A strawberry & rosemary cake for when you're too busy to bake

Strawberries, rosemary, pistachios and white chocolate. Just mix it up and bung it in the oven. (Plus, plans to take the next live cookery class on location to France.)

Cake. Before and after.

I’ll cut straight to it this week.

Life is a bit too busy. But cake is the answer.

Fortunately, this cake is the work of moments. Not that you’d know it from its complex flavour and gooey texture. A combination that makes the eating of it a far more sophisticated experience than the cooking of it, which amounts to little more than bunging it all in a mixer and shoving it in the oven. The greatest effort is restraining oneself from tucking in before it has cooled.

But before cake…

Next live cookery class

When: Wednesday 25^th June

Where: This class will be pre-recorded from France (but I’ll record it as live) where

Kirstie Young

and I are teaching a food and photography course. It’ll go live on Wednesday morning for paid subscribers.

What: Recipes from the French countryside - I’ll cook a couple of dishes inspired by the local harvests, and Kirstie will join us to share her top tips on photographing it. It’ll be like being on holiday with us!

From July onwards, I’ll be back in the greenhouse kitchen with the usual live classes.

Right. Cake.

Strawberry, rosemary and pistachio cake

Somewhere between a blondie and a cake, this mixture is forgiving, easy and versatile. You can make it in a traybake dish, a round cake tin or little muffin cases, just reduce the cooking time accordingly. It improves with age too, the rosemary flavours becoming stronger after an overnight rest. If you can resist that long…

Serves 10

• 170g salted butter, softened

• 1 heaped tbsp finely chopped rosemary, plus a few needles to garnish

• 100g soft dark brown sugar