I’ve been having mixed feelings about all this pleasant weather we’re experiencing. Firstly, it’s too sunny. Unless you’re Mariah Carey, you don’t earn any friends by walking around with your umbrella up on a hot Summers day. Just ask the guy who yelled, “It’s not raining!” out of his car window at me.

But all this sunshine is also allowing the balcony garden to go from strength to strength. I have cress growing on our kitchen window sill, and pea sprouts planted in a random collection of containers outside. The sprouts take less than a week from planting to harvest and taste utterly delicious. Well worth the non-effort.

Most of the greens have ended up on our dinner plates. Occasionally, I’ve baked herb tartlets or scones for a snack. This morning, I thought I’d give Proust’s aunt a run for her money and made a batch of savoury madeleines, flavoured with brown butter, cheese and a mixed bunch of herbs I gathered from the garden.

If you don’t have a mini madeleine tray, you can also bake these in small financier tins or as mini muffins.

Herb and cheese madeleines with mustard yoghurt :
(makes 1 tray of mini madeleines)

For the madeleines :
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
70g butter
50g plain flour
pinch of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs or sprouts
2 tablespoons grated parmesan or cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 200’C. Grease and flour the mini madeleine tray, tapping out any excess flour.

Melt the butter in a small pan, cook it until it turns a nut-brown colour then carefully strain it into a bowl to cool down.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and salt in an electric mixer on high until very light and fluffy. With the mixer running on low, drizzle in the browned butter. Fold in the flour and baking powder, followed by the chopped herbs and grated cheese. Pipe or spoon the mix into the prepared madeleine tray and bake for 4-5 minutes until cooked. These are best eaten warm.

For the mustard yoghurt : Mix 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard with 4 tablespoons of thick yoghurt. Season with a pinch of sea salt, pepper and a squeeze of lime juice. Serve in a little jar for dipping. class=

There are some things I crave occasionally. Peace and quiet is one, cold custard is another. This weekend, I’m getting a good dose of both since a bag of cheap passionfruits inspired me to make a few batches of custard, and Barry is spending a week working in San Francisco.

This recipe is for Anna. Funny story, Anna and I met one day on her way to the restrooms. In a restaurant, that is, not a nightclub, just in case you really needed to know. But perhaps that was too much information already.

One other thing.. did you know, if you blend passionfruit pulp with their skins, you get pink instead of yellow juice? How neat would pink passionfruit sorbet or soda be!

Baked Passionfruit Custard :
(makes 4 small serves)

3 x 55g eggs
55g sugar
100g strained passionfruit pulp (or leave seeds if you don’t mind the texture) – roughly 3 large passionfruit or 5-6 small ones
juice of 1/2 lemon
100g pouring/thin cream

Preheat the oven to 165’C.

Mix all the ingredients together, whisking gently only to combine. Avoid incorporating too much air or introducing froth to the mixture. If bubbles form on the surface, skim them off. Strain the mixture (return the seeds to the mix if you wish). Divide between 4 small ramekins and place the ramekins in a hot water bath, on the middle shelf of the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked. They should still have a bit of a wobble in the middle. Remove them from the oven, allow to cool down in the water bath then chill the ramekins for a few hours in the fridge.

You can eat the custards as is, or topped with some fruit or more passionfruit pulp. If you’re feeling fancy, sprinkle the tops with sugar and lightly blow torch to caramelise.

If it’s too hot to bake, try making a set passionfruit cream instead.

Hello beautiful Sydney beaches
and sand getting into impossible places
and the impossibility of finding a spot to park your car
before joining the thirty minute queue at the fish and chip shop
for soggy snacks scooped from an overloaded fryer.

Hello crayon yellow peaches, pineapples, blush cherries,
ruby red raspberries, black plums, zebra tomatoes
and those things in Sydney that often look like apricots
but rarely taste like one

and sock tans and brown arms
from running under the sun in your new pair of gym shorts
that replaced the ones with a big rip
right where two cheeks would meet.

Hello mango cheeks, preservative free sausages, watermelon rind pickles,
and 42’C days that make you long for breakfast ice-cream.

Hello Summer
I think I love you sometimes.

Chocolate Sorbet :

300g water
70g sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
60g 70% dark chocolate buttons
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g milk

In a medium pot, whisk together the cocoa, water, sugar and honey. Bring to boil, cook for 1-2 minutes then remove from heat. Whisk in the chocolate buttons, followed by the rest of the ingredients. Strain. Allow to chill overnight before churning. Eat and make often.