Lorraine Pascale's inspiring party menu

The menu

• Light meals & snacks

  Nice and spicy Thai minced chicken salad (Larb Gai)

• Starters & nibbles

  Chorizo and lemongrass pastry puff scrolls

• Starters & nibbles

  Cucumber and feta bites with dill and pomegranate

• Desserts

  White chocolate bite-sized 'Napoleons'

• Cakes and baking

  Coconut kisses with ginger filly Chantilly and a strawberry slice

Menu ingredients

Serves 12-15

• Fruit and vegetables

  • 1 lime, juice only

  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped

  • ¼ cucumber, finely diced

  • 1-2 red chillies, finely sliced, seeds removed for less heat if preferred

  • 1cm/½in piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped

  • ½ bunch coriander, leaves and stalks roughly chopped (about 2 tbsp)

  • ½ bunch mint, leaves only, ripped

  • 12 largish crisp iceberg lettuce leaves (cup-shaped are best)

  • 1 stick lemongrass

  • 1 cucumber

  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill

  • 3 tbsp pomegranate seeds

  • 24 raspberries

  • 24 tiny mint sprigs

  • 8 medium-large strawberries, hulled, pointed ends trimmed and each one cut into 3 discs

• Tins, packets and jars

  • a little plain flour, for dusting

  • 1 tbsp plain flour

• Cooking ingredients

  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil

  • flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 tbsp fish sauce

  • 1 tsp caster, granulated or soft light brown sugar

  • 1 handful salted (but not dry roasted) peanuts (about 50g/1¾oz)

  • freshly ground black pepper

  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

  • 90g/3¼oz caster sugar

  • 1 tbsp cornflour

  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds only

  • 100g/3½oz desiccated coconut

  • 200g/7oz caster sugar

  • 2½ tsp icing sugar

  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds only

  • 2 knobs stem ginger (from a jar in syrup), really finely diced, plus 1 tbsp of the ginger syrup

• Biscuits, snacks and sweets

  • 400g/14oz milk, dark or white chocolate

• Dairy, eggs and chilled

  • 340g/11¾oz pack puff pastry (not ready-rolled as it usually breaks up when you open it)

  • 1 free-range egg, lightly beaten

  • 75g/2½oz feta cheese, drained

  • 300ml/10½fl oz milk

  • 4 free-range egg yolks

  • 4 free-range egg whites

  • 200g/7oz low-fat cream cheese

• Meat, fish and poultry

  • 2 large, boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 225g/8oz each), minced up in a food processor

  • 18 pieces pre-sliced chorizo (about 7cm/2¾in wide pieces)

By Lorraine Pascale