Favourite food mixer recipes - pizza, Victoria sponge and meringues
The food mixer - also known as a food processor - must be one of the most useful and versatile kitchen gadgets ever invented. It’s been around for decades and continues to be one of the most popular products. That’s why we’ve just upgraded our food processors and are proud to introduce the Sensio Home Gourmet Professional Stand Mixer.
The mixer has a large 5.5L bowl and a 1.5L glass jar blender, and it comes with a whisk, beater, and dough hook. It is a powerful machine with eight speeds to choose from, so whether you’re beating or folding, you’ll do it perfectly. And it looks beautiful too!
So if you’re still thinking about whether to invest in the Sensio Gourmet Professional Stand Mixer, we thought it would be useful to give you a few recipe ideas to show what a mixer can do for you.
Pizza base
Ingredients
250g strong white flour
4g dried yeast
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
150ml warm water
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas Mark 7. Put the flour, yeast and salt into the mixing bowl. Using the dough hook attachment, mix while gradually adding the water until the mixture comes together. Then add the oil and mix for a further 10-15 minutes until the dough is springy and moist. If it’s too dry, add more water, or if it’s too wet, add more flour. Then place the dough into a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth or tea towel (to stop the dough drying out). Leave it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size - this could take from one to two hours, so make sure you make it well in advance! Then all you need to do is roll out your pizza base, place it on a non-stick baking tray, and smother it with a tomato base, lots of cheese and whatever ingredients you like (we’ll even allow you to add pineapple if you’d like!). The cooking time is around 15-20 minutes. Bellissimo!
Easy Victoria sponge
Ingredients
4 eggs
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
225g butter
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas Mark 4. Grease two 20cm cake tins and line them with baking paper. Put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix using the beater attachment. You can tell it’s mixed properly if it falls easily off a spoon. Divide the batter between the cake tins and gently smooth the surface. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes - when ready, the cake will be golden brown and springy to the touch. Turn out onto a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely. When cooled, sandwich the two cakes together with jam, then decorate the top with a light dusting of icing sugar. Alternatively, use buttercream (see recipe below) or fresh cream and fresh strawberries for your filling and/or decoration.
Buttercream icing
Ingredients
140g softened butter
¼ tsp vanilla extract
280g icing sugar, sieved
Preparation
Put the butter and vanilla extract into the mixing bowl and, using the beater attachment, beat until soft. Then gradually add the icing sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Meringues
Ingredients
3 egg whites
175g caster sugar
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 140°C/Fan 120°C/Gas Mark 1. Put the egg whites into the mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites until they're stiff. Then slowly whisk in the caster sugar around a tablespoon at a time until you have stiff peaks. A good way of working out if the meringue is whisked enough is to hold the bowl upside down - if the mixture stays in the bowl, it’s done!
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and spoon the meringue into dollops on the paper - you should get around six. Bake for 1¼ hours - or 1½ hours if you prefer your meringues to be crispier. As soon as they’re done, peel the meringues off the baking paper and put them on a cooling rack.