The Guardian Feast – 22 August 2026

Summary

"Cherry blondie ice-cream sandwiches" headline The Guardian Feast Issue No. 448, 22 August 2026, as the cover star, alongside Meera Sodha's blackberry and almond cake, Thomasina Miers' lamb-stuffed aubergine, Felicity Cloake's cold soba noodles, and Cynthia Shanmugalingam's cucumber curry. Grace Dent reviews a restaurant where "the mouse will put you on your back with a sugar high."

The cover's cherry blondie ice-cream sandwich sets the tone for a summer-indulgence issue. Contributors cover Sodha (blackberry and almond cake), Thomasina Miers (lamb-stuffed aubergine with chilli butter, iced berry-ripple tahini cream), Georgina Hayden (corn, jalapeño and black bean nachos), Cloake (cold soba noodles), Cynthia Shanmugalingam (cucumber curry), Rachel Roddy (saffron rice), and summer pickles (courgette kraut). The issue balances hot-weather cooking (cold noodles, cucumber curry) with comfort food (nachos, stuffed aubergine).

Regular sections include Grace Dent's restaurant review and the food filter.

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Content Guide

▸ Summer Indulgence / No-Cook / Baking / Restaurant Reviews

Cherry blondie ice-cream sandwiches
The cover recipe: blondies studded with cherries, sliced and filled with vanilla ice cream. The recipe specifies the bake time for a fudgy versus cakey blondie texture. Anyone hosting a summer party can assemble the sandwiches 4 hours ahead and keep them in the freezer — the recipe includes the slicing and wrapping method.

Meera Sodha — Blackberry and almond cake
A single-layer cake that uses ground almonds instead of flour for a naturally gluten-free result. Sodha specifies frozen blackberries if fresh are unavailable, with the exact thawing and draining instructions. Bakers can serve this warm with crème fraiche as a pudding or cold with tea.

Thomasina Miers — Lamb-stuffed aubergine with chilli butter
A main-course aubergine that is halved, scored and stuffed with spiced lamb, then finished with a melted chilli butter. Miers gives the internal temperature for the lamb (63C) and the resting time. Cooks who meal-prep can stuff the aubergines the night before and bake when needed.

Felicity Cloake — Cold soba noodles
Cloake's version of the Japanese summer staple with a dipping sauce made from 4 ingredients. She explains why the noodles must be rinsed under cold water after cooking and which brand works best as a supermarket option. Anyone without a Japanese grocery store can use the suggested substitute for the dipping base.

Georgina Hayden — Corn, jalapeño and black bean nachos
Sheet-pan nachos that use fresh corn cut from the cob. Hayden provides the oven temperature (200C) and the exact layering order to prevent soggy chips. Anyone feeding a crowd can double the recipe and use two baking sheets rotated halfway through.

Grace Dent — Restaurant review
Dent reviews a restaurant where dessert is the highlight — a specific chocolate mouse she says "will put you on your back with a sugar high." She names the starters and mains to skip and the specific pudding to order. Dessert-first diners should book for the chocolate alone, per Dent's recommendation.

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Editor's Take

The cherry blondie ice-cream sandwich is a genuinely great cover recipe — aspirational enough to sell the issue but simple enough that a competent home baker can pull it off. Thomasina Miers' lamb-stuffed aubergine is the issue's best savoury recipe, with the chilli butter adding restaurant-level finish. The weakness is the cucumber curry, which sounds interesting but reads as underseasoned in the recipe transcript. This issue is for home cooks who want one impressive dessert and a handful of solid summer dinners.

Strengths
• Cherry blondie ice-cream sandwich — achievable cover recipe
• Thomasina Miers' lamb-stuffed aubergine with temperature-specified doneness
• Cold soba noodles with supermarket-brand recommendation

Weaknesses
• Cucumber curry recipe reads as bland on the page
• Courgette kraut recipe too niche for the average home cook

Verdict: Recommended — buy for the ice-cream sandwich and stuffed aubergine; the rest is reliable Feast-standard recipe content.