That’s just classic

"What's for dinner and is there dessert?" That's the question my daughter's friends usually ask when they come for a sleepover.

My teenage daughter and her girlfriends are making the most of this summer in a carefree and spirited fashion that makes me envious of the young. I’m sure I never enjoyed my youth as much as they seem to be enjoying theirs. They confidently drift from one house to another, with sleepovers a regular part of the routine. You never know when it’s going to be your turn to play host or how many you’ll be catering for – they just arrive en masse. And the first question always seems to be “What’s for dinner and is there dessert?”

Feeding other people’s kids is tricky, as you don’t know their mores and tastes. A couple of years ago we had a curious evening when the overnighting child had never seen a whole golden roast chicken (she disputed even that it was a chicken – she had only ever eaten roasted skinless breast meat) or eaten fresh buttered green beans (they were too “squeaky”). She was also suspicious of the blissfully sweet raspberries served simply with whipped cream.

I now play it cautiously, keeping the dishes to classic matches I know will work. Given that it is usually girls I cook for (boys have yet to make an appearance), I try to keep the food pretty and feminine. Pinks always work well. Watermelon, prosciutto, the soft colours of a raspberry and peach cake and nail-polish-pink plum ice cream are possibly the best combinations of taste and colour to ­satisfy the travelling sisterhood.

The salty sweetness of this salad is balanced by the juiciness of the watermelon. Rock melon also works well. From start to finish, this salad should take no more than 15 minutes to prepare.

Watermelon and Peach Salad with Rocket and Prosciutto

1 small watermelon

24 slices of prosciutto

Cut off the melon rind and slice the flesh into thick pieces, removing the seeds as you go. Cut into 3cm chunks and divide between the serving plates. Halve the peaches and remove the stones. Cut each half into quarters and tuck them around the watermelon chunks. Rinse the rocket, tear off the tough lower part of the stalk, then place the leaves in a bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk the vinegar and oils, then season with salt and pepper. Spoon the dressing over the rocket leaves, toss gently, then divide the leaves between the serving plates, spooning any remaining dressing over the leaves, melon and peaches. Finally, place 3 slices of prosciutto over the salad and serve.

Serves 8.

This is a perfect tender-crumbed cake to make when you have bruised peaches or fruit that refuses to ripen.

Raspberry and Peach Cake

180g unsalted butter

icing sugar, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line the base of a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale. Add the eggs one at a time (don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled). Combine the flour and almonds and slowly add to the egg mixture. Add the vanilla. Halve, stone then roughly chop the peaches and incorporate them into the mix with the raspberries. Scrape the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour. Test with a skewer – if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. If not, leave it to bake for another 15 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin. Slide onto a plate, dust with icing sugar and serve with either yoghurt or softly whipped cream.

Enough for 8.

The sultry pink of this ice cream comes from the plums, so use ones with dark flesh. The combination of ginger and plums seems as natural as peaches and cream.

Plum Ice Cream and Ginger Biscuit Sandwich

600g plums, preferably Santa Rosa

3 tbsp milk

To make the purée, wash the plums, remove the stalks, then cut the fruit in half and remove the stones. Cut the fruit into pieces and place in a deep saucepan with the water and sugar. Cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes until tender. Pour into a blender and purée until smooth.

Make the ice cream. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan, slice the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape the seeds into the pan. Add the pod halves as well, and bring the milk almost to the boil (it’s hot enough when a skin starts to form). Turn off the heat and leave the vanilla to infuse for 30 minutes.

While the milk infuses, cream the egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy. Strain the milk through a sieve onto the egg mixture, whisking it in as you do. Transfer it into a clean saucepan, place back over a moderate heat. Bring it slowly to the heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, and cook until thickens and will coat the back of the spoon. The custard should not reach boiling point or it will scramble the eggs. Pour the thickened custard into a cold bowl and refrigerate until cold. Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn until almost frozen. Line a shallow baking tin with plastic wrap.

Pour in the purée, spoon the ice cream into the baking tin and smooth the top with a palette knife. Cover tightly with more plastic wrap and freeze for at least an hour. Remove the ice cream from the freezer, remove the top layer of plastic wrap and cut into rounds the same size as the ginger biscuits. Sandwich the ice cream between the biscuits and serve.

To make the biscuits, preheat the oven to 170°C. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and golden syrup and continue to mix while you sift the flour, soda and spices. Add to the creamed mixture. Beat in the milk until the dough forms a smooth ball. Tip the dough onto a floured board and roll out. Cut into 2cm-diameter rounds. Line 2 oven trays with baking paper and place the rounds onto the trays with enough space between them to allow for spreading. Bake for 15 minutes to a deep golden brown, remove and cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes enough for 8.