Helen Goh’s recipe for ricotta, rum and raisin cake | The sweet spot

This is a cake for the long, ambling tail-end of an Easter lunch. It’s gently scented with orange and vanilla, lightened by ricotta, and studded with rum-soaked raisins that bring bursts of sweetness to each slice. Ideally, they’d be soaked overnight to plump them into something luscious, but if time gets away from you, take a shortcut: put the raisins and rum in a microwave-safe bowl, zap for 20–30 seconds, then leave to cool and absorb. The chocolate glaze is optional; on days when you want something simpler (or lighter), a generous sifting of icing sugar is all this cake needs. Serve with a small glass of grappa or something similarly warming for a quietly perfect way to bring a feast to a close

Cocoa-crazy: chocolate-infused liqueurs deserve their own moment

Among my minor childhood traumas was the time my dad returned from a business trip to Belgium with a smart box of assorted chocolates (cue tiny violins). Expecting caramel, I bit into a truffle and was met by an explosion of very boozy liqueur. The box seemed to be an exciting change from the usual duty-free Toblerone, but after this incident, truffle assortments have always struck me as deeply unsafe. (I have tried liqueur-filled chocolates since, but still remain flummoxed by them.)The Guardian’s journalism is independent

Baked cheesy smoked haddock and lemon icebox pudding: Henry Harris’ alternative Easter lunch

Sometimes all you want is a hot, bubbling dish and a spoon, and for me today’s cheesy haddock is that dish – a 15-minute supper to be enjoyed in front of the telly with a salad or a large bowl of hot buttered peas. Add a lemony, biscuity iced dessert, and you have a light, very easy and enjoyable supper that’s almost the perfect close to a long Easter weekend.Choose your smoked haddock carefully: you want large, thick fillets of undyed fish. Stating the obvious, here, but a good fishmonger will have this; a supermarket never. The creme fraiche must be a French, naturally soured cream, too, becausethe cheaper English versions coagulate when heat is applied, resulting in an unpleasant, watery gunk

Rachel Roddy’s Easter cannelloni with spinach, peas, ricotta and mozzarella – recipe

Fresh sheets smelling of fresh air or fabric softener (or both) with hospital corners are one of life’s great pleasures. As are fresh sheets of egg pasta – the sort that comes in squat boxes protected by clingfilm and found in the fridge section alongside ravioli. They are also one of the most useful and certainly the most multi-talented of all the pasta shapes.That they are labelled lasagne is limiting; of course, they can be lasagne, but they could just as easily be numerous other shapes. The most easy-going of which is maltagliati, meaning badly cut, which tells you everything you need to know about the approach required as you cut them (using a knife, pizza wheel or pair of scissors) into uneven bits that are ideal in all sorts of soups, but especially those with beans

As Australian food prices rise, ‘robust’ cauliflower and cabbage are April’s best value fruit and veg

As roast and soup season starts, it is “a good time for brassicas”, says Graham Gee, senior buyer at the Happy Apple in Melbourne – “cauliflower and broccoli”. “You get a good supply of cabbage, kale, silverbeet and leeks too. All the robust veggies.”While they might not be ultra cheap, he says “a whole cauliflower can go a long way. You can feed a lot of people with them

How to turn a leftover roast lamb bone into Wales’ national dish – recipe | Waste not

Cawl is Wales’ gift to the world of thrifty, slow-cooked broths and, like all great peasant dishes, it’s seasonal, versatile and immensely practical. A few years ago, Food & Drink Wales invited me to create two food sustainability toolkits, one for hospitality and one for the public, with both celebrating Welsh produce and recipes. This led me to explore Wales’ national dishes and discover cawl (or lobscows, the northern Welsh name for the dish) properly for the first time. Inspired by Welsh culinary legends Dudley Newbery and Tomos Parry’s recipes, it’s the perfect way to turn lamb leftovers, or even just a bone, into a hearty meal.The magic of cawl lies in its sheer simplicity