While the delicious. team are testing recipes, they’re often debating the best ways to do things as well as answering cooking questions that arise in the test kitchen. What’s the best cheese toastie? How do you stop cheesecakes from cracking? What are those black berries on elderflower bushes and can you do anything with them? It’s the kind of information you won’t find anywhere else, and it will help take your cooking to the next level.

MAKE THE BOUNTY LAST

ELDERBERRIES

We love elderflower cordial, but the jet black berries that appear on the same plant around now are just as flavoursome – and better for you as they’re packed with antioxidants. Elderberries look tempting on the bush but they do need cooking before you eat them as they’re mildly toxic raw.*

FREEZE Wash elderberry heads in a large bowl of water. Draw a fork along the stems to remove the berries. Pack into bags and freeze for up to 6 months.

PRESERVE To make elderberry cordial, prepare as for freezing, then put in a pan and cover with water. Spice things up for a hot mulled drink by adding a couple of slices of fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick and a star anise. Cook gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine sieve, squeezing the berries, and add 300g sugar for each litre of juice. Heat until dissolved, then bring to the boil and pour into hot sterilised bottles. Seal and store in a cool dark cupboard. Refrigerate once opened. To see a video of how to sterilise jars see deliciousmagazine.co.uk/ how-to-sterilise-jars

ON TREND Scorched food

No longer considered a culinary faux pas, charring adds smoky complexity and a grown-up, bitter edge. But how to scorch your food without scorching yourself? Put ripe cherry tomatoes or citrus peel under a blistering hot grill or flame them on the rack with a blowtorch until spotted with black. Try scorching the skin of fish fillets before finishing in the oven. Cook halved, skin-on onions cut-side down with a splash of oil in a heavy-based pan for about 10 minutes until blackened, then flip and cook, skin-side down, for a few minutes more to soften the flesh. Peel and separate into petals. For most other things, like sprouts, a heavy griddle pan or frying pan works well – but don’t crowd the pan.