One Night in Italy (47 page)

2 Lightly oil a work surface then tip out the dough and knead for a further five minutes. Now oil the inside of a clean (large!) bowl and put the dough inside. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size.

3 Once the dough has risen, you need to ‘knock it back’ which basically means punching it a few times – extremely satisfying. Then tip the dough onto a large baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper, flatten it and pull it into the corners so that it’s the right shape. Leave to prove for about an hour.

4 During that time, preheat the oven to 220˚C/425˚F/gas mark 7. Before baking, press your fingers into the dough to create dimples, then drizzle the loaf with olive oil and sprinkle over the sea salt. (If you’re adding cooked red onions etc., now is the time to do that.)

5 Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. (Your kitchen will smell amazing!)

6 Best served hot, with an extra drizzle of olive oil.

Tiramisu

Love coffee? Love chocolate? Then you’ll love this easy Italian classic . . .

Serves 6

568ml double cream (i.e. a large pot)

250g mascarpone

60ml marsala

5 tbsp caster sugar

300ml strong coffee (made with 2 tbsp instant coffee and 300ml boiling water)

170g sponge fingers

30g dark chocolate

cocoa powder for dusting

1 Whisk the cream, mascarpone, marsala and sugar together in a large bowl until combined.

2 Divide the sponge fingers into two piles, then dip one pile in the coffee (use a shallow bowl or dish to make life easier), turning them so that they are soaked through, then arrange in the bottom of your serving dish.

3 Spread half of the cream mixture over the coffee-soaked fingers, then grate the chocolate and add most of it to the top. (Save approximately 5g for later.) Soak the remaining sponge fingers in coffee then place on top of the cream layer, then add the rest of the cream mixture to cover.

4 Cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight). To serve, add the remaining grated chocolate and dust with cocoa powder. The tiramisu will keep for up to two days – but will probably vanish much sooner!

Sweet Temptation

A story of love, friendship, calories and cake . . .

Maddie’s getting it from all sides. Her bitchy new boss at the radio station humiliates her live on air about her figure, her glamour-puss mum keeps dropping not-so-subtle hints that Maddie should lose weight, and her kids are embarrassed to be seen with her after the disastrous Mums’ race at their school sports day. Something’s got to change . . .

Maddie joins the local weight-watching group expecting more humiliation but instead finds two unlikely allies – bitter divorcee Lauren who, despite running a dating agency, has signed off romance for ever and shy Jess, the beautician, who’s desperate to fit into a size 10 wedding dress for her Big Day.

Praise for
Sweet Temptation

‘A healthy helping of friendship and love’

Press Association

‘Dealing with a lack of calories, fat days and man trouble is a lot easier when you have good friends by your side. Fab!’

Closer

The Beach Café

A recipe for disaster? Or a recipe for love?

Evie Flynn has always been the black sheep of her family – a dreamer and a drifter, unlike her over-achieving elder sisters. She’s tried making a name for herself as an actress, a photographer and a singer, but nothing has ever worked out. Now she’s stuck in temp hell, with a sensible, pension-planning boyfriend. Somehow life seems to be passing her by.

Then her beloved aunt Jo dies suddenly in a car crash, leaving Evie an unusual legacy – her precious beach café in Cornwall. Determined to make a success of something for the first time in her life, Evie heads off to Cornwall to get the café and her life back on track – and gets more than she bargained for, both in work and in love . . .

Praise for
The Beach Café

‘Romantic, dreamy and fun, this is perfect poolside reading’

Closer

‘From witty to full of wisdom, sassy to sentimental . . . not to be missed’

Woman

Summer with My Sister

New beginnings and an old flame. Summer just got hotter . . .

Polly has always been the high-flier of the family, with the glamorous city lifestyle to match.

Clare is a single mum with two children, struggling to make ends meet in a ramshackle cottage. The two sisters are poles apart and barely on speaking terms.

But then Polly’s fortunes change unexpectedly and her world comes crashing down. Left penniless and with nowhere else to go, she’s forced back to the village where she and Clare grew up, and the sisters find themselves living together for the first time in years. With an old flame reappearing for Polly, a blossoming new career for Clare and a long-buried family secret in the mix, sparks are sure to fly. Unless the two women have more in common than they first thought?

Praise for
Summer with My Sister

‘Seamless, engaging, believable, fun and heartfelt . . . A skilfully executed and charming tale that you’ll want to pass on to all your friends’

Heat