Nut Brittle

175 ml water
200g caster sugar

Place water & sugar in pan & boil for approx 10 minutes until a light golden caramel.  Add 100g nuts and poor onto granite surface to cool.

Cinder Toffee

200g caster sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

Line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment.

Place the sugar & syrup in a large pan and mix together.  Place on a medium heat and slowly bring up to the boil, simmer the caramel until it darkens slightly.  Never stir the caramel once its on the heat.

When the caramel is the desired colour, remove it from the heat and quickly stir in the bicarb.  The mixture with froth up a lot.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

Profiteroles

170g water

75g butter

100g plain flour

4 large eggs

Heat butter & water together in saucepan

Meanwhile sift the flour and keep it to hand

When the butter/water mixture starts to boil, remove it from the heat, quickly add the flour and beat until mixed.  Place the saucepan back on the heat and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly until mixture comes away from the sides.

Allow to mixture to cool in a large mixing bowl

Once cooled, gradually add in beaten eggs one at a time until completely combined.

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees c (fan oven)

Spoon mixture into a piping back fitted with a ½” nozzle and pipe small amounts onto a baking tray lined with parchment.  (Mixture will triple in size so only pipe a small amount)

Bake the profiter rolls for 15 minutes, open the oven to let steam escape.  Turn the temperature down to 160 degrees c and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and prick each roll to allow the steam to escape.  Cook for a further 3 minutes.

Once cooled keep in an airtight container until ready to fill.

Chewy Meringues

Photo taken from http://www.midweekfeast.com

Makes 5 large meringues

4 large egg whites
200g caster sugae
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
3 drops red food colouring

Pre-heat oven to 130 degrees c (fan assisted)

Whisk eggs whites until they form stiff peaks (about 3 minutes in a kitchen aid mixer)

Add the sugar and continue whisking until mixture is very glossy

Add vinegar & cornflour

Add food colouring and mix through slowly to create a ripple effect.

Place large spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking parchment and shape with a pallet knife

Bake for 1hr 10 minutes before turning oven off, leave meringues in the oven until they have completely cooled.