Come to the Table

A COLLECTION OF SWEET AND SAVOURY BAKES INSPIRED BY COMPASSION PROJECTS

Welcome

Benjamina Ebuehi

During my recent trip to Ghana with Compassion, I witnessed the joy that people took in cooking, sharing and providing food for their family, friends and community.

From the group of mothers gathering to buy ingredients at the market, to the diligent young bakers taking pride in their responsibilities of baking bread for two hundred children at their project; I was inspired by the generosity and dedication

of the people I met.

The act of breaking bread is not just eating together; it is so much more than that. To me, it signifies a sense of inclusion, comfort, a welcoming atmosphere and is an expression of love. When we come to the table and enjoy what has been prepared, it’s a beautiful opportunity for us to share not just food - with one another, but also

our hopes, our passions and our struggles.

I pray these recipes inspire and encourage you to invite people to your table and to be intentional in building and nurturing real community. And may we seek to

gather the people around our tables who need it most.

With love,

GBBO QUARTER-FINALIST, 2016

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Savoury

CHILLI & RED PEPPER

INGREDIENTS

Roasted red pepper paste

1 large red pepper 2-3 red chillies3 cloves garlic

small chunk fresh ginger

Bread500g bread flour7g instant yeast

1 ½ tsp salt280ml water, tepid

ME THOD

To make the paste, cut the pepper in half and scoop out the seeds. Place it cut side down in a roasting tin and cook for 20-25 minutes until the skins are wrinkled and slightly charred. Transfer the pepper to a bowl and cover with cling film for 20 minutes to let it steam. This will make it easier to peel off the skins. Peel the skins off and transfer them to a food processor with the garlic, chillies and ginger. Pulse until you have a thick and chunky paste.

Make the dough by adding the flour, salt and yeast into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the water and red pepper paste. Use your fingers or a wooden spoon to mix and form a shaggy dough. If the dough looks dry, add a splash more water. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 8-10 minutes until soft and smooth. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and leave to rise until doubled in size. Tip the dough onto the worktop, knock the air out and shape into a tight ball. Place onto a lined baking tray and cover with a tea towel. Leave to rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 8/230C. Once the dough has risen, bake for 25 minutes before reducing the temperature to Gas Mark 6/200C and baking for 15 minutes. Once baked, the bottom of the bread should sound hollow when you tap it.

Bread

“Food in Ghana naturally comes with a spicy kick which I absolutely loved! This bread has a real warming heat which tastes great with some cheese or a big bowl of soup. You can deseed the

chillies if you’d prefer a milder flavour or add in some more if you want to go hotter!”

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BAKED BYBenjamina FOR COMPASSION

COLOMBIAN PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

1 Tsp. salt2 Cup mesa flour

(precooked corn flour, also called instant corn

flour, found in most grocery stores)

2¼ Cup warm water2 Tbsp. butter, melted3 Tbsp. oil or nonstick

cooking spray

ME THOD

Stir the salt into the flour. Slowly add the water and mix to form dough. Add the butter, kneading the dough until it’s smooth but not sticky, adding water or flour as needed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into about 20 pieces, rolling each into a ball. Flatten the balls into discs about the size of your palm and ¼-inch thick.

Coat a skillet with cooking oil or spray and place it over medium heat. Place several arepas in the skillet and cook about 5 minutes per side. These should form a crust but shouldn’t quite turn brown before you remove them. Eat them with or without filling while they’re warm!

Arepas

“I spend time next to Danna, helping her to eat. I am patient with her. I do not want for her to be sick or malnourished.” - Luz, Project Tutor, Colombia

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UGANDAN CHAPATI

INGREDIENTS

Chapati Dough2 cups plain flour

1 tsp salt1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp ghee (or butter) 250ml warm water

1 tsp oil

Omelette1 cup chopped cabbage

1 cup diced tomato1 tbsp diced red onion

2 eggs

ME THOD

Mix flour, salt, sugar, ghee and warm water in a bowl. Knead for 8 – 14 minutes until smooth. Divide into six balls. Rest in covered bowl for 30 minutes.

Roll dough into circles. Put oil in pan and cook chapatis over medium flame for 2 – 3 minutes until golden brown on both sides

Whisk eggs in bowl and add chopped vegetables. Season with salt and mix well. Pour mixture into oiled pan and cook over medium heat until set.

Put chapati on top of omelette in pan then flip onto a chopping board so the chapati is underneath the omelette. Roll, cut in half and serve.

Rolex

“I smile when I eat my favourite meal, potatoes, at the Compassion centre.” - Asia, Burkina Faso

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BOLIVIAN ME AT PIES

INGREDIENTS

Filling 500g minced beef

Olive oil 1 cup peas

2 tsps. paprika 1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt4 cups beef stock

1 packet gelatin1 onion, chopped

1 spring onion, sliced2 potatoes, diced

Salt, to tastePepper, to taste

Dough 6 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar 1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, cubed 1 1/2 cups hot water

2 eggs, beaten 2 tsps. water

1 tbsp. paprika

ME THOD

Dice potato, boil for 10 minutes in a saucepan of water and set aside. Sprinkle the gelatin over the 1/2 cup cold water in a heat-proof dish; set aside for 10 minutes. Microwave the rehydrated gelatin for 30 seconds or until melted (or melt it over a pot of simmering water). Transfer the melted gelatin to a small bowl and refrigerate until set. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute onion until transparent. Brown mince for around 10 minutes, drain excess oil. Stir in peas, potatoes, spring onion, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Simmer filling until bubbling (around 3 minutes). Preheat oven to 220C.

Combine the flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix in the butter with a knife or food processor until it looks like coarse crumbs. Slowly add the hot water and knead until smooth, about 3 minutes. Keep the dough covered with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel to keep it warm.

Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll them into balls. Keep the other balls of dough covered with a towel while you roll out each round. On a floured surface, roll each dough ball into circle around 3-4mm thick. Whisk the eggs and teaspoons of water in small bowl. Brush egg wash on the edges of dough circle. Put 2 tablespoons of the meat filling on one half of the dough round, topping with ¼ teaspoon of gelatin.

Fold the dough over the filling. Seal and scallop the edges of the dough together. Place the saltena on a baking tray (greased or lined with baking paper) and continue with the remaining dough and filling. Whisk the paprika into the remaining egg wash and brush the saltenas with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Most Latin American countries add their own twist to Empanadas and the Bolivian Saltena is no exception. These pastries are made from sweet dough filled with beef,

pork or chicken mixed in a sweet, slightly spicy sauce. Saltenas are as close as you can get to a national dish in Bolivia.

Saltenas

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RWANDAN DONUTS

INGREDIENTS

1 egg, beaten½ cup sugar

½ cup milk2 tbsp. butter, melted2 tsp. baking powder

2 cup white flour½ cup cooking oil,

plus more as neededpowdered sugar for

sprinkling (if you’d prefer them sweeter!)

ME THOD

Mix together the egg, sugar, milk, butter and baking powder. Slowly mix in the flour, forming dough that’s soft but not sticky. Add more flour if needed.

With a rolling pin, roll the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s about ¼-inch thick. Let it stand about 20 minutes, then cut it into 12-15 triangles.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Place the triangles in oil over medium heat and fry until both sides are golden brown. Remove to drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with powdered sugar

Before the programme, I never knew how to prepare a good meal for the young children.” - Julian, Mother, Rwanda

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ECUADORIAN PASTRIES

INGREDIENTS

Crust1 cup flour

1 tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup very cold water

Filling1/2 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg 3/4 cup raisins

1/4 tsp. lemon juice or grated lemon peel

ME THOD

Heat oven to 180C. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use your fingers, a fork or pastry cutter to quickly mix the butter into the flour mixture until it is crumbly. Now add the cold water to the mixture and quickly squeeze it together into a dough ball. Try not to handle it too much so that the butter doesn’t melt. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Filling time! Cook the cheese, sugar, cinnamon, egg and raisins in a saucepan over low heat. Stir for about 10 minutes until it becomes thick and looks like pudding. Now mix in the lemon.

Remove the cooked mixture from the stove and let it cool. Using a rolling pin or your hands, divide the dough ball into three balls and roll them into 5-inch circles. Place 1/3 cup of the filling in the centre of each dough circle and fold them in half. Use cold water to make sure the edges stick together!

Bake the empanadas on a lightly greased tray for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown, then remove them from the oven.

Sprinkle sugar on the empanadas as soon as they are done and let them cool. Enjoy!

Empanadas

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COOK, COMPASSION PROJECT, TOGO

All over the world, communities come together to empower children to break free from poverty in nearly 7,000 Compassion projects. Thanks to local staff like Adjo, children are receiving the nutritious food they need in order to fight

malnutrition and have healthy bodies.

“I have been a cook since the beginning of the Compassion project five years ago. I wanted to be a part of the project because the project came to help us and it’s not right for others to do everything. It’s our responsibility to bring

our hearts and do what we can.

When we first started, it was difficult. It’s true that we cook in our homes, but the quantity that we cook here is much different. We had to learn to cook for many more. On Fridays, we come and wash everything the children are going to use. On Saturday morning, we bring the clean dishes out and pray. After praying, we divide into groups. One group prepares breakfast of tea and porridge. The other groups prepare lunch. The menu is given to us by

the project director. We cook rice, couscous, foufou and condu.

On the behalf of all the cooks, I want to thank you for what Compassion has done in our lives and in the lives of our children. I want to thank Compassion sponsors for the support that has been given to us volunteers. It helps us to have something to offer at church on Sundays. We are so grateful for that.”

Adjo

1817

Bread forms an integral part of breakfast in most parts of Ghana. And in Assin Bereku in rural Ghana, an extraordinary group of children bake bread every week to feed 230 of their friends at the local Compassion project. They’re busy measuring out the flour, kneading dough and

expertly baking by themselves.

On Friday afternoon after school, the young bakers assemble on the veranda of the mission house at their church. One group carries the

flour to the local mill to be mixed and kneaded into bread dough. The rest of the children prepare the baking sheets by cleaning

and greasing them.

When the dough is brought back from the mill, it’s divided up and moulded into buns. The next morning, the group arrives by 6 a.m. to

bake the risen dough in time for breakfast.

“I have been taught something big, which will help in the future,” says 13-year-old Bismarck. “Someday when I am even employed, I shall still bake bread for an extra income. I will teach my wife and children in the future, and we

will join hands and do it as another business for the family.”

Elizabeth, the leader of the baking club, is the oldest of three children. They live with their grandmother and father who is unemployed. “Before we joined Compassion, most times we found it difficult to eat or even go to school because my father never had money,” she says. “But now any time we are hungry and we come here, the director gives us food. The workers at the project are kind to us. They have taught us many things to help us even

when we grow up.”

THE YOUNG

Bakers

2019

Sweet

CHOCOL ATE & PR ALINE INGREDIENTS

Chocolate cake80g unsalted butter

270g plain flour300g caster sugar65g cocoa powder

1 ½ tsp baking powder1 ½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract150ml hot coffee

200ml full fat milk

Chocolate icing 100g dark chocolate

150g unsalted butter, softened

180g icing sugar5 tbsp cocoa powder

Chocolate glaze80g dark chocolate

50g unsalted butter, cubed

Peanut pralinepeanuts

200g caster sugaredible gold leaf to decorate, optional

ME THOD

Grease and line three 6 inch tins or two 8 inch tins. Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180 C. Melt the butter in the microwave and leave to cool. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. In a separate jug, beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla. Mix in the melted butter and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir well before adding the hot coffee. Mix until you have a smooth batter – it will be quite runny.Divide the mixture equally between your tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Chocolate Buttercream: Melt the chocolate and set aside to cool. In a stand mixer, beat the butter for 4-5 minutes until pale and creamy. Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa powder and add to the butter in three parts, beating well after each addition. Pour in the melted chocolate and beat for two minutes.

Peanut Praline: Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and pour the peanuts on top. In a small saucepan, make the caramel by gently heating the sugar, stirring until it starts to melt. Keep stirring until the sugar is a deep amber colour and any lumps of sugar have melted. Remove from the

heat and pour the caramel over the peanuts. Be careful as the caramel is extremely hot! Leave the praline to set before breaking up into smaller pieces. Pulse the praline in a food processor to get a rough, crumble like dust. Alternatively, put the praline in a food bag and bash with a rolling pin.

Chocolate Glaze: Melt the chocolate in the microwave and add in the butter a little at a time. Keep stirring until each bit of butter has melted before adding the next piece.

Assembly: Level each cake layer by cutting off any domed tops with a sharp serrated knife. Place one layer on a cake stand or plate. Add a scoop of buttercream and sprinkle on some praline. Repeat with the other layers. Add some buttercream on the top and edges of the cake, smoothing it with a bench scraper or palette knife. Use a teaspoon or squeezy bottle to apply the chocolate glaze along the edge of the cake to create drips. Put any remaining buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large open star nozzle. Pipe along the edges of the cake and sprinkle on more of the praline. Decorate with gold leaf.

Showstopper Cake

“Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa in the world and I was fortunate enough to see some of these cocoa beans being picked straight from the tree. This cake is a real celebration of

chocolate, perfect for special occasions.”

BAKED BY

Benjamina

FOR

COMPASSION

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INDONESIAN PINE APPLE CAKES

INGREDIENTS

1 cup softened unsalted butter

¼ cup powdered sugar3 egg yolks

½ tsp. vanilla extract1¾ cup flour

¼ tsp. salt1 cup pineapple jam

1 egg, beaten, for a wash

ME THOD

Preheat oven to 160C Line two baking trays with baking paper. 

With a stand mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until combined. Sift the flour and salt into a separate bowl. Pour it into the egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Cover the dough and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. 

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and put them on trays about 2 inches apart. Make a dent in the middle of each ball and fill each with about ½ tsp. of the pineapple jam. Pinch together the dough edges until the filling is covered. Turn the seam sides down. Brush each ball with egg wash. 

Bake until golden and shiny, about 15 to 18 minutes, turning trays halfway through. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Nastar

“Now I know that having good nutrition will being a long term change, my children will have healthy bodies” - Martha, Mother, Indonesia

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DOMINICAN COCONUT KISSES

INGREDIENTS

3 cups coconut flakes½ cup flour4 egg yolks

1 cup brown sugar2 tbsp. butter

2 tsp. coconut [or vanilla extract]melted chocolate

[optional]

ME THOD

Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease the baking tray. Mix all the ingredients to form a dough. Divide the dough into 24 balls. Place the balls on the tray and bake for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden. Drizzle with chocolate for extra sweetness.

Enjoy!

Besitos de Coco

“We used to eat only beans and corn from the harvest at home, but now I’m eating chicken too and I like that.” - Phamela, Compassion-supported child, El Salvador

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INGREDIENTS

2 tsp yeast1.5 cups warm water

1/2 tsp salt2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp aniseed1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups plain flour3 eggs

Vegetable oil for frying1/2 cup molasses or

maple syrup

ME THOD

Dissolve yeast in ½ cup of warm water, set aside for 10 minutes. Dissolve sugar and salt in 1 cup of warm water. Add aniseed to the sugar/salt water and set aside for a few moments.

In a large bowl, mix yeast with aniseed water. Gradually add flour, beating well after each addition. Add cinnamon and then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one until a loose dough is formed. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled.

In a large pot, pour oil to a depth of approximately three inches and heat the oil to approximately 190 degrees Celsius (be careful!).

Take golf ball size pieces of dough and flatten on a floured surface to approx. one centimetre. Fry each piece until golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil and drain. Traditionally, buñuelos are served warm drizzled with miel de caña, a dark syrup made from sugar cane that tastes like molasses. Maple syrup or any other sweet syrup can be used as well. Enjoy!

COLOMBIAN DESSERTBunuelos

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“These soft fluffy buns are beautifully aromatic with a mixture of spices including nutmeg, which was a common ingredient in most of the breads I tried in Ghana. Don’t worry about getting the knots

to look identical, each one is unique which adds to their charm.“

SPICED OR ANGE

INGREDIENTS

300ml whole milk60g unsalted butter

2 cardamom pods, crushed½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg

500g bread flour75g sugar

7g yeast1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon zest of 1 orange

1 egg, beaten

Filling100g unsalted butter,

softened½ tbsp. cinnamon

½ tsp ground nutmeg80g brown sugar

Glaze200g caster sugar

80ml waterjuice of 1 large orange

3 cardamom pods, crushed1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 whole nutmeg1 tsp vanilla bean paste

ME THOD

Heat the butter, milk, crushed cardamom and grated nutmeg in a saucepan over a low heat until the butter has just melted. Leave to cool.

Mix together the flour, sugar, spices and orange zest. Add the salt and yeast on separate sides of the bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the milk mixture and beaten egg and bring together to form a dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes until soft and smooth. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it prove in a warm place until doubled in size. Mix together the ingredients for the filling until smooth and set aside.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto the worktop and roll into a large rectangle spreading the filling evenly across the dough. Fold the dough in half from the shorter side and use a rolling pin to flatten it out and seal the edges. Slice the dough into approximately 12 strips about an inch wide.

Twist the strips around your index and middle finger, tucking the end underneath to make a knot. Place the buns on a lined baking tray, cover with a clean tea towel and let them rise for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200C. Brush the buns lightly with beaten egg, top with pearl sugar and bake until golden for 12-15 minutes.

GLAZE: Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for a few minutes until syrup thickens.When the buns are out of the oven, brush them generously with the glaze, giving them two to three coats.

Knots

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BAKED BY

Benjamina

FOR

COMPASSION

Close to one billion people go to sleep hungry every single night. One in nine people on our planet do not have access to the food they need. In fact, no human right is violated more often than the right to food. And yet you may be surprised to learn that most hunger in the

world is caused by poverty, not scarcity.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, “There is nothing we can say to the world’s children that can convince them the world needs to be the way it is. That means we must do everything we can to close the gap between the world as it is, and the

world as it should be.”

Today, let’s remind ourselves that we should live in a world where no child goes to bed hungry. We should live in a world where babies receive the nutrition they need to grow up strong and healthy. We should live in a world where communities will not starve if their crops fail, or the rains don’t come. We must do everything we can

to close the gap between what we see and what we long for.

At Compassion we are so proud of our local church partners around the world who are working to feed hungry children and establish sustainable food security in their neighbourhoods. Initiatives like the vocational bread-making training centre in Uganda, the solar power installation helping to pay for vegetables and nutritional

supplements in Peru and the food storehouse in Togo. Let’s all play our part - no matter how small we may think it is

- to continue eradicating poverty, and hunger.

Sources: Oxfam Canada | United Nations

Why food matters

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Compassion is an international child development organisation with more than 60 years’ experience working with some of the world’s poorest children. At present more than 1.8 million children attend Compassion’s church-based

projects in 25 countries around the world.

Our Christian values shape everything we do. We understand that poverty is not simply a lack of material resources but the absence of opportunities, choices and power. It affects all areas of life; physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. So, we work to release children from poverty in all its forms, in

Jesus name.

Working with the local church, Compassion widens the horizons of vulnerable children, giving them access to vital meals and nutritional support, education, medical care, mentoring and spiritual encouragement. Through Compassion, a child is connected in a one to one relationship with a sponsor, someone who

has chosen to be there for them.

Many of Compassion’s graduates have gone on to have lives they would never have dreamt of. All over the world there are teachers, mechanics, doctors, entrepeneurs, lawyers and leaders at every level, shaping their nations because of what Compassion has done for them. One child at a time, Compassion is

fighting poverty and it is winning the battle.

AboutCOMPASSION

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