125g Almond Powder

150g Icing Sugar

25g Pistachio Paste

100g Fresh Egg Whites

150g Caster Sugar

The team at Dale Hill Hotel & Golf Club in Ticehurst talk us through their deliciously light recipe for Pistachio Macaroons

  1. Make an Italian Meringue by gently heating 50g of fresh egg whites, 150g caster sugar and 50ml water, ensuring the water and sugar reaches 116oC.
  2. Pass the almond powder and icing sugar through a fine sieve.
  3. Mix the other 50g of fresh egg whites with the pistachio paste.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients with the egg white and pistachio paste and then fold the mix with the Italian Meringue.
  5. Pipe individual macaroons onto a lined baking sheet and then proof them for 30 minutes before cooking at 140oC for 8-12 minutes.

Daisy cupcakes

These are an indulgent treat after the fasting of Lent. Change the amount of buttercream if needed – the ratio is twice the amount of icing sugar to butter, which makes it easy to adjust.

Cheesy chicks

Almost too cute to eat, these are surprisingly easy to make and have gone down well with my testers, as the main ingredients are cheese and potato.

Flowerpot carrot cakes

These little carrot cakes are made in paper cake cases, then popped into tiny flowerpots for a seasonal twist. They were made using standard muffin cases and 6.5cm diameter terracotta flowerpots, but they will taste the same in straightforward cupcake...