Building Feasts, London (2026)

05/06/2026

✨COFFEE GRANITA WITH SWEET CREAM COLD FOAM✨

You know summer is upon us when a granita recipe hits your grid, & this one’s a keeper. Coffee granita topped with a home made sweet cream cold foam is next level. And an extra treat for all you cold foam obsessees.…

I’ve used coffee soaked dates and a squeeze of honey instead of the sugar required for perfect granita texture and it works a dream with an incredible flavour hit without. Sing too sweet.

The method of freezing the liquid in ice cube trays and blitzing as needed is a revelation. Granita aficionados look away…..

The cold foam is not essential, but once you try it you won’t be able to live without it.

Happy summer granita-ing

For the Coffee Granita:
Serves 4-6

4-5 medjool dates, pitted
4 cups (1 large cafetiere) freshly brewed coffee
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch (1/2tsp) Malden salt

Place the medjool dates in a heat proof jug or mixing bowl. Cover with hot coffee and add the cinnamon stick. Allow to cool completely (2-4 hours).
Remove the cinnamon stick and blitz the coffee and dates in a blender with the remaining ingredients until completely combined.
Pour either into a medium size container that will fit in your freezer or into ice cube trays and freeze. IF you are using the traditional container method, freezer for a couple of hours and then scrape, intermittently with a fork until fully frozen into crystals. Oherwise, wait for your ice cubes to freeze and then blend as necessary.

For the Sweet Cream Cold Foam

I also replaced the traditional sugar with honey, but really you don’t need to sweeten your cream at all.

3 tbsp double cream
3 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp honey (optional)

Place the ingredients in a jar and either whizz with a small whisk, hand blender or put a lid on and shake until it’s thickened to spooning consistency.
Fill a glass with granita, top with the cold foam and sprinkle with a little cocoa if you are so inclined.
The cold foam is also fantastic on your cold brew or ice coffee, especially if you are waiting for your granita to freeze……

26/05/2026

✨THE BEST COCOA BROWNIES✨

These are a one pot wonder of nostalgic fudgey decadence, made intensely more chocolatey, not with hundreds of grams of melted bars, but with cocoa powder that’s “bloomed” in the butter with a little coffee for maximum oomph.

Cocoa also happens to be a much more economical way to incorporate good quality chocolate into a baked treat, making this recipe one that I have included in my son’s starter pack for them to make at Uni for when the craving hits. Just a little added bonus and a reminder that good ingredients are crucial but decadence doesn’t always need to cost the earth.

250g butter (I use salted)
400g sugar
160g cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp espresso powder
4 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
120g flour
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 170ºC. Line a 20cm square baking tin or equivalent quarter sheet pan with baking parchment.

Place a mid size saucepan on a medium heat and melt the butter. Once melted, remove from the heat and add the sugar, cocoa and espresso powder. Mix to fully combine and continue until everything is melted and smooth. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes.

Once it has cooled (to about body temp) add the eggs one at a time, mixing fully to incorporate between each one. The mixture will be glossy and beautiful. Add the vanilla, followed by the flour and salt and mix with a light touch until the flour is just incorporated. Make sure not to overmix here.

Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 18 minutes. They will be only just done. Allow to cool completely before slicing and devouring.

19/05/2026

✨CHICKEN SALAD (hold the mayo)✨

This might just be one of my favourite uses for leftover chicken….so much so that I often make extra to have on hand for when the craving hits. Do not sleep on this salad……

And if you don’t have any leftover chicken just waiting in your fridge to be shredded into a bowl with all this goodness, just pick up a good rotisserie chicken on your way home tonight and make this for lunch tomorrow. You will not be sorry.

A little note on this salad: Not all chicken salads need a creamy mayo dressing. I reserve the creamy companions for my tuna or egg salads and prefer this with a clean, sharp mustardy vinaigrette (just like the one I shared a few weeks ago and linked). If creaminess is a must for you, feel free to make a mayo or greek yoghurt version, but might I encourage you to take the opportunity here for me to liberate you from mayo and indulge in a lighter, punchier dressing option.

1/2 leftover roast chicken or shop bought rotisserie chicken
2 tbsp golden raisins
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
2 spring onions, sliced
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
4-5 radish or breakfast radish, chopped
8-10 castelvivo olives (or any green olive of choice), pitted and chopped
1 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
1 tbsp (or more) chopped each celery leaves (if they are still attached to your stalks), dil, tarragon, parsley, basil or any combination of fresh soft herbs of your choice
Lemon zest (optional but I think its 👌)
A good sprinkling of Malden salt

A good pour of Mustard Vinaigrette (recipe linked)

In the bottom of your bowl, douse the golden raisins in vinegar to plump and add the spring onions.
Reserve any leaves and add the chopped celery and radishes to the bowl with the olives and capers.
Chop your soft herbs & any reserved celery leaves.
Shred in your leftover chicken. I like to use my hands here. A little lemon zest here alongside the obligatory extra pinch of salt is a great addition.
Dress generously with Mustard vinaigrette and serve straight out of the bowl or pile onto a plate of leaves or crackers and dive in.

Pack up the leftovers for lunch tomorrow you wont be sorry.

10/05/2026

Welcome to my little cookbook corner of the world……

I get asked a lot about this treasured collection that I have amassed over the years, how it’s categorised and of course the ones I reach for time and time again. So I thought I would give you a little chaotic tour of the bursting shelves (yes, a little organisation is on the cards).

Cooking my way through my mother’s collection was the start of my food journey. Every book on these shelves tells a story about meals shared, people gathered, celebrations, adventures, travels, seasons and the memories created around tables. Of course I have favourites, but there are also those who live sentimentally on the shelves and others who are here to constantly inspire. At some point I will have to curb the obsession and when the time comes, please send help.

While we are on the subject of cookbooks this has been a major moment for three of my favourite and inspriational authors, chefs, mentors and women I am so lucky to call my friends. In the second half of last year I hosted and cooked with , (the inimitable Laurel Krarochvilla) and and this week, all three insanely talented women have received incredible accolades for their recent books. Congratulations Helen & Laurel for your James Beard Nominations and Adeena for making it onto the NYT bestseller list. It was such an honour to celebrate your achievements and I am so thrilled for the recognition of your work and the joy you bring to us all.

I will never fully understand the engineering genius behind shelves but I’m forever grateful that they hold the weight and house the collection so brilliantly and beautifully throughout my home. Definitely one of the best design decisions I made when building this space.

How many of these do you also have on your shelves and what are your favourites? Let’s chat cookbooks…….

🎥

19/04/2026

✨AIOLI AKA ONE MINUTE MAYO✨

Goodbye shop bought mayo, hello home made aioli. It literally takes one minute to make and it absolutely f**king delicious. The only thing you really need is an immersion blender, otherwise known in my kitchen as a soup d*ldo (gives you a good insight into my degenerate brain) because this makes for instantly emulsified, perfectly textured schmear/dip/condiment.

It also makes a delicious dip for artichokes, asparagus, in sandwiches, accompanying grilled fish or meat or anywhere you might like a little mayo.

Feel free to flavour this to your hearts content, adding anchovies, fresh herbs (like the tarragon version I shared last year), capers, a teaspoon of chili crunch, the list goes on…….

Welcome to a whole new world of jhooz.

2 eggs
1 generous tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp apple c***r vinegar
2 cloves confit garlic (or 1 clove crushed raw garlic)
Good pinch of malden salt
125ml extra virgin olive oil
125ml sunflower oil or neutral oil

In the bottom of the immersion blender cup or in a similar tall jar or jug, crack the eggs into the bottom, followed by the dijon mustard, lemon juice, apple c***r vinegar, garlic and salt. Cover with the oil and place the emersion blender head at the bottom of the cup and start blitzing, slowly tilting the head until all the oil is emulsified. Taste for seasoning. If your oil has made it a little bitter you might want to add a teaspoon of honey or sugar for balance.

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