Birthday pancakes (with cherry and nectarine compote, greek yogurt and honey)

I challenge you to find a nicer way to start a summer birthday than lighter than air pancakes with a sweet, fruit topping. (Alright meat-eaters – bacon sarnies excepted!)

These pancakes are super easy to make, the lightest I’ve ever tasted and are really healthy, what with being partially wholemeal, full of goodness from the seeds and have hardly any fat.

Serves 4-6

For the pancakes:

4 eggs, separated

155g flour – use a mixture of wholemeal and plain if you prefer, or all wholemeal

1 ½ tsp baking powder

a handful or two of seeds – I used sunflower but poppy are also good

190ml milk

pinch of salt

Mix together the dry ingredients with the egg yolks and milk to form a thick batter. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold in to the batter. Now it’s ready, heat a good non-stick pan then add spoonfuls of batter. Turn them when you see little bubbles. They only need a couple of minutes on each side to be a nice golden brown.

You can keep them warm in a low oven while you cook the rest.

For the compote:

A punnet of cherries, stoned and chopped in half

A couple of nectarines or peaches, stoned and chopped into smallish pieces

To make the compote, put the fruit in a saucepan and heat for a few minutes until it’s all jammy and gooey.

Serve with greek yogurt and honey.

Egg and chips anyone?

Here's a new take on egg and chips using the delightful Jersey Royals that are around at the moment. Crispy and nutty, with lovely runny poached eggs - great for brunch.

This could also be good with a few sundried tomatoes (not too many though as they're quite strong), some rosemary on the spuds or perhaps a bit of garlic.

It's farmhouse breakfast week!

Which I'm really excited about, because breakfast is probably my favourite meal of the day. This morning I made what my good friend, former housemate and brilliant cook Laura (who taught me to make it) calls pottage (but I've also heard called bircher muesli).

You can make it the night before or leave the oats to soak for about half an hour before you eat it. It's really nice and silky, and you can use whatever dried fruits, nuts and seeds you like.

You just need to combine a portion of oats with some dried fruits (I used a mixture of raisins, sultanas and other vine fruits) and soak in enough milk (or apple juice, or a combination) to cover. You can also add a grated apple, or some dried apricots, dates or dried apple. Once that's done, break up some nuts (pecans and walnuts are nice) and sprinkle over some seeds. Then add any extra milk if needed and serve, with a drizzle of honey.