Xanthe Clay answers your questions

What do you eat when you’re too tired to cook?

Caroline, East of England

Well, I often tell myself that if I have one biscuit, I’ll be fine. Twenty four biscuits later, clearly, that wasn’t the case. So I have to be careful about this.

Bread, cheese and fruit are a great combination. Good bread, a nice, decent-sized chunk of cheese and a good British apple. Happy days.

Sometimes I get caught short, so to speak, when I’m out on the road. Recently, Leon has reintroduced its superfood salad, and that’s a great, healthy option that keeps me going for a bit.

Do you have any advice for those who want to improve their baking skills?

Thomas, London

Baking is almost not like other cooking. It’s a science, so make sure that your equipment is accurate. Get some good scales and weigh things carefully, making sure your oven is at the right temperature.

Check it with the oven thermometer, or you can take a baking sheet and scatter a thin layer of flour over it. Put that in the oven and bake it at, say, 180C for about 20 minutes just to toast the flour. Then bring it out carefully, and you should be able to see where the hot patch is, where it’s dark and moist. That’ll give you an idea of where you will need to be careful if you’re placing a bake and where you may need to turn things.

The other thing is, after you’ve practised a bit, go and do a course. Because seeing a real professional fold the flour into the eggs or make a perfect cake is a fantastic way of sharpening up your skills.

I wish I was more confident at going off-piste and experimenting with my meals. Any tips to help me be less rigid?

Fiona, South West

It can be a big ask to start experimenting because when you come in at the end of the day, you’re tired, and you just want to get food on the table.

One of the ways that is clever, if you can afford it, is to spring for one of the meal kit boxes. There’s Gousto, HelloFresh and Mindful Chef, and because they send you everything and the recipe, it can encourage you to try some different things without making it too difficult. They are completely brilliant as a present for somebody who needs a boost, or perhaps a student who has just left home.

How do we easily separate harmful ultra-processed foods from less harmful ones?

Kirstyn, East of England

We’re still in quite early days of the science around ultra-processed food, and we’re still learning which things are harmful and which things aren’t. As a rule of thumb, I would say if it’s not something that I can buy in the supermarket as a separate ingredient, then I’m not sure I really want it in the food that I’m buying.

We made your cherry chocolate brownie and it was amazing. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Mark, South West

Some of the best brownies I knew were made by a friend of mine called Rachel Lucas, who had a company called Sugar Moon Brownies. Sadly, she’s not making them any more, but I still have them in my head. Ottolenghi also makes a great brownie.

I don’t want them too thick because you do want a good contrast of crisp versus soft. You want that kind of fudgy centre and a crisp top. That’s really important. That’s down to putting enough sugar in the mix.