Cold soup makes a refreshing start to a dinner party on a hot summer evening. Canned beets are the key to this convenient, pretty soup, which becomes pinker the longer it sits.
Beets are a novel but beautiful ingredient in chutney. Their sweetness marries deliciously with apples and helps counter the acidic thrust of the vinegar.
Serve with Corn on the Cob and Pepper Rice (see recipe links below).
Layer the custard with any berries in season: sliced strawberries, halved black cherries, or whole raspberries, blackberries or blueberries.
Use black currant–flavoured black tea bags (such as Twinings) instead of herbal tea for an intense, not-too-sweet black currant flavour.
Showcase this layered mousse on a pedestal cake plate. Then take it back to the kitchen to cut because you need to wipe the blade with a damp cloth between slices. May is mango season so they are at their peak of flavour now.
Italian for 'foam' or 'froth', spuma is an airy type of sherbet made with egg whites beaten with boiling sugar syrup. This frozen specialty is also known as spoom.
