” It’s January 😦 ”

By now you probably have your Christmas decorations put back up into the attic. This year we had an extra load of candy canes left over. I guess the kids just didn’t pay attention to them on the tree, they were probably distracted by all the other junk. Selection boxes and the like. So we decided to make a dish with the candy canes rather than put them back up in the attic.

This time of year a lot of people are flat out dieting and exercising, trying to shed the extra pounds they put on over the festive period. It is hard and requires discipline . I spoke to a guy the other day and I asked him what was bothering him as he was really down and he said ” It’s January “. You can’t let a month get to you, it’s only 31 days. You have to fight through it with a smile on your face. Positivity attracts positivity. So put a smile on your face and make a meringue.

The Ingredients:

Shortcrust pastry

8oz plain white flour

Pinch salt

4oz cold unsalted butter, cubed

2 tsp caster sugar

1 medium free-range egg yolk

Candy cane curd

100g caster sugar

7 tbsp cornflour

8 candy canes

4 drops of peppermint essence

5 leaves of fresh basil

6 medium free-range egg yolks

100g unsalted butter, melted

Meringue Topping

6 medium free-range egg whites

300g caster sugar

The Make:

Firstly, sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.  Then add the cubed butter using fingertips until you reach a fine breadcrumb consistency. Now add the sugar to the mix and using either your hands or a dough hook on a mixer, mix to a firm dough by adding the egg yolk and a splash of cold water. Wrap the dough in cling film and allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using. Preheat the oven to 190C and grease a 9in fluted loose-bottomed tin. Then place the tin onto a baking tray. Roll out the pastry big enough to generously fit the tin, leaving excess pastry falling over sides. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Ensure greaseproof paper falls over edge of pastry rim.  Bake the pastry case blind for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is pale golden and dried out.  Remove the paper and beans from pie.  Now trim the excess pastry using a sharp knife.  Lower the oven to 150C and bake for a further 5 minutes. Now in a large mixing bowl start preparing the candy cane curd by mixing together the sugar and cornflour with a splash of cold water to make a paste. Blitz candy canes and basil in a blender until it is a fine dust. Add 60ml of water and the candy cane dust into a pan and bring to the boil. Pass through a sieve to remove any basil. Slowly pour the hot liquid into the cornflour mix, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the egg yolks, peppermint essence and butter and then pour mixture back into pan. Cook on a low heat, stirring constantly until mixture has thickened to a curd consistency.  Pour into the baked pastry case, spread evenly and leave to cool slightly. To prepare the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they form stiff peaks. Slowly add the caster sugar a spoon at a time whisking well and at a high speed. Transfer the meringue into a piping bag and pipe the meringue on top of the candy cane curd. Bake in the oven at 160C for around 20-30 minutes until the meringue is crisp and starting to brown on the outside and the inside is a soft marshmallow.

Enjoy.