Month: July 2023

Rose and Raspberry Meringues

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Barbie fever has taken over the world. I was more of a tomboy and never really got into Barbie, but it did give the chance to make something cute and pretty.

These may look “rustic”, but if you can be bothered with the faff of a piping bag, you can make the meringue nests a little more uniform, and the cream in top look fancier. They can be kept undecorated in an airtight container for 3-4 days. If you’re entertaining this is useful so that you can make these on advance and assemble at the last minute.

I used the tiniest amount of rose water in the cream (less is definitely more with this stuff), but if it’s not your thing it’s fine to leave it out. Just to be whimsical I used some pink food colouring in the meringue and some dried rose petals just be fancy, but these will still taste great with out the girly touches.

Makes 6-8 meringue nests

150 Grams Sugar

3 Egg whites

Pink food colouring (optional, ideally use a gel food colouring, I added a tiny bit but can add according to how strong you want the colour to be)

For topping

300 ml Double or whipping cream

50 Grams Icing sugar

1/4 Tsp Rose water (optional)

200 Grams Raspberries

1 Tbsp Dried rose petals (optional)

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 110 degree (Celsius)
  • Line a baking sheet with baking parchment, and draw 6cm circles as a guide for your meringue nests . I have a silicon baking sheet with circles already drawn on which is really handy
  • Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, whip your egg whites into soft peaks
  • Continue whisking (if you’re using food colouring add it now) and gradually add the sugar to the egg whites until the meringue is stiff and glossy
  • Using the circles on your baking sheet as a guide, spoon or pipe the meringue into the circles
  • Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes and then switch the oven off and leave the meringues on the oven while it cools down
  • When the meringues are completely cold, whip the cream, icing sugar and rose water together until it forms stiff peaks
  • Spoon or pipe on top of the meringues and then top with fresh raspberries and sprinkle with rose petals for a little bit of fanciness

Surprise Cake (Guess the Secret Ingredient)

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If like me you love trolling through old recipe books, you find some pretty weird stuff.  Don’t start me on how wrong Fanny Craddock’s mincemeat omelette is.

Recipes with weird ingredients largely came about because times were hard or normal ingredients just weren’t available.

This cake dates back to the depression, and was popular again during World War 2 when the secret ingredient was used when butter was rationed.

If you haven’t guessed yet, the secret ingredient is Campbell’s condensed tomato soup.  Before you get grossed out, I promise the cake doesn’t taste of tomato soup, it actually tastes great.

This isn’t the depression era recipe (because lets face it butter makes everything taste better).  I’ve used a cream cheese frosting and grated chocolate but you could also use nuts as a topping too.  I baked this as a sheet pan cake, but you can also split it between two 6 inch cake tins if you want to make this as a two tier cake.

Ingredients

120 Grams Butter (room temperature)

200 Grams Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla extract

210 Grams Plain flour

1 Tsp Baking soda

1 1/2 Tsp Ground ginger

1 1/2 Tsp Ground cinnamon

1 Can Campbell’s condensed tomato soup (do not add water)

For the topping

200 Grams Cream cheese

100 Grams Icing sugar

50 Grams Dark chocolate (grated)

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 170 degrees (Celsius)
  • Using a stand mixer or electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
  • Add the eggs, one at a time.  Mix well, and don’t panic if the mix looks like it’s curdled a little.
  • Add the vanilla extract, and dry ingredients and mix until it forms a smooth batter
  • Add the tomato soup concentrate to the mix, and fold in thoroughly with a spatula until there no more streaks in the mix
  • Line a 9in x 12 in cake tin with baking parchment.
  • Pour the mix into the cake tin and spread evenly, make sure to get the mix right into the corners.  Bake for 45-50 minutes before checking the centre with a tooth pick (if it comes our clean the cake is ready, if not give it a few extra minutes)
  • Allow the cake to cool completely before topping with the frosting
  • To make the icing, whisk the icing sugar and cream cheese together drape a tea towel over the bowl to stop the icing sugar billowing up
  • Once all the ingredients are combined, spread evenly across the the cake which should now completely cold
  • Sprinkle with grated chocolate or crushed walnuts

Cheapskate “Crab” Cakes.

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Proper cakes are amazing, but the last time I bought fresh crab I almost had a coronary because it was so expensive.

To make a cheaper version I tried using seafood sticks (little bars of processed fish my nephew refers to as fish sausages).

While using proper crab is preferable, if you’re on a budget these are still really tasty. They make a great lunch or starter, and you can serve them with tartar sauce or just a squeeze of lemon. It’s also a good way to use up left over mashed potato

Serves 4

Ingredients

10 Seafood sticks/about 150 Grams (finely chopped)

300 Grams Mashed potato

3 Tbsp Mayonnaise

1 Tbsp Siracha

2-3 Scallions/spring onions (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Parsley (finely chopped)

Juice of half a lemon

1-2 Tbsp Oil for frying

150 Grams Breadcrumbs (seasoned with salt and pepper)

Method

  • Add all the ingredients (except the oil for frying and breadcrumbs) in to a large bowl and mix with your hands until well combined
  • Divide into 8 patties, and coat these with seasoned breadcrumbs
  • Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat and fry them 4 at a time for 5 minutes on each side each or until golden brown. You can also cook these in an air fryer or bake in the oven at 200 degrees (Celsius) if you prefer not to fry them