1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add sugar, vanilla sugar, egg yolk and the butter. With your hand, gather all the ingredients into a ball. Transfer the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead it feels pliable and smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.
   
   
2. Well grease ten 2-inch tartlet tins. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and roll out to a circle about 3mm thick. Line the prepared tartlet tins with flan pastry. Brush each with pineapple jam. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F.
   
   
3. Beat egg whites with salt and lemon juice until soft peaks. Add in almond extract, powdered sugar in a few additions and beat until stiff. Fold in the ground almonds until combined. Fill each pastry shell with almond batter. Divide the almond batter into the 9 prepared pastry shells. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts or almonds on the top and bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes or so in the tins, then turn out on a rack. You can make them without using pastry shells and fill 9 muffin liners instead.

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Lightly grease 16 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together two kinds of flour, baking soda and baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, egg, oil and salt. Add mashed banana, milk and lemon juice to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.
3. Sift the flour mixture into the wet one and stir only until the ingredients are just moistened and combined. Gently stir in chopped nuts. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 30 minutes.

1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub the soja margarine into the flour with fingers until the mixture is crumb-like. Sprinkle water over the mixture. with a fork, toss gently to moisten it. Press the dough into a ball. Wrap the ball of dough with cling film and chill it for 1 hour.
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 425F/220C. Roll out the pastry dough and line an 8 or 9 -inch tin (round or heart-shaped). Prick the bottom and sides of the pastry case all over with a fork. Bake until lightly browned, 15 minutes. Let cool in the form on a rack. Reduce oven temperature to 180C/350F.
   
   
3. Combine 140 grams sugar, cornstarch, salt and lemon zest in a saucepan. Stir in the lemon juice and water until smoothly mixed. Bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer until thickened. Blend in egg yolks and cook over low heat for a further 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Add butter and mix well.
4. Spread the filling in the pastry case and level the surface. Meanwhile beat the egg whites, salt and lemon juice until soft peaks form. Beat in the vanilla extract and sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until still peaks form. Spread the meringue evenly over the lemon filling. With the back of a soup spoon, make decorative peaks in the meringue. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is just set and lightly golden brown on the surface. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

1. Gently press quark through a sieve and beat in egg until incorporated. Sprinkle in the sugar and salt, and then gradually add the flour. Mix until a dough begins to form. Finally add the softened butter and blend all together. The dough is rather wet, but still holds together. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for a few hours or overnight.
   
   
2. Using a knife, make a slit down the seam of the apricot and carefully pull out the pit, keeping the fruit in tact. Stick some jam or a sugar cube inside the apricot where the pit was and close it up. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. On a lightly oiled work surface or directly on a sheet of cling film roll the dough into a log. Divide the log into 12-14 pieces and wrap firmly around each whole apricot. Make sure dumplings are well sealed.
   
   
3. Toast the breadcrumbs, sugar and cinnamon in butter in a frying pan until golden. Set aside to cool. Drop the dumplings in boiling water and stir carefully from time to time so that the dumplings move and don't stick to the bottom of the pan. The dumplings will float on the surface of the water after about 5 minutes. Let cook for another 5 minutes. Carefully remove the dumplings from the water with a strainer. Coat evenly the drained apricot dumplings with the browned crumbs.

1. Rinse and dry the arugula leaves. Tear it up coarsely and place in a large bowl together with radish pickles, if using. Coarsely chop the toasted walnuts and add into the arugula. Cut the slab bacon into 1/3 inch wide pieces.
   
2. In a small frying pan over high heat, fry the bacon until crispy and its has been rendered, about 1 minute. Remove the bacon to the bowl, leaving the fat in the pan. Add raspberry vinegar and olive oil. Stir to mix as a dressing. Pour this dressing over the salad and toss the arugula to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve at once.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Combine the crushed garlic and olive oil. Spread the mixture over a baking tray. Place the bread slices on the top and then turn each one over, so that both sides are evenly coated with the mixture of garlic and olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes until crunchy.
   
2. Trim the ends off each onion then halve lengthwise. Remove peel and finely slice into half moon shapes. Set a skillet on a high heat and melt the butter and olive oil together. Add onions and turn them from time to time until the onions have turn dark mahogany. This will take about 50 minutes.
   
3. Add wine and beef stock to cover the onions. Turn heat to high, and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 30 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Preheat the grill to its highest setting. Ladle soup into the oven-proof soup bowls. Top with the crunchy bread and sprinkle the cheese thickly over the top. Bake for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted.

In Italian, ciabatta means “slipper,” the name is a reference to the shape, which does sort of resemble a slipper. Like many artisan breads, ciabatta bread tastes best when it is fresh. To refresh ciabatta bread which is slightly stale or soggy, it can be sprinkled with water and toasted in an oven immediately before serving. Otherwise, stale ciabbata bread can be allowed to go truly stale and turned into croutons.

1. In bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with dough hook blend together the starter, water, milk, oil, flour and instant yeast at low speed until flour is just moistened. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Add in salt and stir slowly to combine and beat dough at medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough shall be very sticky but still hold its shape.
2. Scrape dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 90 minutes. Have a baking tray ready lined with well-floured baking paper. Turn dough out onto a well-floured work surface and divide in half. Transfer each half to the prepared baking tray and form into an irregular oval, about 8 inches long. Dust the tops with flour.
3. Cover loaves with a dampened kitchen towel. Let loaves rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes. An hour before baking ciabatta, start preheating the oven (and a baking stone if available) to 220C/425F. Bake ciabatta loaves 20 minutes, or until pale golden. Cool the loaves on a rack.

1. Combine yeast, sugar and warm water in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in AP flour, whole wheat flour, matcha powder and salt. Knead until the dough is soft and elastic. Cover with a plastic wrap and proof at room temperature for about 2 hours or until double in volume.
   
2. Place the dough on a floured board and knead it into a loaf. Divide the loaf into 6-8 pieces and let rest for 5 minutes. Sprinkle each small dough with some flour and lightly press them flat. Fold the side of the dough up with your left hand, meanwhile press the upper edge down with your right hand. Repeat this step until you get the shorter edge and slightly round bottom. Pinch them together between the thumb and the index finger of your right hand. Place them on the board and let rise covered until doubled. Repeat the step of folding and pressing.
3. Place the dough balls in a steamer and process the final proof for about 25 minutes. Use the flour during the whole shaping process. Each small dough needs about 15 extra grams of flour to finish the kneading. So that the texture of the steamed buns would appear thick and with clear layers. To achieve a chewy bun, long proofing time at the final stage should always be avoided. Take away the plastic wrap and steam for 20 minutes over medium heat with a lid covered.

A simple mixture of mayonnaise, buttermilk, (or sour cream) and herbs to liven up your salad or use as a dipping sauce for the French fries, fried chicken and other fried stuff. Click here for the history of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing.

1. Put mayonnaise, buttermilk and yoghurt in a medium jar with a tight-fitting lid. Sprinkle with a little salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
2. Add parsley and garlic powder, put lid on and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Store the dressing in the refrigerator for a few days and it will keep longer without herbs.