Easy freezy: eight fruity recipes for frozen summer treats – no ice-cream maker required

When the weather is hot and midsummer’s bounty of berries, stone fruit, melons and bananas need a life after the fruit bowl, these frozen desserts are just a quick blitz away.Who needs an ice-cream machine when granita, sorbet and ice blocks can be devised with a swift spin in a blender and a few hours of chill in the freezer? Many of these recipes can be prepared in under 15 minutes, leaving more time for summer’s ultimate pastime: doing nothing at all.(Pictured above)Tell the kids they’re getting ice-cream for breakfast. Then unsheathe the ice-block mould to reveal Liam Charles’ nutritional Trojan horse – an early morning hit of fibre (oats), calcium (yoghurt) and antioxidants (berries). Lemon zest gives zing to the sweetness, while berries can be substituted for any fruit you have on hand – think banana, mango or pineapple

‘One-in-a-billion’ round egg found at farm in Devon to be auctioned

A farm worker in Devon has discovered what she believes to be a “one-in-a-billion” spherical egg.Alison Greene, who has worked as an egg handler on Fenton Farm near the Somerset border for three years and handled more than 42m eggs, said she had never found a perfectly round one before.The 57-year-old now plans to send it to auction in Exeter in March with the proceeds going to the Devon Rape Crisis charity.Discussing the moment she found the egg in December, Greene said: “It was really surprising because they roll in a specific way and this one just didn’t – it just stood out.“It’s now something that nobody else has

Palm oil makes peanut butter healthier and fresher | Letter

As one of the co-founders of Whole Earth Foods (though no longer an owner of the company), I feel compelled to comment on your writer’s disparaging remarks about palm oil in peanut butter (The food filter: who makes the best crunchy peanut butter?, 11 January).In our early days we said “oil separation is natural, just stir it back in”. When we learned how roasting makes peanut oil prone to rancidity, with negative health and flavour effects, we looked at ways of stabilising it to stop this happening, without using hydrogenated fat like other leading brands.Adding 3% palm oil under controlled-temperature conditions stops oil separation and the consequent rancidity, with its off flavours and negative health impact. As a result, Whole Earth Foods grew to market leadership

Philip Khoury’s recipe for forbidden apple pie | The sweet spot

Flaky olive-oil pastry, which requires no resting or blind baking, here encases beautifully layered, sweet apples that don’t need to be pre-cooked. Despite its intricate appearance, this pie comes together surprisingly quickly – I once assembled it live on TV in less than eight minutes. It also makes use of the nutrient-rich skins, and is scented with a touch of grated tonka bean, prized for its heavenly vanilla, almond and spice notes. If you’re in the US, where tonka is banned, simply double the cinnamon for an equally epic apple pie.Prep 20 minMacerate 20 min Cook 50 min Makes 1 x 23cm pieFor the pastry450g plain flour 1 tsp fine salt 30g caster sugar 180ml olive oil Milk, or plant-based alternative, for brushingDemerara sugar, for sprinklingIce-cream or cream, or plant-based alternative, to serveFor the filling1kg apples (I like pink lady or braeburn), cored and peeled, peel reserved and flesh cut into 1-2mm slices (a mandoline will make light work of this)130g caster sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tonka bean, grated on a microplane 1 tsp vanilla bean paste ½ lemon, zested, plus 1 tbsp juice30g cornflourTo make the flaky pastry, combine the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl, then add the oil and mix until the flour is evenly coated

Is there such a thing as a good alcohol-free wine?

For those forgoing the virtuous annual kickstarter that is Dry January, disregard this article until, like me, you decide some time around February that it would probably have been a good idea. And for those currently knee-deep in it, let me shed some light on whatever the hell you’ve been drinking.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more

Toum, London W1: ‘The rotisserie is very much not rotating. Has there been a power cut?’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

I will never forget the vegetarian aubergine schnitzel option – it had the texture of a bloated sanitary towelToum, a modern Lebanese rotisserie with French culinary influences and chic cocktail-bar vibes, has recently appeared just off Regent Street, near Hamleys toy store. I often use Hamleys as a landmark for non-Londoners, because they might not find directions such as “It’s on Maddox Street, close to the Kingly Street food drag” all that useful, but may very well have experienced, or at least heard of, Hamleys’ daily “Friends Parade” with Professor Bubbles. If so, Toum is all of five minutes’ walk away, and serves cold tomatillo martinis and, more importantly, posh rotisserie chicken from a grill behind the chefs’ heads that’s in full view as you approach the front door. So very inviting.Or at least it is on social media