Shaved Courgette Salad

As it has been very hot here recently, I fancied something quite light and refreshing for my lunch today. And it had to be something that was simple to assemble, as I was far too warm to have any energy for complicated cooking. A look in the fridge revealed that I had the ingredients for a salad, and a few minutes later I was ready to go back out into the sun with my plate of tempting greens.

Serves 1 as a main salad or 2 as a starter / side salad

a handful of spinach leaves

1 medium sized courgette
1/2 red pepper
a handful of tomberries or cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
the zest of ¼ lime
the juice of ¼ lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Place the washed spinach leaves on a plate or in a bowl. Use a mandolin slicer or similar device to finely slice the courgette lengthways and place the strips on top of the spinach leaves. Finely chop the red pepper, and scatter the pieces on top of the courgette. Add the tomberries, or slice a few cherry tomatoes in half and add these. Finally scatter a few pine nuts on top.

Zest a quarter of a lime, and also juice this quarter. Add to a small jar along with the olive oil and maple syrup. Shake well, and pour over your salad.

Cherry Chocolate Brownie Cake

This is one of those cakes that doesn't look like much, but is deliciously moorish once you start eating it. It's fairly straightforward to make, and can be made in advance and stored in the freezer until you need it. The recipe is taken from the Swedish TV programme 'Go' Kvall'

For the cake

150g butter

150g caster sugar

150g dark chocolate

4 eggs

For the glaze

150g butter

90g icing sugar

150g dark chocolate

4 eggs

30g icing sugar

For decoration

a handful of cherries 

some chocolate sticks

100ml whipping cream

Pre heat your oven to 150 C.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the sugar. Remove from the heat. Finely chop the chocolate, and add this to the melted butter. Mix until it is smooth and all the chocolate has melted. Split the eggs, and add the egg yolks to the mixture. Leave the mixture to cool a little bit. 

Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff and carefully fold into the chocolate mix. It's a good idea to add a little egg white at a time, as that makes it easier not to beat out all the air you have worked to get into them. 

Grease a 24 cm cake tin and pour the mixture into it. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes until baked. Take the cake out of the tin and leave it to cool down. It will sink a little bit in the middle. 

Make the chocolate glazing while the cake cools down. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add 90g icing sugar. Finely chop the chocolate and add to the melted sugar mix. Remove from the heat, and mix well until all the chocolate has melted. Split the eggs, and add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture. Stir well. Leave the mixture to cool for a little while, then whisk the egg whites and add the remaining icing sugar into them when they are starting to get stiff. This should turn into a soft meringue, and it should hold soft peaks when you hold the whisk up. Carefully fold the meringue into the chocolate mixture.  

To decorate; whip the cream and place in the middle of the cake. Add a handful of putted cherries, and finally add the chocolate decorations. 

Pour the chocolate glazing over the cake, and place in the freezer until you need it. It will keep for 8 weeks in the freezer and 4 to 5 days in the fridge after you have defrosted it. Allow 4 hour to defrost after removing from the freezer. Decorate while it is defrosting.