An Ode to Summer and to Stonefruit

The dessert equivalent of a fruity snog from someone you rather fancy

This little piece is about the humble stone fruit. It's been a great season for apricots, nectarines, peaches and plums this year. Early summer as the days hinted at warmth I ate them as they were, early sunlight streaming through the skylight, hacking off pieces with a little paring knife while I distractedly read the paper.

As August progressed and the weather settled into a constant steady heat I felt they needed jazzing up a little, one sunny afternoon they accompanied a fruity Wensleydale from the local farmers market and some idle girly chatter. Another relaxed evening they happily plonked themselves in some honeyed Greek yoghurt stacked high with bashed walnuts.

As the season draws to a close and the nights get colder, they, just like I, deserve to be warmed up a little.

Last night I roasted a whole heap of them with some vanilla and served the hot syrupy, sweet and gooey fruits with some beautiful cold organic ice cream.

If you aren't salivating yet, I don't want to speak to you any more.

Also, here's the recipe.

Roasted Stonefruits for a Chilly September night (c/o BBC GoodFood)

Ingredients 

175g of golden caster sugar
1 vanilla pod (split in two)
5 cardamom pods
Zest and the juice of 1 lime
6 apricots, halved and stoned (no illicit substances here)
3 peaches, quartered and stoned
3 nectarines, quartered and stoned
I also added 2 plums because they looked lonely

First, pre-heat your oven to get a bit of warmth in your kitchen brrr. Next get out your trusty food processor. If you don't have one, then go buy one! Now! They are only around £30, you have no excuse.

Once you've returned back from John Lewis with your brand new food processor (welcome back and congratulations, you won't regret it), blitz your sugar, lime junk, cardamom pods (not the whole thing, just the seeds- I probably should have mentioned that earlier), your vanilla pod (callously split in two and hacked to pieces) and all your sugar.

Now, I know what you're thinking, holy fuck that's a lot of sugar. And you are right. But just go with it.

So whizz all of that together until your sugar goes all soggy and awesome and then pour into a baking dish over all your nicely cut up fruit. I added my desecrated vanilla pods into the mix as well, mainly because they cost me a bloody fortune and they make it look all 'Jamie Oliver'.

Stick it in your hot oven for about 20-25 minutes, keep an eye on it and move the fruit around if some are looking more sticky and brilliant than others.

I served mine with Green and Blacks Organic ice cream, and whole lot of laughs.

Bye bye Summer, Autumn, let's be 'avin you!

Shall we go to a trendy cafe?

Darlinghurst leafy love

Every morning of my holiday I was woken by my wonderful bundle of gay energy SS asking me the following magical question 'shall we go to a trendy cafe?'. He vowed to show me all that Kings Cross, Potts Point, Darlinghurst and Elizabeth Bay had to offer and my eager stomach was powerless to resist (besides it's all in the name of research right?).

Uliveto
33 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross
Sydney NSW 2011

Our journey starts at our first brunch together at Uliveto full of giggles, incessant picture taking and watching toned, tanned body builders tuck into their egg white omelettes with far too much enthusiasm (seriously guys, the yolk is the best bit!).

After inhaling my first decent coffee in 7 months we decided to order some food, my lovely companion ordered a chicken salad adorned with that beautiful Australian avocado and olives and I opted for a tuna melt slathered with cheese, tomatoes and lovingly scattered with herbs. It was simple and delicious, highly recommended.

Elizabeth Bay Cafe

Shop 2 & 3, 45 Elizabeth Bay Road

Elizabeth Bay NSW 2011 (I wish British postcodes were this straightforward)

Our next adventure took the birthday boy and I to Elizabeth Bay nursing a Beresford hangover and seriously craving ricotta. 

Elizabeth Bay Cafe is small and perfectly formed. The lunches are made with love and some really fresh ingredients, the best being these beautiful sweet tomatoes. The fresh sourdough was spread with olive oil, scattered with sea salt and toasted with a squeeze of lemon providing the icing on the hypothetical cake. It was a perfect start to a perfect Sydney day.

Birthday ricotta

Gelato Messina

Shop 1/241 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst

Sydney, NSW 2010

After our ricotta feed I had an epiphany, a birthday wouldn't be a birthday without a delicious dollop of beautifully made ice cream from Gelato Messina. When I was an Australian newbie S and I used to be flatmates. Our secret shame was our late night ice cream run to Cold Rock to order family sized tubs of cookies and cream ice cream with crushed chocolatey goodness. Gelato Messina takes this to a new level (the level that wins you best gelato in Australia).

What I love most about this place, apart from it being filled with lovely memories, is that you get to try whatever flavour you like before your buy, the hardest bit is deciding.

Fondante

Simple...delicious.

Petrol

9 Springfield Ave, Potts Point

Sydney NSW 2011

After already eating my body weight in delicious food, S announced excitedly one morning that he would take me to not one, not two but three cafes in one day. While this sounded excessive who was I to stand down from such a foodie challenge!

Starting the day with a coffee in a tiny hole in the wall (the name escapes me) and celebrity spotting Lara Bingle we decided to retire to one of our favourite little haunts, Petrol.

I really love Petrol, on a sunny day (and let's face it, in Sydney that's most days), sitting on the terrace is a dream. On a rainy day couches full to the brim with pillows provide a port in the storm. But the best thing about Petrol is it's beautifully crafted food. A favourite is the smoked salmon and sourdough platter but today I went for the Greek breakfast, olives n all complete with a poached egg, Persian feta and honey soaked sourdough. Absolutely incredible.

My handsome companion always loves to put me to shame and ordered a salad, although this was not just any salad it was speckled with slightly squidgy, slightly crunchy, squeaky and salty pieces of haloumi fried within an inch of their life. It was perfectly accompanied by soft juicy raisins and peppery balsamic rocket. Slightly warm, it was heaven on a plate.

By this point well and truly buzzing and completely stuffed we staggered our way to our final destination.

11 Cafe

It's so cool it apparently doesn't have an address

11 is a brand new cafe located on a Melbourne style lane way strip just around the corner from the debauchery of Kings Cross. The tiny little space is cool and enriched by the beautiful smell of freshly ground coffee. Swearing off food forever I took a glance at a wooden box full of desserts and suddenly was sold, there is always room for a Portuguese Tart.

Portuguese Tarts are a little pleasure of mine, apparently very easy to make I occasionally indulge in some eggy, buttery goodness. Today the perfect accompaniment to my treat was a spicy chai latte covered in cinnamon.

So we took the challenge, and we won. Now if you will excuse me I need to lie down.

La Buvette

35 Challis Avenue, Potts Point

NSW, 2011

Our cafe journey had to come to and end soon (are you hungry yet?) and our journey ends here at my favourite end of Potts Point. Delis are interlaced with bookshops which hide little espresso joints, everybody seems to know each other, passers by beam with happiness as if they can't believe their luck to live around the corner. I don't blame them.

We decided to settle at La Buvette, it was 32 in the shade so juices were mandatory, with our coffees of course. Then, heady from the heat I decided to do something shocking....order a salad.

Whenever I scan a menu I am somewhat predictable, if it has a high cheese or butter content I generally order it. Less concerned with someday getting chunky thighs i'm more concerned about cardiac events so now and again I reluctantly look over the croque monsieur and get something fresh and healthy. Today I opted for a grilled chicken caesar with extra bacon and poached egg (ok so this health thing is a work in progress).

I particularly enjoyed the salty chicken and the delicious parmesan set off with crispy garlic toast. Totally delicious, totally unhealthy. I very much enjoyed my salad, although I do sometimes lie awake at night wondering what that croque monsieur would have tasted like, how thick the layer of cheese and how crispy the buttery bread....

So goodbye for now beautiful suburb cafes, i'll be back to overindulge in you soon.