Lemon Meringue Pie

This was one of the first recipes I ever made on my own a few years ago, it was quite difficult and time-consuming but the end result is sooo satisfying. Due to its enormous size and excellent look this would be great for a party whit lots of people. NB: If you don't have baking beans you can use rice and barley instead.
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
225g/8oz plain flour
175g/6oz butter
45g/1¾oz icing sugar
1 large free ­range egg, beaten

For the lemon filling
6 lemons, zest and juice
65g/2¼oz cornflour
250g/9oz caster sugar
6 free ­range egg yolks

For the meringue topping
4 free­ range egg whites
225g/8oz caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour

Pre­heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

First make the pastry. Measure the flour and butter into a food processor and blend together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar, egg and one tablespoon of water and whizz again until combined to a ball.

Tip the pastry onto a work surface and roll out to a 3mm thickness. Use the rolling pin to lift the pastry up and transfer it to line a 23cm/9in loose­bottomed flan tin. Be careful not to stretch the pastry as you tuck it into the corners. Cover in cling film and place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Take the pastry­lined tin out of the fridge and trim the excess pastry. Press the top edge of the pastry so that it stands slightly higher than the top of the tin.

Line the pastry case with parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake for about 15 minutes then remove the beans and parchment and return to the oven for a further five minutes.

Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 170C/340F/Gas 3½.

For the filling, mix the lemon zest and juice with the cornflour and stir to form a smooth paste. Measure 450ml/16fl oz of water into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the lemon cornflour mixture to the hot water and stir over the heat until the mixture has thickened, then remove from the heat.

Croutons-A Step by Step Guide

I made a bread and butter pudding but had to cut the crusts off of the bread, I wasn't sure what to do with them but then I had a brainwave- I could make croutons. From this idea I produced my own recipe for croutons using low fat spray-you can use oil instead. You can use all of the bread not just the crust if you want.

Bread
Oil or low fat spread

Cut the bread into small squares.

Put the bread on a lined tray and cover with low calorie spray.
Bake at 200 degrees fan for 5 minutes.
Turn the croutons over and repeat the previous step.

Christmas Cake

Hello Readers.

So, it's the last weekend in November which in my family means that it is Christmas cake weekend. In my family we always use the same age old recipe for Christmas cake which  comes from my mums family. My mum has made the Christmas cake for the family for all of my lifetime but this year it was my responsibility-No Pressure. You can soak the brandy into the fruit the night before instead of pouring it on after if you like. This cake can be stored in a cool, dry place for a long time as long as it is wrapped in greaseproof paper and tin foil. When storing brandy should be spooned into the cake for a rich taste. TIP: When preparing the cherries cut them into quarters and add them into the flour mix to coat them and DONT add them to the fruit mix. Cover the cake in marzipan and fondant icing for a traditional Christmas cake-Do this a few days before serving.

Use the table below to determine your tin size and quantities.

”=Inch

De=Dessert Spoon Full

If no measurement is stated in the 1^st column or in the box the measurement is oz.

Round Tin	6”	7”	8”	9”	10”	11”	12”	-
Square Tin	-	6”	7”	8”	9”	10”	11”	12”
Sultanas	3 ½	5	6	9	12	15	1lb 4oz	1lb 8oz
Currants	5 ½	8	13	1lb 1oz	1lb 6oz	1lb 12oz	2lb 4oz	3lb 4oz
Raisins	3 ½	5	6	9	12	15	1lb 4oz	1lb 8oz
Cherries	1 ½	2	2 ½	3	5	6	8	10
Candied Peel or Dates	1	1	1 ½	2	3	4	5	6 ½
Chopped Almonds	1	1	1 ½	2	3	4	5	6 ½
Plain Flour	5	6	8	12	1lb	1lb 4oz	1lb 10oz	2lb
Salt (tsp)	1/8	1/8	¼	½	½	¾	1	1 ½
Nutmeg (tsp)	1/8	1/8	¼	½	½	¾	1	1 ½
Cinnamon (tsp)	¼	¼	½	¾	¾	1	1 ½	2
Butter	4	5	6 ½	9	13	15	1lb 8oz	1lb 12oz
Soft Dark Brown Sugar	4	5	6 ½	9	13	15	1lb 8oz	1lb 12oz
Lemon Rind (tsp)	¼	¼	½	½	¾	¾	1	1 ½
Eggs	2 large	3 med	3 large	4 large	6 large	8 med	12 med	14 med
Instant Coffee Powder (tsp)	¼	¼	½	½	¾	¾	1	1 ½
Water	1 De	1 De	1tbsp	1tbsp	1 ½ tbsp	1 ½ tbsp	2tbsp	2 ½ tbsp
Brandy	1 De	1 De	1tbsp	1tbsp	1 ½ tbsp	1 ½ tbsp	2tbsp	2 ½ tbsp
Baking Time (Hours)	3	3 ½	3 ¾	4	4 ½	5	5 ½	6

Grease the tins and line with 2 thicknesses of greaseproof paper.

Cut the cherries then mix them in with the rest of the fruit, almonds and the peel or dates.

In another bowl sift the flour, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon together.

In another bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the lemon rind (finely grated).

Beat in the eggs with a little of the flour mix.

Dissolve the coffee in the water and stir into the mixture.

Fold in half the flour, then the fruit then the remaining flour.

Mix well.

Turn the mixture into the tin and smooth the top a little.

Bake at 275 degrees F or 135 degrees C (115 degrees fan).

After allotted cooking time (see table) remove the cake and cool it in the tin for 2 hours.

Turn the cake onto a wire rack, remove the paper then prick the top of the cake with a skewer.

Spoon the brandy over the cake.

      Repeat this with the base.

Bake Sale Favourites-Mary Berry's Chocolate Chip Brownies and Nigella Lawson's Rocky Road Crunch Bars

Last Friday a few of my friends and I held a bake sale for BBC Children in Need-We somehow managed to raise £210-much more than expected. We made sure that everyone was allocated certain bakes to make; I was allocated rocky road and chocolate brownies. Luckily for me these are two of my family favourites which I make all of the time. Naturally I chose to use my two favourite recipes-Chocolate Chip Brownies from the Mary Berry Baking Bible and Rocky Road Crunch Bars which I found on Nigella Lawson's website (www.nigela.com). Just to be clear I made 70 brownies and 40 rocky road bars and they were all sold out in 20 minutes! I didn't even get to eat one myself :(. Enjoy these or else!

Rocky Road:
Makes 24

125 grams soft butter

300 grams best-quality dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids) broken into pieces

3 tablespoons golden syrup

200 grams rich tea biscuits

100 grams mini marshmallows

2 teaspoons icing sugar (for dusting)

Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan. Scoop out about 125ml / ½ cup of this melted mixture and put to one side.

Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and then bash them with a rolling pin. You are aiming for both crumbs and pieces of biscuits.

Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, and then add the marshmallows.

Tip into a foil tray (24cm / 9 inch square); flatten as best you can with a spatula. Pour the reserved 125ml / ½ cup of melted chocolate mixture over the marshmallow mixture and smooth the top.

Refrigerate for about 2 hours or overnight.

Cut into 24 fingers and dust with icing sugar by pushing it gently through a tea strainer or small sieve.

Chocolate Chip Brownies:

These brownies are super simple and cheap to make and the amount made at once can be doubled or tripled (this is what I did to get the quantity I needed). Makes 24

275g softened butter

375g caster sugar

4 large eggs

75g cocoa powder

100g self raising flour

100g plain chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/Gas 4.

Line a 30x23cm tray bake or roasting tin.

Weigh all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix until just combined.

Scrape all of the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Salted Caramel Shortbread

I have never actually tried this recipe but my friend Ethan requested that I put it on the blog so here it is! Use the chocolate of your choice for the topping.

For the shortbread:
250g plain flour
75g caster sugar
175g unsalted butter

For the Caramel:
100g unsalted butter
400g can condensed milk
100g muscovado sugar
2tbsp golden syrup

100g dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C GM4.
Grease a swiss roll tin
Rub the butter into the flour and sugar until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Pour the mix into a tin and press it down, prick with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until light brown.
Melt the caramel ingredients in a pan on a low heat until melted.
Boil the mixture until it thickens and holds a trail for 6-8 minutes.
Don't allow it to burn onto the bottom of the pan.
Spread the caramel over and cool.
Melt the chocolate and pour it over the caramel and set in the fridge.
Cut into squares.

St Clements Muffins-A Step by Step Guide.

This is the promised follow up recipe from the Mary Berry Baking Bible review. In my family we always have chocolate cake and chocolate cookies-I am feed up so last night I made some of Mary Berry's St Clements Muffins (found in the Mary Berry Baking Bible). They are very citrusy and I found that they were great for a fruity breakfast or snack. I was very pleased with the result of these muffins as they involve a food processor. My mum has a very old food processor which I am forced to use as she wont replace it! Anything I make with this processor always go wrong which is why I was dreading this recipe. TIP: The muffin mix isn't that big so although the recipe says makes 12 it makes about 9 large muffins. This recipe requires a food processor. I you don't have one then just put the orange zest into the mix.
Makes 12 muffins.

1 thin skinned orange-washed
grated rind of one lemon
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
100 ml milk
50g melted butter
1 level tsp baking powder
175g self-raising flour

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cases.



Cut the whole orange into large chunks and remove any pips. Put the orange into a food processor and blend until finely chopped.

Mix the remaining ingredients until just mixed, then fold in the orange pieces. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins untin almost full. (When I made mine I found that they didn't anywhere near fill the cases).

Bake for 20-25 minutes then leave to cool on a wrack.

Review-Mary Berry Baking Bible

Technically as this isn't a new book I wouldn't review it however, THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS THAT I HAVE EVER READ!!!!!!! The Mary Berry Baking Bible is the perfect book for anybody who likes baking. It has recipes for the old, young, advanced and beginners and has a chapter for almost every type of baking you can think of! I mean this book has 964 5 star reviews on amazon!
Facts:

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: BBC Books; Reissue edition (3 Sept. 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 978-1846077852
• Product Dimensions: 19 x 3 x 24.1 cm.

This book was pubished in 2009 but continues to be very popular today (It is in the top 400 best sellers on amazon). The book has over 250 recipes. I would say that it is very good value for money (£17 on Amazon).
This would be the perfect Christmas (or birthday) gift to any aspiring or professional baker.
For these reasons I would rate this book ☆☆☆☆☆.
Below is a sample recipe from the book.
























I love the little personal stories and tips at the start of the recipe (just another great thing).

Please see the following post for a sample recipe from the book (St Clements Muffins).

Please send your feedback (hopefully good) about my 1st review to thefoodkid@chef.net or just comment below.

Follow @thef00dkid on Instagram and remember to follow the blog!

Improvements

Hello Readers!
So, we are two whole weeks into our food blogging adventure, I've written way, way more posts than I said that I ever would and I've become slightly obsessed with this whole thing. Now I have a reasonable amount of traffic coming from the USA and the UK (and even a little from Ukraine) I have consulted my GCSE Food and Nutrition class and they have suggested some improvements.
From now on don't just expect recipes look out for book reviews, food related events within my life and even the odd food based experiment. Not only that expect the odd tip, trick or amazing piece of advice from time to time! And whilst I was at the changes I decided to change the logo so it now contains my contact details. As I hope you know I love your feedback (good, bad or just truly evil) so please comment on and share the newly improved posts, follow our Instagram page @thef00dkid and email me on thefoodkid@chef.net. If you can't be bothered to do that then just keep viewing and following the blog www.the-foodkid.blogspot.(like you didn't already know).
Cheers,