Afters

With desserts, or ‘afters’ as I call them, it’s all about the seasonality of produce, but, because we’re in Yorkshire, a great deal of them include lashings of cream and milk, which isn’t good for counting calories but is great for spoiling yourself. One of the greatest ingredients I use in the winter months is from Yorkshire; forced rhubarb, produced in the so-called ‘Yorkshire triangle’. These much sought-after, grown-by-candlelight, tender and succulent pink stems of rhubarb taste fantastic and have recently been granted the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. In autumn and winter, we have an abundance of orchard fruits in our garden, including everything from apples and pears to Victoria plums, but it’s a great day for me when the first local strawberries appear, not just because they’re followed by the arrival of an abundance of raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants, but it’s the first sign that summer has finally arrived.