Stacey's Raspberry Meringues

This is one of my favourite EVER recipes. They take a long time to cook, but it is SO worth the wait. You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries.

4 large egg-whites (room temperature)

1tsp cream of tartar

115g caster sugar

115g icing sugar

50g raspberries

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 1hour 45 minutes

Makes 18 meringues

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 1 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Chop the raspberries into small pieces.
2. Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar together until the egg whites are thick, opaque, and stand in stiff peaks.
3. Whisk the caster sugar into the egg whites one tbsp at a time, being sure to whisk well between each addition. If your sugar doesn’t dissolve into the egg whites properly at this stage you will end up with weepy meringues later! When all of the caster sugar has been added you should be left with a mixture that is stiff, smooth and glossy.
4. Gently fold half of the icing sugar into the meringue mixture until combined, but be careful not to beat out too much of the air you’ve whipped in! Add the remaining icing sugar and the raspberries to the meringue bowl, and fold these in gently.
5. Scoop the meringue mixture onto the baking tray using two tablespoons to shape into rough ovals, then bake for around 1 hour 45 minutes until golden brown and crispy on top.  Turn off the oven, but allow the meringues to cool inside the oven – this will create meringues which have a really crispy outer-layer, and a really gooey inside! Once completely cool, store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

September - 5-a-day

We had been talking about using “fruit and veg” as a theme for a while, and September seemed like a seasonally appropriate month to do so, so that’s what we went with! The “rule” was that anything our bakers baked should have at least one item of fruit or veg on the ingredients list – what they did with it was up to them!

Interestingly, we ended up with a lot more sweet bakes than savoury, but all were delicious! This was also the first time a member has brought in their own small kitchen appliance to one of our meetings – but I must say the toaster worked VERY well! So, without further adieu, the roll call:

Catherine bought some more of her delicious Blackberry Bakewell Tarts, along with an equally delicious Blackberry Egg Custard Tart; Charlie baked some ultra-gooey Beetroot Brownies; Katrina baked some very interesting Carrot and Cheese Flapjacks, along with some not-too-bad-for-you Blueberry Oat Muffins; Sally baked an absolutely amazing (and even better when toasted) Spinach, Sun-dried Tomato and Mozzarella Loaf; Tom baked a very tasty, still-warm-from-the-oven Tropical Fruit Crumble; and I baked some Honey and Apricot Scones and some crunchy on the outside, gooey in the middle Raspberry Meringues – it may not be a dietitians dream, but nobody could deny that we each got our 5-a-day!

Happy Baking

x

Stacey's Peanut Butter Fudge

Time taken: 15-20 minutes for preparation plus 2 hours to cool

Makes 15-20 pieces

Ingredients
65g butter
250g brown sugar
65ml milk
150g crunchy peanut butter
1tsp vanilla extract
150g icing sugar

Process

1. Line a small tray with cling film, so that the cling film hangs over the sides. I used one of those plastic tubs that you often get take-away food in as they are the perfect size!
2. Cut the butter into cubes, then melt in a saucepan over a medium heat.
3. Once the butter has melted, stir in the sugar and the milk until all of the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to the boil without stirring. Once the mixture is bubbling leave it on the heat for a further 3 minutes and then remove from heat.
4. Add the peanut butter and the vanilla extract to the mixture and stir until all of the peanut butter has melted. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then tip the icing sugar into the pan. Stir until the ingredients have combined to form a smooth paste.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tray and leave to cool to room temperature before placing the fudge in the fridge to set (this usually takes at least two hours).
6. Once the fudge has set, use the cling film to help remove the fudge from the tray and cut into squares. Store the fudge in an airtight container.

Stacey's Ploughman's Picnic Rolls

These picnic rolls are great for a picnic as the filling is baked inside them. The recipe below is for my ploughman's picnic rolls, but you could do almost any filling, sweet or savoury! There also really good for packed-lunches. Just bake a batch at the weekend, leave them to cool, wrap them well and store them in the freezer. When ready to use, remove from the freezer and place in the oven at gas mark 4 for around 10 minutes to re-fresh - delish!

Prep-time: 1hour 45 minutes
Cook time: 25 - 30 minutes
Makes 8 picnic rolls

Ingredients:

For the dough:
300ml warm water
1tbsp brown sugar
2tbsp olive oil
7g sachet of dried yeast
500g strong white bread flour
Pinch of salt

For the filling:
2-3tbsp Branston Pickle (I used the small chunk variety)
4 slices of good quality ham
150g mature cheddar

1 small egg, beaten, to glaze
A little extra grated cheese, to decorate (optional)

1. Place the water, sugar, olive oil and yeast into a jug a stir well. Leave this to one side for a few minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and create a well in the centre. Tip the yeast mixture into the centre of the well, then work the flour into it using a fork.
2. Once the ingredients have combined to form a rough dough, tip the contents of the bowl onto a clean dry work surface. Knead by hand for 5-7 minutes, until all of the flour is incorporated and you have a soft, springy dough. Place the dough into a large oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for one hour, until doubled in size.
3. Whilst the dough is proving, prepare your filling. Slice the ham into strips and grate the cheese. Leave these to one side until ready to use.
4. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knock back, then split into 8 equally sized balls. 
5. Making one at a time, roll each ball out until around 5mm thick then spread a thin layer of pickle over the top, making sure to leave a space around the edges. Sprinkle on your other filling ingredients, then begin to roll the dough up Swiss roll style. Tuck the ends of the roll underneath to create and oval bun shape. Please the rolls on a floured baking tray and leave to prove for a further 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
6. Once doubled in size, glaze the rolls with a little beaten egg, and sprinkle a little grated cheese on top of each one. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown all over, then remove and leave to cool.

Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning

We at the Cambridge Cake'n'Bake Club have been bitten by the Charity bug this month, and would like you to join us in raising funds for some very worthy causes. On the 28^th of September this year the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is going to be taking place. This is a fantastic one day fundraising event hosted by Macmillan Cancer Support to raise money for people with lives affected by cancer.

Our friends over at Baking Mad have let us know about a fantastic new competition that Silver Spoon, the official sugar sponsor for the World's Biggest Coffee Morning, are launching as part of their activity. On the 24^th August 2012 Silver Spoon and Macmillan are launching Silver Spoons Little Local Hero Awards. They are scouring the country for local heroes under the age of 18 who have done something truly special. Your local little hero could have looked after their little sister when they were ill, gone to great lengths to make Mother’s Day very special, or done something fantastic to raise money for charity.

If you know someone under 18 in your local area who you think would be a worthy winner, just follow this link and explain in less than 100 words who you are nominating, why, and what you would bake them to say thank you

www.macmillan.org.uk/littlehero

Master Pâtissier Eric Lanlard, star of Channel 4’s Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard, will choose a Silver Spoon National Little Hero and to celebrate he will bake them a special cake of their choice! 10 runners up will also receive a Silver Spoon Baking Hamper packed full of exciting treats.

There are sure to be some amazing stories from our local little heroes all over the country, but in the meantime don’t forget to register to hold your own coffee morning on the 28^th September, just follow this link and you can help to raise money for people with lives affected by cancer. http://coffeeregister.macmillan.org.uk/2012/register.asp. And, if you're planning you're own coffee morning don't forget to head over to your local Marks and Spencer's Cafe to pick up The Little Book of Treats - it's a fantastic little recipe book with lots of great ideas for luxurious treats to bake and sell at your coffee morning. 

Most of the recipes were submitted by celebrities and celebrity bakers, but if you pick one up you might recognise a familiar name - we're in it! It's only £4 and all of the proceeds go to Macmillan, so we'd definitely recommend you head to your nearest M&S Cafe to pick one up - they'll be on shelves from 5th September.

August - Blooming Great Tea Party

The meeting house where we usually hold our events was closed for Summer Holidays in August, so we decided to take the opportunity to head outdoors and have a picnic themed meeting. Joy virtuously suggested that we turn this into a Blooming Great Tea Party to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care - so that's exactly what we did!

We all headed over to Churchill College and spent the afternoon drinking tea and lemonade in the glorious sunshine whilst tasting eachother's delicious bakes. And, as we didn't have a room hire charge, and as we'd all invited lots of friend this time we managed to raise a tasty £105.22 for Marie Curie!

So, what did we all bring? What didn't we bring! Catherine baked some Mini Blackberry Bakewells, some Chicken Rolls, some Mini Pizzas and a Coffee Marble Cake, Jen baked an Iced Chocolate Cake and a Banana and Walnut Cake, Lorna baked some mini-quiches and a Walnut and Blueberry Cake, Ruth baked some Thyme Shortbread and a Tomato, Onion and Cheese Roll , I baked some filled Picnic Rolls, some Jammie Dodgers, an Angel Cake and some no-bake Peanut Butter Fudge, and Tom baked some yummy apricot buns!

Smiley, happy bakers and their smiley, happy guests!

Stacey's Olymp-bic Medals

Whilst I wasn't able to attend the meeting this month, I didn't want to miss out on the non-Olympic baking fun! I was sat watching the Olympic Opening Ceremony last weekend, and got a sudden urge to bake - so here's my take on the non-Olympic theme: gold medal biscuits to give to people for non-sport related achievements, like this:

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 12-15 minutes

Makes 16 medals

Ingredients:

100g margarine

85g caster sugar

Almond flavouring, to taste

4-5 cherry drops, crushed

170g plain flour

100g white chocolate

Gold edible shimmer spray (I LOVE this stuff!)

Writing icing, to decorate (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Beat the margarine and sugar together until pale and creamy, then stir in the almond flavouring, crushed cherry drops and flour until the mixture comes together to form a dough.
3. Lightly flour the work surface, then roll the dough out to 1 cm thick. Cut circles out and place these onto the prepared baking tray, leaving at least a cm gap between each. cut out a small circle at the top of each cookie for the ribbon, then bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
4. Once the cookies are cool, thread a little bit of ribbon through each. Melt the white chocolate and then spread generously over the top of each cookie, then leave to one side to set.
5. Once the chocolate has set, spray the cookies gold by following the directions on the can of edible spray. Use your writing icing pen to write on each medal why the receiver deserve this Olymp-bic medal - favourites of mine were "champion eater" and "best helper" :-)