Category

June – What’s In Season

Summer has started to arrive in the kitchen with the welcome return of colourful fruits & vegetables.

Stoned fruits like apricots & cherries are some of the first to bring some juicy flavour.

Berries are starting to burst with British strawberries, gooseberries & raspberries all making a return.

Thick green stalks of outdoor grown rhubarb will be coming into their own right now, ripe for picking & crumble making.

Perhaps one of the most versatile garden veggies will be popping out this month, courgettes in all of the weird & wonderful shapes & sizes.

If you’re looking to go on a forage this month then the thing to look out for (& perhaps my favourite thing to forage all year) is elderflower.

The other beautiful blooms available this month are peonies. With a very short season & short lived blooms, these can be used in much the same way as rose petals to create pretty pink preserves.

Blackcurrants will just be coming in ready to pick late this month or early July.

For more tips on foraging for elderflower, see my tips here.

Here are some recipes to make the most of the season:

Choose an ingredient

Apricot

Biscuits

Apricot Jammie Biscuits

With several jars of apricot jam already made & stowed away in the pantry for the year ahead, whilst I’ve already been enjoying it on...

Jam

Apricot Jam

Summer is just around the corner & is slowly creeping its way into the UK, any trip to the market will confirm a shift into...

Chutney

Chilli & Apricot Chutney

SWEET KICKS Green fingers is something that I seem to have developed as I’ve aged. I’ve discovered the joy & sense of pride that comes...


Blackcurrant

Sweet Pies

Blackcurrant & Bay Pie

Let’s bring a little comfort to the summer table shall we, using the most intensely coloured and flavoured of all the summer berries, the blackcurrant....

Sweet Tarts

Blackcurrant Tarts

June & July are blackcurrant season in the garden. Harvesting actually does span over two months for me because our blackcurrant bush is very old,...

Jam

Blackcurrant Jam

How much jam is too much jam? I’m hoping there’s no actual answer to that question because all I seem to be doing at the...


Cherry

Sweet Tarts

White Chocolate & Cherry Tart

The Cherry On Top Plump, glistening, crimson & succulent… the most eye-catching, instagram-worthy fruit of summer has arrived, cherries. Sweet or sour, I love these...


Courgette

Loaf Cakes

Courgette Cake

As the sun returns after many, chilly autumn like weeks in Wales, it appears we are due 2 days of summer. So after weeks of...

Savoury Tarts

Courgette Galette

If you haven’t already guessed it by now, I’ve got a massive glut of courgettes to use up this summer! Since early June, my worktops...

Jam

Courgette Jam

It would seem that my mission to use up an entire garden’s worth of courgettes isn’t over just yet (I still have around 8 sat...

Muffins

Courgette & Lemon Muffins

How many courgettes are too many? A question I’ve been asking myself quite a lot over the past few weeks as I’ve found my kitchen...


Elderflower

Ice Cream

Elderflower Ice Cream

Is there a single dessert that says summer, more than a frozen one? When summer does show up (it’s got a bad habit of disappearing...

Loaf Cakes

Courgette Cake

As the sun returns after many, chilly autumn like weeks in Wales, it appears we are due 2 days of summer. So after weeks of...

Jam

Rhubarb & Elderflower Jam

Pink Abundance Garden rhubarb, I have a crop that despite all odds returns to the bottom of my fascinating garden every year, greeting me with...


Gooseberry


Nettle

Loaf Cakes

Lemon & Nettle Cake

Normally, I’m not exactly the worlds biggest fan of weeds, particularly invasive ones that have the potential to give you a nasty sting like nettle....


Peony


Raspberry

Teatime Treats

Raspberry Macarons

Continuing the romantic vibes this week, except today I’m bringing you something a little bit daintier & definitely fancier than your usual cake or biscuit,...

Recipes

Lemon & Raspberry Cake

It’s hard to imagine summertime without raspberries, one of the sweetest & most popular of all the berries (& for good reason too). In season right...

Cupcakes

Halloween Cupcakes

There are but few times in the year when I actually get excited to bake something a little bit decorative & themed…. Easter, Christmas &...

All Cakes

Summer Berry Cake

Poeth (or hot if you’re reading this in anywhere other than Wales), it has been uncharacteristically hot here in Wales this week. Summer in the...


Rhubarb

Sweet Tarts

Rhubarb Frangipane Tart

Is there anything more summery than a fruit tart? (well other than the healthy alternative of simply fruit that is). As temperatures rise, nights draw longer...

Jam

Rhubarb & Elderflower Jam

Pink Abundance Garden rhubarb, I have a crop that despite all odds returns to the bottom of my fascinating garden every year, greeting me with...


Strawberry

Jam

Strawberry Jam

The sun is shining (for now), the flowers have bloomed, plants have fruited & Wimbledon has begun… it can only be British summertime! A very...

Jam

Wild Strawberry Jam

Little red jewels everywhere, or at least there are in my garden at the moment. What are they? Wild strawberries.  An early summer treat, wild...