With their firm, ‘meaty’ texture and rich flavour, swordfish steaks are a sure-fire BBQ hit. Serve them with the tangy salsa alongside and plenty of bread to mop up the juices. Serves 4.
Sweet and gently spiced, this delicious banana bread is more than just a great way to use up those overripe bananas lurking at the bottom of the fruit bowl! Serve warm with butter and a handful of your favourite berries for a brilliant breakfast. Makes one 500g loaf.
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Make the most of summer’s sweet strawberries with these individual versions of a classic dessert. To get ahead, you can make the meringue cases the night before and assemble the topping just before serving, if wished. Makes 6 mini pavlovas.
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Buttery shortbread biscuits, vanilla-scented cream and perfectly ripe strawberries make for a summery teatime treat that’s hard to beat. Serves 2.
This recipe seems a bit daunting, but once you’ve got the hang of dipping the bread and lining the basin, it’s pretty straightforward. Make up the weight of fruit with any mixture of berries you like; raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, currants, cherries, blackberries and tayberries are all brilliant. You will need a 1.8 litre/3-pint pudding basin; for best results, begin the recipe the night before you plan to eat it. Serves 4-6.
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A simple, summery salad that’s the work of moments. Try it as part of a buffet-style spread, or serve with plenty of crusty bread for a light lunch. Serves 2-4.
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Healthy and delicious, this quick, simple salad combines some surprising ingredients (mango with tomato sounds odd, but somehow it works). All the lovely juices from the tomatoes, mango and lime stop the avocado turning brown, so it looks amazing, too. We like to eat this with some simply grilled chicken breast fillets – it’s also a great accompaniment to oily fish, like Mackerel. Serves 2.
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Fruit and cheese are a match made in heaven. This recipe pairs salty, crumbly Feta cheese with the tangy sweetness of ripe, fresh blueberries and the earthiness of fresh spinach leaves, lifted by bright mint and the satisfying crunch of savoury toasted almonds. Feel free to experiment with different soft cheeses, berries, leaves or nuts – it’s pretty hard to go wrong!
Serves 2-3 as a main meal, 4-6 as part of a selection of salads.
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Trifle is a classic treat and (helpfully) always taste better when made in advance. This version uses ready-made ingredients for speed, but tastes like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen – we won’t tell if you don’t! Serves 8.
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Cheddar cheese and apple is truly a match made in Heaven – or perhaps that should be ‘Devon’, as we’ve used the deliciously more-ish new Smoked Cheddar from Quickes, based in nearby Newton St.Cyres, for this simple but tasty salad. Serves 4.
Make the most of summer’s sweet strawberries with this classic dessert (nectarines, plums or ripe apricots would also work well here). To get ahead, you can make the meringue case the night before and assemble the topping just before serving, if wished. Serves 6-8.
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A little slice of summer for your dinner table. This pie is best made the day before, to allow it to chill properly – and if the weather is too good to spend long in the kitchen, feel free to save time by using a ready-made pie crust and squirty cream! Serves 8-10.
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This dairy-free smoothie looks like a glassful of sunshine – guaranteed to brighten even the dullest of mornings! If you’re not a fan of banana, you can leave it out of the recipe or substitute an extra mango instead.
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Just the ticket for warmer weather, this simple, healthy salad makes a perfect light meal for two. Serves 2.
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Quick to make, good to look at and even better to eat, these individual cheesecakes are the perfect end to a summer meal. We’ve used blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, but you can use any summer fruits you have to hand. Serves 4.
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This easy recipe is vegetarian-friendly, no-cook and fuss-free –and did we mention that it also tastes delicious, too? You can vary the nuts and cheese if you like (blue cheese is a delightful option), but do check that the cheese is not made with animal rennet if you need to keep the recipe vegetarian. Makes 16.
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This traditional Scottish recipe is a simple-but-delicious combination of the ingredients that were readily available in late summer, with the luxurious addition of double cream. Leave the whisky out if you plan to make this for children. Serves 4 fairly generously.
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Crowd-pleasing fruit crumbles are hard to beat, especially when it’s cold outside. This recipe uses apples, but you can also use pears, rhubarb, plums, berries, peaches (or a mixture of whatever fruit you have to hand/need to use up). The crumble topping contains healthy oats and warming spices, and because the apples are eating apples, rather than cooking apples, there’s no need to add any extra sugar to them. Serves 4-6, depending how hungry you are!
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Great fun to make with kids, these tasty muffins are perfect for special breakfasts or teatime treats. The blueberries will burst inside the muffins during cooking, leaving sweet-tasting pops of juicy squidginess – if (like us) you can’t resist eating these muffins straight from the oven, be aware that the burst berries can be pretty hot! Makes approximately 12 muffins.
This made-in-moments smoothie is an appealing choice when you need a quick pick-me-up. The yoghurt can be substituted for soya, oat or almond milk if preferred, or omitted altogether. Serves 2.
Various time-honoured versions of this recipe can be found all over the UK, with Dorset, Devon and Somerset all having a particularly strong tradition of apple cakes. For the sake of diplomacy we’re calling ours ‘West Country Apple Cake’, though - dare we suggest- we think it’s best served with a good dollop of proper Devon clotted cream! Makes one 20cm cake.
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These neat little bites are deliciously more-ish and relatively quick to make. To get ahead, toss the prepared mango in lime juice and cook the prawns a few hours before you plan to serve them, then refrigerate them in separate dishes and assemble when required.
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Creamy yoghurt and fresh berries are a summery match made in heaven. If your strawberries are really ripe, you may wish to use less honey - if they’re not as sweet as you’d like, use a little more. Makes approximately 4 lollies (please see note about quantities).
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OK, so it’s just a posh way of saying ‘strawberries on a skewer’, and there are only two ingredients, but there’s a luxurious feel to this recipe. Perhaps it’s because it’s such a delicious and unusual way to cook a familiar ingredient, or maybe it’s because the lightly caramelised berries go so well with an extra little indulgent something - clotted cream, ice cream, glass of champagne? We leave it to you to decide, but whatever you serve them with, be sure to use the ripest, juiciest strawberries you can get your hands on. Serves 3-4.
You can vary this recipe to include whatever fruit you have to hand – mango and passion fruit are great for adding tropical flavour. For a healthier version, omit the syrup or just use the juice from the two oranges in the recipe.
