How to Colour Sugar Crystals

I once had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at a fabulous hightea room on Mount Tambouine called Tea and Niceties. It was gorgeously set out in a shabby chic manner with the tables set with ornate silverware, beautiful blooming roses, tea pots, sugar cubes, and to-die-for cakes and pastries stacked on tall high tea stands. Everything was pink and gold and white and absolutely amazing and feminine. It was the perfect place for a bridal shower.
It's easy to make your own afternoon teas with the girls a bit more elegant with the tiniest bit of effort. When you break out the floral teapots that have become ornamental, and lay out some delicious nibblies, topping up the sugar bowl with pink crystals only seems fair. Making your sugar bowl pink is so much easier than you might think, and much less expensive than buying it at the store. You can use it to dust cakes, biscuits and cupcakes too for a little added glamour, and it looks fabulous on the table when you're throwing a high tea or shabby chic party. Makes me think of exotic blends of tea and jam and cream scones. Time to send out the invitations and throw a girly afternoon tea I think!

HOW TO COLOUR SUGAR CRYSTALS

You will need:
A plastic zip lock bag (a regular freezer bag will do the trick too)
Granulated sugar
Food colouring (I used red)

Place the granulated sugar in a zip lock bag. Add a few small drops of food colouring to the bag and close the bag. Using your fingers, move the sugar crystals around in the bag, spreading the colour throughout the entirety of it, until all the crystals are saturated.
Voila!

For the meringue recipe, visit here.

Oven Roasted Strawberries

Buying in bulk can result in storage problems, particularly when it comes to storing fresh produce. You either admit you've bought too much and let it sit and rot, or you eat your way through it...yes, every mean shall be strawberries! Strawberries, Strawberries, STRAWBERRIES!
September has been the month of strawberries, if you hadn't guessed. They're so cheap that I took liberty of the fact and bought a huge amount. Maybe it was just so I could feel like that famous chef for a moment, wheeling a trolley of stawberries to the counter. I can't remember who (I still have the word "strawberry" going over and over in my head) but she used to buy bulk, and then was forced to get creative in the kitchen with it before it went bad.
Well, with strawberries to spare I went home and decided I wanted to discover what a roasted strawberry was like. I dont remember where the idea came from, but I had to do it.
It's so easy, it's more a method than a recipe.
The result amazed me. For hours there was this overwhelming, very sweet strawberry scent wafting through the house. I've never been high (nor intend to) but I can imagine getting high off this smell. (A bit like that feeling you get when you've been painint a little too long and the fumes get to your head.)
The sweetness is extreme, delicious. It's potency will knock you off your feet. It's almost as if the sweetness of the berry is released into the air and when you taste the final product, a faded strawberry chip, there is nothing of the sweetness remaining. There is a delightful tangy flavour that hits the taste buds, and is compelling and addictive.
They make pretty garnishes and are about to be placed in a gourmet salad I'm planning to make. The possibilities are endless. Keep your eyes peeled for them popping up all over the blog!

ROASTED STRAWBERRIES

You will need:

quantity of strawberries
icing sugar (optional)
non-stick paper-lined tray

Heat the oven at 100C. Slice the strawberries lengthways into four pieces each. The larger the strawberry, the better, but if you have little berries, cut into three thicknesses per berry. This is just a guideline, you can cut them as thick or as thin as you like, but the above is what worked for me.
Line a tray with non stick baking paper. Sprinkle the paper with a coating of icing sugar (sometimes known as confectioner's sugar. This is optional)
Place a single layer of the berries on the tray  with a cm or so between the berries. They tend to stick to each other if stacked and don't dry out as well. Bake for 4-5 hours, checking every hour until they reach desired crispness. Remove from heat and allow to cool before removing.

What are you going to use your roasted strawberries for? Here's a few suggestions!

You could also eat them on their own as snacks, on an apple crumble, through your breakfast muesli...the possibilities are endless!