Happy Pocketz

People forget that there are many free foods just waiting for the picking, literally- blackberries, sloes, balluces, elder flowers and berries, not to mention a wide range of nuts, can all be found in British hedgerows. Below are a couple of quick dessert recipes which would be great after a BBQ and so simple to make.

Elderflower fritters
1 egg (separated)
50g plain flour
100ml milk
Good bunch of elderflowers picked from stems

Whisk egg yolk, flour and milk together and leave to stand for about half an hour. Whisk the egg white to form stiff peaks and fold into the batter. Chuck in the elderflowers and fry spoonfuls of the mixture in vegetable oil. Really tasty with vanilla or honeycomb ice-cream or honey and Greek yoghurt.

Blackberry Eton mess
4 readymade meringue nests crushed (not to a powder!)
Couple tablespoons lemon curd
Big pot of double or whipping cream (whipped to form soft peaks)
4 good handfuls blackberries (save some to garnish)

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients. Don’t completely mix in the lemon curd as you’ll lose the rippled affect. Crush some of the blackberries so they bleed a little and make the mix look pretty! Spoon into bowls or serving glasses, decorate with leftover blackberries (if you’re feeling really posh, you could add a little lemon zest too!) and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.