Food & Drink

Queen of the cakes...

Sadie Smith

Sadie Smith is an award winning cake designer and baker from Cake by Sadie Smith, Wimborne

Christmas Cookies These cookies are the perfect bake for any skill level, some icing and sprinkles is all the decoration you need or if you feel up to the challenge you can pipe royal icing details on them. I always have a tin of these cookies in at Christmas as they are the perfect treat for the kids or any surprise visitors. Makes approximately 12 but depends on the size of cutters you use. Ingredients for the cookies 175g plain flour 110g soft salted butter 75g sugar 1 level teaspoon of mixed spice For glace icing – which is perfect for topping with sprinkles 250g icing sugar Water For royal icing – the easiest way by far is to buy ready to use tubes of coloured icing or a tub of ready-made royal icing from the supermarket, you may need to water it down slightly. If you’d like to make your own 3 egg whites 600g icing sugar 1 tsp liquid glucose 1 tsp lemon juice Method Preheat oven to 180c Place the flour, mixed spice, sugar, and butter in a bowl, mix well until a dough is formed, add a few drops of milk if needed Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes Roll out to 5mm thick and using Christmas cookie cutters stamp out required shapes Place on a non-stick baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes Leave on the tray to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack Once cool, make your chosen icing and have fun decorating as you like Method for Glace Icing Add a few drops of water at a time until the icing is smooth but not too runny. If it is too runny add a little more icing sugar until you get the consistency you want Method for Royal icing (if making your own) Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks Add the icing sugar a bit at a time, whisking until fully incorporated Add the glucose and lemon juice Continue to whisk until the icing is at the consistency you need. Stiff peaks for spreading on the cookies, firmer peaks for piping and a softer/runnier consistency for flooding icing. If you would like coloured icing, add a tiny bit of food colouring to the icing, edible gel colours are best. These cookies will keep in an airtight tin for a couple of weeks so can be made in advance

Christmas pudding causing a bit of a stir

The Great Pudding Stir has taken place in the historic kitchen of the Museum of East Dorset in Wimborne Minster for almost 30 years. This year it is on Saturday, December 11, from 10.30am to 4pm and is included with your museum ticket. The recipe is taken from Mrs Beeton’s Book Of Household Management, edited by Isabella Beeton between 1859 and 1861. Museum visitors are invited to stir up a little festive cheer and take part in the event, make a Christmas wish and sample the finished pudding. The original recipe for ‘A Plain Christmas Pudding For Children’ contained flour, breadcrumbs, stoned raisins, currants, suet, eggs, milk, candied peel, powdered allspice and salt. Mrs Carter, the resident pudding expert, said sugar is now added to the recipe ‘to make it more palatable’, and the pudding is warmed on a coal-fired range. Chezzie Hollow, director of the museum, siad: “We are delighted that we are able to bring the Great Pudding Stir back this year. “This festive event aims to bring history to life”. For more information visit museumofeastdorset.co.uk/pr oject/the-great-pudding-stir/

Cooking...

with Martha Legg

A pizza the action So, another recipe from my school days and one of the few things I still use today. It’s funny but my first husband never considered a pizza to be a meal. My second husband likes pizza, although he does insist on having anchovies on it, which I hate. When I make them, I split the mixture in two and add different toppings to them. Martin won’t eat them cold, whereas I will, so I have to make them a certain size so that he can eat it in one go When my eldest nephew was at school, yes, the same one as me, they were still teaching the students to make pizza. They told the students that they could put any topping they liked onto them. Just to be different, or clever, or pushing his luck, Chris decided to put boiled sweets on his!! The result was a very sweet, very colourful, sticky mess!! I am not sure if it ever made it home or if was eaten with glee by his school mates or used as a frisbee!! For me, I like vegetarian pizza. Once, when out for a pizza, I asked for a spinach one but didn’t pay much attention to what it was called. I was horrified when it arrived to find that it had a hole in the middle and complained to the waitress. Much to the amusement of my husband, she explained that I had ordered the pizza with no middle! I ate up quickly and left!! Ingredients 1oz Margarine 4 oz SR Flour ½ level tsp baking powder Pinch of salt 3oz grated cheese Mixed Herbs 1 egg Milk to mix Toppings: Anything!!

Method: Pre heat oven to 200C Rub the margarine into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs Add all the other ingredients Add the egg and enough milk to form a dough consistency Press out on a floured pizza tin or baking tin. You can make one big pizza or several small ones. The base should be about ½ inch thick. I usually cook the bases for 5 to 10 mins until they are beginning to brown. Toppings: I always start by smearing tomato puree over the top of the pizza bases If you are adding mushrooms and/or onions, I always fry them off first to get all the juices out. If you are adding bacon, again cook that first. You can add anything: Ham, peppers, onions, mushrooms, bacon, cooked spinach etc. Spread the toppings out evenly, sprinkle dried herbs and then cover with any cheese of your choice. cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan or a combination.

Cook at 200C until the cheese has melted and is turning brown.

Verwood foodbank on lookout for new manager

by Faith Eckersall

The Verwood branch of Ringwood Foodbank is looking for a new centre manager. The voluntary role needs someone who is passionate about tackling poverty and providing compassionate support to people who find themselves in difficult circumstances, says the Trussell Trust charity, which oversees the foodbank. “We are looking for someone with outstanding organisation, communication and leadership skills, who is also a dedicated team player with honesty, integrity, empathy and excellent customer service skills,” said the charity. “If this is you and you have some free time you’d like to put to good use, working alongside a small team of dedicated volunteers, please do get in touch.” Further details and a full job description can be obtained by emailing anitalsteel@ gmail.com. Visit: trusselltrust. org/.../ find-a-foodbank/ringwood/