Pimp up your picnic with these simple but exciting recipes including boozy berry puddings and sweet sausages

IT’S going to be hotter than Ibiza this week – and the picnic blankets will be out in force.

Here, ALI RAY shows you how to add an exciting twist with some simple recipes from her new collection The Picnic Book.

Cheese, ham corn muffins (serves 8)

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

YOU NEED:

• 50g smoked ham slices
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• Generous pinch of salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tbsp sweetcorn
• 80g cheddar cheese, grated plus an extra 10g for sprinkling on top before cooking
• 100g natural yoghurt
• 125ml milk, whole or semi-skimmed
• 40g salted butter, melted
• 1 small egg

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and chop ham into 1cm squares.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, sweetcorn and grated cheese. In a separate bowl, combine the yoghurt, milk, butter, egg and ham. It will look a little lumpy.

Give it a good mix then pour it into the bowl of flour and mix again. Spoon equally into a muffin tin lined with eight cases. Sprinkle the extra cheese across the top of each muffin.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until muffins are well risen and golden. Remove from the muffin tin and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Red pepper tortilla fingers (serves 8)

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

YOU NEED: 

• 250g white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 15g unsalted butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 roasted red peppers from a jar, cut into 1cm pieces
• 6 large eggs
• 2 tbsp double cream or milk
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

METHOD:

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for five minutes. Melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onion on a low heat for eight minutes.

Add the potatoes and gently fry for five minutes. Mix in the peppers and take off heat. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the cream (or milk), nutmeg and seasoning. Add the cheese and mix.

Pour it over the potato, onion and pepper mixture and leave on a low heat until it is almost set (about ten minutes).

Preheat the grill to a medium heat and place the frying pan under until the top has set. Allow to cool for ten minutes and cut into finger-width wedges.

Boozy berry picnic puddings (serves 4)

Preparation time: 50 minutes

Chilling time: 30 minutes

YOU NEED:

• 500g mixed summer berries
• 100ml fruit liqueur, dessert wine or gin
• 75g caster sugar
• Approx 12 slices of day-old white bread
• Clotted cream, to serve

METHOD:

Put the berries, alcohol and sugar into a saucepan and gently heat for three minutes until the juices are released. Take off the heat and leave to cool for 30 minutes.

Put a sieve over a bowl and pour in the fruit. Leave it for about 15 minutes for all the juice to drain.

Line four ramekin dishes with cling film. Use a cookie cutter a little larger than the base of the ramekins to cut eight rounds out of the slices of bread. Dip four in the bowl of juice and press them into the bottom of the ramekin dishes.

Cut strips out of the leftover bread that you can use around the inside edges of the dishes. Soak these in the juices too before using them to line the dishes.

Divide the berries equally between the ramekins, packing them in tightly, and put the final four bread rounds, soaked in juice, on top. Wrap each dish tightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To serve, removed the cling film and place a small plate on the top of a ramekin dish, flip it over and slide out the pudding. Add dollops of clotted cream.

Sticky sweet sausages (serves 4)

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

YOU NEED:

• 12 pork chipolatas
• 6 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cook sausages for 10-15 minutes, until beginning to brown. Whisk together honey, sesame oil and soy sauce in a bowl.

Add sausages and mix until coated. Take them out, shake off excess marinade and put back on greaseproof paper on baking tray.

Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and put back into the oven for about 15 minutes. Take them out and refrigerate for two hours.

Pizza puff spirals (serves 12)

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15-18 minutes

YOU NEED:

• 125g ready-made puff pastry
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tbsp pesto
• 75g cheddar cheese or mozzarella, grated

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and put a baking tray upside down on the top shelf. This will provide a hot surface to help cook the underside of the pastry.

Unroll the puff pastry, keeping it on the greaseproof paper, until it is 3mm thick. Spread the tomato purée and the pesto all over the pastry. Sprinkle the cheese on top.

Starting at the short edge, roll the pastry as tightly as you can. Wrap the roll in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes until firm. Remove the cling film and cut into 12 slices. Place the pieces on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Put this on the upturned heated baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes until the spirals have risen and turned golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Strawberry rocky road (makes 8 squares)

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Chilling time: 2 hours

YOU NEED:

• 100g milk chocolate
• 100g dark chocolate
• 50 mini marshmallows
• 30g whole blanched almonds, roughly chopped
• 20g walnuts or hazelnuts, roughly chopped
• 75g fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces
• 2 digestive biscuits, broken up

METHOD:
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of boiling water. Stir occasionally until melted then take off heat and put to one side.

In a separate bowl, put in the marshmallows, almonds and walnuts or hazelnuts, strawberries and bite-sized biscuits. Pour the melted chocolate over and mix together.

Spoon the mixture into a 23cm by 12cm loaf tin and cover in cling film. Refrigerate for two hours until set then cut into pieces.