The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Saturday
Clever ways to make a cookie crumble
From cranberry and coconut to bright, summery cocktail flavours, the options for this bake are endless, says Jean Hwang Carrant
Brown sugar is the key ingredient for true American-style cookies. The sugar is slightly moist and gives the cookies a soft texture, and the molasses content gives the dough a more complex flavour. If you leave dough in the refrigerator to “sleep” for one night before baking the cookies, it creates an even better result.
I find that vanilla extract adds a little punch to cookie dough. I make my own and it’s very simple.
Make the extract by slicing six vanilla pods in half lengthways, and placing them in a sealed glass container with 250ml of vodka; then leave to macerate for three weeks, turning the container from time to time.
It’s important not to overbake the cookies. When they come out of the oven, leave them on the baking sheet for a few minutes to firm up. Then transfer them with a thin spatula to a baking rack. And to make your cookies even more irresistible, add one of the ingredients in the batter (chocolate or nuts, for example) on to the cookies when they’re fresh out the oven.
Cookie Love by Jean Hwang Carrant is published by Hardie Grant (£7.99). Order your copy from books.telegraph. co.uk
‘Whitstable is seen as affluent, and people love to visit – but hidden citizens struggle with social isolation and food poverty. A high rate of pupil premium is paid to local schools to support disadvantaged children,” says Anna Mantell, a former nurse and founder of Food Friends, a food sharing initiative set up 18 months ago to connect home cooks with neighbours in need of a nutritious meal and a friendly chat. “I stopped nursing when I had children, and started to help a couple of women in their 80s who live on the seafront. I was astounded at how lonely they were. When coronavirus hit, I couldn’t bear the thought of isolated individuals suffering when it was so easy to help and give a little time.”
Food Friends is run from Whitstable Umbrella Community Centre, a notfor-profit hub for social engagement and support, which is also home to The Umbrella Café CIC. “When we’re open, we welcome all for coffee and homecooked lunches via Whitstable’s wellestablished Pay It Forward scheme,” explains the Umbrella’s co-founder Jo Verney, also a former nurse. Through the scheme, customers at the Umbrella Café as well as Café Revival on the high street can buy a tea, cake or meal alongside their own for those in need. When lockdown measures forced cafés to close, it was clear that Whitstable residents who were shielding and families who usually receive free school meals were facing harsh difficulties.
Thus the Community Dinner Fund was born: a collaboration between the community centre, café and Food Friends supported by Whitstable businesses including Samphire bistro, Sale & Pepe pizza, the Rose in Bloom pub and V C Jones fish and chips. Since March 23, they’ve delivered over 3000 meals and 400 breakfast parcels to 163 regular beneficiaries identified through referrals from schools, health centres and charities. “The same volunteer delivers each time, forging a relationship, and befriending calls from our team of 15 volunteers provide a support network,” says Verney.
The Community Dinner Fund cooks around 185 home-made meals a week in the Umbrella Café kitchen. Funded initially by reserves from the existing Pay It Forward scheme, it’s received an additional £35,000 funding from the likes of Kent county council and the Whitstable Rotary Club. Meals are supplemented by 30 frozen meals donated weekly from COOK; extras are served up courtesy of local restaurants on board. Visitors to Whitstable can pay for an extra portion of fish and chips at VC Jones on top of their own for someone in need (recipients receive a code to redeem). The project is set to run until September, after which it will continue to support its beneficiaries alongside the centre and café; until then, the Fund is keeping in touch with residents facing crisis in the Kent seaside town to work out how best to support them through the pandemic. “We can all learn something from this time, and drive that into something positive,” says Mantell.
To donate to the fund, visit theumbrellacafe.co.uk/donate; follow @whitstableumbrellacentre, @theumbrellacafe and @foodfriendsuk on Instagram