Baked Alaska

Disclaimer: The method described below has not been fully tested, but is our improvement of the recipe we were originally given, as some steps didn't quite work for us - we're confident this way WILL work, but if you'd rather wait till we've tried it properly - at which point I'll remove this disclaimer - go ahead :-) The photo shows what we made by following the original recipe.

Makes: 4-6 servings

Takes: 10 minutes + 5 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

a Madeira cake

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam

4-6 slices of vanilla ice cream from a block (not soft scoop)

4 large egg whites

8 oz (225g) caster sugar

Method

1. Turn the Madeira cake onto its side then slice in half horizontally. Drizzle a tbsp orange juice over each piece and spread one of them with the jam.
2. Arrange the slices of ice cream to cover one half of the cake and top with the other piece. Place onto an ovenproof plate and freeze until ready to cook.
3. Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.
4. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Whisk in the caster sugar then remove the cake from the freezer and spread the meringue over.
5. Bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue topping turns golden brown. Serve at once.

You can use rum or brandy instead of orange juice for a grown-up version! You can also omit the jam and use raspberry ripple ice cream.

Rocky road

Very like tiffin but with the classic rocky road combination of chocolate, biscuit and marshmallow.

Makes: 18-24 pieces

Takes: 20 minutes + at least 2 hours chilling time

Ingredients

4 1/2 oz (125g) unsalted butter

10 1/2 oz (300g) good quality dark chocolate

3 tbsp golden syrup

7 1/4 oz (200g) rich tea biscuits

4 oz (100g) mini marshmallows

Method

1. Grease and line an 8x10 inch oblong tin.
2. Put the butter into a large, heavy-based saucepan. Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the pan with the syrup. Melt over a gentle heat and stir well.
3. Scoop out about 4 1/2 fl oz (125ml) of the chocolate mixture and set aside in a bowl. Leave the rest to cool slightly in the pan.
4. Meanwhile, put the biscuits into a plastic freezer bag and crush them roughly with a rolling pin - some should be crushed into crumbs, but make sure you leave some as larger pieces too.
5. Fold the biscuits into the chocolate in the pan then add the marshmallows. Tip into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
6. Pour over the reserved chocolate and smooth again with a wet spatula. Refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.
7. Cut into 24 pieces. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

You can add dried fruit, glace cherries, chopped nuts etc to vary the recipe if you wish!

Yogurt cake

This makes a lovely, moist, light sponge with a fairly subtle but delicious flavour which is easy to vary by choosing a different flavour of yogurt.

Makes: 12 slices

Takes: 15 minutes + 50-60 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

8 oz (225g) self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

6 oz (175g) caster sugar

3 1/2 oz (100g) butter or margarine

2 medium eggs

a 200g pot of Mullerlite yogurt in your chosen flavour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC/160oC (fan oven)/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line an 8x10 inch oblong baking tin.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients. Use an electric hand mixer on a slow speed to combine then turn it up to high to beat to a smooth batter.
3. Pour into the tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, until it feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack then slice into 12 fingers.

A particular favourite in our household is to use toffee yogurt, as the flavour seems to come through more strongly. Raspberry and cranberry gives a nice subtle hint of fruit; or try lemon and lime with the grated zest of a lemon and/or lime added. Chocolate gives a very subtle flavour so enhance it with some vanilla essence and 1 tbsp cocoa, sifted with the flour at step 2. Vanilla makes a nice, simple sponge! Any of the above (and probably other flavours I haven't tried) are very good served with custard as a dessert.

Vegetable curry

It's difficult to post a recipe for this one, as it's very much a 'throw what you've got into the pan' type thing with no fixed quantities! It's lovely, though - the vegetables pretty much cook down into mush, but they all add their own bit of flavour and it's much nicer than the baby food it resembles... (If you really want some quantities to get started then see the notes at the end.)

Makes: Depends how much of each ingredient you use

Takes: 10 minutes + 30-40 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

Sweet potato(es)

Potato(es)

Cauliflower

Carrots

Tinned tomatoes

Tinned coconut milk

Vegetable stock cube

Salt and pepper

Curry powder to taste

Fresh spinach

Method

1. Peel the sweet potato(es) and potato(es) and cut them into approximate 2-inch chunks. Cut the cauliflower into florets of a similar size. Peel and top and tail the carrots, cut in half lengthways then chop into thick slices.
2. Put all the vegetables in a large saucepan with the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk. Make up a pint of stock with the stock cube and boiling water and add to the pan, then season and add the curry powder.
3. Stir well and bring the curry to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the vegetables are cooked and starting to break up to form a thick sauce. Stir every now and then during this time and add a bit more boiling water if the curry looks too dry.
4. Rinse the spinach leaves then stir them into the curry till they start to wilt. Serve with rice.

As a very rough guide, you can use 1 large sweet potato, a couple of medium potatoes, 1 small cauliflower, 3 carrots and 1 tin each of tomatoes and coconut milk with 1 pint of stock and a couple of handfuls of spinach. I'd use about 2 tbsp curry powder with that lot. But as you can see, it's a very flexible recipe!

Linguine with prawns and lemon

Lovely fresh flavours, ideal for summer. The chilli isn't at all strong but adds a little interest.

Makes: 2 generous servings
Takes: 15 minutes

Ingredients

200g linguine
about 12 cherry tomatoes
salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 red chilli
1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
175g king prawns (cooked)

Method

1. Cook the linguine in boiling water according to the instructions on the packet.
2. Halve the tomatoes and place into a small bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt.
3. Peel and chop the garlic. Remove the seeds of the chilli and chop it finely. Crush the garlic and chilli with a pestle and mortar then add to the tomatoes.
4. Finely grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze the juice, then add zest and juice to the tomatoes with the olive oil. Add the prawns and stir well.
5. Drain the pasta then return to the pan with the prawn mixture. Warm through gently over a low heat.

Bran loaf

It looks fairly revolting in its uncooked form and I don't recommend eating any raw mixture, but it turns out well once cooked and is extremely easy to make. Very good buttered.

Makes: 1 loaf (approximately 12 servings)
Takes: 5 minutes + 1 1/2 hours cooking time

Ingredients

1 mug self-raising flour
1 mug bran cereal (All Bran or equivalent)
1 mug dried fruit (currants, sultanas or mixed fruit)
1/2 mug soft brown sugar
1 mug milk

Method

1. Sift the flour into a small bowl and set aside. Place all the other ingredients into a large bowl, stir then leave to stand for about an hour.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 160oC and grease and line a loaf tin.
3. Add the flour to the large bowl and stir well to combine. Pour into the tin and bake for about an hour and a half, until a skewer comes out clean.
4. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Watermelon, ginger and lime juice

Very refreshing, and the ginger gives it a bit of a kick. A bit fiddly though, so ideally multiply up the quantities and make a batch to share. (In that case I'd only use 1 lime for every 2 servings, you should still get enough of the lime flavour.) Alternatively, add vodka to help it to go further!

Makes: 1 serving
Takes: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 wedge of watermelon (about 1/8 of a watermelon)
1 lime
1 piece of stem ginger from a jar of ginger in syrup
1 tsp syrup from the jar of ginger
Vodka (optional)

Method

1. Remove the rind and seeds of the melon and cut into chunks. Grate the zest and squeeze the juice of the lime. Cut the stem ginger into two or three pieces.
2. Place the melon, lime zest and juice, ginger and syrup into a blender, blend until liquid, then press through a sieve. Add vodka if you wish.