Here’s the tea on three of the hottest food trends right now. It’s tried and tested in our trusty MK kitchen, so you know what’s worth making at home, and what should just stay on your phone!  

Pull-apart garlic loaf 

Serves 6-8 

Top sheets of garlic bread with chopped olives or mozzarella for an extra cheesy loaf, or chopped cooked bacon. 

Ingredients 

¼ cup (60g) butter at room temperature + extra for brushing
2 Tbsp (8g) finely chopped parsley
3 Tbsp (45ml) minced garlic
¼ tsp (1ml) fine salt
500g store-bought bread dough
3 Tbsp (15g) grated Parmesan
¼ cup (30g) grated Cheddar
Salt and milled pepper 

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 25x10cm loaf tin. 
2. Combine butter, parsley, garlic and salt
3. Roll out the bread dough on a lightly floured surface to create a ½ cm thick rectangle.
4. Spread butter onto the dough and sprinkle evenly with grated cheese.
5. Slice the dough into 32 equal-sized squares.
6. Layer the squares on top of each other, four at a time, then stack vertically against the tin, filling up the space completely. 
7. Brush top of squares with the melted butter and season generously.
8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until risen and golden.
9. Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes.
10. Unmould and serve hot.

The flying Dutchman burger 

Makes 5 

A new take on sliders using onion rings as the bun!

Ingredients 

For the sauce 

⅓ cup mayonnaise
3 Tbsp tomato sauce
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped parsley, plus extra to serve
Salt and milled pepper 

500g beef mince
1 tsp salt and milled pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
3-4 Tbsp olive oil blend
1 cup grated Cheddar
2-3 red or white onions 

Method

1. Whisk together sauce ingredients. Season and set aside.
2. Mix together mince, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Divide mixture into 10 balls and shape into even, thin patties.
3. Heat some oil in a pan over high heat. Fry the patties in batches for 1-2 minutes on each side. Top each with a handful of cheese and cook for 1 more minute or until cheese melts. Set aside and repeat with remaining ingredients.
4. Cut the onions into 1cm-thick slices.
5. Heat another glug of oil in the same pan and fry onion slices for 3-5 minutes or until golden, flipping halfway through. Set aside.
6. Sandwich t w o patties and a dollop of sauce between two fried onion slices. Serve hot, sprinkled with extra parsley.

Orange Swiss roll slice 

Serves 6 

Also called orange roll cake, this beautifully patterned cake is made placing candied orange slices on t h e baking tray before pouring over the batter. 

Ingredients 

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1 cup (250ml) water
1 orange, sliced
4 large eggs
2 tsp (10ml) orange juice
1 tsp (5ml) orange zest
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla essence
½ cup (110g) castor sugar + 2 Tbsp for sprinkling
¾ 4 cup (115g) flour
1 cup (250ml) cream
2 Tbsp (30ml) honey, warmed 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a 35x25cm tray with baking paper.
2. Place granulated sugar, water and orange slices in a pot and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer for 12 minutes or until slices turn translucent. Remove slices and cool on a wire rack.
4. Combine eggs, orange juice and zest, vanilla and castor sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer.
5. Whisk mixture for 5-8 minutes until tripled in size at ribbon stage* An electrical whisk works well too, you will just need to whisk for 8-10 minutes.
6. Sift the flour over the batter and gently fold in flour until fully incorporated. Be careful not to overwork your batter.
7. Arrange cooled orange slices on the tray lined with baking paper and pour cake batter over it. Smooth the top of batter with a spatula.
8. Bake f o r 10-12 minutes, until cake is golden and springs back (or doesn’t leave a dent) when it is lightly pressed.
9. Remove from oven and, holding the baking paper, slide cake off the tray onto a work surface. Immediately sprinkle the top with a thin layer of castor sugar.
10. Working from the short end, carefully roll cake and baking paper over itself to create around swirl.
11. Unroll slowly to flatten, then roll up again and twist paper on either side to secure and leave to cool completely. (Rerolling the cake ensures it won’t crack once cold.)
12. Whip cream to stiff peaks, sweetening with sugar as you like.
13. 1 Unroll cooled cake and spread with cream. Gently roll up the cake, now discarding baking paper.
14. Brush cake with warmed honey just before serving. Refrigerate leftover slices for up to 2 days.

Recipes and Styling: Sjaan Van Der Ploeg
Photographs: Zhann Solomons 

Also read: TikTok recipe hacks we’ve tried and loved