tilted in Flamengo's favour when Bruno Henrique equalised just after the hour and veteran Danilo followed up with a second three minutes later. The Premier League side were still reeling when Jackson was shown a straight red card for an aggressive studs-up challenge on Ayrton Lucas. It was his second sending off in four appearances for the club and ended their hopes of fighting back. Wallace Yan wrapped up the scoring seven minutes from time. Manager Enzo Maresca partly put the defeat – and a subdued performance from key playmaker Cole Palmer in a wider role – down to experimentation ahead of next season. Maresca tried out a new system (Jane Barlow/PA) The Italian said: 'It's not just about Cole. In the last two days we tried something completely different. 'For the first time we played in a different structure, just to prepare also for next season, to have more options. 'I think the plan was quite good for one hour until we conceded the goal, but I think at the end they deserved to win the game. 'Flamengo are a very good team with good players, with a good manager. They played very well.'
South Wales Guardian
32 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Moises Caicedo says Chelsea will learn from Flamengo defeat
The Blues capitulated in the second half in Philadelphia, surrendering a lead to lose 3-1 to the Brazilians and finish with 10 men. Most of the damage was done in a torrid six-minute spell in which they conceded twice and had Nicolas Jackson – just four minutes after coming off the bench – sent off for a reckless tackle. The result leaves them second in Group D with a win and a loss and potentially facing a more difficult route through the competition, with a possible clash against Bayern Munich in the last 16. 'It was difficult to take, but now we are focusing on the next game,' said Caicedo. 'For sure, we need to learn from this game. We need to react. 'I think the team played well but you need to be focused for 95 minutes in this game because, in one second, you can lose the game and that was what happened.' Flamengo looked the more energetic side but they lacked a cutting edge in the first half and it was Chelsea who carried the greater threat through some quick counter-attacks. Liam Delap, making his full debut in place of Jackson, forced a good save before Pedro Neto broke from halfway to open the scoring with a well-taken strike in the 14th minute. A feisty contest tilted in Flamengo's favour when Bruno Henrique equalised just after the hour and veteran Danilo followed up with a second three minutes later. The Premier League side were still reeling when Jackson was shown a straight red card for an aggressive studs-up challenge on Ayrton Lucas. It was his second sending off in four appearances for the club and ended their hopes of fighting back. Wallace Yan wrapped up the scoring seven minutes from time. Manager Enzo Maresca partly put the defeat – and a subdued performance from key playmaker Cole Palmer in a wider role – down to experimentation ahead of next season. The Italian said: 'It's not just about Cole. In the last two days we tried something completely different. 'For the first time we played in a different structure, just to prepare also for next season, to have more options. 'I think the plan was quite good for one hour until we conceded the goal, but I think at the end they deserved to win the game. 'Flamengo are a very good team with good players, with a good manager. They played very well.'
