Ice lollies, sausage rolls, piccalilli yoghurt and peaches and cream: these are my contributions to all the plates, platters and trays of food that are going to be carried outdoors, set up on tables and shared with friends and neighbours this weekend – and, hopefully, over the course of the whole summer. There’s something so brilliantly English and eccentric about hanging out the bunting and stopping the traffic. And, of course, something so incredible about doing the same job for 70 years. Seventy years!
Jubilee sausage pie with piccalilli yoghurt
These are great to eat by hand – and so perfect for a street party – but they can also be turned into a meal if served with a good green salad. The pie can be made a day ahead, if you like, ready to be baked on the day.
Prep 25 min
Cook 55 min
Serves 10-12
3 tbsp olive oil
3 onions, peeled and finely chopped (540g)
Salt and black pepper
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 tsp hawaij spice (or medium curry powder)
300g piccalilli (homemade or bought)
800g pork sausages, casings removed and discarded (750g)
50g parsley, finely chopped
25g chives, finely chopped
230g stale white bread, crusts cut off, roughly blitzed into crumbs (130g)
2 sheets ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry (39cm x 23cm)
1 egg, beaten
120g Greek yoghurt
Put a large saute pan on a medium-high heat, add the oil, onions and half a teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, until softened and golden. Stir in the garlic and hawaij, cook, stirring, for another three to five minutes, until fragrant, then take off the heat and leave to cool.
Once it’s cool, transfer the onion mixture to a large bowl and add 100g of the piccalilli, the sausage meat, parsley, chives and bread. Mix to combine, then set aside.
Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and lay one sheet of the puff pastry on top. Brush half the egg all over the pastry, then evenly spread the sausage mixture on top, leaving a 2½cm border all around the edge.
Put the second sheet of puff pastry on a piece of greaseproof paper that’s slightly larger than the pastry and press lightly all over with a rolling pin to stretch it out by 1cm. Gently lift the pastry and lay it on top of the sausage mix, pressing down lightly to seal – don’t press down right at the edges, or the pastry won’t puff up and go flaky while baking.
Brush the top of the pastry with the remaining egg, then, using a sharp knife, make about 30 x 2½cm scores along the whole length of the pastry, to expose the filling. Chill for 20 minutes, to set the pastry.
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Bake the pie from cold for 30-35 minutes, until deeply golden, then remove, carefully transfer to a rack (this will stop it getting a soggy bottom), and leave to cool for at least an hour, or longer if possible.
Meanwhile, make the piccalilli yoghurt. Put the remaining 200g piccalilli in the bowl of a small food processor and blitz smooth. Scrape into a small bowl and mix with the yoghurt and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.
Cut the pie into squares and serve warm or at room temperature with the piccalilli yoghurt on the side.
Sour cherry and coconut lollies
British cherry season is short but very sweet, so make the most of it while you can. If you’re making these for grownups, consider adding a tablespoon of kirsch to the mix before freezing it.
Prep 35 min
Freeze Overnight
Makes 6
4 tbsp dried hibiscus
600g ripe cherries, pitted
4 tbsp golden syrup
100g caster sugar
2 limes – zest finely grated, to get 1 tsp, the rest juiced, to get 2 tbsp
30g desiccated coconut
Put the hibiscus leaves in a small saucepan with 300ml cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for a minute, then take off the heat and leave to steep for five minutes.
Meanwhile, put the cherries, golden syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan, then use a potato masher or fork to burst the cherries. Strain the hibiscus liquid into the cherry mixture (discard the leaves), then bring to a boil. Cook for three to five minutes, until the mix thickens slightly, then take off the heat and leave to cool.
Tip the cherry mixture into a blender with the lime zest and juice, blitz for a minute until smooth, then fine-strain into a jug, pressing down on the solids as you go; discard the solids. Divide the mix between six ice lolly moulds (or more if your moulds are on the small side), and freeze overnight.
Next day, run each mould under running warm water for about 15 seconds, then give it a gentle squeeze to dislodge the lolly. Put the lollies on a small tray lined with greaseproof paper, spacing them well apart, and return to the freezer until you’re ready to eat them.
To serve, sprinkle each lolly with a generous amount of desiccated coconut and put the rest in a bowl alongside for dipping.
Peach and tahini cream shortcakes
You need really ripe peaches for this: if they’re not, use another fruit instead – strawberries and apricots both work well. You can poach the peaches a day ahead, but they should be eaten on the day they’re baked.
Prep 15 min
Chill 30 min+
Cook 45 min
Makes 10
For the shortcake
375g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
2½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¾ tsp salt
60g golden caster sugar
175g fridge-cold unsalted butter,cut into 1cm cubes
140ml fridge-cold buttermilk
140ml fridge-cold double cream, plus extra for brushing
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1½ tbsp demerara sugar
For the peaches
200g golden caster sugar
4 limes – zest finely grated, to get 3 tsp, and juiced, to get 75ml
20g ginger, peeled and finely grated
A pinch of salt
1kg ripe peaches (or apricots or strawberries), cut into 1cm-thick slices
For the tahini cream
360ml double cream
75ml tahini
2 ½ tbsp golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
First make the shortcake. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb, salt and caster sugar in the large bowl of a food processor and pulse once or twice to mix. Add the butter, pulse five or six times, until it’s broken down into pea-sized pieces, then tip into a large bowl and set aside. (If your kitchen is warm, put the bowl in the fridge so the dough stays as cold as possible.
In a small bowl, mix the buttermilk, double cream and vanilla bean paste. Make a well in the middle of the dough mixture, pour in the cream mixture and mix gently with your hands until it comes together into a shaggy mass. Tip out on to a large sheet of greaseproof paper and use the paper to help you compress it into a rectangle.
Dust a rolling pin with flour and slightly sprinkle some on top of the dough and paper, too. Starting from the centre, lightly roll out the dough into a larger, roughly 1cm-thick rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough widthways into three equal rectangles, then dust with more flour and stack them up, using a hand to press them together at the edges to make them even. Cut the dough stack widthways in half, then stack the two halves on top of each other, so you now have a pile of six dough rectangles.
Lightly roll out the dough again, this time to a 2½cm-thick 20cm x 10cm rectangle – be gentle, because this is a soft dough – then cut this into 10 equal squares. Line a large tray (that will fit in your fridge) with greaseproof paper, lay the shortcakes on top and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour (you want to bake these from cold).
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Meanwhile, poach the peaches. Put the sugar, 200ml water, lime zest, ginger and salt in a medium saucepan on a high heat, and cook for 10-15 minutes, until very thick and bubbling furiously. Turn down the heat to medium, stir in the sliced peaches and cook for another minute, until the fruit is soft, but not falling apart. Take off the heat, stir in the lime juice, then transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.
Take the shortcake tray out of the fridge, brush the tops lightly with some of the cream and generously sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown, then transfer to a rack to cool.
Meanwhile, put all the tahini cream ingredients in a medium bowl, whisk to soft peaks and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Once they’re cooked, carefully cut each shortcake in half widthways. Spoon some of the peach mix over the bottom half of each shortcake, dollop on a generous spoonful of tahini cream, top with the other shortcake half and serve.
