Wednesday 25 December 2013
Wednesday 18 December 2013
Not my cake!!!
My christmas cake that I made last Tuesday had gone missing!!!! So many thanks to Liz for hers.xxx It looks beautiful iced simply with a snowflake sparkling on it and tied with a ribbon. Breakfast of Blackforest gateaux was a bit much even for me!!! Kids loved it though. Broken up for 2 weeks now from college. I need break as am exhausted havent even been blogging properly. Last weeks gateaux went in a flash at work. Signed up for level 3 I hope Im up for the challenge.
Wednesday 11 December 2013
Wednesday 4 December 2013
Thursday 14 November 2013
Great eclairs!
Got a distinction for these chocolate eclairs filled with chocolate and hazelnut creme diplomat.
Monday 11 November 2013
I am obviously not a natural blogger
A whole week and I havent even managed to comment on the fact that I drove home from college beaming after the unveiling of my tart tartin from its tin helped by the heat of a blow torch to release it. it was nothing short of beautiful! with our spare puff pastry we made delicious crisp eccles cakes topped with icy white sugar nibs that crunched as you bit into them. An so this week we have our paste assessment and I will make chocolte hazelnut eclairs filled with creme diplomat and toppes with a caramel coated hazelnut decoration and also another tart tartin. I feel almost nervous that the perfection of last weeks tart cannot be recreated. Timing is the key to getting everything right so I have formulated a plan and fingers crossed it will all go well. So until tomorrow....
Tuesday 5 November 2013
Monday 4 November 2013
Monday 28 October 2013
Almond and Orange cake
Yesterday I had an urge to make a dessert rather than a cake. On Friday evening to celebrate the start of half term for the children we splashed out and took them for a pizza. Well true to form D had spaghetti Bolognese rather than pizza, a true pizza snob he only likes homemade pizza baked at home! however when it came to desserts both children opted for the profiteroles filled with icecream and topped with hot chocolate sauce. The problem with children growing up is that they now eat adult meals, long gone are the childrens meal deals incorporating a dessert and a pud! So when it came to dessert I felt the need to refrain from the special of the day and convinced myself that I would be able to do a better job of it.
And so yesterday I made an almond and orange cake, (so moist it was almost dripping!) served warm with icecream. We ate it for dessert after a delicious cauliflower, chicken, bacon and mushroom pasta bake.
I used 250g of ground almonds with 50 g of plain flour with orange zest, butter and sugar, and when baked pour over an orange juice syrup and leave to cool slightly before serving. I recommend this for after a dinner party. And for the money I saved on dessert on Friday we all had a dessert on Sunday with left overs on Monday warmed slightly in the microwave for 15 seconds.
And so yesterday I made an almond and orange cake, (so moist it was almost dripping!) served warm with icecream. We ate it for dessert after a delicious cauliflower, chicken, bacon and mushroom pasta bake.
I used 250g of ground almonds with 50 g of plain flour with orange zest, butter and sugar, and when baked pour over an orange juice syrup and leave to cool slightly before serving. I recommend this for after a dinner party. And for the money I saved on dessert on Friday we all had a dessert on Sunday with left overs on Monday warmed slightly in the microwave for 15 seconds.
Friday 25 October 2013
Thursday 24 October 2013
Wednesday 23 October 2013
More eclairs
Ok, so we didn't practice our tart tartin this week, which to be honest was a bit disappointing as I had got my pears in readiness for the challenge. I will just have to have a practice myself this weekend, although despite saying I was going to get myself a tin I never got round to it so I need to purchase one first.
However we had a quick masterclass on choux pastry from Claire Clark via the wonders of the internet and then off we went to have a go ourselves. This week I decided on a chocolate crème diplomat filling, which went very well (so nice I licked the spoon), we made more choux pastry and I made about 16 eclairs and some chouquettes with what was left in the piping bag.
Size wise I probably could have managed to find 4 éclairs of the same shape and size, I had a few wonky looking ones as well though. but overall I was happy with the size and shape of them. The chocolate fondant icing was trickier but still a huge improvement on last week when the chocolate ran out! Quite a light chocolate colour and it stayed glossy, but was just a tiny bit too thick. However decorating them went well, making 'run outs' with the children's names on them and placing them on top of the éclairs, so breakfast this morning was this little token of chocolatey love to my kiddies. New skill of tempering chocolate must be learnt before my assessment as the run outs did soften quickly and bend over top top of the éclair and a more rigid chap would have looked a bit more professional I think.
Overall another great night, and we finished a little earlier than usual so I stopped at mums to deliver a couple of my treats (there is only so many éclairs one family can eat!).
Today I have made a reminder of my childhood, rock cakes. Mum often made these and I think it was probably one of the first cakes I ever made so when I spotted a recipe for them in an old copy of good food magazine I couldn't resist giving them a go.
And so tonight we will sit down and watch the final of the Great British bakeoff, and have a little cake feast, my own bakeoff challenge will continue meanwhile although I feel I have a long way to go before I could call myself a master patissiere!!!
However we had a quick masterclass on choux pastry from Claire Clark via the wonders of the internet and then off we went to have a go ourselves. This week I decided on a chocolate crème diplomat filling, which went very well (so nice I licked the spoon), we made more choux pastry and I made about 16 eclairs and some chouquettes with what was left in the piping bag.
Size wise I probably could have managed to find 4 éclairs of the same shape and size, I had a few wonky looking ones as well though. but overall I was happy with the size and shape of them. The chocolate fondant icing was trickier but still a huge improvement on last week when the chocolate ran out! Quite a light chocolate colour and it stayed glossy, but was just a tiny bit too thick. However decorating them went well, making 'run outs' with the children's names on them and placing them on top of the éclairs, so breakfast this morning was this little token of chocolatey love to my kiddies. New skill of tempering chocolate must be learnt before my assessment as the run outs did soften quickly and bend over top top of the éclair and a more rigid chap would have looked a bit more professional I think.
Overall another great night, and we finished a little earlier than usual so I stopped at mums to deliver a couple of my treats (there is only so many éclairs one family can eat!).
Today I have made a reminder of my childhood, rock cakes. Mum often made these and I think it was probably one of the first cakes I ever made so when I spotted a recipe for them in an old copy of good food magazine I couldn't resist giving them a go.
And so tonight we will sit down and watch the final of the Great British bakeoff, and have a little cake feast, my own bakeoff challenge will continue meanwhile although I feel I have a long way to go before I could call myself a master patissiere!!!
Monday 21 October 2013
At last !!
Great news, got back my laptop today after having it repaired so am able to blog a little more comfortably. the extent of my baking this week has been a lemon drizzle cake, not very adventurous I know but comforting, zesty and moist. Delicious.
So at college this week we will be working on our tart tartins. I have got myself some pears which are just ripening and I am planning on spicing them with a little cinnamon, before covering with the pastry. My plan is to make my pastry circle a little bigger this week so that I can tuck it around the pears a little more and kind of tuck them in, with the hope of containing the caramel a little more than last week. Also all the recipes I have researched this week has popped a couple of holes in the pastry lid to allow the steam to escape during baking (makes sense really, not sure why I didn't last week). I will not be using quite so much of the caramel either this week, although I might slightly cook the pears in some caramel before assembling the tart.
And I've remembered to put my phone on charge so I can get my photos!
Fingers crossed for a better result this week.
So at college this week we will be working on our tart tartins. I have got myself some pears which are just ripening and I am planning on spicing them with a little cinnamon, before covering with the pastry. My plan is to make my pastry circle a little bigger this week so that I can tuck it around the pears a little more and kind of tuck them in, with the hope of containing the caramel a little more than last week. Also all the recipes I have researched this week has popped a couple of holes in the pastry lid to allow the steam to escape during baking (makes sense really, not sure why I didn't last week). I will not be using quite so much of the caramel either this week, although I might slightly cook the pears in some caramel before assembling the tart.
And I've remembered to put my phone on charge so I can get my photos!
Fingers crossed for a better result this week.
Friday 18 October 2013
An idea
Haven't done any baking since Tuesday at college and am starting to have withdrawl symptoms. Been thinking about how to improve on my tart tatin and thinking of trying pear out. Got to get myself the right kind of dish first tho. So whilst at the supermarket later I will have a look.
Wednesday 16 October 2013
Tart tatin and choux pastry
Last night at college we made our own puff pastry. We used 250g of butter in it and turned and turned it 6 times. I thought I would find it tedious but I found it quite enjoyable being methodical and gentle with the pastry. Next we made caramel (which was exciting but scary) for the tart tatin. I have a bucket list of recipes to cook and master before I die and tart tatin is on it! Didnt go quite to plan as need to use more apples and less caramel, however I think I know where I went wrong so next time hopefully it will be even better because although it was not the most attractive thing I have ever made it still tasted delicious! Choux pastry went well and eveyone thought my piccie of the swan was great. And work was pleased as I took eclairs in. So all in all a good night both the caramel and the lemon diplomat went extremely well and I feel like the tart tatin is a work in progress! Really enjoye myself again but knackered tonight.
Swans for breakfast
The kids ate choux pastry swans filled with lemon creme diplomat and raspberries for breakfast!! What a fantastic start to the day
Monday 14 October 2013
Getting excited
Getting excited about tomorrow at college. We are making puff pastry and choux pastry. I have a plan for a lemon creme pat. Need to get some fresh raspberries as well. I will need to leave early to pop to the shops before college tomorrow. Going to miss D's first school rugby match tho so feeling a bit guilty.
Sunday 13 October 2013
Reluctant blogger
Been having a problem with not being able to use the computer to update my blog as it has gone off to be fixed. Fortunately it is still under a year old so repair will be free but will take 2 weeks!!! So having to use my phone to blog which makes me a reluctant blogger for now. So just a quick update on baking events this week.... Friday evening saw me tackling belgium buns with a cherry on top much to the kids delight. I had just manage to get them finished when they arrived home from a scout hike very wet and soaked through so we had hot chocolate with our sticky belgium buns. I used the powdered type of fondant icing this time which went quite well although I could have taken longer to make the icing neater but as I was hurrying to get them finished they looked quite rustic! Today I have made an apple,cinnamon and sultana pie using the sweet pastry recipe from college last Tuesday. Mum came for dinner as she is recovering well from her sore throat and she enjoyed the pie which I cooked with yet more apples from the garden. Not many left on the trees now. I will try and get the rest of them off the tree this week as they store quite well.
Wednesday 9 October 2013
College week 4
Last night we started to look at pastes and the difference between them and how to use them. We talked about shortcrust and sweet pastry, choux, filo and suet discussing the their uses in pies, tarts, flans and cases.
We then moved to the kitchen and began work on a lemon tart, now I have made lemon tart before which uses between 6 and 8 lemons and is a very tart tart! but I have always had an issue with my lemon filling cracking through and looking a little untidy, normally I just hide the gapping crackes with a hefty dusting of icing sugar and maybe some artfully placed berries. It always tastes good but my aim was to try and master the art of lemon tart.
Pastry wise I have had a good teacher my mum was always Queen of Pies. We had pies often as children sweet pies (mostly apple-Dads favourite), and meat pie (always beef and never chicken), and suet puddings for Dad. The trick to good pastry is cold hands apparently, and if this is true I should be able to make the best pastry in the world as my hands are always freezing!!
Lemon tart went well and the filling was a success despite using icing sugar instead of caster sugar by accident. Next we made a fruit slice with puff pastry and créme patisserie. I had never made crème pat before so was excited and nervous. I am not sure why I haven't attempted it before as due to a health concern I do not eat cream unless it is uht cream or normal cream that has been cooked, so crème pat is definitely the answer to my problem with what to fill eclairs.
Everything was delicious and looked amazing, the fruit slice had apricots and a lattice work top to it glazed with apricot jam. And the most amazing feet of the night was that I managed to get everything home in one piece unscathed and with no cracks! Everything has been made light work of and I only have a bit of the lemon tart left now which I will deliver to my mum tomorrow as she is poorly with laryngitis. Lets see what she thinks of my pastry, hopefully she will judge it as good as her own and I will be a happy woman.
We then moved to the kitchen and began work on a lemon tart, now I have made lemon tart before which uses between 6 and 8 lemons and is a very tart tart! but I have always had an issue with my lemon filling cracking through and looking a little untidy, normally I just hide the gapping crackes with a hefty dusting of icing sugar and maybe some artfully placed berries. It always tastes good but my aim was to try and master the art of lemon tart.
Pastry wise I have had a good teacher my mum was always Queen of Pies. We had pies often as children sweet pies (mostly apple-Dads favourite), and meat pie (always beef and never chicken), and suet puddings for Dad. The trick to good pastry is cold hands apparently, and if this is true I should be able to make the best pastry in the world as my hands are always freezing!!
Lemon tart went well and the filling was a success despite using icing sugar instead of caster sugar by accident. Next we made a fruit slice with puff pastry and créme patisserie. I had never made crème pat before so was excited and nervous. I am not sure why I haven't attempted it before as due to a health concern I do not eat cream unless it is uht cream or normal cream that has been cooked, so crème pat is definitely the answer to my problem with what to fill eclairs.
Everything was delicious and looked amazing, the fruit slice had apricots and a lattice work top to it glazed with apricot jam. And the most amazing feet of the night was that I managed to get everything home in one piece unscathed and with no cracks! Everything has been made light work of and I only have a bit of the lemon tart left now which I will deliver to my mum tomorrow as she is poorly with laryngitis. Lets see what she thinks of my pastry, hopefully she will judge it as good as her own and I will be a happy woman.
Tuesday 8 October 2013
College tonight
Where does the week go? I have been so busy since Friday that I didnt manage to get any baking done at all. Have thought about college tonight though and we are making pastry so I have a plan to hopefully make a lemon bakewell tart, although this does inovolve getting to the shops before college to get some nice lemon curd and a fresh lemon. It would be nice to make my own but no time for that! Just thought the flavour combination could be nice. We'll see.
Friday 4 October 2013
At last
Finally a sour dough loaf that turned out of the proving basket ( well this time a spanish glazed bowl lined with muslin) with ease! Been fidling with the recipe and have reduced the quantity of water and hey presto when I turned it out the dough just flopped gently and like a lovely pillow out onto the baking tray. A couple of slices through the top (admittedly these could have been a bit deeper) and 43 mins later I have a delicious loaf with hardly any effort at all. Its still roasting hot at the moment and is crackling and creaking softly to itself while I take its photo like a proud parent. What do you think?...
Wednesday 2 October 2013
Reviews appear promising!
Last nights cakes appear to be going down well today, husband has taken some of the Chelsea buns with him into work and I have also been handing out offerings at work today. Kids have yet to pass judgement as iced fingers were not on the breakfast menu this morning! They will have to wait until they get home from school this afternoon.
Anyway the first assessment went well, however I scored 22 out of 23 on my theory test as I stupidly put panettone down as a bun dough when I suppose it is really a speciality dough. I think I was thinking enriched dough and not bun dough which it is, but quite correctly I have never had a bun panettone, silly me!
Then on to the practical test, Adam our tutor had scaled up the recipe from last week so we get to bake more and only present our 4 best products of each type. But a disaster had occurred in that the proving oven was not working as it had blown something, and so I proved my dough in another type of oven which was very moist, but didn't seem to make the dough rise quite as well as usual. The last few times I have made the iced fingers they have joined together and I thought that they were rather too close together so I positioned them a little further apart this time and they didn't touch at all!- never mind the shapes were even and the size consistent thanks to my electronic scales, sized at 70g each. The icing went like a dream, much to my amazement and I was given the compliment that it was the best icing of the night by my tutor, nice straight edges, and shiny, and glossy.
Who would have thought that I would ever get so delighted over a few simple iced fingers!
Chelsea buns went well and I presented the 4 buns joined together as I thought the individual buns had uncurled slightly from the spiral, hanging around waiting for judgement gave us all time for a chat and arrived back home about 10.15 pm, phew. It's not until you get home that you realise how tired you are.
Next week we are doing sweet pastry, puff pastry and maybe doughnuts Mmmmmm......can't wait.
Kids had an iced finger waiting for them when they came in from school. I've spent the afternoon since getting in from work rushing around like a loony catching up with all the things that didn't get done yesterday. Paella for dinner with a glass of wine as husband has told me he is bring one in with him, and then I plan to sit down and watch last nights bake-off whilst eating yet another Chelsea bun!
Anyway the first assessment went well, however I scored 22 out of 23 on my theory test as I stupidly put panettone down as a bun dough when I suppose it is really a speciality dough. I think I was thinking enriched dough and not bun dough which it is, but quite correctly I have never had a bun panettone, silly me!
Then on to the practical test, Adam our tutor had scaled up the recipe from last week so we get to bake more and only present our 4 best products of each type. But a disaster had occurred in that the proving oven was not working as it had blown something, and so I proved my dough in another type of oven which was very moist, but didn't seem to make the dough rise quite as well as usual. The last few times I have made the iced fingers they have joined together and I thought that they were rather too close together so I positioned them a little further apart this time and they didn't touch at all!- never mind the shapes were even and the size consistent thanks to my electronic scales, sized at 70g each. The icing went like a dream, much to my amazement and I was given the compliment that it was the best icing of the night by my tutor, nice straight edges, and shiny, and glossy.
Who would have thought that I would ever get so delighted over a few simple iced fingers!
Chelsea buns went well and I presented the 4 buns joined together as I thought the individual buns had uncurled slightly from the spiral, hanging around waiting for judgement gave us all time for a chat and arrived back home about 10.15 pm, phew. It's not until you get home that you realise how tired you are.
Next week we are doing sweet pastry, puff pastry and maybe doughnuts Mmmmmm......can't wait.
Kids had an iced finger waiting for them when they came in from school. I've spent the afternoon since getting in from work rushing around like a loony catching up with all the things that didn't get done yesterday. Paella for dinner with a glass of wine as husband has told me he is bring one in with him, and then I plan to sit down and watch last nights bake-off whilst eating yet another Chelsea bun!
Great news
Bun and dough assessment last night. Finally got the icing right on my iced fingers! And with the addition of amaretto to the chelsea buns I managed to get a distinction. But would you believe it that my phone battery was too low to take a piccie of them and by the time I had transported them home my icing was no longer perfect!! O well. I will post a picture I took when I got home anyway.
Saturday 28 September 2013
25 Jacket potatoes
I came home early from work yesterday as I have been fighting off a sore throat and runny nose all week. I knew that it must be serious when I didn't even enjoy the cake I had from the macmillan coffee morning at work. I am never normally off my food! And so I came home at lunchtime and fell into bed for a couple of hours before rousing myself to deal with the scout camp food.
I cooked 25 jacket potatoes , grated cheese and mixed up tuna and sweetcorn, and at 5.15pm I waved off my little family for a night of camping whilst I settled down to watch a film with my doggy and had an early night.
It's amazing what an early night can do as I feel loads better today and have managed to do piles of washing, walk the dog, do the Tesco shop( I got myself a little digital timer to help me with my timing in the oven at college as I use the timer on my kitchen oven all the time and am quite likely to forget about something baking away and cremate it and I also got some more fresh yeast!) so I made fresh bread and rolls to go in the freezer for next week, baked an apple pie with some of the apples from my garden, and had a nice glass of red wine at a beautiful pub in Dedham, Essex called the Sun.
For dinner we are having pasta with a spicy tomato sauce and have just had some of the focaccia bread which I made at college in week 1 with some Olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Going to do some research into the different types of bread tonight as I have my first assessment at college on Tuesday.
Enjoying myself thinking about and planning my baking bucket list.
I cooked 25 jacket potatoes , grated cheese and mixed up tuna and sweetcorn, and at 5.15pm I waved off my little family for a night of camping whilst I settled down to watch a film with my doggy and had an early night.
It's amazing what an early night can do as I feel loads better today and have managed to do piles of washing, walk the dog, do the Tesco shop( I got myself a little digital timer to help me with my timing in the oven at college as I use the timer on my kitchen oven all the time and am quite likely to forget about something baking away and cremate it and I also got some more fresh yeast!) so I made fresh bread and rolls to go in the freezer for next week, baked an apple pie with some of the apples from my garden, and had a nice glass of red wine at a beautiful pub in Dedham, Essex called the Sun.
For dinner we are having pasta with a spicy tomato sauce and have just had some of the focaccia bread which I made at college in week 1 with some Olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Going to do some research into the different types of bread tonight as I have my first assessment at college on Tuesday.
Enjoying myself thinking about and planning my baking bucket list.
Thursday 26 September 2013
Oopps....
I'd like to say all went well but I can't really. Dough looked fab going into the oven 190C thought 10 mins would be ok. But a fan oven and no window to see in and although they are still beautifully soft they are a little darker than I would have liked. Next the icing which to be fair I was unsure about remained quite thick even on warming so it was tricky to dip them and get a nice even coating. I would definately try using normal icing sugar next time when I am at home. It was my icing I wanted to perfect so a little disappointing. I have posted a piccie for you to see. However the buns have a delicious delicate lemon taste so the addition of the zest was a good choice.
Shopping for the scout overnight trip also brought with it 2 vital ingredients for my evening. White bread flour and fondant icing. Tonight is a practice night to see if I can manage to get my icing in a nice straight line on the top of my iced fingers! also I have decided to experiment (not too wildly) with a lemon flavour bun by incorporating a little lemon zest into my bun dough and I plan to add a little juice to the icing. So current state of affairs is that the shaped buns are proving whilst I make the packed lunches for the kids for tomorrow, still waiting for husband to return from work (haven't seen him for 2 days) hopefully he will be home soon bringing with him a bottle of wine.
Off to pop them in the oven now, my only concern is that my fondant icing looks a little different to that what we used in college on Tuesday (less shiny), hopefully as I warm it a little with the lemon it will gloss up. I will report back later.
Quick question tho, lots of other recipes use icing sugar so why aren't we?
Off to pop them in the oven now, my only concern is that my fondant icing looks a little different to that what we used in college on Tuesday (less shiny), hopefully as I warm it a little with the lemon it will gloss up. I will report back later.
Quick question tho, lots of other recipes use icing sugar so why aren't we?
Wednesday 25 September 2013
Sweet enriched dough
Great night at college doing sweet enriched dough. We made chelsea bun and iced fingers which the kids had for breakfast!! Chelsea buns looked good but I am unable to do them in a round for the assessment next week as you can only present 4 buns and I had 7 in the round. So next week I will do 4 joined together and 4 single buns and just decide on the night which ones to go with. The iced buns wer delicious but much to the kids delight I need to practice getting my icing staighter along the edges! So tonight I will have a rest as I am exhausted and I will catch up with last nights bake off and tomorrow I need to go and get some fondant icing to practice with.
Saturday 21 September 2013
Chelsea buns with Amaretto and marzipan
Today has been a lovely day, the first morning all week that I have slept until I woke instead of being woken by the alarm clock. Husband made me tea in bed and then we had bacon sarnies using the little loaf of white bread that I made at college on Tuesday (fortunately I am organised enough to have got it out of the freezer last night). Rushed off to Tesco's as got to get the weekly shop over and done with early before the Saturday crowds, and I have plans for the day which involve baking!
round as quick as I can as I can only stand doing this once a week, have managed to write and more importantly remember to bring with me a shopping list. The most important things being baking powder, dried mixed fruit and yeast. Now I usually buy the little sachets of instant yeast if I am baking bread unless I am making sour dough bread. But today I am on the search for fresh yeast.
Having no luck just wondering around I head for the bakery to enquire as to the fresh yeasts whereabouts, I lovely gentleman informed me that I could not buy any but that he would give me some yeast for free!! I was absolutely amazed and delighted, for the first time ever Tesco's felt like a local and friendly shop, with helpful and kind staff. I waited and was presented with a little bag of about 70grams of yeast, which I stowed into my handbag almost guiltily.
I rush home with excitement (I am obviously easily pleased).
My plan is to make Chelsea buns for the first time ever, and having had out the bottle of Amaretto yesterday I have plans!
And so I am using the sweet enriched dough basic recipe from my course recipe folder, having mixed this up in extra speedy time with my new kitchen aid,a big birthday requires a big pressie,I have a go at making my own recipe for the filling. Having looked at a few cook books I have decided to roll out the dough and sprinkle with 55grams of light muscavado sugar mixed with 2tsp of cinnamon, 125grams of dried mixed fruit which I have soaked in Amaretto for about an hour. On top of all this I cubed some marzipan (very small) and rolled it all up. I have always had a thing about almonds, I love bakewells and the denseness that ground almonds give to cakes and so I thought I would give it a whirl in a Chelsea bun. The results were spectacular ( have you seen the photo?-I am very proud, like a mother of her baby!), 30 mins proving time, 20mins in the oven and with the help of H to transfer them to the cooling rack ( for some reason we needed 3 hands) we have buns!
Husband arrived back from rugby and was most impressed.
All this baking meant no dinner so we have had a lovely Chinese takeaway,and a delicious bottle of Cote du Rhone, Oh and of course Chelsea buns for dessert!!! Mmmmmm...
round as quick as I can as I can only stand doing this once a week, have managed to write and more importantly remember to bring with me a shopping list. The most important things being baking powder, dried mixed fruit and yeast. Now I usually buy the little sachets of instant yeast if I am baking bread unless I am making sour dough bread. But today I am on the search for fresh yeast.
Having no luck just wondering around I head for the bakery to enquire as to the fresh yeasts whereabouts, I lovely gentleman informed me that I could not buy any but that he would give me some yeast for free!! I was absolutely amazed and delighted, for the first time ever Tesco's felt like a local and friendly shop, with helpful and kind staff. I waited and was presented with a little bag of about 70grams of yeast, which I stowed into my handbag almost guiltily.
I rush home with excitement (I am obviously easily pleased).
My plan is to make Chelsea buns for the first time ever, and having had out the bottle of Amaretto yesterday I have plans!
And so I am using the sweet enriched dough basic recipe from my course recipe folder, having mixed this up in extra speedy time with my new kitchen aid,a big birthday requires a big pressie,I have a go at making my own recipe for the filling. Having looked at a few cook books I have decided to roll out the dough and sprinkle with 55grams of light muscavado sugar mixed with 2tsp of cinnamon, 125grams of dried mixed fruit which I have soaked in Amaretto for about an hour. On top of all this I cubed some marzipan (very small) and rolled it all up. I have always had a thing about almonds, I love bakewells and the denseness that ground almonds give to cakes and so I thought I would give it a whirl in a Chelsea bun. The results were spectacular ( have you seen the photo?-I am very proud, like a mother of her baby!), 30 mins proving time, 20mins in the oven and with the help of H to transfer them to the cooling rack ( for some reason we needed 3 hands) we have buns!
Husband arrived back from rugby and was most impressed.
All this baking meant no dinner so we have had a lovely Chinese takeaway,and a delicious bottle of Cote du Rhone, Oh and of course Chelsea buns for dessert!!! Mmmmmm...
Friday 20 September 2013
Doing some research into sweet enriched dough's. I did not realise the difference between iced finger dough and Devonshire split dough is the addition of eggs in the iced fingers.
Kids are at scouts so am enjoying some quiet time alone sitting at my desk with cookery books out and a glass of red wine (well it is Friday night!).
Whilst walking the dog (Tarry) today I stopped to buy 2 enormous bags of Victoria plums from the local commune, plump, purple and perfectly ripe. I demolished 4 on the walk home and the kids finished off another load the moment I walked in the door. I warmed some up for dessert with a little splash of Amaretto (well it is Friday!) and we had a small scoop of vanilla icecream alongside. Simple but amazing. Yum.
Kids are at scouts so am enjoying some quiet time alone sitting at my desk with cookery books out and a glass of red wine (well it is Friday night!).
Whilst walking the dog (Tarry) today I stopped to buy 2 enormous bags of Victoria plums from the local commune, plump, purple and perfectly ripe. I demolished 4 on the walk home and the kids finished off another load the moment I walked in the door. I warmed some up for dessert with a little splash of Amaretto (well it is Friday!) and we had a small scoop of vanilla icecream alongside. Simple but amazing. Yum.
Wednesday 18 September 2013
First Night At College
All went well last night. We had to do the dreaded quick introduction of ourselves but it was all very informal and light hearted. I felt a little stiff in my very crisp 'whites' but at least my clogs had arrived in time and are remarkably comfy if a little bit groovy. The evening passed quickly once we moved into the kitchen. I think that cooking at college will be quite different from cooking at home, just trying to locate everything in the vast stainless steel kitchen was tricky, however hopefully we will all now know where all the bits and bobs are for future weeks.
We followed our recipes and had a demonstration by our tutor, Adam. We made a starter for our focaccia bread first and popped it into a prover ( wish I had one at home),and then moved on to our white bread. The main difference being that we used a little bit of milk powder in the mix and also fresh yeast as opposed to the usual little sachet of instant yeast that I use. With the white bread mix I made 2 batches of rolls some seedy knots and some larger plaits as well as a small tin loaf.
Scaling the rolls at 50g for the seedy knots and 100g for the plaits, the knots all managed to appear quite even in size and uniform. However the plaits were a little more irregular in size, I obviously needed to measure the length of the individual stands before plaiting ( sounds a little crazy), as of the rolls were shorter and slightly fatter as others were long and narrow. A minor issue as the taste of the rolls was delicious. Having done some research today into the use of milk powder ( I have previously used for burger baps) I discovered that it is used to give a softer crumb and can give the bread a better colour so although not a necessary addition quite lovely especially for a breakfast roll. So I will definitely be going for a softer texture again, as anyone who knows me well will know that I am rather adverse to a crusty baguette!!
Next we made focaccia bread using the starter that had turned into a huge gloopy mess, adding more flour, salt, sugar and olive oil and a lovely mix of chopped fresh herbs. On retrieving it from the oven Adam poured an obscene amount of oil over the top which was worryingly swimming! however I needn't have worried as it turned out exquisitely and tasted divine. As I sit here this evening writing this husband is just tucking into his dinner (gnocchi with tomato, basil and bacon), with a large hunk of focaccia. He has proclaimed it delicious and so has redeemed himself for coming home so late!
All in all a great start to my course, everyone was friendly and I feel more confident, my main aim for next week is to try to remember some of the other students names. Next week is sweet enriched dough's and Chelsea buns. The kids can't wait! and I have a freezer full of lovely bread for the week.
We followed our recipes and had a demonstration by our tutor, Adam. We made a starter for our focaccia bread first and popped it into a prover ( wish I had one at home),and then moved on to our white bread. The main difference being that we used a little bit of milk powder in the mix and also fresh yeast as opposed to the usual little sachet of instant yeast that I use. With the white bread mix I made 2 batches of rolls some seedy knots and some larger plaits as well as a small tin loaf.
Scaling the rolls at 50g for the seedy knots and 100g for the plaits, the knots all managed to appear quite even in size and uniform. However the plaits were a little more irregular in size, I obviously needed to measure the length of the individual stands before plaiting ( sounds a little crazy), as of the rolls were shorter and slightly fatter as others were long and narrow. A minor issue as the taste of the rolls was delicious. Having done some research today into the use of milk powder ( I have previously used for burger baps) I discovered that it is used to give a softer crumb and can give the bread a better colour so although not a necessary addition quite lovely especially for a breakfast roll. So I will definitely be going for a softer texture again, as anyone who knows me well will know that I am rather adverse to a crusty baguette!!
Next we made focaccia bread using the starter that had turned into a huge gloopy mess, adding more flour, salt, sugar and olive oil and a lovely mix of chopped fresh herbs. On retrieving it from the oven Adam poured an obscene amount of oil over the top which was worryingly swimming! however I needn't have worried as it turned out exquisitely and tasted divine. As I sit here this evening writing this husband is just tucking into his dinner (gnocchi with tomato, basil and bacon), with a large hunk of focaccia. He has proclaimed it delicious and so has redeemed himself for coming home so late!
All in all a great start to my course, everyone was friendly and I feel more confident, my main aim for next week is to try to remember some of the other students names. Next week is sweet enriched dough's and Chelsea buns. The kids can't wait! and I have a freezer full of lovely bread for the week.
Brekkie
Mmmm....great first night at college. Made lots of bread including rolls which we had for breakfast with bacon
Sunday 15 September 2013
Busy busy busy, all my weekends start with the intention of getting loads done but suddenly in a flash it's Sunday evening and no focaccia has been made although I have looked at a few different recipes and done lots of cooking just not baking.
On Saturday I went into Town to get a couple of more bits for my course and some tin foil to carry bits home in, managed to get a run in and a nice dog walk and then I cooked a seafood bake layered with pancakes (a bit like lasagne), and today my sister-in-law came to dinner and I cooked a butternut squash and red onion risotto with roast chicken and for dessert little individual apple and blackberry crumbles.
Looking forward to my course later in the week and I think I have got everything I need except for my kitchen clogs which haven't yet arrived. I have packed up my bag of tools and my uniform ,washed my cloths so they are more absorbent. I feel ready for the challenge, and will keep you updated.
A quick thanks to Rors for the delicious coffee today, and I hope your pie turned out ok in the end!
On Saturday I went into Town to get a couple of more bits for my course and some tin foil to carry bits home in, managed to get a run in and a nice dog walk and then I cooked a seafood bake layered with pancakes (a bit like lasagne), and today my sister-in-law came to dinner and I cooked a butternut squash and red onion risotto with roast chicken and for dessert little individual apple and blackberry crumbles.
Looking forward to my course later in the week and I think I have got everything I need except for my kitchen clogs which haven't yet arrived. I have packed up my bag of tools and my uniform ,washed my cloths so they are more absorbent. I feel ready for the challenge, and will keep you updated.
A quick thanks to Rors for the delicious coffee today, and I hope your pie turned out ok in the end!
Friday 13 September 2013
Autumn Cake
Having picked a large basket of apples yesterday, and loads of blackberries last Sunday whilst D played rugby ( I had popped them in the freezer), today had to be a baking day. After a rummage through some back copies of Good Food magazine last night I found a recipe for an apple and blackberry cake and although the recipe says use eaters I have used my Bramleys as I have found that they are not too sharp.
It's a basic cake mix ratio 125g butter/sugar/3 eggs 100g flour with the addition of 50g of ground almonds. Then gently fold in the chopped apples and blackberries, and top with a mix of chopped toasted hazelnuts, Demerara sugar, cinnamon and little tiny flakes of butter. 55mins later having just enough time for a quick walk with Tarry between the downpours and the smell in the kitchen as I came back in delicious!
Packed lunches today were sour dough bread sarnies and flapjack-yum, however tomorrow I must try to go for a run as haven't managed to go at all this week and I feel that a course in patisserie is going to require some serious effort to burn off all the additional calories!
Have a little bit of research to do this weekend and want to have a go at a focaccia as I believe we are making one next Tuesday and also have a look at different flavours for Chelsea buns.
Hubby just in from work so off to microwave a chilli con carni now which I cooked this afternoon my biggest pot, a vast amount of chilli so as to freeze little ones so they have ready meals for when I'm not here and am off having fun at college.
It's a basic cake mix ratio 125g butter/sugar/3 eggs 100g flour with the addition of 50g of ground almonds. Then gently fold in the chopped apples and blackberries, and top with a mix of chopped toasted hazelnuts, Demerara sugar, cinnamon and little tiny flakes of butter. 55mins later having just enough time for a quick walk with Tarry between the downpours and the smell in the kitchen as I came back in delicious!
Packed lunches today were sour dough bread sarnies and flapjack-yum, however tomorrow I must try to go for a run as haven't managed to go at all this week and I feel that a course in patisserie is going to require some serious effort to burn off all the additional calories!
Have a little bit of research to do this weekend and want to have a go at a focaccia as I believe we are making one next Tuesday and also have a look at different flavours for Chelsea buns.
Hubby just in from work so off to microwave a chilli con carni now which I cooked this afternoon my biggest pot, a vast amount of chilli so as to freeze little ones so they have ready meals for when I'm not here and am off having fun at college.
Thursday 12 September 2013
Sour Dough
Well I definitely know I need to invest in a proper proving basket, I think the lack of one was what frustrated me about sour dough previously.
Anyway despite the slightly flatter appearance than I had hoped for the taste maked it well worth the wait! As I mentioned I left the sour dough to reside in the fridge all day in my salad spinner and then on my return from work took it out for a couple of hours to come up to room temperature. The trick is to then gently flop the bread onto the baking sheet which is easier said than done. I am not sure that the muslin was dusted heavily enough with flour as their was a bit of a struggle to get the dough free and then straight into a hot oven with a jug of water chucked into the bottom (into a baking tray of course) for some steam.
We had bread and jam this evening for supper still warm from the oven. D said he thought it had a 'good crust', I think he has been watching too much Paul Hollywood!
Other bits today have included having a read through my recipe booklet for the course, and writing a list for more things I still need to buy this weekend. Also I have picked a whole basket of delicious cooking apples from my garden. We seem to have a bumper crop this year which is great but rather annoyingly they are all falling off and landing on the driveway which I then keep driving over and squishing into the gravel. I picked a whole load up today shooing away all the wasps as I peeled the crushed fruit from the driveway. So my last job of the evening will be to find a cake recipe that uses Bramley's for tomorrow, and then I might see if I can add a photo of the loaf.
Anyway despite the slightly flatter appearance than I had hoped for the taste maked it well worth the wait! As I mentioned I left the sour dough to reside in the fridge all day in my salad spinner and then on my return from work took it out for a couple of hours to come up to room temperature. The trick is to then gently flop the bread onto the baking sheet which is easier said than done. I am not sure that the muslin was dusted heavily enough with flour as their was a bit of a struggle to get the dough free and then straight into a hot oven with a jug of water chucked into the bottom (into a baking tray of course) for some steam.
We had bread and jam this evening for supper still warm from the oven. D said he thought it had a 'good crust', I think he has been watching too much Paul Hollywood!
Other bits today have included having a read through my recipe booklet for the course, and writing a list for more things I still need to buy this weekend. Also I have picked a whole basket of delicious cooking apples from my garden. We seem to have a bumper crop this year which is great but rather annoyingly they are all falling off and landing on the driveway which I then keep driving over and squishing into the gravel. I picked a whole load up today shooing away all the wasps as I peeled the crushed fruit from the driveway. So my last job of the evening will be to find a cake recipe that uses Bramley's for tomorrow, and then I might see if I can add a photo of the loaf.
Improvisation
No proving basket always proves a problem! Improvisation has led me to use the spinning basket from my salad spinner lined with a muslin cloth. Gone back in the fridge till this afternoon. Will bake this evening.
Wednesday 11 September 2013
Well great excitement as you can see from my earlier piccie. Not only did my new chef outfit arrive today in the post but also some knives, a digital thermometer, a new pastry brush (apparently I need a flat one not a round one), some cloths and plastic scrapers. Who would have thought it possible to get so excited over an outfit that frankly made me look like I was wearing pyjamas.
Been another busy day here, and despite having to help cover yet more exercise books I have managed to get cracking on a sour dough loaf and got around to making the flapjacks from yesterday. I also learnt how to upload a photo to my blog, get an app on my phone to 'blog on the go', and squeeze in 5 hours at work!
Some time ago my neighbours gave me a sour dough starter which I carefully nurtured and fed for about a year, making bread about twice a week. However after a while my bread craze fizzled a little and my starter was sitting in the fridge being sadly neglected and it suddenly appeared to be taking up too much room in the fridge, so one day in a tidying frenzy I decided in my wisdom that I would throw it out.
3 months later and I regretted my rashness, and so a couple of weeks ago I started again and this time I have made my own starter! it didn't smell great for the first few days and then suddenly it began to have appley undertones and now it is positively fruity! And so this morning at 8.30 I began by mixing 150mls of my starter with 100grams of flour and 150 mls of warm water, by the time I got in from work it was frothy and so I have added another 500grams of white bread flour, salt and 200 mls of water to the mix giving it a good kneading and left it sitting in my fridge for a slow overnight proving. I have just had a peek and it is looking good. My plan is to knock it back in the morning and let it prove again before baking it tomorrow when I get in from work.
My flapjacks are a family favourite and I made them whilst we watched last nights bake off on catchup tv.
Hubbie just back from a scout leader meeting only to inform me I am in charge of catering for scout camp!!! I have £65 to feed 25 people a light supper, breakfast and lunch. so I am now off to have a think????
Been another busy day here, and despite having to help cover yet more exercise books I have managed to get cracking on a sour dough loaf and got around to making the flapjacks from yesterday. I also learnt how to upload a photo to my blog, get an app on my phone to 'blog on the go', and squeeze in 5 hours at work!
Some time ago my neighbours gave me a sour dough starter which I carefully nurtured and fed for about a year, making bread about twice a week. However after a while my bread craze fizzled a little and my starter was sitting in the fridge being sadly neglected and it suddenly appeared to be taking up too much room in the fridge, so one day in a tidying frenzy I decided in my wisdom that I would throw it out.
3 months later and I regretted my rashness, and so a couple of weeks ago I started again and this time I have made my own starter! it didn't smell great for the first few days and then suddenly it began to have appley undertones and now it is positively fruity! And so this morning at 8.30 I began by mixing 150mls of my starter with 100grams of flour and 150 mls of warm water, by the time I got in from work it was frothy and so I have added another 500grams of white bread flour, salt and 200 mls of water to the mix giving it a good kneading and left it sitting in my fridge for a slow overnight proving. I have just had a peek and it is looking good. My plan is to knock it back in the morning and let it prove again before baking it tomorrow when I get in from work.
My flapjacks are a family favourite and I made them whilst we watched last nights bake off on catchup tv.
Hubbie just back from a scout leader meeting only to inform me I am in charge of catering for scout camp!!! I have £65 to feed 25 people a light supper, breakfast and lunch. so I am now off to have a think????
Tuesday 10 September 2013
In the Beginning
Goodness, where to start.....
my application for the Great british bake-off didn't come to anything so I have decided to enrol on a Patisserie and confectionery course. My own personal Bake-off!!!
A huge challenge and a reasonably hefty financial commitment. I'm excited and nervous, but mostly wondering how I will find time. This evening I was going to just make a few flap jacks but having gotten myself involved in the nightmare that is sticky backed plastic and covering exercise books with kids, I suddenly found myself running swiftly out of time. And so tomorrow the kids will have to make do with a kitkat in their lunch boxes, which possibly they will be more delighted with anyway- so I musn't fret.
Tuesday evening's from now on will be 5 hours in college baking starting next week. Induction yesterday went well with lots of new people, I thought we would have to do the dreaded 'introduce yourself to people' speech, however apparently not. Or not yet anyway.
I've ordered lots of kit, and a uniform that I know will make me look like Andy Pandy, and hopefully all this will arrive in time for next weeks lesson. We are starting with yeast products, breads and buns which is a good place to start for me as I am reasonably happy that I can bake a loaf.
Being a necessity computer user rather than a native, blogging will be a new adventure too. So as I love cooking and eating, and reading about cooking and eating somehow this seems to feel right. Who knows how it will all turn out, we will just have to wait and see....
my application for the Great british bake-off didn't come to anything so I have decided to enrol on a Patisserie and confectionery course. My own personal Bake-off!!!
A huge challenge and a reasonably hefty financial commitment. I'm excited and nervous, but mostly wondering how I will find time. This evening I was going to just make a few flap jacks but having gotten myself involved in the nightmare that is sticky backed plastic and covering exercise books with kids, I suddenly found myself running swiftly out of time. And so tomorrow the kids will have to make do with a kitkat in their lunch boxes, which possibly they will be more delighted with anyway- so I musn't fret.
Tuesday evening's from now on will be 5 hours in college baking starting next week. Induction yesterday went well with lots of new people, I thought we would have to do the dreaded 'introduce yourself to people' speech, however apparently not. Or not yet anyway.
I've ordered lots of kit, and a uniform that I know will make me look like Andy Pandy, and hopefully all this will arrive in time for next weeks lesson. We are starting with yeast products, breads and buns which is a good place to start for me as I am reasonably happy that I can bake a loaf.
Being a necessity computer user rather than a native, blogging will be a new adventure too. So as I love cooking and eating, and reading about cooking and eating somehow this seems to feel right. Who knows how it will all turn out, we will just have to wait and see....
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