Duck breast and endive salad with raspberries

Weekday cooking can easily become a bit repetitive; the same old tomato pasta, the same old jacket potato. This week I said to my mum that I would cook something new each day, all recipes coming from the lovely recipe book: The Little Paris Kitchen (can you tell I'm still in denial over the fact that I have returned to England... it's the post-Provence blues.) The night that I cooked this particular recipe, my mum had returned home pretty late, tired and hungry. So I think you can imagine the reception "we're having salad" received. This reaction was heightened when I went on to say "yes I know it's just salad, but it's got duck, endives, raspberries, vinegar..." The look on her face said it all. Now my mum's a really good cook, and she is always up for trying new recipes... but even she thought this all sounded too bizarre. However, I can proudly proclaim that the earlier sneer turned to a beaming smile after the first mouthful (honestly!) so for any fellow doubters, I urge you to give it a try.

As always, I wanted to adapt this recipe a bit to make it my own, but I found this particularly challenging when the original recipe itself was a little out of my comfort zone: it's all well and good adding a bit of lemon zest to a sponge, but finding suitable additions to duck, endive AND raspberries was a bit tricky. I decided to resort to good old BBC Good Food, researching 'duck' to seek out some tried and tested combinations. Unsurprisingly, cherry and orange were pretty regular offenders. I searched on however and came across a recipe for duck with a maple and sherry vinegar dressing. Rachel Khoo's original version (in The Little Paris Kitchen) already contained sherry vinegar, so this didn't seem like too much of a diversion. Away from Good Food, I also came across a combination of duck and hazelnuts - something else which caught my fancy. Now I fear some of you may be turning up your noses to this already, and I will confess that I initially did the same. However, in my humble opinion, it genuinely does work: the hazelnuts add a great texture and the maple and vinegar balance out beautifully and compliment the gamey flavour of the duck.

Ingredients:
Serves 2
1 duck breast/duck breast strips if whole breasts are unavailable (as in my case)
2 small red endives
A small handful of raspberries
About 10 hazelnuts
1 1/2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp. sherry vinegar
1 tbsp. olive oil (ideally extra virgin) plus a little bit of standard oil for frying

Method:

• Toast hazelnuts and set aside.
• Mix together maple syrup, sherry vinegar and oil.
• Arrange the endive leaves on your plates.
• Add a little oil to a frying pan and heat until really hot.
• Add the duck breast whole (skin side down first), or strips, and cook until cooked to your preference. I used duck breast strips and these cooked in a couple of minutes flat, keeping a lightly pink middle.
• Add the duck to your plates, scatter over the raspberries and hazelnuts and drizzle over the dressing.

Hazelnut Cake... or 'Biscuit Creusois'

Yes, I am still reminiscing over Provence. As you have probably guessed from the title, this is another french recipes passed on from Pascal and Eric, the utterly fabulous hosts of Les Terrasses de Soubeyran (see post). Despite the slightly confusing french title 'biscuit', this cake is surprisingly light in texture and I would definitely recommend it for any optimistic picnics, or just simply enjoyed at home with a dollop of yoghurt or creme fraiche and some fresh raspberries. 

As any regulars will know, I cook a lot with ground almonds, but I have to admit that I'm currently having a bit of a spring fling with the dear old hazelnut, and this cake is part of the reason why! My mum also makes a fabulous plum and hazelnut tart, so I hope to bring that to you soon too!

Ingredients:
5 egg whites
250g caster sugar
120g plain flour
120g melted butter, set aside to cool slightly
100g ground hazelnuts

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 160 degrees c (fan)
• Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and set aside
• Mix the flour, ground nuts and sugar, then stir in the butter.
• Stir in about a third of the egg white mix to loosen the nut mixture, then gently fold in the remaining whites.
• Pour into greased and lined tins of your choice... use any size as long as the mixture comes up to a depth of at least an inch and a half - the cakes don't rise much.
• Cook for about 30 mins depending on size - they're ready once the tops are golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
• Leave to cool for a couple of minutes in their tins before turning out onto cooling racks... they're perfectly happy left here to cool and kept in an airtight container for a day or two, but they're also rather delicious warm if you don't want to wait.

French Toast

Sunday breakfast is my time to experiment. For the last couple of weeks I've been trying to perfect my own version of french toast: doughnut-like in the middle, crisp on the outside, and definitely sweet. My first attempt had a rather suspect ratio of egg:milk, ending up with a sort of omelette-wrapped piece of bread. I can assure you that I have since successfully amended that faux pas. I used baguette because the crusts give a really nice crispness to contrast the softer middle - this is because they don't soak up the liquid as much as a standard batch loaf crust does. You can serve this with whatever you fancy, I've gone with maple syrup, pecans and berries, but there are plenty of other variations: maple syrup and pancetta would work equally well; as would berries, cinnamon sugar and creme fraiche; or banana, flaked almonds and honey.

Ingredients:

Serves 2

1 egg

4 tbsp milk, (ideally use full cream or semi-skimmed milk)

2 heaped tbsp sugar

About 1/4 of a french stick (a day or two old), top and bottom crust removed, halved lengthways, then cut down the middle to make 4 pieces.

Maple syrup, raspberries and pecans to serve

1 tsp butter for frying

Method:

• In a wide, shallow bowl, use a fork to beat together the egg, milk and sugar.
• Lay the bread in the egg mix (the liquid should come up to about 1/3 of the depth of the bread) and leave to soak for about 30 seconds each side - it may not soak up all the liquid, but don't worry. I think of it like cooking steak, leave it to soak until the bread's soaked halfway through, turn over, then remove once it's absorbed enough just to leave an untouched bit of bread in the very middle (like the line of raw pink in the middle of a steak). I find this just prevents it from becoming too soggy once cooked.
• Add the butter to a frying pan on a medium heat, once hot, add the toasts and cook for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and a bit caramelised - you may need to press the bread down slightly to ensure it gets cooked completely through.
• Serve with the syrup, raspberries and pecans - or any other toppings you fancy.

In celebration of the messy cake...

This title may seem like a cop-out, making a shameless excuse for a cake gone wrong. On many levels, it probably is. I cannot deny the fact that I had every intention of making this cake look exactly like the one on Waitrose Kitchen magazine's front cover. It did not however, as you can see, turn out quite that way. My initial reaction was of one of serious irritation "you can't just scrape the cream off dad, the jam's already stained the sponge!" looking back, it's hardly worth whining about. Neatness is something you praise in a house, in a teenager's bedroom, but not in a cake. I have never yet heard somebody exclaim "ooh I just can't resist that carrot cake, it's so neat", even Waitrose's cover version has an enticingly off-perfect drizzle of jam down one side. When it comes to cake, we want an excess of filling, sticky jammy fingers and a creamy top lip. Neatness, in my opinion, often goes hand in hand with frugalness, definitely not something to cheer for at afternoon tea. I could have made this cake with a tiny smear of jam, a pathetically perfect (and painfully thin) circle of cream. In this instance, the top layer of cake would not, as happened in my case, have sat on the creamy filling like an elephant on a beanbag, oozing filling all around it, leaving little left in the place of the elephant's behind. But where's the fun in that? Where's the excess? There is no getting away from the fact that cake is a definite no-no on the diet front, so you might as well rebel in style.

Cream spillage aside, I have to say this this was one of the best cakes I've made. The (off-recipe)addition of ground almonds into the sponge gave an incredible moistness, yet the cake still remained beautifully light and fluffy. The combination of raspberries and blueberries alongside the tangy greek yoghurt gave a delicious balance of sharp and sweet... I'm supposed to be eating less of what I bake, but even I went back for seconds.

Now for the recipe itself. I will confess that there are some scientific reasons why my cake was such a blob. Those which, despite my tongue-in-cheek praise, you may wish to avoid if you're serving it to your new mother-in-law:

1. Don't put the fruit filling on top of the cream, it just creates too much extra weight and the cream can't hold it. Layer it with the fruit first, then the cream. The fruit then cream method was advised by the Waitrose recipe, but I unintentionally ignored it.
2. Don't assemble until everything is cool - I added the fruit filling when it was still a bit warm (impatience of youth!) which made the cream loose its firmness.
3. Don't add too much liquid to the filling - I defrosted my blueberries (see below for blueberry/cherry swap) but did not drain off the extra liquid that they pour out whilst defrosting. I also tried to ripple this liquid through the cream, making the it even thinner and thus losing its firmness and ability to hold up the cake.
4. Don't use too much greek yoghurt in the filling - I found the suggested alternative of half cream-half yoghurt made it a little too silky and slippery. The greek yogurt does give it a lovely flavour so I'd suggest using 150ml double cream and 100ml thick greek yoghurt (instead of 150ml).

It is probably unwise now to admit to tweaking the recipe at all. It would thus seem that these tweaks were my downfall. However, these small changes were primarily about flavour, so I personally believe that the reasons listed above are the culprits, rather than the following tweaks. In terms of the filling, this truly was just a flavour swap - instead of cherries and cherry jam, I used blueberries and raspberry jam. This is all down (indirectly) to my dad. At weekends, dad would do the fruit bowl for breakfast, and on one particular morning (probably whilst he was waiting for me to get out of the shower), he decided to get creative. We had fresh blueberries and raspberries, and he individually stuffed each raspberry with a single blueberry - and the combo stuck. The second change was that of ground almonds, I swapped 100g of the flour for 100g ground almonds. This really added to the almond flavour given by the essence, as well as giving the cake a lovely, slightly bakewell-like texture. Due to this recipe swap, I did add a tsp of baking powder because some of the raising agent would be lost in the reduction of self-raising flour (and ground almonds are a heavier than flour, so they need a little more encouragement).

Ingredients:

Serves 10 - 12

Cake

225g unsalted butter (although I actually used spread)

225g caster sugar

4 eggs

1tsp almond extract

3 tbsp milk

125g self raising flour

100g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp toasted, flaked almonds

Filling

250g frozen blueberries, defrosted  - and drain off all but a couple of tsp of the juice (you can set this aside, reduce it further on the hob, then use to drizzle over your breakfast yoghurt)

200g raspberry jam

150ml double cream

100ml thick greek yoghurt

2 tbsp icing sugar (I would advise adding this extra tbsp - to the 1 tbsp suggested by Waitrose - as the addition of yogurt makes it a bit loose so it needs a little extra stability)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c and butter and line two 20cm sandwich tins.
2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time (beating in between each addition).
3. Beat in the almond extract and milk.
4. Fold in the sieved flour, ground almonds and baking powder.
5. Pour into the tins and scatter one with the toasted almonds.
6. Cook for 25 mins until golden and risen.
7. Whilst they're cooking, heat the defrosted blueberries with the raspberry jam for a couple of minutes on the hob until syrupy. Set aside to cool.
8. Once cooked, remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in their tins for 5 mins before turning out.
9. Once the the fruit mix and the cakes are cool, whip the cream and icing sugar to soft peaks, then fold in the yogurt.
10. Place the plain cake on a serving plate, top with the fruit, then the cream, then the almond topped sponge. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Drizzle Cake

Sunday, the sun was shining. To some people that may mean it's time to go for a jog or cut the lawn, but, to me, it means it's time to make a cake and eat it in the garden. Preferably with a cup of tea (green... sorry, I've well and truly joined the twig-tea drinking brigade) and a thoroughly trashy book... weepy novels are for rainy days in my opinion.

As for the cake, when it's warm, chocolate just seems too rich, so I turned to my old favourite: the lemon drizzle. The lemon and poppy seed combination is nothing new to the food world, but it was something I was yet to try myself. The recipe is primarily based on Delia's recipe, but with the substitution of some ground ground almonds in replacement for some of the flour - as inspired by Jamie Oliver's recipe. I found that this recipe makes a brilliantly moist cake, retaining this texture for the following two days (it may have lasted longer, but we just couldn't resist...)

Ingredients:

Cake

100g self raising flour

75g ground almonds

175g caster sugar

175g spread

3 large eggs

Grated zest of 3 large lemons

Juice of 1 large lemon

40g poppy seeds

Drizzle

Juice of 3 lemons

190g caster sugar

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170 degrees c (fan)
• Cream spread and sugar until pale and fluffy
• Add eggs and ground almonds and whisk again for another couple of minutes
• Gently fold in the flour, then the seeds and the lemon zest & juice. 
• Pour into a lined, 20cm (diameter) circular cake tin.
• Cook for 40 - 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
• Whilst cooking, mix the drizzle ingredients with a spoon.
• Once removed, immediately prick all over with the skewer and pour over the drizzle.
• Leave the cake in the tin whilst the drizzle sets, remove once set.

Mackerel Fillet with 'Luxury' Irish Champ... and a bit about Fitzbillies cafe

University open days are many things: daunting, stressful, emotional (that might just be me!)... but rarely are they delicious. But in Cambridge, it truly was. My dad was on open day duty for this one, so, being a fellow foodie, we planned our day with tasty pit-stops.

We actually ended up going to one particular cafe twice: Fitzbillies. Once for their incredible chelsea buns (famously saved by Tim Hayward - see article) and secondly for an evening meal. To be honest, it was a bit of a chelsea bun pilgrimage and, after the first mind blowing bite of sticky dough, we knew we just had to return.

On the return drive home, my dad asked me the big uni question "so what did today make you think?" Inferring: do you think Cambridge is right for you? Does the course look good? Do you think you could cope with the work load? My answer related to none of these. I merely responded "we've got to go back to Fitzbillies." A pretty strong compliment to Fitzbillies given that, after a day wandering round one of the country's most beautiful and most highly regarded universities, buns were the first things to pop into my mind.

The buns may get all the fame (deservedly so - soft, sticky, warmly spiced and with lots of fruit), but it was actually the meal in the evening that inspired this recipe. My main course was mackerel with champ and a gooseberry relish (a perfect addition, but there not currently in season - my visit to Fitzbillies was last July). I had neither tried nor heard of 'champ', but it quickly became apparent that I'd been missing out. True 'champ makers' may say that my following recipe isn't really champ at all "don't you think you've gone too far off piste?" they may ask. Well, if I am posed with that question, I would openly admit that this is definitely not traditional champ, but it is inspired by it and, in my humble opinion, it's good... and that's enough for me.

Ingredients:

1 Mackerel - head, tail and inside bits removed, cut into two fillets

2 potatoes (for mashing)

2 handfulls of spinach

2 rashers of smoked bacon

3 spring onions

A pinch of salt and pepper

A few splashes of milk (depending on your preferred mash consistency)

1 tsp butter

1tbsp olive oil

Method:

1. Boil potatoes in slightly salted water until cooked (soft when you put a knife in, but holding their shape)
2. Whilst they're cooking, finely chop the bacon and spring onions. Fry the bacon first and add the spring onions just before the bacon's done - you want the spring onions slightly cooked, but to retain their colour. Set aside.
3. When the potatoes are done, heat up a frying pan with 1tbsp olive oil (medium heat) for the mackerel and, once hot, place the mackerel skin side down onto the pan.
4. Whilst the mackerel cooks, drain the potatoes, then mash.
5. Add butter and milk to taste and, once mashed, combine with the cooked bacon, spring onions, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the raw spinach.
6. Stir to combine, keeping the pan on a very low heat to keep in warm (and help the spinach to cook through).
7. Once the mackerel looks cooked through up to a couple of milimetres from the top, turn it over and fry for another minute or so.
8. Serve together... I also added some fried sugar snap peas and a bit of onion marmalade, but that's just me, so pair it with whatever you fancy (or eat it just as it is!)

Lemon Madeleines

For those of you who read my post on Les Terrasses de Soubeyran, you will know that these madeleines have been on my wish-list to cook since Eric and Pascal first placed them on our kitchen table in Provence. The sight of these dainty cakes after a long hard walk (oh okay, it was a stroll... or 'une balade' as Pascal described it) was complete bliss, especially when accompanied with an espresso and a springtime view of the Provencal countryside.

I have greatly scaled down the recipe from the original, as I'm already failing at my attempt to shift post-holiday weight... a tin full of these citrus goodies is just too much temptation! However, these made 9 so feel free to upscale if you have more mouths to feed. I personally used a silicone madeleine mould, but Pascal and Eric used a metal one so feel free to use whichever you prefer. I normally prefer traditional metal moulds as I sometimes find that silicone moulds give my cakes a slightly denser texture, but these came out lovely and light.

Ingredients:

1 egg

50g caster sugar

58g plain flour

2.5g baking powder (half a teaspoon)

42g salted butter, or use spread and add a twist of salt

Zest of 1 small lemon

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees c (fan)
2. Whisk egg and sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Melt butter and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Sieve flour and baking powder into egg/sugar mix and whisk again until combined.
5. Add melted butter and zest and briefly whisk again.
6. Fill buttered madeleine moulds to two thirds depth.
7. Cook for 15 - 17 mins, until the tops are a pale golden.
8. Leave to cool slightly, then gently remove from their moulds.
9. Dust with icing sugar and serve - ideally eat them on the day they were made.

Spring in Provence

A view up to Gordes from our B&B

The lavender may yet not be out, the cherries far from ripe but, this April, Provence lacks none of its blue shuttered charm. In some ways, it is all the more beautiful. It feels like the calm before the tourist storm - the cobbled streets are quiet, the shopkeepers are friendly and patient, and the sun still shines. Like many people, ever since reading Peter Mayle's 'A Year in Provence' my mum has wanted to go and, with my french a levels coming up, it seemed the perfect excuse to treat ourselves to a visit. Well I can safely say, it's the most I've ever enjoyed french revision.

I just had to take a photo!

We based ourselves at the foot of Gordes at Les Terrasses de Soubeyran - truly the best, friendliest place I've ever stayed... read more in my post about it here. From here, if you're brave enough to take on the french drivers (yes they will gesticulate, flash and overtake if you are driving at a speed anything lower than life threatening!), you can cycle to lots of picture-perfect limestone villages... or a (small) hire-car would do the trick if you want to truly take it easy (I will confess now that this is what we opted for). Goult, Bonnieux, Menerbes, Joucas, Roussillon and Murs are all within a 20 minute drive. Roussillon is a little more touristy as it is home to the canyon-esque Ochre path, but still well worth a visit. Goult and Bonnieux were my personal favourites, both containing a sprinkling of lovely bakeries, restaurants and groceries, tucked in amidst the honey coloured streets. In Bonnieux, at a wooden-fronted bakery on Rue Victor Hugo, we were even invited behind the counter by the baker, to see how he made his bread - who said the french were unfriendly?! Here (Bonnieux) we also came across a very 'off the beaten track' Morrocan restaurant called Les Portes de l'Orient, run by an incredibly friendly man who originated from Fez, Morocco. The food was traditional, delicious and well priced. We were actually the only people in that evening so we were even offered extra food to try. In the corner of the restaurant he himself was eating with his partner, so offered us three portions of a fabulous vermicelli soup that they were sharing.

The french markets are also a must in my books, especially the marchés paysans (farmers markets), I found this website (click here to follow link) particularly helpful, but check when you arrive as some markets are seasonal and this is not indicated in all cases (for example, there was no farmers market in Goult when we went, as indicated, on Monday afternoon). As with all markets, there will be some overpriced/gimmicky stalls for the tourists, but just follow the locals... if a stall's busy and all you hear spoken is french, it's probably pretty good. We came across one fish stall in Gordes where there were only a couple of english customers, instantly planting a seed of doubt in our minds. Our worries were then heightened when a sole french woman arrived, tutted at the stall (in a very french way of course!), and walked away - so we followed suit (albeit without the tutting... reluctant to make any enemies so early on!)

One of the many pretty buildings in one of the many pretty villages... this one in particular was taken in Roussillon

The market at Gordes

We did a lot of home cooking with this market produce, but we did venture out for one unforgettable lunch at Au Fil du Temps - read more in my post about it here.

There is a lot more to say about Provence, but I have a pretty large batch of homework to finish, so that's all for now... I'll be back soon to add more.

Au Fil du Temps

On a pretty square in Pernes les Fontaines sits Au Fil du Temps. Unassuming, but enticing. Run by merely two people, a husband and wife team, chef and front of house respectively, they only take 25 covers. They have often been asked "why not more?", "why not do two sittings?", but they stick to their principles, never wishing to sacrifice quality for the sake of a few more bums on seats. The food is of course the stand out piece, but the interior is also well designed and spacious, quite unusual in France - good food AND good decor do not often go hand in hand... locals prioritise the first, tourists often fall prey to the latter, and more often than not they enjoy a sub-standard meal as a result. But not here. I opted for the 29€ three course menu of the day, although this also came with a consommé to start and petits fours to finish, so it was more like 5 courses, each as perfectly executed as the last. Claire was a wonderful host, chatting and explaining the menu in detail, without making us feel in the least bit embarrassed if we didn't understand bits. As a pudding girl, dessert was a highlight: a pine nut tart, which was very similar in texture to a frangipane (I plan to experiment with this at home very soon, once we've restocked our empty shelves!), with a blueberry sorbet and honey foam. There were more expensive menu options too: 39€ menu of the same number of courses as the 29€, but there were 3-4 choices per course, rather than a set menu; for those who really want to splash out, there was a 5 course 59€ tasting menu - I have no doubt it would be delicious, but I couldn't fault my 29€ option.

Just next door sits Le Haricot Magique, also well worth a visit - a sort of bookshop/cafe which also hosts a series of talks and events.

Starter - Petit Pois peas of different textures, soft poached egg, bacon powder

 Slow cooked lamb, herby polenta, caramelised onions

Pine nut tart, blueberry sorbet, honey foam

Les Terrasses de Soubeyran

Blog posts containing 101 superlatives, compliments and sickly sweet words of praise can often be a bit nauseating. But now I'm stuck, Les Terrasses de Soubeyran deserves every one of those compliments and more... so I will apologise now to those of you who like an edgy or sarcastic blog post, this post will be none of those things. It is quite simply a gushy flow of compliments, and quite frankly, it would be a sin to write anything less.

 One of the many lovely green spaces to take a moment at Les Terrasses de Soubeyran.... and off camera to the right is a wide-spanning view across the vineyards and rolling hills beyond.

This bed and breakfast sits at the foot of Gordes, a beautiful honey coloured hill-top town, only a 20 minute walk away through winding paths surveying stunning views of the Luberon countryside. The ascent is fairly steep, but there are plenty of olive groves and wild-flower fields in which to rest your head if you need a pause.

It just had to be done!

Pascal and Eric are the most natural hosts I have ever come across, making you feel instantly incredibly welcome and at ease, chatting over breakfast in their bright and airy kitchen (with jaw dropping views from the full height glass doors... or from their terrace if the weather's right - which it almost always is!) and supplying endless gems of local knowledge (Au Fil du Temps was Pascal's recommendation, see blog post here).

Most holiday makers, us included, arrive feeling more than a little fatigued (though this was slightly alleviated by travelling by Eurostar all the way to the south, rather than going by car or plane - Avignon TGV is the closest station). Here however, any hint of weariness or stress instantly falls away, we sat on the sunny terrace with Pascal, freshly pressed orange juices in our hands, chatting and feeling the sun on our faces (something I don't seem to have experienced in months, my fellows Brits will understand!)

The actual property is perfectly laid out, the main house (honey coloured limestone of course) sits slightly above, surrounded by sunny terraces where you can take your breakfast or aperitif. A short path, edged by lavender and rosemary plants, leads you to three smaller properties (L'Atelier and Le Cube are closest together, La Grange sits at the other side of the main house - but nowhere feels either too isolated or too close). There is a communal kitchen and mini library attached to L'Atelier, with another sunny terrace out front. My parents stayed in L'Atelier and I had Le Cube, so we often cooked in this area and ate outside... or if it was a little chillier we would eat indoors - the majority of the frontage was glass, so you could still drink in the breathtaking views. Le Cube was my favourite room as it had so much glass (reflective though, so you still had privacy and it didn't get too hot like a greenhouse), even my shower had a little window to look out onto the vineyards below.

Filet Mignon du Porc - cooked in the communal kitchen with ingredients from Goult.

The front of L'Atelier and the communal kitchen

Staying at Les Terrasses de Soubeyran is the opposite to a Ryan Air flight: (let me explain...) With Ryan Air, you are fearful even to use the toilet or take a drink in case they charge you; whereas with Pascal and Eric, you have no such worry, and are regularly treated to thoughtful extras 'on the house'. We arrived to a complimentary bottle of wine and some tapenandes and dips in the fridge for our first evening.... the next day we came home to a warm plate of lemon madeleines (yes, they were truly divine, and I will be trying the recipe very soon)... and a couple of days later we were greeted by a bottle of Rosé just because the sun was shining.

Breakfast was equally generous, wonderful individual pottery pieces adorned the table, filled with yoghurts, fruit, local honeys and unusual jams. Baskets also sat filled with incredible fresh croissants and breads from the local baker in Goult. Pascal quickly remembered our preferences and soon we were greeted by our drinks of preference without needing to ask. Little extras also appeared, a wonderful hazelnut cake joined the table on Tuesday, silky scrambled eggs were cooked for us on Sunday... each day brought something a little different, and it was always delicious. Another french couple joined us part way through the week and they sat with us on the same kitchen table, all chatting (including our hosts) in french/english - depending on who was trying out their foreign language! At most hotels, you would say little more than hello to your fellow guests, but that's just the magic of Pascal and Eric, they create such a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere where such things seem commonplace.

It is always difficult returning home after a holiday, but after a week at Les Terrasses de Soubeyran, it felt almost impossible. If Peter Mayle received half the welcome we did, I can see why he moved here.

Gordes

Raspberry Bakewell Cookies

I adapted this from Heston's recipe for chocolate chip cookies, a wonderful recipe that I came across on Kathryn's fabulous blog London Bakes - if you are yet to discover the delights of this blog, I urge you to take a look now... you'll soon be checking it every day!

I'm sure many of you took an intake of breath at the sight of both 'Heston' and 'adapted'... surely I'd never be bold enough to think I could better this genius? Well, no I don't, that'd be just a tad arrogant for someone so new to the blogging game, but I do think I can bring something different to the table and I would advise you to just make both if you're at all worried. For those still unconvinced, the essential method and ingredients are unchanged, it's only really a flavour tweak... so Heston's magic should still be intact.

Ingredients:

Makes about 20

Chocolate chips:

10g golden syrup

70ml double cream

65g white chocolate

Pinch of salt

Cookies:

220g plain flour

1/4 tsp bicarb

1/2 tsp baking powder

Large pinch salt (about 1/4 - 1/2 tsp, depending on your preference)

115g cold, cubed butter

260g caster sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

50g frozen raspberries (keep them frozen until needed)

Method:

1. For the chocolate chips...
2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.
3. Meanwhile, gently heat the cream and syrup.
4. Once the chocolate's melted, add the salt to the cream/syrup and pour it very slowly into the melted chocolate (stirring all the time).
5. Pour this into a lined baking tray (a size that gives you about 1/2cm depth of chocolate mix), set aside for about an hour to cool, then freeze for at least 4 hours.
6. For the cookies...
7. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees c.
8. When the chocolate's almost ready (or later on if you want to make your chocolate chips in advance, they'll keep nicely in the freezer for a few days - or probably longer, but I've never had enough patience to wait that long!) you can make the cookie dough.
9. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
10. Add the egg and almond extract and beat again until all combined.
11. Add all the other ingredients, except the raspberries, and beat until a dough is formed.
12. Take the chocolate chips out of the freezer and chop into small cubes.
13. Lightly crumble the frozen raspberries and add them, along with the chocolate chips, to the dough.
14. Mix briefly with a wooden spoon/beater to incorporate.
15. Use a spoon or ice cream scoop to spoon rough balls of dough onto a lined baking tray, you need to leave about a 2-3cm space around each cookie, each cookie containing about a large tbsp of dough. Flatten slightly and cook for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden, they will feel soft but this is correct, don't over cook them for much longer or they'll be really hard once cooled, this recipe should make lovely soft, slightly chewy cookies.