With ideas of 5 things to do this week in London:

The must-visit shopping experience popping up at Harrods, and how to forage for wild food like a pro

FIVE THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

Not ready to venture abroad? Book one of Bvlgari Hotel London’s glitzy new staycation escapes. Our top pick is B.Private, designed to offer ultimate privacy with in-suite experiences including personal shopping with Harvey Nichols and an exclusive dinner party for your bubble. From £3,900 per night.

Enjoy al fresco afternoon tea from marquee pods in Blenheim Palace’s picturesque Italian Garden. Created in collaboration with Perrier-Jouët and Searcys, the new experience invites guests to sip on bubbly, feast on sweet and savoury treats and soak up the views of the historic World Heritage Site.

Check out the Dior pop-up at Harrods, which premieres new velvet versions of the House’s emblematic bags. The opening coincides with the launch of Dior’s autumn/winter ready-to-wear collection, offering shoppers the chance to have their accessory purchases personalised by an artisan on-site. Until 30 August.

Learn the art of cooking over woodfire in an outdoor class at Season, a culinary school in Hampshire. Led by Manna from Devon founder David Jones, the day-long workshop will involve preparing and cooking pizza and fish, as well as learning the art of roasting, grilling and baking al fresco. £195pp.

Tune into Designscape, a three-day virtual event focused on the future of design across the residential, retail and hospitality sectors. Taking place from 11 – 13 August, the event will involve a mixture of online symposiums and discussions, covering topics such as sustainability in design and and AI.

MY WEEK IN FORAGING

BY RACHEL LAMBERT

Each week we ask a special guest to share a handful of top picks from their field. This week it’s foraging expert and author Rachel Lambert with her tips for those looking to explore the world of wild food.

It’s important to only ever pick plants if you are 100 percent sure of their identification. Seek professional advice or join a foraging walk where you can learn from an expert. Pick away from roadsides, picking plants that are in abundance – pick a little and leave a lot for other animal, bird and human foragers. One of my favourite things to pick right now is blackberries – full of vitamin C, K and fibre, they are so good for you. Another one is roses: all roses are edible, just make sure they haven’t been sprayed. You can use the petals in salads, to garnish desserts or infuse to make syrup. Pineapple weed is a member of the daisy family and tastes fruity, though it’s reminiscent of chamomile too. Scatter the flowering tops into summer salads – like chamomile, they also have calming effects.

Click here for more tips on using foraged ingredients...

WHAT’S COOKING?

Alex Mackay’s raspberry jam ripple frozen yoghurt taken from cookbook The Magic Fridge – the tastiest way to cool down in the heatwave.

"This is a simple way of making ‘ice cream’. It’s tangy, refreshing and delicious, just the thing for a summer’s afternoon or a reviving breakfast. You don’t absolutely need an ice cream machine for this recipe, but the texture will be smoother and lighter if the frozen yoghurt is made in one. I would highly recommend getting an ice cream machine for your birthday – it’s like having a bit of Willy Wonka’s factory at home. You can eat the raspberry yoghurt unfrozen, or put it into shallow dishes, chill them nearly to the point of freezing, and then caramelise the top as you would a crème brûlée."

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2

For the jam (makes 1.9kg)

1kg jam sugar

Grated zest of 1 orange

Grated zest and juice (3 tbsp) of 1 lemon

1kg raspberries or blackberries

For the ice cream

1 x 250g tub full-fat yoghurt (the more fat the better), or fromage blanc

250g raspberry or blackberry jam

METHOD

1. To make the jam, get a large (24cm) heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the jam sugar, the citrus zest and the lemon juice. Add the raspberries. Give it all a gentle toss rather than stir so as not to break up the raspberries. Gently bring to the boil.

2. Watch over it and make sure that the sugar dissolves before it starts to boil. Stir occasionally to make sure that the jam doesn’t stick to the bottom. Once the jam boils, boil rapidly for 4–5 minutes, stirring every now and then. The temperature should be 104°C. Take the pan off the heat. Pour the jam into a bowl. Stir gently every now and then as it cools. This will help distribute the fruit evenly

3. Spoon the fruit into sterilised jars just before the jam has set. Fill the jars right up to the top. Cover the jars first with clingfilm, which should touch the surface of the jam, then with the lids. Leave to cool. Store in the fridge or a cool place.

4. To make the ice cream, take a shallow plastic or earthenware container. Add the yoghurt. Whisk in two-thirds of the raspberry jam. Put the tray in the freezer and freeze for six hours, vigorously stirring the mixture every 30 minutes. (I found it easiest to leave my whisk in the dish in the freezer.)

5. After about three hours, when the yoghurt begins to harden, take it out of the freezer and fold in the rest of the raspberry jam, combining the two just enough to make streaks through the mixture. Freeze for a further two to three hours before serving. If you have an ice cream machine, just pour the original mixture into it and churn. Once it is ready, add the final third of the raspberry jam and churn once or twice until it streaks through the mixture.

Serve on frozen plates or in frozen glasses.

Extracted from The Magic Fridge by Alex Mackay (Bloomsbury, £26.00).

Click here for more recipes...

This week author Andrew Duncan is reading The Straits of Treachery by Country & Town House’s book reviewer Richard Hopton.

"Richard Hopton has struck an unmined seam of material in his recently published novel The Straits of Treachery. While most know that the British fought Napoleon in Spain, Portugal and at Waterloo, few know that to keep control of key Mediterranean sea routes they occupied Sicily from 1806 to 1815, maintaining a garrison on the north coast at Messina to protect the port and defend the island from invasion by the French. In 1809 and 1810 Napoleon’s brother-in-law Murat commanded an army on the Italian mainland, across the narrow Straits of Messina, intending to invade the island. This is the atmospheric and, for a work of fiction, fresh and well-researched setting for Hopton’s story of how a French spy ring make life difficult for the British forces on Sicily. A great read for army buffs and anyone interested in Napoleonic times."

The audio edition, voiced by Thomas Judd, will be available from 12 August. On the hunt for more book recommendations? Take a look at the C&TH reading list here...