Spring frozen yogurt

Strawberries are already flooding the markets so having a nice refreshing dessert featuring them should be cliche. However, if strawberries and cream is too cliche for you, here's an idea that you can use for dessert or a healthy breakfast.

Turn your fresh strawberries into a quick jam by adding just a bit of sugar and placing them on low heat for as much as you like; this will release their flavours. Then scoop some of this quick jam and some full-fat yogurt into a bowl.

Stir them and place the mixture into a mold which you can remove easily when frozen. Choose a dome-shaped glass or cup. Cover with clingfilm and freeze - I froze it overnight and ate it for breakfast accompanied by an equal amount of strong black coffee.

Although I enjoyed it alone in the comfort of my cozy couch watching TV and wondering if I should get out of my pajamas I couldn't help styling it up a bit by adorning it with a cooked fruit and a little bunch of basil leaves.

Homemade chicken liver pâté

I first came across this delicious recipe from BBC GoodFood about a year ago. I've prepared it quite a few times since, preferring to use thyme only and no garlic - and sometimes I blended in by hand a bit of very finely chopped onion.

Orange muffins

You start with a crave for orange goodies.

Make sure the following are handy:

• 1  3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 large eggs, separated and whites beaten until stiff
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 stick of butter, softened

Combine butter, sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla in a mixing bowl.  Cream these ingredients together thoroughly. 

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together in a separate mixing bowl.  Add dry ingredients to creamed ingredients 1/3 at a time  alternating with adding portions of the orange juice to the creamed mixture. 

Fold in beaten egg whites.  Spoon batter into cupcake liners until 1/2 full. Bake in a 350F/180Celsius preheated oven for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Personal note: I did not use a thermometer so I preheated the oven on "high" then left the trays in the oven on "medium" for 20 minutes. Worked out well.

Enjoy.