London

I spent most of my early childhood living in the UK. Most of my family lived in London, including my grandparents, so we visited regularly from Bristol, where we lived. We moved from the UK when I was 7, and didn’t return for many years. Returning to London as a young adult, I was surprised by how nostalgic I was returning to places I had visited as a young girl.

One of the things I remember vividly, is the food – I’ll never forget lobster noodles at the institution that is Mandarin Kitchen, pastries from Harrods with my grandma and eating my first naan bread at Khan’s.

Here are a few of my more recent favourites from my trips to London:

• Xu Taiwanese Teahouse – Definitely try the cuttlefish toast with whipped cod roe and the 28 day aged middlewhite pork xian bing. They have a great range of house teas as well.
• Polpo – Pastas are delicious, and the zucchini fries are a revelation.
• Barrafina – Where do I even begin with this place. Hands down my favourite restaurant in London. Last time I was there I went 4 times; 3 of those times were unashamedly solo visits. Everything on the menu is delicious, but the seafood is spectacular. If the clams in white wine are still on the menu, definitely give them a go. There are queues for tables, I’d recommend going in a small group at lunch time if possible.
• Nopi – The vegetables are definitely the stars here. Favourite dishes were the heirloom tomatoes and the eggplant.
• Dishoom – The biryani is epic, as are the cocktails. There are epic queues for tables here, even on weekdays, so be prepared to wait for a table. It’s worth it though.
• The Delaunay – Do yourself a favour and order the chicken schnitzel. It’s the fanciest (and delicious) chicken schnitzel you’ll ever have!

Cherry, blackberry and blueberry tea cake

I’ve made a few variations of this tea cake recently, and find that this works with pretty much all fresh fruit (I haven’t found a combination I haven’t liked yet!). It’s a great way to use up over-ripe stone fruit, and the yoghurt keeps the cake moist.

Ingredients

• 2 x cups flour
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 x teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 x cup coconut oil (at room temperature)
• 1 x egg
• 1 x teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 x cup fresh cherries, washed, pitted and cut in half
• 1/2 x cup fresh blackberries, washed and cut in half
• 1/2 x cup fresh blueberries, washed
• 1/2 x cup unsweetened Greek yoghurt

Method

• Cream the coconut oil and sugar in a mixer (I had the luxury of giving my sister’s KitchenAid a whirl testing this recipe), and add the egg, yoghurt and vanilla extract. Once combined, add the baking soda and flour to the mixture – I like to add the flour in spoon by spoon to ensure a smooth cake batter.
• Once combined, remove the mixing bowl from the mixer, and with a spatula, gently fold in the fruit. Try to spread the fruit as evenly as possible throughout the mixture.
• Pour the cake batter into a lined baking tin and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 45-50 minutes.
• Allow the cake to cool before turning out and slicing to serve.