Recipes: Apple and blueberry pie, Custard with thyme, Caramel banana shortbread, Sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce, Carrot cake with mascarpone and candied carrots, Lemon curd syllabub. The location provided the theme and in the first episode James returned to where he grew up and first started cooking, Castle Howard in Yorkshire. So the first week’s theme was Best of British. James attempted to save some British classics and went out to test desserts such as spotted dick, junket and Sussex pond pudding on the general public to see if they recognise them.
Recipes: Chocolate profiteroles, Passionfruit and custard soufflé, Classic lemon tart, Hot chocolate fondants with summer berries, Slow-roasted peaches with orange caramel sauce. James returned to his old catering college in Yorkshire and themed his puddings around the classic desserts he learned to make there. Along the way James also challenged his friend and fellow pupil, the Michelin-starred chef Andrew Pern, to a 'cooking showdown' and attended the British heats of the World Chocolate Masters to see the best chocalatiers in the country at work.
Recipes: Lemon meringue pie, Instant banana ice cream, Fresh mango sorbet, Spicy plum crumble, Raspberry marshmallows, Apple and toffee muffins. James visited Morfudd Richards who sells organic ice creams from her van. James and Morfudd gave themselves a mission - they wanted to see if they could encourage children to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. They tested their creations on school kids before revealing to the children what they were eating.
Recipes: White chocolate, whisky and croissant butter pudding, Baked chocolate mousse with candied fennel, Puff pastry and raspberry stack, Délice au cassis, Peach and champagne jelly. This week James explored some restaurant classics. He took Will to the first restaurant he worked in, 190 Queen's Gate, which at the time was run by Antony Worral Thompson. James also visited the Berkeley hotel in London, which has reinvented the afternoon tea with pastries inspired by the catwalk, and he found out what heritage fruit is all about.
Recipes: Black Forest gateau, Jellied raspberry and vodka terrine with lime syrup, Ginger and syrup cheesecake, Apple tarte tatin with honey and walnut ice cream, Strawberry and cream cake. James revisited the restaurant where he made his name as a head chef, Hotel du Vin in Winchester. He met one of the most exciting chocolatiers in the country, William Curley, who showed him that Japanese cooking is currently what's hot in the world of desserts. Then he took a trip to Lucy's on a Plate in the Lake District, where the only thing on the menu was sweets, sweets and more sweets.
Recipes: Baked chocolate and orange cheesecake, Quick basil and summer fruit pudding, Pancakes, Baked parkin with roasted rhubarb, Apricot and almond biscotti with limoncello. In the last episode of the series, James got back to basics, demonstrating the simple skills needed for good old-fashioned home-baking. He put a traditional cook up against a 'scientific' one to find out which method made the best cake, before testing them out on the experienced palate of Harrods’s food buyer. The show climaxed with dinner at James’s with his assistant chef Will and some friends.
