Scary recipes made simple

Techniques and tricks

Think you can\'t ice a glorious cake, cook a fresh lobster or create a Parisien look-alike pastry? Think again! Our food consultant Emma Marsden has come up with ten tips that allow you to master the recipes you thought you\'d never manage. Just click through this gallery to discover them...

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Five simple suppers

Mastering meringues

Meringues look gloriously chic, but they are made from just two ingredients - egg whites and sugar. The trick is that whisks and bowls have to be spotlessly clean and free from grease, otherwise the egg whites won\'t whip into shape. The additional vinegar in this recipe for raspberry swirl meringues gives a mallowy centre and the sophisticated pink swirl is just a dash of food colouring. See our brilliant video for making meringues here

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Caribbean cooking

Five simple suppers

Breaking bread

Mastering bread making is not as hard as you think and it\'s so worth it! If you\'re a breadmaking newby, start with this simple olive soda bread. The approach here is the same as for scones - mix, knead lightly, shape and bake. Once you\'ve mastered that, making bread made with yeast will be a cinch - try this brown bread with oatmeal. The only difference is the pummelling. Think of the pummelling as a way of de-stressing after a hard day...

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Caribbean cooking

Five simple suppers

Soufflé sorted

A savoury soufflé is the clever cooks\' favourite storecupboard recipe. It costs pennies, but is oh so rich and soothing. The delicate nature means it needs to be served immediately and eaten before it collapses - but this is not the case with this recipe for twice baked ham and cheese soufflés, which is stabilised with mash. Just add a simple green salad and a glass of red wine. Perfect.

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Caribbean cooking

Five simple suppers

Perfect millefeuilles

Literally translated from the French as a thousand layers, millefeuilles looks like a chef\'s masterpiece. Learn how to make it using ready-made puff-pastry before moving onto homemade pastry - this fabulous strawberry millefeuilles recipe is perfect for millefeuilles first-timers. Simply roll chill and bake, then sandwich together with softly whipped cream and so-in-season strawberries.

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Caribbean cooking

Five simple suppers

Learn to love liver

Chicken liver is so cheap and so underused, partly because people are nervous of cooking it. Try it for lunch first, in this perfect liver sandwich recipe - cook the livers quickly in the pan to leave them crispy on the outside, soft and meltingly tender within.

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Caribbean cooking

Five simple suppers

Cake decorating

Cake decorating is well-known for making the knees of many a competent cook wobble. But this eye-catching decorated cake recipe is really very simple, and it\'s perfect for weddings, christenings, Christmas or any other celebration. Just roll out ready-made fondant icing and cut into triangles. Lay them on, point to the middle and - hey presto - you achieve this expert effect. We love these alternative trimmings of sugared diamonds and icing pink baby feet.

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Caribbean cooking

Five simple suppers

Check out chutney

When the trees are laden with fruit or cheap in the shops, wouldn\'t it be great if you could make preserves? Perserving is not as hard as you think. Throw the fruit in a pan and simmer gently until thick and jammy. Then pot the results and wait a month for the flavours to soften and mellow. Discover the step-by-step instructions for a delicious apple and tomato chutney here.

Squid made simple

Contrary to popular opinion, cooking squid is not difficult. You follow the same rule as cooking beef - cook it quickly over a high heat to keep it tender or cook it long and slow over a low heat. Do you have to know how to prepare it? Absolutely not! Buy ready-prepared and slice into rings or cut into large chunks.. Marry with Asian flavours of ginger, chilli, garlic and lemongrass and stir-fry quickly in a wok for a simple midweek supper. For a Greek-style treat, try this fried squid recipe

Lobster know-how

If you have the stamina to kill for your dinner, try buying a live lobster. Here\'s how to proceed from there... Freeze the live lobster for an hour, then drop into a pan of boiling water for 10-15 minutes until it turns bright red. Cut straight down the back and remove the black vein, green paste and and sand sac from behind the eyes. Pick out the flesh and toss in pasta with a splash of oil and pinch of chilli flakes or eat in a soft roll with butter as in this recipe.

Go for gravy

A good gravy literally turns a meal into a feast. Here\'s how to get it right every time. Buy a really good joint - the flavour of the juices will be better if you use top-quality meat. Remove from the fridge at least 30min before cooking. Season well. Then - the important bit - add 300ml water to the tin before roasting. Keep topping up as the joint roasts. This produces a stock. Pour into a bowl and reserve, leaving 2-3tbsp fat in the tin. Stir in 1-2tbsp plain flour and cook for 2min until bubbling and golden. Slowly add the stock, a splash of wine or sherry - if you fancy - and simmer for 5-10min until syrupy. Taste for seasoning.

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Caribbean cooking

Five simple suppers