WHOPPING MERINGUES

Phwoar....Lovely great whopping Meringues!

These always go down well, I like them with a bit of chew in the middle and with a drizzle of chocolate and a sprinkle of pistachios.  You can add all sorts of colours and flavours, rose syrup added to the whipped egg whites then sprinkled with dried rose petals are another favourite in this house.  Try adding cocoa or milkshake powders for banana or strawberry flavours.  You could also use golden caster sugar for a more toffee taste.

Quantities are easy to remember, for each egg white you need 60g of sugar.

Heat your oven to  140C.

Whisk the egg whites till stiff with an electric mixer, next add your sugar a tablespoon at a time, pouring it in slowly whilst still mixing.  When it's all incorporated and looks beautifully glossy your done.

Pile or pipe your meringue onto baking parchment and bake for about an hour, depending on whether  you want them dry or chewy.

Leave them in the oven till it has cooled, about 15-20 minutes then remove them to cool completely.

MacMillan Coffee Morning

Wirral Partnership Homes held a coffee morning for residents and staff on Friday to raise funds for Macmillan Nurses and I was pleased to help out by bringing along some cakes to sell.

Wirral Partnership Homes is the largest registered provider of affordable housing on the Wirral, they formed in 2005 and work as a not profit organisation aiming to to work in partnership with residents and other organisations to build sustainable communities.

Macmillan Cancer Support help people affected by cancer, patients, families, carers and communities with practical, emotional and financial support.  They are such a worthy charity with the aim of reaching every person diagnosed with cancer no matter who they are, where they live or the type of cancer they have.  My Mother and closest friend were both affected by cancer so this is a charity very close to my heart and one I am always willing to support. 

It was a great day and well attended by residents and staff who raised over £200 for the charity.  I really enjoyed meeting everyone talking cake and getting to eat other peoples bakes for a change.  It's a brilliant way to raise money, everyone loves cake so who could resist. Thanks for asking me WPH. I wouldn't have missed it for the world x

BATTER BUTTY

Oh my word, I've just discovered the Batter Butty!  It's something so bad and so good at the same time.  When you read the recipe everything  will scream blocked arteries and high cholesterol but I'm a firm believer that you can have the bad things as long as that's not all you're eating - everything in moderation.

So, basically the Batter butter is a jam sandwich deep fried in batter - I told you it was bad.  I've tried to posh mine up a bit and used brioche rolls and added slices of fresh strawberry.

The picture says it all really, it's pretty simple.  Make your sandwich, don't butter it and put jam on both sides to help it stick together.  Add a layer of thinly sliced strawberry and sandwich it together.

Dip the whole think in batter and deep fry.  I made my batter with one egg and 5 tbsp of plain flour.  Stir them both together till the egg is incorporated then gradually add milk till you get the consistency you're happy with.  I used about 1/2 pt.  You want it to be the thickness of pancake batter.

It takes only a minute to cook, once it is, sit it briefly on kitchen paper then serve still warm with a sprinkle of icing sugar.  It's like a lovely fresh doughnut.

I can hear Elvis saying "thank you very much"