Last weekend I drove two of my brothers down to Mt Maunganui (3hrs from Auckland) for a surf lifesaving carnival – my first long car trip without parents in the car! Open road driving in New Zealand is mostly more challenging than other parts of the world (like the US), as straight motorways in the city quickly give way to narrow, windy roads with single lanes of traffic hurtling towards each other without any barrier separation. However, we arrived without incident, and I cooked dinner for six food-loving extended family members. Summer meals for me mean an abundance of seasonal fruit (corn, tomatoes, berries, stonefruit), light, fresh flavours and time-efficient recipes which maximise the afternoon outside and on the beach.

These barbecued flour tortillas with corn and avocado salad, tomato salsa, and blackened cajun salmon ticked all these boxes, and this chocolate cherry tart disappeared in one sitting. This would be a perfect dessert to make for your next summer barbecue – it is easy, appearing far more impressive than the effort required, can be made ahead, and is always met with appreciation. Mousse-like, rich dark chocolate is encased in a buttery, crisp short pastry shell and studded with ripe, slightly oven roasted mahogony cherries – impossible not to like!

This recipe, from Bill Granger’s recent cookbook, Easy, is unlike many other chocolate cherry combinations I have seen in that it does not contain outlandish quantities of cream and butter, yet still manages to have as rich a chocolate flavour as you could ask for. I made it a second time in order to photograph it (more expedient reasons were also involved!) and had to hold back my brothers from diving in before I got the chance – they ended up waiting, plates at the ready, trying desperately to hurry me along. This ‘stop and take photos’ stage of my food interest is definitely less well received than the making it part.

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