Sarah Rainey: ‘If we ever needed cake, this is the time’

Did you know it is possible to make meringue in a microwave? How about almost-instant ice cream with a freezer bag and some rock salt? Or a whole cake in the time it takes to boil an egg?

It sounds like chemistry-lab level alchemy, but these are just some of the miraculous-sounding baking tips Northern Irish food writer Sarah Rainey shares in her new cookbook, 6-minute Showstoppers.

“If you can make egg whites and sugar come together and puff up in the microwave,” she explains, “you’re halfway there to making an entire pavlova.” Her coconut berry pavlova genuinely takes six minutes to make, and probably even fewer to scoff.

When it comes to baking, Rainey has a history of making the daunting and complicated seem suddenly achievable. Her debut cookbook, 3-Ingredient Baking, set out to eliminate cake-related complications. Barely any ingredients in your cupboards, and very few baking techniques under your belt? No problem.

Now, 6-minute Showstoppers extends that ethos to account for the fact that not only do people often have limited ingredients, “they also don’t have an awful lot of time”. And while in lockdown lately we’ve ended up with more time at home, “that doesn’t necessarily mean people’s lives are any less busy” – especially if they’re working from home, or home schooling, acknowledges Rainey. The thought of destroying the kitchen in pursuit of a sweet treat, and then waiting an hour for it to bake, can easily drop to the bottom of the to-do list – but our appetite for them is possibly higher than ever.

“If we ever needed cake, this is the time,” says Rainey, and the treats in 6-minute Showstoppers aim to hit the sweet spot between swift, simple and delicious. There are red velvet mug cakes, rum pineapple skewers, sloe gin jellies, Welsh cakes, Nutella ravioli and a ridiculously good-looking molten Mars Bar spoon cake. Throughout, Rainey utilises clever hacks so your sugar hit is on the table before anyone in your household has time to moan a second time that they just need a biscuit. “I hope that people will be impressed with what you can make in six minutes,” says Rainey. “I hope that they’re impressed with themselves.”

There are a few savoury recipes to be found amongst the pages too – halloumi fritters, a frying pan pizza, a microwavable shakshuka – but most are unabashedly sugary “because that’s where my real indulgence is, I have a hugely sweet tooth,” says Rainey. “Most of them are terribly bad for you, but terribly delicious.”

Rainey’s childhood in Northern Ireland was filled with home cooked meals, and batches of her grandmother’s fresh scones and bread. It wasn’t until after university – Rainey studied law at Cambridge – that she became really interested in cooking for herself though. “I used to live on microwave meals back then,” she says – although admittedly, that’s set her in good stead for her microwave cake creations. “Now I like to make everything from scratch.”

Some feel dread when faced with the prospect of throwing dinner together, yet again, but Rainey sees opportunity. “I love the Ready Steady Cook challenge of looking in your cupboards, in your fridge, and going, ‘Right, I’ve got three things, what can I do with them? I’ve got six minutes, go.’ That’s my switch-off relaxation activity.”

It’s an approach to cooking that’s been particularly useful in lockdown, when tracking down certain ingredients can require both extreme nous and total luck of the shelf-stacking rota. “If you don’t have any flour in your house, just grind up some oats or almonds, or even some dried chickpeas,” suggests Rainey. “If you don’t have egg whites, you can use the water from a can of chickpeas to make your meringue. There’s always something you can use.”

And if there was a perfect moment to eat delicious things, she reiterates, now “is a good time to do it.”

“It makes people happy,” says Rainey. “We’re going back to traditional, old-school hobbies and activities, and baking is the ultimate example. You put a little bit of yourself into baking. To give someone a cake or a biscuit or a dessert that you’ve made, it’s really baked with love – even if you do it in six minutes, that doesn’t mean you put any less effort in. You probably put more in to try and get it done in the time.

“It’s a really lovely gesture making something for someone,” she adds. “However small.” And small acts of kindness are the ultimate currency right now.

6-minute Showstoppers by Sarah Rainey, photography by Clare Winfield, is published by Michael Joseph, priced £14.99. Available now.

Turn the page to try out a few of the recipes from 6-minute Showstoppers…

Words by Ella Walker, PA

Images credit Michael Joseph/Clare Winfield/PA

 

Jammy thumbprint cookies, Makes 12

INGREDIENTS

• 250g ground almonds
• 1 egg
• 60ml coconut oil, melted
• 3tbsp maple syrup
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 140g fruit jam of your choice

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 250°C (fan 230°C) and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
2. Mix the almonds, egg, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract together in a bowl until they come together into a loose dough.
3. Roll blobs of dough (around the size of ping-pong balls) between your palms and spread them out on the baking sheet.
4. Flatten them with your fingers until the cookies are around 1cm thick. Then squidge your thumb into the centre of each to create a deep dent (make sure you don’t make a hole all the way through or the jam will leak out).
5. Fill the dent in each cookie with a heaped teaspoonful of jam. Place the baking sheet of cookies in the oven on the top shelf and cook for four minutes. When they’re done, open the door slightly, rotate the baking sheet (to ensure the cookies don’t catch or burn) and leave them to cool in the oven with the door ajar for around half an hour. Enjoy hot or cold, with a cup of tea. The cookies will keep for five to six days in an airtight tin.

 

Choca-mocha cake, Makes 1 cake – serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS

• 30g cocoa powder
• 3tsp (heaped) instant coffee
• 175g self-raising flour, sifted
• 175g caster sugar
• 60ml semi-skimmed milk
• 60ml sunflower oil
• 1 egg
• 1tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:

• 1tsp (heaped) instant coffee
• 130g icing sugar, sifted

METHOD

1. Grease a 20cm-round, microwave-proof cake dish with a little butter and line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Mix the cocoa powder and three teaspoons of coffee together in a small bowl and add approximately 100ml boiling water. Stir vigorously until dissolved.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and sugar. Add the coffee mixture, followed by the milk, oil, egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared cake dish and microwave on high for four-and-a-half to five minutes, checking throughout. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s risen and spongey (not wet) on top.
4. While the cake bakes, make the icing. In a small bowl, add a splash of water to the remaining teaspoon of instant coffee and mix to make a paste. Mix in the icing sugar, a little at a time, adding more water if you need to, until you have a smooth paste, roughly the texture of thick cream.
5. When the cake is done, carefully tip it out on to a cooling rack and immediately spread the icing over the top (or drizzle, if you’re more artistic than me). You may want to put a plate or chopping board underneath the rack as this bit can get messy.
6. If you like, sprinkle chopped walnuts, pecans or coffee beans around the edge of the cake for a pretty finish – do this before the icing sets so they stick.