Nougat ice-cream with salted honey and fennel biscuits (above)

Prep 15 min

Cook 30 min

Serves 8

For the ice-cream

60g shelled pistachios

60g almonds, skinned and blanched

500ml double cream

500ml whole milk

10 egg yolks

120g honey

30g sugar

35g glucose or invert sugar syrup

Grated zest of ¼ orange

½ tsp orange-blossom water

75g soft nougat, chopped or crumbled into 1cm/½ inch pieces

For the biscuits

180g plain flour, sieved

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp fennel seeds

100g unsalted butter, diced and softened

95g caster sugar

50g honey

Flaky sea salt

Put the flour, baking powder and fennel seeds in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the butter, sugar and honey, then mix with the paddle attachment until a dough comes together.

Tip out on to a clean work surface and bring together by hand, until you have a smooth, firm dough. Divide the dough in half and roll into two 5cm-thick logs. Wrap in parchment and put in the fridge until thoroughly chilled. If you’re making ahead, put in the freezer until needed and bake from frozen.

To bake the biscuits, heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Unwrap the dough, and space at least 10cm apart on baking trays. Bake for 15-20 minutes, squashing now and then with the base of a heavy pan, until they are an even, deep golden brown. Eventually the biscuits should be fully flattened: the ideal thickness is 5mm.

Remove the biscuits from the oven and leave to cool slightly, then, while still warm and soft, cut each biscuit into fingers, ideally 10cm long and 2cm wide, but any shape will do. Sprinkle the biscuits liberally with flaky sea salt and leave to cool completely.

To make the ice-cream, reheat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5. On separate roasting trays, roast the nuts for eight minutes, or until aromatic and just taking on a tiny bit of colour. Keep the roasted pistachios whole, but chop the roasted almonds into chunks – the size is up to you. Put the chopped almonds in a spaghetti basket or wide-meshed sieve, then shake to remove any fine dust. This might seem a bit of a faff, but it’s worth it, as any almond dust will give the ice-cream an unpleasant grainy texture.

Meanwhile, bring the cream and milk slowly to a boil in a pan; turn off the heat before it boils over. While you wait for the milk and cream to boil, whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl with the honey, sugar and glucose or invert sugar syrup. The mixture should be as smooth as possible, but not aerated. Pour the hot milk and cream gradually into the egg and honey mixture, whisking continually as you pour. Add the mixture back to the pan and cook very slowly on a low heat, stirring all the while with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, until it reaches 82C/180F, or thickens to the point when it coats the back of a wooden spoon and a line drawn with your finger over the spoon remains unbroken. Pour the cooked custard through a fine sieve into a deep tray that will fit in your refrigerator. At this point, add the roasted nuts to the custard; leave the tray of custard to cool to room temperature, stirring now and then to stop it forming a skin, and refrigerate until chilled.

Once chilled, stir in the orange zest, orange-blossom and the nougat pieces. Churn in an ice-cream maker as per manufacturer’s instructions. Alternatively, put the tray in the freezer, stirring the mixture every 30 minutes until evenly frozen.

I like to serve a couple of scoops of ice-cream per person with a biscuit nestled in the bowl alongside.

Panna cotta and cherries poached in pastis

Alex Jackson’s panna cotta and cherries poached in pastis.

Prep 20 min

Cook 20 min

Chill 2 hr

Makes 4

For the panna cotta

600ml double cream

1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Rind of ½ unwaxed lemon, peeled with a vegetable peeler

1½ leaves gelatine

75ml whole milk

75g icing sugar

For the poached cherries

100ml pastis

100ml water

50g caster sugar

1 thyme sprig

400g finest French dark red cherries, stalks removed and pitted

Pour 450ml of the cream into a pan, add the vanilla and lemon rind, then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer until the cream has reduced by a third. Remove the cooked lemon rind. If using real vanilla, remove the vanilla pod, split it lengthways and scrape the seeds back into the pan.

Soak the gelatine in the cold milk for about 15 minutes, or until soft. Remove the gelatine, bring the milk to a boil, then return the gelatine to the milk and stir until dissolved.

Pour the milk and gelatine mixture through a sieve into the hot cream, stir, then leave to cool. Lightly whip the remaining cream with the icing sugar and fold into the cooled, cooked cream.

Pour the panna cotta mixture into your preferred moulds: I like to use individual dariole moulds that are wider than they are tall. they should be about 150ml capacity, but make do with what you have. Leave the panna cotta in the fridge to set for at least two hours.

To poach the cherries, bring the pastis, water and sugar to a boil with the sprig of thyme. Add the cherries. Cook at a low simmer for about 10–15 minutes, until the cherries have softened slightly and the poaching liquor has turned a deep red. Remove from the heat and leave the cherries to cool in the liquid. Refrigerate until cool.

To turn out the panna cottas, dip the moulds into a pot of boiling water for just a second or two. This will melt the very outside of the panna cotta and allow it to slip easily from the mould. Turn out each panna cotta into a shallow bowl, then spoon over the cherries and some of the crimson liquor.

Chocolate mousse, hazelnut biscuits and chantilly

Alex Jackson’s chocolate mousse, hazelnut biscuits and chantilly.

Prep 40 min

Cook 25 min

Serves 6

For the mousse

170g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

170g cold butter, cold and cubed

2 pinches salt

1 shot espresso or 2 tbsp strong coffee, cooled

4 eggs, separated

170g caster sugar, plus 2 tsp for the egg whites

2 tbsp rum or brandy

1 tbsp water

For the biscuits

60g hazelnuts

25g plain flour, sifted

100g caster sugar

2 medium egg whites

½ tsp vanilla extract or paste or the seeds from ½ vanilla pod

For the chantilly cream

250ml double cream

2-3 tbsp icing sugar

1 splash brandy, cognac or Armagnac

Melt the chocolate, butter and a pinch of salt together over a bain-marie of simmering water. When melted and mixed, slowly add the cooled coffee to avoid splitting.

In another bowl set over a bain-marie, beat together the egg yolks, sugar, rum and water with a whisk, until thickened slightly. Cool over ice, stirring as it cools, until cold and thick. Fold the chocolate/butter mix into the egg yolks.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt. When they begin to froth and take shape, drizzle in the two teaspoons of sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Fold a third of the egg whites into the chocolate, then repeat until all is incorporated. Pour into a container and chill for three to four hours, until set.

To make the hazelnut biscuits, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Roast the hazelnuts for about 10 minutes, until golden brown; leave to cool until you can handle them. Meanwhile, mix the flour, sugar, egg whites and vanilla until well incorporated. Roughly chop the hazelnuts and add them to the mixture.

Line a tray with parchment paper and spoon out the biscuits, about a tablespoon of mixture for each, leaving as much space as possible in between each one, as they spread out. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Leave to cool completely, then peel the biscuits off the parchment. These will keep for a week in a sealed container.

To make the chantilly cream, whip the cream with the icing sugar and a splash of brandy, cognac or armagnac. How much sugar and booze, I will leave to you. Heat a spoon in some simmering water, scoop the chocolate mousse on to plates and serve with the hazelnut biscuits and cream.

Rum baba with Reine Claude plums

Alex Jackson’s rum baba with roast Reine Claude plums.

Prep/prove 3 hr

Cook 30 min

Makes 8 babas

For the babas

1½ tsp dried yeast

80ml milk, warmed

2 tsp sugar

1 small pinch salt

3 eggs, beaten

300g plain flour

125g unsalted butter, cubed and softened

50g currants, rum-soaked

For the rum syrup

200ml dark rum

400g caster sugar

4 star anise

4 cinnamon sticks

8 cloves

For the plums

8 Reine Claude plums, halved and stoned

1 tsp icing sugar

2 tbsp unsalted butter

A few thyme sprigs

To serve

Whipped cream, sweetened with sugar

1 splash dark rum

Gently warm the milk. to body temperature. Dissolve the yeast in the milk, then stir in the sugar and salt. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes to activate.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl and add the activated yeast mixture. Add half the flour and mix to make a wet batter (I use an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook). Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for an hour to prove.

After the first proof, add the remaining flour and knead for a few minutes to make a dough. Dot over the softened butter in little knobs, cover, and prove for a further hour.

After the second proof, mix the softened butter into the dough and add the rum-soaked currants. Grease some small dariole moulds generously with butter; use moulds that are taller than they are wide – about 65mm x 60mm. Transfer the dough into the moulds, filling each one no more than two-thirds full. Cover with a cloth and leave the filled moulds to prove for around 30 minutes, or until the dough has risen and is approaching the rim of the mould.

Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5. Put the plums in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with sugar and leave to macerate for 15 minutes. Dot the plums with the butter, top with a sprig or two of thyme, and put the babas on a tray, leaving ample space between each mould.

Bake both plums and the babas for 20 minutes, until the babas are golden and a ‘mushroom’ has risen over the top of each mould, and the plums are jammy.

Meanwhile, make the rum syrup. Put the rum, sugar and spices in a pan, then pour in 800ml cold water and bring to a boil. Boil together for about 10 minutes, until syrupy, then keep warm.

Remove the babas from the oven. Leave the babas to cool slightly, then unmould: slide a knife around each mould to ensure the babas have not stuck. Pour the syrup into a small pot and, one by one, submerge the babas in the syrup until all the babas are sodden.

Serve them while still warm with the roast plums and a dollop of lightly whipped, sweetened cream, with a little extra rum splashed on top.

• Recipes from Sardine: Simple Seasonal Provencal Cooking by Alex Jackson (Pavilion Books, £25). Order a copy for just £22 at guardianbookshop.com