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Bake – along Tuesday 9 June  Vegan friendly meringues that are gluten free too!
Nothing says summer than a light fluffy cloud of meringue with strawberries and cream, preferably smashed up and served as a pile of Eton mess.
 
Traditionally made with whipped egg white and caster sugar, a vegan friendly version definitely didn’t seem possible so I was dubious to say the least.  
 
But, amazingly it worked as well as ‘normal’ meringue AND it tastes delicious too, quite toffee- ish!
 
What’s the secret? Well, this is where it gets a bit weird. It is actually the water from a can of chickpeas. I told you it was weird, but don’t dismiss it because of that, you really will be wowed to try it!
 
I’ll be baking this week at the fabulous JD Kitchens showroom using their Neff slide and hide ovens, so do join me live at 12.00 noon via the Warrington Guardian Coronavirus Facebook page.
 
Ingredients
1 can of chickpeas (use the chickpeas to make hummus or throw in a chicken casserole or roast them for a snack!)
Caster sugar 300 g
Cream of tartar (not essential if you can’t get it)
Vanilla extract
 
You definitely need an electric whisk for this, some baking paper and a piping bag is useful, but you can do dollops with a spoon if you don’t want to pipe it. 

 
This week in our Room Forty FREE Live Bake-along we’re making the nations favourite lockdown treat, banana bread, and it will be vegan friendly too.
 
 It is an easy peasy recipe and a great store cupboard make, brilliant if you have some bananas that have seen better days!   (I actually have had to hide my bananas from my family for 3 days or I wouldn’t have any to bake with!)   

You can add nuts or fruit to it for additional texture, and it keeps beautifully, actually improving the next day.

If you would like to bake a long live we’re on the Warrington Guardian Coronavirus news Facebook page at 12 noon on Tuesday 2 June, and I will be live from JD Kitchens in Warrington for a nice change of scenery using their fabulous Neff slide and hide ovens!

Ingredients
3 large black bananas
75ml vegetable oil or sunflower oil, plus extra for the tin
100g brown sugar
225g plain flour (or use self-raising flour and reduce the baking powder to 2 heaped tsp)
3 heaped tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice
50g dried fruit or nuts (optional)

Method
1.      Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. 
2.      Mash 3 large black peeled bananas with a fork, then mix well with 75g vegetable or sunflower oil and 100g brown sugar.
3.      Add 225g plain flour, 3 heaped tsp baking powder and 3 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice, and combine well. Add 50g dried fruit or nuts, if using.
4.      Bake in an oiled, lined 2lb loaf tin for 20 minutes. Check and cover with foil if the cake is browning.
5.      Bake for another 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
6.       Allow to cool a little before slicing.