• To achieve the correct results when boiling sugar, it’s essential to use a sugar thermometer. Check the accuracy of your thermometer by placing it in water that has just come to the boil. The boiling point of water should read 100°C, dropping by 1°C at the coast. Warm the bulb by dipping it into hot water before immersing it into the syrup. Hold the thermometer upright and read it at eye level. SUGAR STAGES • Thread 106°C – 112°C. Used for a poaching syrup • Soft ball 112°C – 118°C. Used for fondants and fudges • Hard ball 121°C –…

    • If your cake has risen unevenly, it could be due to the oven temperature being too high or because the flour wasn’t sufficiently blended into the mixture.…

    Traditionally, Yorkshire pudding was served with roast beef in the county of Yorkshire, England. The batter was placed under the meat to catch the meat drippings, but if you do not have any drippings just use a little oil at the bottom of your tins. Whisk together 4 eggs, 200ml milk, 100g cake flour, and salt and pepper to taste. Rest for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Use shallow muffin tins or 1 large baking tray and pour the milk mixture into the prepared tins. Bake until puffy, crispy and brown. Also delicious served with sugar and cinnamon.

    With the exotic scents of jasmine, gardenias and orchids filling the air, and food that has to be tasted to be believed, Bangkok is a vibrant, colourful sensory experienceKERRY PHILLIPSTouching down at Bangkok’s brand new Suvarnabhumi Airport was as much a novelty as flying Thai Airways, where their “smooth as silk” logo is quite apt for the 11-hour flight from Johannesburg. As we boarded the plane, we were directed to the left and gleeful smiles spread across our faces as we settled into our Royal Silk Class, or business class, seats. The journey was a pleasure as we enjoyed five-star…

    With 25 percent of the world’s cranes operating in Dubai, the city is the fastest growing on the planet, home to surreal skyscrapers and sheer excess. But the…

    KIM HOEPFL visits Marataba Safari Company in Limpopo and finds that it fits securely into a new generation of hotels – in trend with the vanguard of modern design and as welcoming as it is beautifulKIM HOEPFL Marataba Safari Company is a sensual, tactile place with surfaces of knobbly bark, linen, smooth wood, velvet, beadwork and stone, all inviting touch. Architecturally it’s a mixed bag, incorporating diverse cultural elements: Indian (windows, architraves, carved wooden doors), African (stone work) and modern (clean lines and jewel-like colours). It belongs to the Hunter family of hotels, which also has Hunter’s Country House and…

    In this age of extreme choice among luxurious safari lodges, how do you differentiate one from another? Ecca Lodge, in the Eastern Cape’s Kwandwe Private Game Reserve, not…

    A personal chef. Gwyneth Paltrow has two – one for sweet and one for savoury; Toni Collette has one to cook macrobiotically; and hip-hop star Jay-Z has added one to his entourage just to make chicken wings, The Observer online reports. But it’s not just in the lives of the rich and famous that personal chefs are becoming de rigueur. In the United States for example, there’s the American Personal and Private Chef Association, and according to www. personalchef.com about 9 000 personal chefs are registered, with over 0 million a year being spent on the service. While the trend…