Summer really comes alive when all our favourite people are in the house. Kids, dogs, friends – that’s what life is really about. My best friend Isabelle is here with her husband Mathieu, their two cuties Oscar (my godson) and Selma. Not only can I enjoy their company, but also some excellent guest cooking. I can just sit back and lounge by the pool expecting an exciting menu ahead.

This is the case with Mathieu, who’s a fashion designer based in London. He is a real natural when it comes to cooking, one of those French kitchen luminaries that can create a dish out of nothing. Today he baked a Far Breton, inspired from his childhood holidays in Brittany.

The beautiful flavour of the homely batter and sophisticated rum is what I love most about this rustic cake – the never-ending taste lingers on until you have the last sip of coffee. Always causing a sensation at home, we end up slicing smaller pieces to keep everybody happy. I say, let’s make more next time.

Ingredients (serves 6):

4 eggs
300 g pitted dried prunes
225 g plain flour (sifted)
8 g vanilla sugar
Dark rum (enough to cover the prunes in a small bowl)
125 g caster sugar
1 tsp salted butter
75 cl full-cream milk
A pinch of salt.

Preheat oven 200 °C.

Place pitted dried prunes in a small bowl and pour enough rum to cover the prunes. Cover and set aside for 48 hours at room temperature. The prunes will soak up most of the rum.

Drain the soaked prunes and keep the remaining rum. Set aside. In a saucepan heat the milk until it simmers. Remove the thin layer of film that might have formed. Beat the eggs until fluffy, then pour slowly to the sifted flour, whisking away. Add the warm milk slowly, sugar, vanilla sugar, a pinch of salt and continue whisking. Pour remaining rum into batter and set the prunes aside.

Line a rectangle or oval oven-proof dish (27 cm length/5.5 cm depth approx.) with butter and pour in half of the batter. Place prunes evenly all over the dish and continue pouring the remaining batter. Place in the oven for 35 minutes – when the ‘far’ is slightly golden, take it out of the oven and spread salted butter all over. Lower the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for another 10 minutes.

Let the far rest until cooled and serve (it can also be served warm to your liking).

Ah, the Almafi coast! Ravello, Positano and Capri have the most amazing views, turquoise sea and old-school glamour, that is why it has always been our favourite family holiday destination. This lemon meringue cake is a souvenir of what I love most on the Amalfi coast – lemon trees and delizie limone, a local speciality sponge cake filled with lemon cream. Whenever I want to splurge, spoil and be spoilt, this is the cake I have in mind. I love how the voluptuous baked meringue icing wraps the entire cake like a fluffy cloud, as if there was a secret message inside saying that you have achieved sweet nirvana. For this is what this cake is all about – heaven.

Ingredients:(serves 6)

For the sponge cake:
6 eggs (separated)
200 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
200 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180°C/350 F. Butter and flour two cake pans (approx 20 cm/8-inch). Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Beat the egg whites until stiff, fold in very gently to the egg yolk mixture. Finally, sift the flour, add the baking powder and fold in to egg mixture. Spoon batter gently into cake pans and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and test-knife comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack, then remove from pans and set aside to cool completely. When cool, slice each cakes with a long knife to make 4 layers of cakes. Set aside.

For the lemon custard
2 eggs
150 g sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
Grated zest of 1 lemon
40 g unsalted butter

In a large saucepan or double boiler combine sugar, lemon juice and zest over simmering water. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add to the sugar/lemon mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened (about 8 minutes). You can alternate and take on/off heat while whisking away. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Set aside to cool completely and refrigerate for one hour.

For the meringue topping
4 egg whites (room temperature)
1/2 lemon juice
220 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large glass bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy, add lemon juice and vanilla extract. Gradually add the sugar until egg whites become glossy with stiff peaks.

Assembling the cake:
200 ml double cream – whipped

Preheat the oven to a 240°C/ 460 F

Whip cream until stiff and incorporate to lemon custard. Place a layer of the cake on parchment paper, generously spread a layer of lemon filling on cake, add the other cake on top. Repeat procedure for each layers. With a spatula, spread meringue mixture covering cake entirely, forming decorative peaks by lifting spatula as if you were forming waves.

Place cake in the oven for 2-3 minutes or until meringue browns slightly on top. Check constantly as the browning can be very fast. Take the cake out and place on a serving dish. Chill before serving.

Every now and then it is a bare necessity to have a bowl of comforting steamed white rice with a tasty Chinese stir-fried dish. This kind of food reminds me of strolls down memory lane in Hong Kong, where I would be tempted by every single local street restaurant where you can just go in and share a table with anyone. Whether it’s a curry, fried pork with black beans and bitter cucumbers or char sui (roast barbecued pork), it was always a satisfying meal.

At home, I get regular requests for this chicken and cashew nut stir-fry, especially from my hungry boys. It’s quick, tasty, easy and an all-time favourite. There’s a little French touch to this dish – it’s actually something I never ate in Hong Kong, but always in Chinese restaurants in Paris – it’s a typical westernized meal that somehow turned out to be timeless. I love cooking this dish with the background nutty scent of steaming white rice – it makes me feel like I am exactly where I belong.

My father taught me a great trick to make my stir-fries look ‘professional’ – he calls it the ‘glossing‘. Dilute 1 tbsp of cornstarch and 4 tbsp of lukewarm water, add this mixture to the stir-fry, on a high heat, right at the end. The sauce will thicken and give a perfect finishing gloss.

Ingredients: (serves 4-6)

4-5 chicken breasts (cut in 2 cm/ 1/2 inch approx)
2 red paprikas (sliced in small squares)
2 cloves garlic (sliced finely)
1 large yellow onion (sliced coarsely)
150 g unsalted cashew nuts
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato concentrate paste
1 tbsp oyster sauce
3-4 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 pinch chilli powder or 1 crunched dried chilli (optional)
1 tbsp cornstarch (with 4 tbsp lukewarm water to dilute)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Cut and slice chicken, paprikas, onion and garlic, set aside. In a large frying pan or wok, heat oil on a high heat and throw in the chicken until browned, set aside. Add a bit of oil and fry cashew nuts until golden (about 3-4 minutes), set aside. Add a bit of oil, fry onions for 3 minutes, then add paprikas and garlic and continue frying for 3-4 more minutes. Always on a high heat, add tomato concentrate, oyster sauce, sugar, chilli and soya sauce, then return chicken and cashew nuts to the pan, constantly stirring for 4 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Add sesame oil, stir. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch with a bit of lukewarm water, just enough to dilute, and add to the pan – stir well.

Serve with freshly steamed white rice.

Nervous and excited, that’s essentially how I felt about cooking lobster. We had a very Annie Hall moment in the kitchen, as much as I had no problems holding these glorious shellfish, there was no way I would plunge them in boiling water, so I asked my husband to do the job.
To celebrate last week’s Bastille day, we ordered lobsters from Brittany at our local fishmonger. They are renowned to be the best lobsters in Europe, so incredibly refined and succulent. I asked Daniel Blondel, our fisherman friend, how he liked to eat his lobsters, he replied: ‘Avec du beurre fondu, de l’estragon frais, du sel et poivre‘ – fresh tarragon, clarified butter, salt and pepper. I served it with a simple salad, vinaigrette and sliced radishes – nothing too overpowering as I mainly want to taste the lobster meat.
It was simply the best festive lunch I ever had in Médoc.

Ingredients:
2 fresh lobsters
200 g unsalted butter
A large handful of chopped tarragon leaves
Salt (Fleur de sel de Guérande) and pepper for seasoning

In a saucepan, heat the unsalted butter on a low heat. Simmer until all the solids (foam) detach from the melted butter. Remove from heat and remove the foam/solids until you are left with the clear melted butter. You can also strain the butter through cotton muslin, cheesecloth, or a very refined colander. Once you have your clarified butter, re-heat for 2 minutes on a low heat, add salt, pepper and the large handful of freshly chopped tarragon leaves .
In a tall and large pot (tall enough for 2 lobsters), boil water with 2 bay leaves, 2 tbsp salt and 2 tsp thyme leaves. When the water brings to a boil, drop in the lobsters (head first) and wait till the water returns to a boil. From then on, cover and cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes. Drain lobsters and slice from the center. Serve on a large plate with a salad and the butter sauce on the side.

With M. Daniel Blondel

It was so enjoyable having our friends stay over recently – they had previously spent a holiday in Brittany visiting relatives and brought us a bag of local treats – a delightful Kouign Aman (traditional butter and sugar cake), galettes, pancakes and the most amazing salted butter caramel spread ever! In Brittany, every Bretons and Bretonnes believe that life cannot exist without butter. We ate everything as fast as we could, inspiring me to make more. Too much of a good thing is a good thing.

Cuisine is like matrimony, so I coupled chocolate mousse with chunks of salted butter caramel. A perfect pair. I served them in my ‘Titanic’ ice-cream cups – they were bought years ago from a stall selling curious furniture and tableware from old ships at a flea market in Paris. Eating out of these cups brings me back to a different place and time.

The chocolate mousse is so easy to make, and so is the caramel recipe – just make sure not to over-heat to prevent a burnt caramel. It’s all about patience – the beautiful golden beige colour will appear before you know it. If you have any leftovers, you can make lovely caramel bonbons and wrap them in pretty candy paper wraps. They are best stored in the fridge.

My lovely Gertrude.

Ingredients (serve 4 to 6):

For the salted butter caramel (serves 6 or approx 40 caramels):
250 g crème fraîche
250 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 pinch of salt (I use fleur de sel de Guérande)
50 g good quality salted butter
Parchment paper

In a pan, boil the crème fraîche to a gentle simmer, add sugar and cook slowly on a medium to low heat for 20 minutes or more, or until the caramel becomes a lovely golden beige colour (make sure not to over-boil/heat as it will burn very easily). Do not stir for the first 10 minutes, you can slowly occasionally shake the pan. Remove from heat, stir in the butter and return to the heat for a few more minutes. The caramel should be sticky, thick and pasty. Pour caramel on a large sheet of parchment paper. You can pour making a circular or square shape (anything is fine as you will be chopping it into chunks later). Let the caramel cool, add another sheet of parchment paper to cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut into desired amount of rough chunks.

For the chocolate mousse:
150 g black chocolate
4 eggs (separated)
60 grs caster sugar
40 ml double cream
Melt chocolate and cream on a low heat. Set aside and let it cool. In two large bowls, separate the eggs, whisk the egg yolks with half of the sugar until fluffy. In the other bowl, whisk egg whites till firm, incorporating the other half of the sugar. Add the melted chocolate/cream mixture (once it’s cooled) to the egg yolks, then fold in gently the stiff egg whites and the equivalent of two handfuls of caramel chunks (or more if desired!). Divide the chocolate mousse into individual ramekins, sprinkle with more chunks of caramel, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Sometimes there is a certain ‘je ne sais quoi‘ that triggers my appetite for a special dish, something sweet, savoury and out of the ordinary. Perhaps it’s the combination of the sun, bright coloured flowers and the smell of my tiaré sun oil – whatever it is, it sets the tone to my hunger game leading me on a quest for the perfect dish of the day. My palate led me to a pastilla – I love the cake aspect of it, especially the delicate mixture of savoury and sweet combined with luscious almonds, cinnamon and orange blossom.

Pastilla is a ceremonial Moroccan dish, especially during weddings and Ramadan months. There are so many versions you can make, one of the most famous ones being the pigeon pastilla. This melt in your mouth dish is full of surprises, covered and layered with overly satisfying crunchy sensations.

It’s such a beautiful dish to serve that I couldn’t resist adding a few fuchsia flowers to the plate – the colours match the mood – oriental bliss. As a side dish, I fried a few sliced patty pan squashes – they are in season and I cooked them in a persillade – a large handful of chopped parsley, olive oil, two cloves of garlic (sliced), salt and pepper – the best things in life are simple!

Ingredients:(For 6 people)

2 chicken breasts and 2 chicken drumsticks (I use these parts because I find the meat leaner than chicken legs)
2 yellow onions (chopped finely)
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 saffron dose
1 and 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger root, grated
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ras el hanout (Moroccan spice – available in most supermarkets or speciality stores)
1 tsp sugar
4 eggs
A handful of fresh coriander, chopped
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
Water
Salt and pepper

Almond preparation:
250 g blanched almonds
3 tbsp orange blossom water
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
50 g sugar

Assembling the pastilla:
About 10 sheets of brick/ filo pastry sheets
100 g melted butter
1 egg yolk

To decorate the pastilla:
Icing/confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Ground cinnamon for dusting
.
In a large pot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter. Add the chicken (having trimmed excess fat), brown on all sides. Set aside. Add 2 more tbsp olive oil and cook the onions for 3 minutes, then add the ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, ras el hanout and saffron. Fry for 4 more minutes. Return the chicken to the pan, add water just below the chicken level, half of the chopped coriander, chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry the almonds on a pan on medium heat until almonds are slightly golden. Let it cool. Chop them coarsely or place in a food processor, grinding them in several quick blitz. Add sugar, orange blossom water and cinnamon. Set aside.

After 20 minutes, take the chicken out of the pan, leaving the sauce to reduce by two thirds (you don’t want to use too much sauce as the pastilla will be too soggy). On a plate, scrape off all the chicken meat, discard the bones. Chop meat to a ‘crumble’, or, as I do, place in food processor and pulse until you get the meat crumbly. Pour beaten eggs to the sauce in the pan, stirring constantly. Add a small handful of coriander. The sauce should be thick and creamy. Set aside.

Preheat your oven at 180°C/ 400 F.

Dip brush in melted butter and brush cake mould all over. Line a layer of filo sheet, brush generously with butter, add 2-3 more layer, making sure to always brush each sheet generously with butter (it will make your pastilla golden and crunchy). You basically want to line a solid base for the pastilla.
Start with a layer of chicken, then one sheet of buttered filo pastry. Proceed with a layer of sauce, then add another sheet of filo. Finally, add a layer of almonds, add three sheets of buttered filo pastry and tuck them well to seal the pastilla. Brush generously with egg yolk. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, or until golden. Remove, sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon. Serve warm.

When I visited Yves Bruneau butcher’s shop earlier this week, I bought Pierre Oteiza’s label of black pig. Pierre Oteiza is a champion charcutier from the ‘Vallée des Aldudes’ in France’s Pays Basque. He breeds exceptional meat, one of my favourite being the black pig. Roaming free in the green Basque pastures and forests, they are fed acorns and chestnuts. The meat is pure delicacy, with an incredible nutty taste, incomparable to anything I have ever tasted before. I cook the meat on a griddle, as I want it slightly crispy and golden. Serve with apple sauce. A gourmet’s dream of a meal.

Ingredients (serves 2):

You will need a cast iron ribbed surface griddle pan to grill the meat.

4 slices of black pig flank (tendron)
4 red apples (cooking apples – peeled, cored, and quartered)
4 cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
Salt & pepper

Apple sauce:
Peel the apples, chop them and place in cooking pot. Add half a glass of water, throw in the cloves and cinnamon. Cover. Bring to a boil and lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and roughly mash with a potato masher. Add butter and serve.

Preheat the griddle pan over medium-high heat. The griddle is ready when a droplet of water sizzles and evaporates instantly. Place meat on griddle (2 at a time depending on size) and grill. Do not add any butter or oil, as the pork fat will be melting fast. When the pork fat melts, pour excess fat in a bowl and continue grilling approximately 4-5 minutes each side, or until golden brown.

Serve with apple sauce and a dash of salt/pepper.

Cannelés with black pig, foie gras and vine leaves

M. Yves Bruneau

When we moved to Médoc, one of the first things we did was drive through the vineyards for some chateaux spotting. As we explored further, we couldn’t help thinking how unreal it was to live in such beauty, and that it would become our everyday reality, not a two week holiday summary. I needed to find my bearings, and didn’t know where to start. Luckily, we stopped at a nearby village, Pauillac, and drove South to Bages where I found my first gem, a butcher. As I stepped in, I couldn’t see anyone. However, I noticed some interesting and peculiar cannelés (French pastry from Bordeaux with a tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust). They looked savoury, wrapped in vine leaves. All they needed was a tag with ‘Eat me!’ and I would become Alice in Wonderland. Something in my heart told me that this was the place to be. Then I saw big names all over the place – Bazas, Pierre Oteiza, AOC Prés-Salés du Mont-Saint-Michel. I smiled to myself thinking I had struck gold. It is not an everyday thing to see all these famous meat labels in one place. That’s when M. Yves Bruneau stepped out of his butcher’s ‘back office’.

I introduced myself, explained how I left Paris for Médoc, how I loved food and cooking. And then he started to talk about his recipes, how he makes his savoury cannelés, how he cooks black pig filets, how he stews veal. I felt like I had met the guardian of my kingdom, and he was opening a new door for my cooking world. How’s that for a first encounter.

Grenier Médocain (left) and vine leaf foie gras

Yves Bruneau is no ordinary butcher. Ex-champion of France in cross-country running, Yves, originally from Normandy, is a true visionary when it comes to the art of being a butcher. He is passionate about his meat (he has been nominated fifth best butcher in France by the prestigious Gault et Millau guide), only chooses truly authentic labels, like the magnificent Bazas beef. To connoisseurs, Bazas beef is one of the finest in the world, only sold at a dozen of the best butchers in France. The unusual grey cattle, bred in the Landes and Gironde region, is destined to masters only. Yves has his own laboratory and dry-ages his meat for five weeks, enhancing the tenderness and producing the perfect taste. One of my favourite meat sold by Yves is the Basque black pig from Pierre Oteiza (Basque ‘master’ farmer and an artisan charcuterie maker) – the pigs are fed acorns and chestnuts, giving the meat a succulent melt-in your mouth nutty flavour. Yves is also a fine chef, always coming up with original ideas, from savoury black pig cannelés stuffed with foie gras, vine leaf infused foie gras, his home-made grenier Médocain (speciality of Médoc made of pig’s stomach, garlic and spices). When asked what is his favourite meat, Yves is proud to say the Bazas beef entrecôte.

Yves was happy to share his recipe for these gourmet cannelés. You can always improvise and adapt to your liking with other types of meat – perhaps veal and porc combined could be a good alternative.

Ingredients: (for 6 canelés)

350 g minced/chopped porc (black pig/pork – a selection of shoulder and belly )
6 pieces of cubed (3 cm) duck foie gras mi-cuit (half-cooked)
6 vine leaves (younger ones are better as they are more tender – boiled in water with 1 tbsp sugar for 10 minutes)
6 small squares of caul fat ‘filet'(for enveloping the cannelé so it stays in shape – you can buy this at your butcher)
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven 90°C. Mince or chop pork very finely, add salt and pepper and shape into a ball (about 8cm length and 5cm width). Make a hole with your finger and insert a cube of foie gras inside. Wrap the cooked vine leaf around the meat and secure with the caul faut ‘filet’ so it holds its shape. Repeat this procedure and place in cannelé cake moulds.
Place your moulds in a large roasting tin, pour water so it comes up to nearly half of the mould. This process is called ‘bain-marie’. Bake for 2 hours and 30 minutes. Leave to cool in mould for one hour. Before serving, re-heat for 5-8 minutes in a warm oven.

Making trifles is like writing poetry. You can adapt to any season, add any ingredients you like and play around with different textures. It’s such a creative dessert, so scrumptuous and beautiful to look at, and most of all, so delicious. When I lived in London as a student, I loved all the cult classics, like scotch eggs, pork pies, Eton mess and berry trifles. I’ll always remember when I discovered trifles at Marks & Spencers. I loved the yellow custard colours, mixed with deep berry reds and all that whipped cream. It became my favourite English food discovery and I shall always have fond memories of those little delights. When I go back to London I just can’t help myself – I have to buy some for old time’s sake! They are so good!

Trifles are exactly the kind of desserts I would like to be served at a dinner party. They look like little see-through cabinets of curiosity, lavishly layered with all the best that summer has to offer, berries, cream, custard and cake, we can all pitch in and scoop for the best.

Ingredients: (serves 6)

You can either make one large trifle or individual portions, perfect for dinner parties.

1 madeira sponge cake
300 g rhubarb (cooked or frozen)
350 g strawberries (halved)
Whipped cream (see below)
Custard cream (see below)
8 tbsp strawberry jam
Flaked toasted almonds (grill on a non-stick frying pan for 4-5 minutes or until golden – do not add any oil)

Fruits:
Chop rhubarb, discard the ends, and boil in water (just enough to cover the rhubarb) and 30 g caster sugar for 8-10 minutes. Keep the syrup-like rhubarb liquid, drain the rhubard and leave to cool. Set aside. Wash strawberries and slice as desired.

Sponge cake:
125g self-raising flour
125g butter or margarine, softened
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
3 tbsp madeira wine

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350F

Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale. Beat in the eggs and madeira. Sift over the flour and fold in using a large spoon. Spread the dough in the cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a ‘test-knife’ comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Set aside

Custard filling:
280 ml full cream milk
2 eggs yolks
70 g/ 3 oz caster sugar
30 g/ 1 oz corn starch
1 tsp vanilla essence

In a saucepan, add milk, sugar, vanilla essence and bring to a simmer. Stir well and take off the heat. Add the egg yolks and whisk continuously. Drizzle the corn starch and whisk again – put on a low heat, for 2 minutes, or until the mixture thickens to a thick creamy sauce. Set aside and leave to cool.

Whipped cream:
250 ml/1 cup whipping cream
20 g/ 4 tsp icing sugar

Whip cream (I use electric whisks), add the sugar after 30 seconds and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Set aside in freezer until you need to use it.

When all your ingredients are ready and cooled, you can start assembling the trifle. In a large glass bowl, or individual bowls, cut small cubes of the sponge cake, spread a layer of strawberry jam, drizzle with the reserved rhubarb syrup, sprinkle a layer of rhubarb, strawberries, custard, whipped cream. Repeat layering as desired and finish with the toasted almonds.

Just like a summer hat, a pretty floral dress or a smashing bikini, crab cakes are a major part of my summer panoply. They always make me feel like I am on a holiday, somewhere on a beach with a faraway lighthouse. It’s the kind of food I want on every restaurant menu, and I dream of having them in all my favourite travel destinations – to sum it up, crab cakes are the top!

There’s something so satisfying when buying crustaceans delights. I came home with creatures from the sea, the ‘Araignées‘ (spider crabs). They have such impressive jewel-like faces, looking so fierce and frightful. Almost too beautiful to eat.

Crab picking is, I admit, quite a big ordeal. You’ll need good pliers and a ‘savoir-faire’ earnt from years of experience at seafood restaurants. But it can be fun, especially if you have company. You can of course used canned crab meat – it will save you a lot of time and still taste wonderful.

Ingredients: (makes approx. 12 small cakes)

4 potatoes (boiled and mashed)
2 spring onions (finely chopped)
1 tsp mustard
Handful of chopped parsley
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
12-16 crackers (like ritz crackers) – crushed
450 grs cooked crabmeat (I used fresh spider crabs, but you can also use other types or canned)
1 egg
Olive oil (for frying)
Lemon wedges (for serving)
Mayonnaise (for serving)
Shallot sauce (6 tbsp wine vinegar mixed with one chopped shallot)

In a large bowl, mix mashed potatoes, parsley, egg, mustard, lemon juice, zest, crushed crackers, chopped spring onions. Fold in the crabmeat gently.

Shape into small patties. Place patties on a plate, cover in cling film and refrigerate for one to two hours (Alternatively, you can also place in the freezer for 25 minutes should you have less time).

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, place crab cakes (in batches by 4/5) in pan and fry on each side about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm with lemon wedges, shallot sauce or mayonnaise.