Wild asparagus and samphire stir-fry

Shopping at a farmers' market seems to be de rigueur in almost every village, city and country these days. It is wonderful to see such growing support for local farmers and smaller producers of good quality food. We are fortunate enough to live quite close to London's famous Borough Market and we often spend our Saturday mornings there, selecting ingredients for the weekend meals, drinking in the intoxicating atmosphere (and excellent Monmouth coffee!), and tasting morsels of delicacies. According to the official website, London Bridge (which used to be a little village in itself) attracted traders selling grain, fish, vegetable and livestock as far back as the early 1000's. In the 13th century traders were relocated to Borough High Street and a market in some shape or another has existed in the area ever since. Parliament closed the market in the mid 1700's, but thankfully a group of local residents raised enough money to buy a patch of land (called "The Triangle") and re-opened it. This Triangle is still at the heart of the market today.

During a recent visit to Borough, we found some fluorescent dainty wild asparagus, and some early wild mushrooms. I also bought a big handful of succulent samphire - one of the ocean's many secret delights. I lightly steamed the wild (and a few spears of cultivated) asparagus and then added it to the pan of sauteed wild mushrooms, samphire, garlic and pepper. Topped with lashings of olive oil, it was absolutely delicious as a light Sunday evening meal. Remember to use very little salt, as the samphire truly does taste of seawater (and it only needs a couple of minutes in the pan!)

Sweet potato cake with avocado cream icing

The hype around the Royal Wedding and all the ancillary parties (street parties, "squeeze into your old wedding dress" parties, afternoon tea and fascinator parties...) that had been arranged, made me think about the eagerness with which most of us will use any old excuse to celebrate. I have to admit, though, that there was something quite uplifting and other-worldy about this wedding and its 2 protagonists, and hosting festivities in their honour seemed less like an excuse, than fulfilling ones patriotic duty.

Another very valid reason to celebrate, is the imminent arrival of a wee baby. In this case, Marianne and Matthew's. (These parents-to-be incidentally had quite a bit to do with the launch of my blog...) The baby shower was expertly organised by Erika, the doyenne of Austrian baking, and much fun was had over many delicious treats. My contribution was this fairly healthy sounding "Sweet potato and avocado cake". I came across the recipe in a South African cake tome I was recently given as a gift. It may sound strange, but it certainly is worth a try.

Ingredients

For the cake

235g (1 1/3 cups) unrefined sugar

125g butter, softened

2 eggs

1 cup pureed avocados (2 - 3 avocados)

1 cup tightly packed grated sweet potato (1 large sweet potato)

60g (1/2 cup) chopped dates (soak in filtered water for an hour beforehand)

60g (1/2 cup) chopped nuts (I used macadamia and brazil nuts)

1/3 cup (80ml) buttermilk or plain runny yoghurt

210g (1 1/2 cups) flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda / bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

For the avocado cream

1 cup (250ml) heavy cream

zest of 1 lime

1 Tbsp of unrefined caster sugar

1 avocado

a little lime juice

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

2. Grease and line a 23 cm cake pan.

3. In a bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing no longer than 20 seconds after each egg has been added.

5. Stir in the avocado, sweet potato, chopped dates and nuts, and butter milk.

6. Now sift in the dry ingredients. Quickly and carefully fold these into the batter.

7. Pour the mixture into the pan and bake on the middle shelf for 50 to 60 minutes.

8. Once it is ready (you can test this by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake - if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked), let is cool down in the pan for about 15 minutes before turning it out.

9. Cool completely before decorating.

10. While the cake is baking, make the avocado cream icing.

11. Mash the avocado with a touch of lime juice (the acid will prevent it from discolouring) and set aside.

12. Now whisk the cream with the lime zest and a tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.

13. Fold in the pureed avocado and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.