Lemon syllabub

Serves 4

This is from Rose Prince's New English Kitchen, just published by Fourth Estate. The book has an old-fashioned binding, with no shiny dust jacket, but with two handy ribbons for marking pages. This practicality carries through to the text, which has advice on shopping for quality ingredients and extending meals in a practical sort of way. It's a timely reminder of what food, cooking and eating should be about. There are handy notes all the way through and hints for giving recipes a clever little twist. This syllabub is quick and straightforward to make.

This is from Rose Prince's New English Kitchen, just published by Fourth Estate. The book has an old-fashioned binding, with no shiny dust jacket, but with two handy ribbons for marking pages. This practicality carries through to the text, which has advice on shopping for quality ingredients and extending meals in a practical sort of way. It's a timely reminder of what food, cooking and eating should be about. There are handy notes all the way through and hints for giving recipes a clever little twist. This syllabub is quick and straightforward to make.

Zest and juice of 1 lemon
125ml white wine or sherry
A pinch of grated nutmeg
90g golden caster sugar
300ml double cream
Borage or heartsease flowers, or dried Moroccan rose petals to decorate (optional)

Mix the lemon zest, juice, white wine (or sherry) and nutmeg, and leave to infuse for at least an hour. Stir in the sugar and then pour in the cream. Whisk for a minute or two until the cream thickens. Spoon into small tumblers or old-fashioned tea cups. Decorate with an edible flower from the garden, such as borage or heartsease, and chill. You can substitute a different alcohol for the wine. Rose suggests dry Somerset cider, or a combination of cider and apple brandy (calvados), which are good with a little apple purée in the bottom of the cup.