Meringues

Part two of my rambles about graduation...

So whilst at this fabulous graduation ball I ran into an old friend who I hadn't seen in a while, his name is Mr Churchill; keen surfer, purchaser of ridiculous objects whilst at university (anyone else know anyone who has purchased a table tennis table and a hot tub?!) 

Prior to heading down to Exeter I had being batting off my aunt who was taking the micky on our annual family holiday; she was being stereotypical about what type of boys I  might encounter in halls. Her description was as follows: surfers & well educated boys. I vividly remember the day I moved into halls, getting out of the car and there is this blonde wavy-haired guy in board shorts moving his stuff into halls with his family in tow; two surf boards, a hamper & luggage being marched inside! (My aunt would have been laughing at me if she could have seen the sight) It turns out Henry's family are involved in a certain Shore Surf Shop ... Obviously. Its a good job the cheeky sod managed to get a double occupation bedroom sized room to himself to store all of his boards, and the table tennis table that was to follow after deciding he had too much space in his room! To come back round to the graduation ball, when I bumped into this surfer & we were catching up on old times, my blog was one of the topics of conversation that cropped up & I promised a mention to this old friend. So Henry, this is for you, if you haven't twigged by now!

The next thought was how the bloody hell could I link a surfing boy from uni to the latest perfect bake. My tenuous link lies in the form of a meringue recipe (slightly wavy looking ...)

Makes 12-15

Pre-heat the oven to 150°C

Bake to perfection for 40 minutes 

Cool in the oven for 1 hour

You will need the following:

3 Egg Whites

175g Golden Caster Sugar

An electric whisk

Method:

Separate your eggs & place the whites in a bowl ... whisk!

Start on a low setting for the first 2 minutes then whack up to the highest speed setting for a good 3 or 4 more minutes

You want to whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, stick with it, be brave, it will take a while. When it looks like this spoon in the sugar, one spoon at a time, whilst continuing to whisk the meringue mix

Continue on for another couple of minutes until all of the sugar has been mixed in and the mix forms stiff peaks. 

You should be able to tip your beaters & the mixture stay still on the beaters

Spoon the mix onto butter greased baking parchment on a tray. 

Use two desert spoons to plop the mixture into artful blobs! 

They will need to be quite spaced out. On a normal sized baking tray you want to have 5 meringues 

Artfully create whispy wavey meringues using a wooden skewer to peak to tops of the meringues

Before putting your meringues into the oven turn it down to 140°C

Bake to perfection in the oven for 40 minutes. 

When you reach this time turn your oven off and leave your meringues inside to cool down 

Serve with either strawberries, raspberries, cream, ice cream or whatever you fancy ... 

Enjoy 

Jubilee Celebration Cake

This is a celebration cake fit for such a royal affair. I am rather a fan of the royal family having first met the Queen when I was six years old; handing her a bunch of sweet peas from the garden at home when she opened the local university, this combined with a strong influence from my family I have enjoyed celebrating the various milestones enjoyed by the royal family. Most recently I saw the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee tour when she opened the new building works at University in Exeter. So, this is my offering for a celebration cake of the Diamond Jubilee ... it tastes bloody marvellous!

Serves 10-12

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 20 minutes

You will need the following:

Cake

225g Butter

225g Self Raising Flour

225g Caster Sugar

4 Eggs

1Tbsp Baking Powder

1 Drop of Vanilla Essence

Icing Filling

250ml Double Cream

200ml Crème Fraîche

50g Icing Sugar

3Tbsp Raspberry Jam

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar

 

Add in the eggs one at a time

 

Next stir in the flour

 

Until it forms a smooth texture

Add a drop of vanilla essence

Add the baking powder

When your mixture is looking nice and combined, pour into two circular greased (removable bottom) baking tins. If the mixture is not of a ribbon consistency the cake will be dry when it is cooked, so it is essential that you have measure out your ingredients precisely

 Good Old Fashioned Advice: DO NOT be tempted to open the oven door whilst the cake is cooking, the oven temperature will drop and your cakes will not rise properly

After 20 minutes baking , let your cakes cool on a wire rack. 

Then run a knife around the edge of your pan and push the cake out from the bottom

Whilst the cakes are cooling make the filling...

Whisk the double cream with an electric whisk for a couple of minutes until it becomes thicker but still smooth

(If you over-whip the cream it will curdle, split & go dry)

Add in the crème fraîche

This is consistency of the cream that you should reach ... it should be stiff enough to stay on the whisk beaters

Stir in the icing sugar

Once the cakes have cooled slice in half with a bread knife

Place the top half of one of the cakes upside down on the plate you will serve your cake

Spoon on three desert spoons of the filling

& spread evenly

Add the other half of the cake on top of the filling and repeat with the filling on top, only this time add two tablespoons of the jam

Next add a third layer (the bottom half of the second cake) and add the filling in the same way as you did for the first layer.

Top with the final layer and finish off with the final layer of the icing filling

Next add your strawberries and blueberries to create a patriotic union jack

Enjoy with a cup of tea, it would be rude not too ...

The Golden Rules of Baking Cakes ...

The things you ought to know when it comes to baking cakes ... This is something that I should have written at the very beginning.You can have the perfect recipe and baking time but if you fudge up a few fundamentals all can go wrong. I was prompted to write this post when a friend was informing me about her mother's delight at the burnt overspill from The Perfect Bake's Banana Bread that she was kindly making for her father's birthday. This small oversight was entirely my fault, for which I apologise. However, follow these golden rules, along with The Perfect Bake recipes & you shall not fail!

The Golden Rules of Baking Cakes

1. When I say pre-heat, you need to give it at least 20 minutes: if you don't, your cooking time won't be correct and you could end up with a under baked cake

2. Room temperature: try and get your butter & eggs (if you keep them in the fridge) out before you bake. Trust me, it makes it easier to cream the butter and the eggs disperse through the cake mixture better and provide a more even bake 

3. Its all about your mixture: when you mix together your ingredients do so with care. Over mixing cake knocks all the air out of it & over works the flour resulting in a dense, poorly risen cake, not ideal! So when it comes to cakes:

• Cream your butter well
• When you add in your sugar, eggs & flour stir enough just so they combine, do not excessively mix

4. To sift or not to sift ... It isn't the end of the world if you don't sift your flour when making a cake. It is just beneficial two-fold: makes it easier to stir out the lumps of flour when combining & if you have old flour that's been sitting in your cupboard it is possible that you will have flour bugs (weevils).

5. Two-thirds full ... Never more, never less! When you fill a tin or cupcake case with mixture always fill it two thirds full. Over fill and your cake will spill over whilst baking creating a great mess and a flat cupcake or cake, under fill & your cake will dry out when baking and be over cooked 

6. Always lightly grease your tin: you will be incredibly stressed trying to get it out of the tin when baked if you don't!

7. Ready or not ... Check your cake at the stated time with a wooden skewer, if it comes out clean your cake is done. If there is still cake mixture on it give it another 2 minutes

So, follow these Golden Rules & The Perfect Bake cake recipes, you should have a fab cake ready for demolition!

Easter Egg Nests

Easter Weekend to me is a great excuse to get the family around the table and share a cracking roast leg of lamb. It is a time to put your feet up and have a relaxed long weekend away from the world of work. When you are in need of a sugar pick up or Easter treat to go with a cup of tea after the obligatory family walk; to take in all that fresh spring air, these Easter Egg Nest are perfect! Alternatively if you unfortunately still have to work or like me are blundered with yet another essay; although I shall not complain as it is no dissertation, these Easter Egg Nests are the perfect consolation!

These throw me back to my childhood ... Made every year, we never quite made the intended amount as not all the mixture quite made it into the cases (I blame my sister)! These are super easy to make and are by no means just for children, they are perfectly acceptable to be scoffed down by adults! These nests require no baking, simply mix up the ingredients and whack them in the fridge and ta daa you have yourself the perfect Easter Weekend Treat! 

Makes 15

Chill to perfection for 30 minutes 

You will need the following:

200g Cornflakes

400g Milk Chocolate

50g Butter

2 tblsp Golden Syrup

1 Tube of Mini Eggs 

(half for the nests, half to be munched whilst cooking!)

Method: 

In one bowl measure out the chocolate, butter and golden syrup

Melt in a microwave for a total of 1 minute 30 seconds

Good old fashioned advice: Stir the mixture ever 30 seconds to ensure even melting of the chocolate 

... Until you have a smooth looking mixture

 

In a second bowl crush the cornflakes slightly with a rolling pin 

Pour the chocolate mixture over the crushed cornflakes

 

Stir in the chocolate mixture well. This will take a bit of patience to ensure all the cornflakes are covered 

Line a cake tray with cup cake cases

(Not muffin size cases) 

In each case, place a large headed table spoon of the mixture 

Press down your mixture slightly to ensure that the nests stick together well when chilled

Place a mini egg in the middle of each nest and then build up your nests around the eggs with the remaining mixture 

Chill to perfection in the fridge for 30 minutes

Happy Easter & Enjoy ... 

Banana Bread

Life is fairly rosy post essay hand in last week. I am totally ignoring how dauntingly close finals are and throwing myself into a spot of baking this week. What's new?! I have three birthdays coming up and therefore there is much baking to be done. Potassium is needed in my life today after last night...Banana bread is clearly in order. 

Moist and soooooo good! Banana bread is ideal for many occasions; afternoon tea, pudding served with ice cream, essential hangover treat (high levels of potassium) or just pure indulgence. If you have a few old bananas that are beyond consumption as a normal banana, put them to good use! 

You can customise your banana bread with added extras as you wish. You can go for the simple banana bread or you can add in some chocolate chunks, sultanas or walnuts; it's entirely up to you...

Serves 10

Pre-heat oven to 180°C

Bake to perfection for 35minutes

You will need the following:

250g Butter

250g Self Rasining Flour

250g Brown Sugar

4 Bananas

4 Eggs

50g Sultanas/ Chocolate Chunks/ Walnuts (optional)

Method:

Measure out the Butter and Sugar

Mix together

Add in the Eggs, one at a time

Next, add the Self Raising Flour

Mash the bananas in a separate bowl and add to the mixture
Today I also added chocolate chips & sultanas

Pour the mixture into a loaf tin and bake to perfection for 35minutes.
Until it looks like this...

Good old fashioned advice: Use a wooden kebab skewer to poke into your cake. If it comes out with raw cake mixture on it, it needs longer. When it comes out clean you know your cake it cooked to perfection.

Enjoy