Makrides - Sugar rebels: pipe for your life

CONTENTS

Before the health nuts start jumping up and down (and I love you guys BTW), Sugar Rebels is not my idea of rebelling against eating less sugar. We should definitely eat less sugar than we do now. Too much of anything is not good for you, especially sugar. Just ask the people who have to tan Donald Trump.

Sugar Rebels is a rebellion against what everyone else is doing with desserts. Its about using the things that inspire you to come up with original ideas for any dessert in my case, cakes, cupcakes and macarons.

Ive been doing social media for a long time. One of the challenges I faced from the very beginning was finding my own voice.

The number of times Ive seen the same freaking unicorn cake on Instagram It makes me want to pull out what little hair I have left! Someone already made a unicorn cake with a gold fondant horn. Theres no need for everyone to make it again and again until the internet is full of them. Be original. Create something new, something that is a part of you.

I want this book to inspire you to go into your kitchen and learn how to bake, but, more importantly, to get the creative juices flowing and make something that only you can make. Then jump on Instagram and share it with your followers and me @thescranline!

N x

WHAT IS THE SCRAN LINE?

First of all, its about me. I know that sounds super narcissistic, but let me explain ...

What makes you different from everyone else? List three things in your head. These differences are what makes people love you. Because youre you, and thats what theyre drawn towards.

Same goes with The Scran Line. (And by the way, scran means food. Thats the term used by the Royal Australian Navy. So, standing in the scran line means standing in the line for food.)

The Scran Line is about me. Its a personal online food project that stems from my love of design, baking and pop culture. I create video tutorials and post them on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram in an effort to inspire you guys to get in your kitchens and recreate them with your family and friends. I want you guys to learn a bunch of different techniques from my recipes, so that you can then begin creating your own designs based on the things that inspire you.

For me, its my love of pop culture and music, as well as my passions for design and creating pastries. These are some of the biggest things that make me who I am.

The Scran Line is my way of sharing all of those things with you guys. Its my creative outlet, its how I communicate and connect with people. You know how Beyonc literally does no interviews and the only way we found out about Becky with the good hair was through her music? Music is the way Beyonc expresses who she is.

The Scran Line is my way of expressing who I am.

This book isnt your run-of-the-mill recipe book. You cant pick a recipe to make in 40 minutes on a weekday. These are recipes you take time to make over the weekend with friends and family. They are designed to teach you different techniques in the kitchen.

Sugar Rebels is my way of encouraging you to get in the kitchen and have fun baking on your own or with someone else. I want you guys to experience the same things I experienced in my mum and grandmas kitchens: spending time with family and friends baking something delicious while you laugh, make mistakes, argue and then finish it all off by eating something amazing.

Each recipe is adapted from one of the base recipes in the chapter.

So, lets say youve decided to make the recipe, which is located in the Rebel Basics chapter. Start off by reading the base recipe, then read the recipe that youve chosen. Once youve got an understanding of the ingredients and steps in both recipes, youre ready to begin.

I decided to structure the book this way to avoid giving you the exact same ingredients list and instructions in every recipe. Youre welcome, forests!

Heres some extra info that will come in handy for the recipes in this book.

USING KITCHEN SCALES

Guys, I just cannot stress enough how important it is to measure everything out correctly and precisely when youre baking. Especially for macarons. The reason is that there is a lot of science behind baking and how all the different ingredients work together. For example, did you know that every egg is a different size? You might be thinking: What on earth is Nick saying? Of course I know that! Some people dont actually realise it though. The questions Ive had over the years, you wouldnt even believe. For macarons, its impossible to say use 4 egg whites, because youre going to get a different amount of egg whites every time depending on the size of the eggs. So, what I would recommend is that you invest in a pair of kitchen scales. Make sure theyre digital and dont have a touch-button. Touch-button scales are kind of flaky, no matter how much they might cost. When you switch between bowls of different ingredients and want to set the scale back to zero, you want to be able to feel that you pressed the button and are sure that it registered. The ones with actual buttons are always better.

The other thing I would recommend is that you read the recipe thoroughly first and make sure you have all the correct ingredients measured out accurately before you start. Some recipes have steps where multiple things need to happen at once, so you wont have time to pause and measure out ingredients.

So, the key takeaways are: a pair of good kitchen scales is a worthwhile investment, always measure accurately, and measure before you begin a recipe.

CAKES & CUPCAKES

A TWO-DAY PROCESS

All the cakes in this book take two days to make. Aim to bake the cakes on day one, then and decorate on day two.

USING YOGHURT

First of all, no, you cant taste it its such a small amount. Sorry for all of you yoghurt lovers out there. The addition of yoghurt to my and cake recipes keeps the cakes moist. This is especially important for a couple of reasons. If youre baking your cupcakes the night before a party, then the yoghurt will help keep the cupcakes and cakes moist until the next day. The reason its not an ingredient in the chocolate recipes is that these recipes use much more butter, so the butter helps keep the cake moist. You can use sour cream instead of yoghurt it does the same thing.

HALVING THE RECIPE

My recipe cannot be halved. Id recommend just making the whole batch and sharing them with your neighbours, family and friends if you want to avoid eating all the yumminess yourself!

BUTTER

Make sure your butter is very soft for the cake mixture. There are two ways to soften your butter. You can microwave it (as one whole block) for 5 seconds at a time, flipping the block over halfway through, until very soft (not melted). If you dont have a microwave, run a large bowl under hot water. Dry the bowl and place it over the butter for 1 minute. The heat from the bowl will create a warm environment within to soften the butter.