The cookbook author and TikTok creator – AKA @thekindnessechoes – shares her egg- and dairy-free takes on classic sweet treats

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

(Pictured above)

Continue reading...

The use of bean water in your baking makes use of a miracle ingredient and saves money on expensive eggs, too

Today’s macaroons are easy and fun little treats using just a few store-cupboard ingredients. Whenever I use a can of beans (which, frankly, is most days), I try to include the aquafaba, or bean water, in whatever it is I’m making. Inevitably, though, I sometimes end up with a bit left over, which means I have to get creative to find a way to use it up. Sometimes, I’ll include the liquid in a soup or stew, or use it to make mayonnaise , caesar salad dressing or a whisky sour. When my sweet tooth kicks in, or when I want to bake with my daughter, however, I often use it to make a simple sweet snack such as today’s macaroons. Using aquafaba in baking saves money, too. Good eggs are expensive, so I’d rather save them for when they’re essential to a recipe.

Continue reading...

Make Mum’s day with a lemon drizzle cake with poppy seed brittle, and a batch of irresistible sesame, pecan and date cookies

Lemon drizzle is a nostalgic cake for many of us, and reminds us of our childhood. And who made all those cakes, and all those memories? I used to think that cakes somehow just “appeared” almost out of thin air but, of course, there’s no such thing. A child’s day is made sweet by a whole lot of planning and stirring and baking. Why not turn the tables this year and make your mother a lemon drizzle cake? And, after all these years, it’s her turn to lick the bowl, OK?

Continue reading...

A grown-up version of a kids’ classic: the cookie with the dimple, filled with lemon curd and a hit of thyme

When I’m feeling playful, I make thumbprint cookies. I remember making batches of them at school, and taking great pleasure in sticking my thumb into the middle to create a home for jam, curd or chocolate spread. These lemon-and-thyme versions feel a tad more grown up, though, with fresh thyme worked through the dough for an aromatic twist. I’ve made a very zingy lemon curd to dollop into the middle, but shop-bought would work just as well.

Continue reading...

A creamy layered dessert beloved of the southern US – but whose is the definitive version?

Banana pudding wasn’t on my radar until a chance conversation with American food writer Charlotte Druckman , editor of the excellent anthology Women on Food , who alerted me to its existence – plus anything labelled “pudding” has my immediate and undivided attention, anyway. In the US, the term refers to a particular variety of thick and milky dessert – what we might call a custard, or a pastry cream, or even a blancmange, depending on the method used – and this particular banana-studded pudding/trifle hybrid has a long history, first popping up in print in the late 19th century*, by which time the tropical fruit was well established in North America.

Why it became particularly associated with the South in the mid-20th century is a mystery that South Carolina food writer Robert Moss has probed without success , but the fact remains that “you can’t swing a dead cat in a Southern barbecue joint without hitting a bowl of banana pudding”, or, he adds, at a Southern church picnic, holiday gathering or tailgate , for that matter. And there’s a good reason for that: it’s ridiculously good. If you, like me, have a nostalgic fondness for the bananas and custard of childhood, this is the dinner-party version, with just a touch of American glamour. (Oh, and I’m told that, strictly speaking, it’s known as banana puddin’ in the South.)

Continue reading...

Take your tastebuds Stateside with these smashed potatoes with ranch dressing, sweet potato pie with whipped cream, and quick biscuits with sausage gravy

From Spain last week to the big old United States this, I think I’m still on some kind of imaginary summer holiday road trip. That’s the power of food, though: it can take you to places that life and logistics prevent you from actually ever getting to. In my mind, then, here are three deliciously dialled-up diner dishes for which I’d turn off any highway.

Continue reading...

Easy-bake cookies with an aniseed twang and a soft, citrussy icing

Aniseed is one of those flavours you either love or hate. It’s similar to liquorice (which I can’t stand), but a little aniseed brings with it an aromatic fragrance that I quite enjoy and doesn’t feel as overpowering. It’s balanced in these cookies by a buttery crumb and the freshness of the lemon. For the most vibrant flavour, start with whole aniseed seeds and crush them in a mortar.

Continue reading...