Marmite And Cheddar Cheese Tea Cake Food

NEXT LEVEL MAC 'N' CHEESE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 8. Cook the macaroni in salted water for 2 mins less than the stated cooking time, so it still has plenty of bite. Drain well and toss with a small knob of the butter to stop it from sticking together.
• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the remaining butter until frothy and nut-brown. Pour off 1 tbsp into a small bowl and place the pan back on the heat, then scatter over and whisk in the flour and cook for 3 mins until you have a sandy paste. Add the milk, a splash at a time, simmering and whisking until smooth between each addition. Once all the milk has been added, drizzle in the evaporated milk, then add the grated cheddar, a handful at a time, until you have a thick, cheesy sauce. Stir through the mustard powder, cayenne, Marmite and vinegar and taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.
• Remove from heat, stir in the macaroni, then stir through the chunks of cheese. Tip the contents of the saucepan into a large, buttered baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together all the breadcrumbs, the parmesan, another small pinch of cayenne and some crunchy sea salt if you want. Scatter the crumbs over the macaroni, drizzle with the reserved brown butter and bake for 30-35 mins until lightly browned, crunchy all over and bubbling around the edges. Leave to stand for 10 mins before serving straight from the dish.

CHEESE & MARMITE SCONES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and dust a baking tray with a little flour. Mix the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Put 1 tsp Marmite in a jug, add the egg and make up to 300ml with the milk. Stir in the oil, then beat really well to dissolve the Marmite.
• Tip 85g of the cheddar into a bowl and mix with the cream cheese and remaining Marmite to make a spread. Toss the rest of the cheese through the flour mixture, then pour in the milk mixture and stir with the blade of a knife until it comes together. (You need to work quickly once you've added the liquid, as it activates the baking powder.) Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead the mix, taking care not to overwork it, as it will make the scones heavy.
• Press or lightly roll the dough into an oblong about 20 x 25cm. Spread with the Marmite mixture and roll up from the longest side to create a tight, fat cylinder. Pat the ends of the cylinder to straighten them, then slice into 8 pinwheels and put on the baking tray, patting them to make flattish rounds. Bake for 12-15 mins until golden and cooked.
• Leave for a few mins on the tray to allow the cheese centre to harden a little, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Eat warm or cold. Best eaten on the day they are made.

MARMITE AND CHEDDAR CHEESE TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius
• Grease a 23cm oven-proof dish.
• Cream butter and sugar.
• Add egg and beat well.
• Sieve cake flour, baking powder and salt together.
• Stir the flour mixture and milk alternately into egg mixture.
• Pour dough mixture into a ring mould and bake for about 25 minutes.
• For the topping, melt the butter and marmite. Pour while hot, over cooled cake. Sprinkle grated cheese over just before serving.

TOMATO SOUP WITH CHEESE & MARMITE TWISTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Finely grate the cheese. Unravel the pastry, spread evenly with the Marmite, then sprinkle the cheese on top. Now fold the pastry in half to make a sandwich and press down well.
• Cut the pastry into 12 equal strips. Carefully twist each strip and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 mins until golden. Leave for 5 mins to firm up a little, then lift onto a cooling rack with a fish slice.
• Halve the onion, then peel and chop it. Fry in the oil for about 5 mins, stirring with a wooden spoon until soft but not coloured, as this will spoil the colour of the soup later.
• Chop the tomatoes, then add to the pan with the stock, ketchup and oregano. Season. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat. Cover the pan, then simmer for 15 mins until the veg are soft.
• Tip the cream into the soup, then gently heat, stirring with the wooden spoon until it just starts to bubble. Don't boil vigorously as the cream could curdle. Ladle into bowls and serve with the Cheese & Marmite straws.

CHEESE & MARMITE SAUSAGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle roughly A4 size (30 x 21cm). Drizzle and gently spread over half the Marmite and evenly scatter with two-thirds of the cheddar. Fold the two ends of the rectangle into the middle, then fold everything in half again so the pastry is like a book, then fold in half again so you have a tight block of pastry. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for at least 10 mins.
• Tip the sausagemeat into a large bowl with the remaining Marmite and cheese and add 3 tbsp of cold water and squish or mix everything together.
• Roll out the pastry to a neat rectangle, roughly 35 x 30cm. Trim the edges with a knife so they are perfectly straight, then cut in half lengthways so you have two long strips. Divide the sausage mix in two and mould each half along the middle of each strip in a cylindrical shape, leaving a decent border at either side. Brush the border and top of the sausage mix with beaten egg and roll the pastry over to encase the sausage, tightly pressing both edges of pastry together by crimping or pressing down gently with a fork.
• Cut the sausage rolls into a length that suits. Place on a baking sheet and chill again for at least 20 mins or until ready to bake (chilling the pastry now will stop it from splitting as it cooks). Can be made up to a day ahead or frozen for a month. To cook from frozen, just add an extra 10 mins to the cooking time.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Brush the sausage rolls liberally with egg and bake for 30-35 mins until the pastry is deep golden - don't be scared to take them to the edge of dark golden and slightly charred around the edges. Lift from the tray to a rack immediately or they'll stick to the tray and leave to cool for at least 10 mins then eat hot, warm or leave to go cold and pack into a lunchbox.