Father’s Day is just around the corner…

I’m not sure how we have got to June already! In case it’s crept up on you too we have prepared some yummy cupcake selection boxes especially for Father's Day. Buy them on our website for £22.99 for 6 and £32.99 for dozen including free delivery!

You can say Happy Father’s Day with cupcakes… literally with a message printed on the cupcakes or opt for our selection of the most popular cupcakes with Dads – including Black Forest, Lemon Meringue Pie and Double Chocolate. You can of course make your own selection of his favourites… as they say the way to a man’s heart is by his stomach!

xxx

Valentines Cupcakes

Love is in the air.... and the smell of baking!

We've launched a new range of Valentines Cupcakes this year including 'A Dozen Red Roses' - yes 12 delicious vanilla cupcakes decorated with a swirl of buttercream and a fondant rose... all totally edible! We've also created an alternative to the predictable box of chocolates - 12 luscious chocolate cupcakes.

Our cupcake delivery service allows you to choose from our extensive menu, place your order online, personalise your gift and know that we will deliver them on a date of your choosing. If you place your order before 12pm we will even ship them that day.

Thinking of sending your loved one cupcakes for Valentines' Day? Please ensure you order them before 12pm on Thursday 10th February 2011.

We have joined notonthehighstreet.com

I can’t believe how quickly the last few weeks have passed…

It’s been a time of trials and tribulations and I’m already feeling reflective about the events of this year. It has been flippin hard work but a great year none the less and I can’t wait to embrace what next year has in store. NY’s resolution… blog more!!

Check out our latest venture with notonthehighstreet.com:

http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/rachaelskitchen

xxx

http://www.bellybytes.com/articles/29foods.shtml

http://www.bellybytes.com/articles/29foods.shtml

The 29 healthiest foods on the planet - eat some of these and feel less guilty about eating cake!

Preggers Friendly Meringues!

Here's how to make pasteurised meringues...

There appears to be a total baby boom in Brighton at the moment – I have four friends who are expecting in the New Year, and they are not just missing wine!

I think the current recommendations on what to eat and what to avoid largely concern foods that are not pasteurised – like certain cheeses and also meringue. The problem with meringue is that whilst it seems to be a cooked (well baked) food it isn’t necessarily pasteurised. Ok so you bake a Pavlova for an hour in an oven but you are essentially drying out the meringue rather than baking it at a high temperature.

Fear not – I have the solution; either (1) use pasteurised egg white or (2) pasteurise it yourself! By using a pasteurised egg white to begin with you can follow your usual recipe – if you want to pasteurise it yourself you will need to follow my recipe below.

The Science

1. You can buy pasteurised liquid egg white from most supermarkets, I know they stock Two Chicks Pasteurised Free Range Liquid Egg White in Sainsbury’s. I would avoid powdered egg white as it is a bit of a faff to work with and the proteins in the egg seem weakened to me – meaning not stiff enough peaks!  

2. Pasteurised meringues are simple enough to make at home from the eggs in your fridge. You are going to need a sugar thermometer (which you can buy from a cookware shop or online for a few pounds) and a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler you can fashion one from a saucepan and a bowl that sits inside but comfortably clears the bottom of the saucepan, oh and a saucepan lid which roughly fits the top of the bowl is helpful – if you haven’t got one the right size foil will do just fine. The reason you need a double boiler rather than just throwing the ingredients in a saucepan is because the direct heat will turn your meringue-to-be into anaemic scrambled egg.

Pasteurised Meringue Recipe

  

Ingredients:

6 Large egg whites

425g Granulated sugar

Equipment:

Double boiler and lid

Heat proof spoon

Sugar thermometer

Mixer with the balloon whisk attachment – or a hand whisk and a strong wrist

A piece of greaseproof paper

Baking tray or cookie sheet

Method:

1. When you separate the egg whites from the yolks make sure you don’t split the yolk and get any in the white – not even a spec. The reason for this is that the yolk contains the fat and fat will prevent the egg whites from whipping up. Separate them one at a time and make sure all of your equipment is super clean before the egg whites come into contact.

2. Make sure there is water in your double boiler to touch the bottom of the liner or bowl. 

Turn your hob on to a medium heat and put the double boiler on the heat.

3. Put the egg whites and the sugar into the double boiler and stir to combine. It will fee gritty as you stir. Put the lid on the double boiler and leave for 5 mins.

After 5 mins stir the mixture – what you’re aiming for is for the sugar to melt and the mixture to be silky and smooth when stirring. Keep returning to the pan and stirring the contents until all the sugar granules have melted. You then want to put your sugar thermometer into the mixture - to ensure the mixture is pasteurised. The key is to get the temperature up to 75 degrees Celsius for 30 seconds - you will need to keep stirring to make sure the egg white doesn’t cook. You can turn out the heat now.

4. Now your mixture is pasteurised!

5. Preheat the oven to 100-120 degrees Celsius.

6. Poor the contents into the mixer bowl or a clean ceramic or glass bowl if you don’t have a mixer. Or if you are very posh a copper bowl.

7. Turn on the mixer to a low speed to begin with (this relaxes the proteins in the egg white) and then turn it up to high speed. Leave to do it’s thing for 8-10 mins.

8. You should return to a luscious white meringue with the whisk creating stiff peaks when it is lifted clear of the mixture.

9. You can then spoon the mixture (with a metal spoon) onto your greaseproof-papered-baking-tray. You could opt for big dollops to make meringues that are sandwiched together with cream and fresh fruit, or you could go for one large Pavlova nest. If you want to make a depression in the middle to add your fruit to later - take a metal spoon in a bowl of hot water and use the back of the spoon to flatten the centre slightly.

1. Now pop your creation in the oven and leave for 45mins-1hr, the larger the meringue the longer it will need to dry out. I leave a Pavlova for an hour and then just turn the oven off – without taking the nest out – it will be fine to cool and dry out in there.       

I hope you found that useful - you could of course send our pasteurised Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes instead! If you do have a go let me know how you get on...!

Rachael x

Cupcake Surgery Topic 2: Rising, sinking and bursting

This week’s surgery offers tips on making the perfect cupcake sponge. The aim is to produce a cupcake that rises to the top of the case without bursting at the top and sinking when they are cooled. Please feel free to email your questions and comments at: yum@rachaelskitchen.co.uk

Complaint 1: “My cupcakes rise up in the oven but quickly deflate at the end of baking or when I get them out of the oven”

Diagnosis: There are several possible reasons for this... 1 – it could be that the cupcakes aren’t cooked quite long enough, try leaving them in the oven a few moments longer to ensure the baking powder has done it’s job and all cakes are ‘set’. 2 – The oven is too hot, cakes can appear cooked if they have risen up and started to brown on top but underneath the crust the mixture isn’t quite set. They can appear cooked – and certainly no longer raw but the baking process isn’t quite complete. Depending on your oven I would start at a temperature of 170 degrees C and see how they react. The best way to check if your cupcakes are cooked is to lightly press your index finger on the top of the cakes – if the sponge springs back once the pressure of your finger is released they should be cooked 3. Too much baking powder. The baking powder helps the cakes rise up and makes them light and airy. By creating bubbles (a chemical reaction caused by heat and liquid) the cake mixture sets around them as it cooks. If too much baking powder is added the cakes can have large bubble holes and not sustain their structure – resulting in a kind of popped balloon, and caved-in cupcakes. 4. Opening the oven door – this problem is more obvious when baking large cakes. Maintaining an even oven temperature when baking is important, if you open the oven door to check on how your cakes are doing too frequently the sudden change of temperature (i.e. a flood of cold air from the kitchen) can cause your cakes to shrink. When making large cakes it can result in a sunken crater in the middle. If you can’t resist a sneaky peak make sure you are quick about it and shut the oven door gently – banging the door shut upsets them!  

Complaint 2: “My cupcakes are dry and biscuity”

Diagnosis: This is most likely to be a lack of egg in your recipe. The size of eggs can vary hugely even within classes. If you are finding your cakes a little biscuity and you are using medium eggs, upgrade to large. The following recipe should give you the right proportions for a vanilla cupcake:

115gms Self Raising Flour (sifted)

1tsp Baking Powder (sifted in to the Flour)

115gms Caster Sugar (sifted)

115gms Soft Margarine at room temperature

2 Large eggs at room temperature

1tsp Vanilla Flavouring or a few drops of Vanilla Essence

Method:

Put all the ingredients into a standing mixer or mixing bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon a good dessert spoonful into cupcake cases and bake at 170 degrees C for 12-15 mins. Easy!

Complaint 3: “My cupcakes don’t rise”

Diagnosis: This could be for several reasons: 1. Not enough baking agent (i.e. usually baking powder). If you are using a soft margarine recipe you need 1 tsp baking powder for every 115gms of self raising flour. 2. Oven temperature. It could be that the oven isn’t quite hot enough. 3. Quantity of cake mixture. For cupcakes you need a good dessert spoon full of mixture – rather than a teaspoon that is traditional for fairy cakes. If you use 2 dessert spoons, spoon up the mixture with one and use the other to scrape it off the spoon into the cases – this should give a consistency in portioning out the mixture.  

Tip: Baking powder is a leavener which means it helps your mixture is rise. If you have cream of tartar and bicarbonate soda you can make baking powder by combining 1 part bicarbonate soda with 2 parts cream of tartar.

Complaint 4: “My cupcakes look like an erupted volcano”

Diagnosis: The most likely reason for this is that the oven is too hot. If you are baking cupcakes across 2 shelves in the oven and the cakes on the top shelf burst at the top but those on the next shelf down don’t – this is the most likely cause (this does depend on how you oven is heated and whether it is fan assisted). There is also a school of thought that says not to add milk to certain cake recipes for this reason. Not to bore you with the science but basically baking agents react with acidity – milk is an acidifying food and can react with the baking powder. If you are wondering why you would add milk – it’s usually if the cake mixture is a little firm. This is unlikely with the recipe above but if you do find it stiff use a spoonful of hot water to loosen it up instead.

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Rachael's Kitchen: Surgery topic 1: Cupcake cases coming away from the cakes

Rachael's Kitchen: Surgery topic 1: Cupcake cases coming away from the cakes