Fishcakes

fish-cakes
Ingredients:

  • 500g hake (either fresh or frozen), steamed
  • 4 medium potatoes, peeled and steamed
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 extra large egg
  • handful italian parsley, chopped
  • handful coriander leaves, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • breadcrumbs

Method

  • Steam potatoes until tender. Mash the potatoes.
  • Steam fish until cooked
  • Fry onions in a bit of Olive oil until translucent
  • Add and mix together all the other ingredients to the potatoes, fish and onions except for breadcrumbs
  • Roll into balls and roll in the breadcrumbs
  • Fry in Olive oil until golden brown on both sides

Buttermilk substitute

buttermilk-substitute
Instead of using buttermilk, you can add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk, then let it stand for 5 minutes before using.

Basic butter cake

basic-butter-cakeIngredients:

  • 375g butter
  • 15ml vanilla essence
  • 2½ cups castor sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 4½ cups cake flour
  • 20ml baking powder
  • 1½ cups milk or buttermilk

Method:

  • Grease a 25cm round tin or a 23cm square tin
  • Beat the butter until light and creamy
  • Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until creamy, add the eggs one by one and beat well after each addition
  • Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder, add the milk and mix lightly
  • Spoon into prepared tin and bake in a moderate oven (180°C) for 1½ hours or until golden in colour
  • Stand cake in tin for 10min before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely
  • This cake will keep for 3 days in an airtight container or freeze for 3 months

Simple sugar syrup

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 5ml glucose

Method:

  • Bring to boil with the lid on
  • Cook for 10 min, remove from stove and cool
  • Keep in fridge until needed
  • Flavour syrup with orange / lemon zest or cinnamon sticks or try some star aniseed
  • Thin syrup down with any liqueur or with strong coffee
  • Pour over hot cakes for extra moisture

Basic butter icing

basic-butter-icing
Ingredients:

  • 250g butter or margarine
  • 500g icing sugar, sifted
  • 15ml boiling water
  • 5ml vanilla essence

Method:

  • Cream butter / margarine until light and fluffy
  • Stir in the icing sugar then add the boiling water and beat on high speed for about 10 min or until light and creamy
  • Use powder colouring if needed and beat well after adding.

Tips:

  • for black icing, replace some icing sugar with cocoa powder then add black colouring
  • for intense, bright colours, start with a large amount of colouring, mix and stand for 1 hour or overnight
  • for pure white icing, use Wooden spoon or Marvello margarine
  • add some full cream Greek yogurt to coloured or pure white icing to make it more palatable
  • add some essence to complement the colours used

Chocolate Ganache

chocolate ganache
Ingredients:

  • 500g chocolate – melted
  • 200ml cream – heated

Method

  • Mix together until smooth
  • Pour hot over cakes for a thin coating or stand to firm up for a thicker coating
  • Add 30g butter for more gloss in the final product
  • Use only 125ml cream for a basic truffle mix. Stand to chill in fridge then beat until fluffy, chill well
  • Shape into balls, refrigerate until firm, dip in melted chocolate and decorate

Useful tip: This is a perfect hot chocolate sauce to serve with ice-cream or use as a fondue base with fresh strawberries, banana pieces etc.

Royal Icing Recipe

royal icing
Ingredients

  • 1 egg white
  • 1 cup icing sugar – sifted
  • 10ml lemon juice

Method

  • Mix all ingredients together until smooth with a fork
  • Cover with clingwrap to prevent drying
  • Add more icing sugar if a firmer consistency is needed

Baking Substitutes

Baking powder
Sift together 2 parts cream of tartar + 1 part bicarb: sift mixture x 2

self-raising flour
Self-raising flour
Sift together 1 cup flour + 10ml baking powder, sift x 2

Yeast
15g fresh yeast = 7g instant dry yeast

Egg white powder (Actiwhite)

  • 250g egg white powder + 2000ml luke warm water
  • Mix powder with half of the liquid until smooth
  • Add remaining water
  • Use 2 tabs (30ml) of mixture = 1 egg white
  • Ratio 1:8

Egg replacement
Replace 1 egg with 60ml apple juice OR 75ml apple puree OR 1 medium mashed banana.

Alcohol
Replace alcohol with pineapple juice in syrups to brush over cakes or use butter toffee essence to mix with the metallic powders to paint into icing.

corn syrup

Corn syrup = liquid glucose

Baking soda = bicarbonate of soda (bicarb)

Confectioners sugar = icing sugar or powdered sugar