COOKBOOKS GALORE

 It was my daughter's birthday recently and she came up for the weekend, so of course needed a cake - this was just the thing. It's made with oil not butter and is very easy to make, yet it looks 'an occasion' cake. Preheat oven 190C/gas5                                  Grease and line 2x18cm [7"] sandwich tins For the cake: you need to sieve 150g plain flour, 25g cornflour and 2 level tspns baking powder into a bowl. Mix together 100ml veg oil [I used sunflower] and 100ml water in another bowl. Separate 2 eggs and add the yolks to the oil/water mixture and mix together. Stir the dry ingredients in and mix to a batter. Whisk the egg whites till stiff then fold into the mixture. Divide into the tins then bake for 25-30 mins. Cool on a wire rack. Turn the oven off. For the little meringues you need to put 1 egg white in a clean dry bowl and whisk till stiff and dry. Mix together 40g caster sugar and 15g icing sugar, then gradually whisk them into the whites. Put a s

 Now that the English strawberries are good value, I thought I'd make a cheesecake. I had a pot of mascarpone to use, so used it with some cream cheese [such as Philly]. This is very easy to make when you don't feel like cooking! You need: 60g icing sugar, 200g digestive biscuits [or other biscuits of your choice], 50g butter [melted], 1 lemon, 250g mascarpone, 100g soft cheese [Philly] and 1tspn vanilla extract, few mint leaves Blitz the biscuits in a food processor or blender. Add the melted butter and mix together. Press into the base of a 23cm flan tin, pushing the crumbs slightly up the sides. Beat the mascarpone with the cream cheese, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Spoon into the tin on top of the crumb base. Smooth with a spatula. Cut the washed strawberries into 2 [or 4 if large] and put the on top of the cream mixture, cut side down. Cut the washed strawberries into 2 and put the on top of the cream mixture, cut side  Top with a few mint leaves and put in

I made this last week for a friend’s birthday. It’s easy to make, but looks impressive. It’s a pavlova with a top! For the cake you need : 4 egg whites, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, 125g light Muscovado sugar, 100g caster sugar, 1teaspoon white wine vinegar Filling: 200ml double cream, 250g strawberries Preheat oven 150C/gas 2.     Grease and base line 2 x20 cm sandwich tins Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar in bowl till stiff. Put the sugars together then add to the white a bit at a time. Whisk a few minutes more till nice and thick and shiny. Divide equally between the sandwich tins and bake for 35 - 45 mins till light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Whip the double cream to peaks. Save 8 strawberries and slice the rest up. Put one meringue on a plate and cover with half of the cream Sprinkle the strawberry slices over the cream then put the second meringue on top. Cover this with the rest of the cream then slice the 8 remaining strawberries in half and arrange in top. Use

The friend I've mentioned before on here, who owns a tea shop, came over at the weekend and brought me some strawberries grown locally. I wanted to make a tart with some of them, so found a French recipe in a folder for this one. The pastry is 'une pâte sablée', a rich sweetened shortcrust, but it's made in a processor or mixer. The filling is just a mixture of mascarpone, ricotta and icing sugar and the whole is topped with sliced strawberries. For the pastry - 1 egg, 200g flour, 125g butter, 75g caster sugar, 50g ground almonds, 1 tspn almond essence [opt], pinch salt. For the cream - 250g each of mascarpone and ricotta and 100g icing sugar Topping - punnet of strawberries, sliced Preheat oven 200c/gas6          You need a 23cm tart tin Put all the ingredients for the pastry in a blender and mix till blended. Bring together into a ball, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least half an hour. Mix the cheeses and icing sugar together in a bow

I have wanted to make a fraisier since I saw Mary Berry making one, but it looked rather complicated. It was a special birthday for my friend, so I decided to have a go and was very happy with the result. It's not as perfect as Mary B's, but tasted good and was a great hit. I didn't use her recipe either, but one I found in a French magazine, which was giving recipes for using strawberries. I made the Genoisse sponge the day before to make it a little more solid for the fruit and cream. I also used crème fraiche instead of double cream. You need 500g strawberries, 500ml crème fraiche, 100g caster sugar  For the Genoise, you need 125g caster sugar, 100g flour, 75g melted butter and 4 eggs To make the sponge: preheat oven 180C/gas4     line a 28 cm springform cake tin, sides and bottom Over a pan of simmering water beat together the eggs and the sugar till they've doubled in volume and become frothy, then take off the heat. Carefully add the flour and

This is an unusual American recipe as it has a pastry/dough layer, then jam, then fruit and finally a cream topping. It's a good way of using the strawberries that are around in the shops. I think a good quality jam makes a difference to the finished taste - I bought some from a local WI market. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease a  large rectangular tin, about 23 x 30cm and line it with a long strip of foil with the ends hanging over the short edges;  this is to get the cake out of the tin more easily. Using an electric hand beater or a stand mixer, beat together 200g butter and 50g light brown sugar, mixing together for about a minute. Add 280g plain flour and mix together on a low speed. Turn the speed up a bit and beat together till you have a dough. Press the dough roughly in a layer in the foil lined tin. Bake the dough for about 20 mins till it's just starting to puff up. Take it out of the oven and cool while you get on with the rest of the cake. Leave the oven on

It was my daughter's birthday recently and she came up for the weekend, so needed a cake - this was just the thing. It's made with oil not butter and is very easy to make, yet it looks 'an occasion' cake. Preheat oven 190C/gas5 Grease and line 2x18cm [7"] sandwich tins For the cake you need to sieve 150g plain flour, 25g cornflour and 2 level tspns baking powder into a bowl. Mix together 100ml veg oil [I used sunflower] and 100ml water in another bowl. Separate 2 eggs and add the yolks to the oil/water mixture and mix together. Stir the dry ingredients in and mix to a batter. Whisk the egg whites till stiff then fold into the mixture. Divide into the tins then bake for 25-30 mins. Cool on a wire rack. Turn the oven off. For the little meringues you need to put 1 egg white in a clean dry bowl and whisk till stiff and dry. Mix together 40g caster sugar and 15g icing sugar, then gradually whisk them into the whites. Put a sheet of baking paper or a silicon