Cheryl Minton

22/06/2025

Gooseberry meringue pie

This recipe puts a fresh twist on the classic lemon meringue pie by swapping lemons for gooseberries; their sharp, complex acidity rivals the lemon's bite. For me, gooseberries are the flavour of early summer. I used gooseberries from my garden, along with locally grown gooseberries from Augernik Fruit Farm picked up at Cleobury Mortimer Farmers Market. The rest of the ingredients come from some of my favourite pantry spots, Broad Bean - 60 Broad Street and Myriad Organics in the market town of Ludlow.

Makes 8 tarts

Shortcrust pie ingredients:
300g of flour
150g of unsalted butter
75g of caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp cold water
* or alternatively buy 2 sheets of premade store bought short-crust pastry.

Gooseberry filling:
600g gooseberries, topped and tailed
Zest of 1 lemon
100ml water
50g cornflour
150g caster sugar
6 egg yolks
50g butter

For the meringue:
6 egg whites
340g caster sugar
3 tsp cornflour

Toppings:
A few sweet cicely leaves
Icing sugar to dust

Recipe:
Pastry: Pulse the flour, butter, sugar in a food processor until breadcrumb-like. Add remaining ingredients to form a dough. Shape into a ball and wrap pastry in cling-film to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Blind bake: Grease 4-inch tartlet tins with a loose base. Heat the oven to 170C. Roll pastry 5mm thick and cut into rounds to fit into the tartlet tins. Place greaseproof paper and baking beans over the top, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and bake for another 5-7 minutes until the pastry is dry and pale golden. Leave to cool while making the filling.

Filling: Cook gooseberries with 100ml water until collapsed. Allow to cool then push through a sieve. In a pan, mix the puree with lemon zest, cornflour and water. When smooth add sugar and yolks. Add the butter and bring a simmer, still stirring. It should be as thick as custard. Spoon into the tart case and allow to cool completely.

Meringue: Whisk whites to soft peaks, gradually add sugar until stiff and shiny. Fold in cornflour. Pipe onto pies.
Finish: Bake for 15 mins at 180°C until golden. Allow to cool, dust with icing sugar and garnish with sweet cicely herb.

27/10/2024

This month, shows you how to make use of the UK’s seasonal fruit with a decadent damson, cream & dark chocolate cookie recipe.

Decadent damson and cream, dark chocolate cookies

Damsons make the best jam in the world! When the season arrives, I’m dedicated to gathering as many as possible. I filled a bag while out foraging, snapped up a bag from Billy Auger's organic fruit farm at Ludlow’s farmers market, and spent a day at Brockhampton’s orchard in Herefordshire picking them, feeling like a child again.

After damson jam, my next favourite ingredient is chocolate. This cookie recipe was selfishly made for me, but I hope you enjoy it too. It’s best served with a flask of hot chocolate or tea after a long autumn walk on a crisp October day.

Makes 10 gluten-free sandwich cookies

Ingredients

Cookie filling
100g damson Jam (homemade recipe or store bought)
200g crème fraîche (or cream)
50g icing sugar

Chocolate cookies
150g dark chocolate melted and cooled
40g buckwheat flour
40g oats
40g almond flour
25g cocoa
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
½ teaspoon salt
60g butter
60g dark brown sugar (or honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160°C Fan/gas mark 4/350ºF. Line 2 large baking trays with baking parchment (or 1 to bake the cookies in batches.)
Mix together the buckwheat flour, oats, almond, cocoa, bicarb and salt. (I used a blender to make sure the oats and almond flour was blitzed finely for a smooth cookie texture)
In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar with the vanilla extract together until fluffy and then mix in the cooled, melted chocolate and the eggs.
Carefully incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet mixture.
Once your cookie batter is combined, scoop a dollop of the mixture into your hand (about 25ml) and shape it into a ball and flatten to a cookie shape onto the parchment paper and repeat.
Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies will come out of the oven with cracking over the surface. Let them cool completely before touching them.
For the filling, whip the crème fraîche with icing sugar until soft peaks form and place the cream in a piping bag to pipe around the edge of the cookie, leaving a space in the centre to fill with Damson Jam.
Top with another cookie to create the sandwich and enjoy.

Producers
Damson (Shropshire Prune) from Augernik Fruit Farm and National Trust Brockhampton Estate
Eggs from Planton Farm, Coreley Ludlow, Shropshire www.plantonfarm.co.uk
Myriad Organics www.facebook.com/MyriadOrganicsLudlow for organic dairy, chocolate and gluten free flours.
Honey from Titterstone Clee Honey https://www.facebook.com/people/Titterstone-clee-honey/100064050794330/

Acknowledgements
Recipe created and photographed for Slow Food UK by Cheryl Minton
Instagram www.instagram.com/a_la_chez
Facebook www.facebook.com/chezminton
Website www.cherylminton.com

17/08/2024

At Slow Food UK, we’re excited to bring you seasonal recipes each month, featuring fresh fruits ,vegetables and herbs that are at their peak. By cooking with in-season produce, you’ll enjoy more vibrant flavours and maximum nutritional value, all while supporting local growers and reducing your ...

08/07/2024

It was lovely to meet Sarah from Blackhurst Highland Beef on Saturday. I picked up a large box from the farm and am thrilled with the quality of the beef. Afterwards, I walked up The Lawley in the rain to go and see the Highland cows and found them sheltering in the trees.

Thanks to everyone who braved the rain ☔️and collected their boxes hopefully ☀️ will come out soon!!
I have a couple of boxes spare and some joints if anyone needs anything just drop me a message on 07967 398060
Thanks again for your support

06/07/2024

🐌 Seasonal Summer side dishes 🐌

Cheryl Minton is here to show you fun ways to incorporate seasonal produce into your meals.

“My recipes for July centre around beetroot. I adore beetroot for its sweet, earthy flavours and vibrant colour and how it matches up to salty and sour flavours.

I’ve chosen to focus on side dishes for summer days, when you don’t want to be a slave to the stove. The recipes are versatile and easy to make in advance. They will elevate your
main meals and kick them up a notch. They are perfect to go with a lunchtime salad or sandwich, barbecue sides, picnic spreads or to accompany snacks whilst watching the big sports events.

I’ve tried to re-use the same ingredients for each recipe so if you decide to make them all, it will avoid waste. My ingredients were sourced locally in my home town of Ludlow from .market
Myriad Organics using ingredients from Rustic Puglia olive oil, Titterstone clee honey, Churchfields Saltworks, oak
smoked water.”

We’ll be releasing all these recipes on our website on Thursday, but for now, here’s one to satisfy your cravings!

Smoked beetroot ketchup

This recipe is inspired by my favourite local cafe who make their own amazing beetroot ketchup in house. I wanted to make it smokey but not spicy so I added smoked water. If you want a little heat, add smoked paprika or chipotle chilli flakes instead.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 celery stick chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon cumin
1 star anise (optional)
100ml sherry vinegar (or any type you have available)
50g brown sugar
1 tablespoon Oak smoked water (optional)
1. To roast the beetroot, cover each one with olive oil and salt and wrap them individually in parchment paper and then foil. Roast in the oven at 180C for an hour or until you can poke a skewer through easily. Once cool, run each one under the tap in the sink to help peel off the skins easily and to stop your fingers and worktop from going pink from the juices.
2. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and add the onion, carrot and celery and fry until soft and golden.
3. Add garlic, cumin and star anise and fry for another minute.
4. Add half of the diced beetroot, vinegar and sugar and bring to the boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, the mixture can be cooled and added to a blender.
5. Blitz the mixture for a few minutes until very smooth.
6. This is when I added smoked water to the mixture. Do a taste test to see if you want to add extra for more intensity.
7. Add the ketchup to a sterilised jar and keep refrigerated. It will keep for a few months but I promise you, it will be all eaten up by then.

06/07/2024

I’m looking back on June and how amazing it was for local produce surrounding Shropshire.

The highlights for me were the start of British strawberry season, rambling down country lanes to pick elderflowers and wild strawberries and my absolute favourite; gooseberries. I was lucky enough to grab some of Augernik Fruit Farm’s short supply this year at Cleobury Mortimer Farmers Market

I’ve had the opportunity to support Slow Food in the UK to develop seasonal recipes and use the produce I sourced locally to make an assortment of desert recipes for June. My wibbly wobbly elderflower panna cotta and strawberry jelly made the shortlist and was highly endorsed by my husband.

At home, I made a sharp gooseberry, almond & polenta cake, mellowed with elderflower syrup, a sponge cake filled with layers of gooseberry jam & whipped elderflower cream and a riff off a lemon meringue recipe but with gooseberry and sweet cicely curd.

We also ate out at our favourite spots CSONS Ludlow for seasonal plates and a special treat Mortimers restaurant. We walked the beautiful Malvern hills with a pit stop at Faun Malvern cafe and on to Ledbury to mooch around the independent homeware stores.

Thanks to our local makers and producers and suppliers who made our June extra special:
Bewdston Preserves’s chuckleberry jam which I found any excuse to put on everything.
Augernik Fruit Farm gooseberries.
Little Detton LiveStock sausages.
Ludlow Market
Rustic Puglia olive oil
Mortimer Willow aysemetic basket which I use for foraging.
Myriad Organics for its gluten free baking ingredients and organic diary

18/06/2024