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As a trained accountant and a long-time baking enthusiast, Hermine Dossou knows a thing or two about saving money in the kitchen. “My first breadmaker was from Panasonic – I bought it from Gumtree,” the former Great British Bake Off contestant says. “It was basically somebody’s wedding present that they didn’t want and they sold it half price.” A devotee of Martin Lewis’s Money Saving Expert website, the 42-year-old, who was born in Benin, West Africa, and moved to the UK for university aged 20, tries to avoid ever paying full price for a big ticket item. “If I wanted to buy, let’s say, a mixer, I would go online, and type ‘Kenwood discount vouchers’ and then something always comes up,” says Dossou, who lives in Kettering and came fourth on the 2020 series of Bake Off. But the mum-of-one – whose son Steven is 13 – wasn’t always such a frugal foodie. “That came from that period where I became a single mum on a reduced income,” she says. “I couldn’t work full-time because I had to look after my son, and also I didn’t want him to have the processed kind of bakes.” Whipping up cakes and cookies filled her “empty afternoons” as a new mum and was a lot cheaper than buying ready-made baked goods. “I would cook from scratch and prep my vegetables when I could get them on offer,” she continues. “Same for fruits – they are often very discounted when they become a bit soft, and that’s the best time to make jam.” Even post-Bake Off and her book deal (she works full-time as an accountant), Dossou remains a savvy shopper, knowing that a higher price doesn’t always mean a better product. “Like a bar of chocolate, if it’s the same quantity of cocoa, why are you paying three times the price? Especially if you’re going to bake with it. “Wonky onions at half the price is the same… they all come from the same farm.” Her accountancy skills came in handy, too, and she still uses a spreadsheet to track her income and outgoings every month. “I think generally in life it is important to budget and know where your money goes, because I think it allows you to achieve a lot more than if you were just living freestyle,” Dossou says. “It’s a nightmare trying to get on the housing ladder here in the UK – that’s something I’ve been able to do through being thrifty in every area of my life.” That’s why she decided to call her first cookbook The Thrifty Baker: “I just really wanted to bring that awareness of how we choose what we eat, and how we can save through making little changes here and there.” “Now, more than ever, when people are struggling with the cost of living, I think it’s even more important to go back to those values of cooking from scratch, trying to cook at home, and making meals from, you know, not much.” With lots of advice for beginners, the book focuses on affordable dishes, from basic breads and simple biscuits to special occasion puds and impressive-looking desserts. There’s a distinct Gallic influence (Benin, where Dossou learned to bake as a child, is a former French colony) felt with recipes such as pain de campagne, orange and brown butter madeleinesm and pear frangipane tart. The author points out when a recipe can be cooked in an air fryer – a recent Black Friday bargain she loves because it allows her to enjoy fried Benin delicacies using less oil and without turning on the oven. “Because we have a really small family, just me and my son, you don’t always want to put the oven on just to bake something for two. “With an oven you’ll need to preheat it for a good 15 to 20 minutes before you can even bake in it. With the air fryer you just put the cake in and 15 minutes later it’s out – easy and convenient.” There’s also a section devoted to microwaveable mug cakes, with peanut butter and jam, speculoos (aka Biscoff) and chocolate hazelnut flavours of the cheap and easy-to-make single-serve puds. “In the microwave you can make a cake in five minutes from weighing, mixing and baking,” says Dossou, who loves how kid-friendly they are. “With my son I feel more inclined to let him make a mug cake than maybe something bigger. “Even if it goes wrong he’s not wasting a lot of ingredients and, you know, he’s not turning the kitchen into a bonfire.” ‘The Thrifty Baker’ by Hermine Dossou (White Lion, £18.99).

NEW YORK (AP) — Naomi Campbell was a vision in shiny metallic silver as she took the runway with her trademark supermodel swagger to display her collaboration with PrettyLittleThing, the fast fashion brand.

By Julia Payne BRUSSELS The G7 and allies have shelved regular reviews of the Russian oil price cap

Nearly five decades after he was wrongfully convicted of rape, a New York judge has overturned the conviction of Leonard Mack following new DNA testing that eliminated him as the perpetrator and identified a different man who has since confessed to the crime, prosecutors announced.

By Tommy Wilkes LONDON European shareholders are increasingly contesting corporate executive pay reports, data showed on Wednesday, as

Brielle Biermann appeared on 'RHOA' when she was just 10 years old and at 16, she walked the ramp at New York Fashion Week

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Sources say severe toothaches have left the 78-year-old, detained since 2021, unable to eat.

Sri Lanka's government will appoint a parliamentary committee to investigate allegations made in a British television report that Sri Lankan intelligence had complicity in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings

Levi Colwill’s amazing year shows few signs of slowing as the defender looks to make his England debut and prove his worth to Gareth Southgate with Euro 2024 on the horizon. An impressive season-long loan with Brighton was followed by helping England Under-21s become European champions over the summer. Colwill returned to Chelsea and was rewarded with an improved six-year deal, before going onto make his debut in their season opener. The 20-year-old has been an ever-present under new Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino and his eye-catching displays earned a first formal England call-up. “It has been an amazing year,” Colwill said. “There have been a lot of ups and still been downs, and a load of stuff that I have had to overcome. But it’s all part of my career and you’re going to get that. “A hundred per cent it’s all worth it in the end. You’ve got to keep working hard, that’s what I have done so far but now it’s about keep going.” Colwill cited the initial lack of game time under Graham Potter and Brighton successor Roberto De Zerbi as examples of down moments he overcame. But the success that followed on the south coast saw him brought in to train with the England senior squad in June, even travelling with them for the qualifier in Malta, before heading off on Under-21s duty. “Coming and training in June was a big blessing,” Colwill said. “I enjoyed it so much and then obviously getting formally called up now is amazing. “When I got the text I called dad straight away. I think he was getting emotional, to be honest. Dream come true. “Everyone was so welcoming and it made a big difference for me. “Now I have settled in a bit, I am ready to kick on and hopefully prepare for the upcoming week.” Colwill is hoping to make his debut against Ukraine in Saturday’s Euro 2024 qualifier in Poland, or in the Hampden Park friendly against Scotland three days later. The 20-year-old allayed fitness concerns ahead of that double-header after sitting out training on Tuesday, pointing to a tough previous week and the fact he is “a young boy still growing”. Asked if making it into next summer’s Euros squad is a target, he said: “Of course. Playing for Chelsea – one of the biggest clubs in the world – it’s got to be my aim to hopefully be in the England team come the Euros. “Obviously it’s still a long time until that comes so I’ve just got to keep working hard, pushing myself and let’s see what happens next.” England have yet to mathematically seal qualification for Euro 2024, but it has long looked a case of when rather than if their place in Germany is wrapped up. The uncapped Colwill already appears to have a strong chance of being involved – an opportunity that will only be bolstered by Chelsea boss Pochettino. Adam Lallana, who the defender calls a key influence in his career, made his England debut at Southampton under the Argentinian, who his former Brighton team-mates had praised to the hilt. Colwill took that on board when committing his future to Chelsea, where he is excited to develop under a manager with a fine track record of maximising English talent. “I think the big thing for me was the first day I came in, him just putting an arm around me and showing me that he respects me as a person and also a player,” he said of Pochettino. “That allows me to work my hardest and want to play my best for him. “Just working under him in general, I know I’m going to improve. I can guarantee that because he’s such a good manager and he will push me. He won’t let me have any off days and that’s what I need. “Someone like me, if someone lets me go to sleep I might just have a good day or a bad day. But I need someone there to give me that kick up my bum and say ‘keep going’ and that’s what he does.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live On this day in 2012: Teenager Jonnie Peacock wins Paralympic 100m gold in London US Open Wrap: Novak Djokovic adds yet another milestone with semi-final berth England new boy Eddie Nketiah motivated by ‘magnificent’ Thierry Henry

Frankie McMillan completed the challenge with his mum and is already eyeing-up his next adventure.

NAIROBI, Kenya--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 6, 2023--