The first weekend in January was the last of my Christmas holiday and on the Friday we had a lovely dinner party at my parents’. It was just my parents, my best friend Emma, her husband Claes and me. And lots of food and wine, as it should be. I love that the people closest to me get on so well and that we can socialise like we’re all just old friends regardless of the age difference.

We had some bubbly and a large batch of Toast Öjeby to start before moving on to the dinner table for the maincourse:

Topside of beef with dauphinoise potatoes (my mother’s version with leek and no cheese), port wine sauce and steamed broccoli. Although a complete classic I never tire of good quality beef and potatoes au gratin!

The only newish dish this evening was a wintery take on the classic Swedish dessert gino. I have no idea who invented it or when but a classic ino is like a warm fruit salad covered with white chocolate. The classic combination of fruits is banana, strawberry and kiwi but I opted for some wintery fruits instead; banana, clementine, pineapple and pomegranate seeds. This was probably even better as I prefer the pineapple and pomegranate to the kiwi. You can serve this with lightly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream but I definitely think the ice cream works best.

Winter gino, serves 4

2 bananas, sliced

2-3 clementines, in wedges cut into half

1/3 fresh pinapple, in chunks

1 pomegranate, seeds only

150-200 g white chocolate, chopped

Mix banana, clementine and pineapple in an oven-proof dish. Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top and then the chocolate. Bake in 200C oven until the chocolate has melted and browned a little. Serve with vanilla ice cream (or lightly whipped cream).