Food & Drink
Snow has laid waste to the garden but there’s time to get back on track, writes Carina Contini of The Scottish Cafe, whose lighter recipes anticipate spring sunshine
Spring treats from Carina Contini, plus Rose Murray Brown recommends German grape scheurebe
The beginning of this month was a shock. Snowmageddon indeed.
The impact in the restaurant scene was felt with cancelled bookings and closed restaurants and our garden took an absolute battering despite looking
as pretty as a picture from The Lion,
the Witch and the Wardrobe .But two feet of snow for almost a week has left its mark. The Musselburgh leeks (our favourite Slow Food Ark of Taste vegetable) that were perfect for harvest have rotted at the stems and I fear we may have lost all of them. The herbs in the potager are almost burnt and many will need to be removed and replanted. Hopefully the fruit is robust enough, as there were no new shoots to be damaged, but time will tell. Our gardener, Bryony, and I had to arrange three different times to drive down to Pat at a nursery in Dumfries, a two-hour drive from our garden.
They man their nursery seven days a week over the growing season and have the perfect nurturing conditions to maximise those early days when plants need the most tender loving care. One hot day can have a disastrous effect on young seedlings if you forget to water or air them. Sometimes with the pressures of the restaurants, we have in the past forgotten this most basic of tasks, and it can set the garden back by weeks. Pat will be propagating more leeks, broad beans, several varieties of courgettes, black Tuscan kale, rainbow carrots, Tokyo turnips and a few other staples. Herbs and edible flowers we grow from seed, along with a huge range of lettuces. This growing year has started later but here’s hoping the cold spells are behind us and we’ll have the best, hottest summer for years with a wonderful range of harvest-ageddons to gather. Happy growing.
in 120g of the sugar until the eggs are creamy and fluffy. Sieve in the flour and fold in very gently with a slotted metal spoon. Pour into the tin.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the sponge bounces back when you touch it. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Turn the oven up to 220C/gas Mark 7. Remove the ice cream from the freezer and scoop small balls of it onto a flat tray. Place the tray with the balls of ice cream back into the freezer until you are ready to assemble the Alaska.
Place the sponge on a large flat baking tray.
To make the meringue, beat the egg whites until stiff, then very slowly beat in the remaining 125g of sugar, one teaspoon at a time, until the eggs are glossy and form stiff peaks.
Remove the ice cream from the freezer and arrange the balls on top of the sponge. Stud the ice cream with the pineapple and cherries.
Trim away any excess sponge from around the base, leaving less than a 2.5cm edge to help hold the meringue.
Using a piping bag or two spoons, very quickly add the meringue, working from the sponge base to the top to cover the ice cream. You don’t want any gaps or the heat will get through the meringue and the Alaska will melt to a puddle.
Sprinkle a little caster sugar on top of the meringue and bake for five minutes until the meringue is golden and toasted. Alternatively, you can colour the meringue with a cook’s blowtorch. It is quicker and less risky for the ice cream if you’re brave enough to use one. Serve immediately, with berries to decorate.