Very Fruity Cups

Serving these cups as dessert makes a great end to any meal especially if it is served on one of our balmy summer nights. These cups are very fresh and best of all can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

I made mine with whipped fresh cream however, if you prefer you can substitute this with vanilla ice-cream. If you are using ice-cream however, you will need to assemble the cups exactly before serving as the ice-cream will start to melt.

You will need 1 cup per guest; here are the ingredients to need to make 4 cups:
1 tub x 180ml fresh cream
M&S fresh Vanilla pods
1 tin M&S Mango Slices
1 packet M&S Organic rhubarb & ginger cookies
1 packet M&S Cranberry Delight
1 bar Sao Tome Dark Chocolate with cocoa nibs, from M&S
M&S Pure Canadian Maple Syrup

Start off by placing the un-whipped cream in a bowl. Now slit the vanilla pods lengthwise and scrape out the vanilla seeds. Place the vanilla in the cream and allow it to set for a couple of hours. If you are using 1 tub of fresh cream only use 1 vanilla pod. The tube contains 2 pods, so you can pack the other pod back in its tube for.

Once the cream is all speckled with the vanilla seeds, whip the cream until thick. Now assemble your cups.

Place some cream at the bottom of each cup, then add a layer of biscuits which need to be broken roughly with your hands before adding. Add some more cream on top. Now place a layer of mango slices to completely cover the cream, next place a tablespoon of cream in the middle of the slices and top with shavings of chocolate. Sprinkle the cranberries over the whole cup and finally drizzle some maple syrup. Refrigerate these cups until you are ready to serve.

The cranberry delights are great snacks to nibble on, make sure to eat the yogurt coated cranberries and use the uncoated ones for the dessert above.

Sao Tome chocolate has 75% cocoa solids so will be quite hard. Try shaving the chocolate with a sharp knife of using a peeler.

This article has been previously published in the Best Buy Supplement, out monthly with The Times.

Quick Green Prawn Curry

This green curry will be ready before your rice is cooked. Try making this as a dinner for 1 or for friends. You can serve this with rice or noodles. I used M&S organic brown rice. If you like to buy organic ingredients, then M&S is the place for you. Their organic products range from 5 minute marinades to biscuits and pulses!

Here is what you need to make enough for 1
2 tablespoons Thai Green Curry Paste
1 packet M&S Honduran King Prawns
M&S Organic Brown Rice
1 tablespoon M&S Creamed coconut
1 medium onion – finely chopped
50g baby Corn

Start by boiling some water for the rice to cook in. Next place 1 teaspoon of the creamed coconut into a little bowl and add about ½ a cup of boiling water. Stir the cream until it is completely diluted.

Now, in a pan, fry the onion in a little oil and once the onion starts to sizzle, stir in the curry paste. You can add more past if you wish to have a spicier dish, however 2 tablespoons will give you a nice spicy dish

Once the paste and the onions start cooking together, add the creamed coconut which has been diluted. Add the corn which needs to be cut roughly into smaller pieces and stir. Allow the dish to simmer for about 5 minutes, then when the excess liquid has been absorbed, stir in the prawns and switch the heat off.

At this point your rice should be cooked and strained. Place your rice in a plate and spoon the prawn curry over it, sprinkle with some chopped coriander and serve.

This recipe has been previously published on the Best Buy Supplement, out monthly with The Times.
Should you like to contact me, please do so on concita@demicoli.com