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Sweet Toasted Coconut

Serves 6

6 tsp Demerara sugar

175g fresh coconut (about 1 coconut)

Preheat the oven to 110°C.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Mix the sugar with 6 tablespoons hot water in a bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Use a vegetable peeler to slice long, thin slithers of coconut, ideally 5-6cm long.  Mix with the Demerara syrup and spread the coconut pieces on the baking sheet. They don’t need to be in one single layer, but try to give them as much space as possible.

Cook for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy dry.  Store in an airtight container until needed – they will keep for a few days, but they won’t last for long, I promise!

Sweet Potato Pudding

Serves 10-12

100g raisins

juice of 1 orange

1 tbsp rum

100g butter, melted, plus extra for the tin

1 Kg sweet potato, grated

200g soft brown sugar

200g plain flour

3 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp grated nutmeg

1 tsp salt

3 tsp vanilla extract

200ml coconut milk

2 large eggs

Single cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the orange juice and rum.  Bring to the boil, turn off the heat and leave to soak for 10 minutes or while you prepare the other ingredients. Grease a 26cm spring form cake tin with butter.  Put the potato in a big mixing bowl with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Mix well with your hands so the potato is coated in sugar and spices.  In another, smaller bowl, mix together the vanilla extract, coconut milk, melted butter and eggs, then add in the raisins and any of their liquid.  Stir this into the sweet potato mixture.  Pour the batter into the cake tin and cook in the hot oven 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours, or until firm.  This is a pudding rather than a cake and is meant to be moist inside.  Eat hot, warm or cold – and definitely with cream.  I love cream, and in this case it is essential.

Chocolate And Orange Spice Cake

Serves 8

175g blanched almonds

4 large eggs, separated

170g caster sugar

75g plain chocolate, grated

zest of 2 unwaxed oranges, finely grated

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp orange juice

butter, for the tin

candied orange peel, to decorate

For the chocolate cream:

140g plain chocolate, broken into pieces

150ml soured cream

½ tablespoon caster sugar

Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan over a low heat.  Watch them all the time as they go from pale to burnt very quickly.  Tip into a bowl to cool, then grind them in a food processor.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Beat the egg yolks with half the sugar, using an electric mixer or by hand, until pale and fluffy.  In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites, gradually adding the remaining sugar, until soft peaks form.

Stir the almonds, chocolate, orange zest, cinnamon and orange juice into the beaten egg yolks.  Mix well.  Using a large metal spoon, add a third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and gently fold in, then fold in the rest.  Pour into a buttered and base-lined 20cm tin and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Turn out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.  To make the chocolate cream, put the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (make sure the base of the bowl isn’t touching the water).  Add the soured cream and sugar and melt everything together.  Stir well to combine.  Take off the heat and leave to cool and thicken.  Spread over the top of the cake with a palette knife and sprinkle over the candied orange peel.

Roast Squash, Chilli And Spinach Salad With Peanut And Ginger Dressing

Serves 6

1Kg butternut squash, halved, deseeded and cut into 1cm wide slices

3 tbsp olive oil

salt and black pepper

1 tsp caster sugar

2 red chillies, deseeded and cut into slivers

150g baby spinach leaves

For the dressing:

1 ¾ white wine vinegar

smidgen of Dijon mustard

1 piece of preserved stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped, plus 1 teaspoon syrup

5 tbsp groundnut oil

25g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 200°C.  Place the squash on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with the oil, season, then sprinkle with the sugar. Turn over with your hands, making sure the squash gets well coated with the oil.  Roast for 25 minutes, scattering over the chilli for the last 10 minutes.  Leave to cool a little. To make the dressing, put the vinegar, mustard, ginger and syrup in a cup and season.  Whisk in the oil with a fork.  Adjust the seasoning, to taste.  Stir in the peanuts.  Gently toss the spinach and squash together with the dressing.  Serve immediately.