Food Maths: Digestive Biscuits

HERO INGREDIENT: McVitie’s digestive biscuits

METHOD

1. Crush the digestives. The easiest way to do this is pop them in a freezer bag and bash them on the kitchen surface. Melt the 75g butter. Mix with the biscuit crumbs. You can blend if it’s easier.

2. Butter the cake tin and firmly press the mix into the base of a 20cm cake tin and along the sides.

3. Cool in fridge for 30 minutes minimum.

4. Once set, remove the tin from the fridge and take the base out and place carefully onto a plate.

5. Spread the caramel across the base until it is covered (you might not need to use it all). Slice the bananas and layer across the caramel.

6. To finish, whisk the double cream into peaks. Layer it over the banana and top with the Maltesers.

METHOD

1. Whisk the double cream into peaks. Blitz 150g of the berries and the rose water (if using) with 2 tbsp of icing sugar or a fine grain sugar. Fold through the cream.

2. Crush the meringue nests and biscuits. You can do this by placing each ingredient into plastic bags and bashing on the kitchen surface.

3. Halve the other 150g of berries.

4. Then, layer the pink berry cream into glasses with the halved berries, crushed meringue nests and crumbled biscuits and serve.

5. Garnish using dried rose petals, mint leaves and dark chocolate.

METHOD

1. Place clingfilm into and around the base of a 20cm cake tin. Bash the biscuits into quite large chunks. Finely grate the orange zest and set aside.

2. To make the decorative orange slices, cut two slices, thinly. Place on a baking sheet in the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar before baking at 130°C-140°C for approximately 60 minutes. You want them to dehydrate but not brown.

3. Melt the chocolate, syrup and butter in a pan on a low heat. Remove and let the mixture cool a little. Then, carefully stir in the alcohol, a little at a time.

4. Stir the chocolate mix with the biscuits and orange zest.

5. Press the mix firmly into the cake tin. Pop into the fridge and let it cool for at least an hour. Turn it out onto a large plate, removing the clingfilm. Decorate with the two orange slices on top.