Food: Culinary delights in new Trust cook book

But for me, the cafes serving the unbelievably delicious food are just as worthy a visit as the historic houses and grand gardens themselves.

I’ve been dished up the most delicious Chicken Buknade - a light yet hearty springtime stew - in Liverpool’s Speke Hall; tucked into a gorgeously summery Smoked Trout & Watercress Tart in Mottisfont, Romsey, delighted in the Robartes Pie in Cornwall’s Lanhydrock and had to stop myself from indulging in a second slice of Sissinghurt’s Honey, Walnut & Cobnut Tart when I was on a jaunt in Kent.

And don’t even get me started on the most amazing cakes they serve at every eatery...

Each year, National Trust visitors tuck into more than 100,000 plates of sausage and mash, almost 700,000 steaming hot bowls of soup and well over a million moreish scones, washed down - of course - with almost seven million cups of tea and coffee.

Now that summer might have finally arrived, however, you can invite friends and family around and cook up a storm with the National Trust’s very own cookbook.

You can’t fail to impress - especially when armed with these recipes...