Back to work baking
Just before going back to work in September, I had a final baking weekend where I decided to have another go at my nemesis - macarons. On the recent series of Bake Off, everyone seemed to be knocking up macarons all over the place and not even as an actual challenge - often just for the decoration on other things! I have tried them 3 times now and not once have I achieved the perfect macaron. How do those bakers in the tent do it???
So back at the start of September I had a go at making them for what was the second time using Edd Kimber's recipe for Chocolate and Raspberry Macarons. I followed his recipe carefully, although I don't have a sugar thermometer, so that bit was guess work. The result was better than my previous attempt but the mixture was a little bit runny and I think this was due to my folding in technique. I have never been good at folding in - I think I'm not really delicate enough generally - not just in baking but in general life. I have since learnt a new technique for folding in (more about that later) and my most recent batch were definitely a bit better.
The overall flavour of the macarons was good - although with all that sugar, how can it not taste good? The colour though, could have been stronger and this is something else I worked on with batch number 3. I also aimed to improve the shape. You can see from the pictures that the shapes were a bit ermmmmm irregular with batch 2, so with batch 3 (which I didn't take pictures of) I made them smaller and neater. With neither batch did I achieve a 'foot' and some of them were cracked in batch 3.
Still it's all a learning experience but I do think I'll give them a rest for a little while, not just because we are sick of macarons but I also worry that I'll give us diabetes if we keep eating this amount of sugar!
Further inspired by the Bake Off, I also had a go at soda bread, which I have now decided to think of as the easiest and quickest bread ever. What a low effort but big impact thing to make. Friends coming round in half an hour? Just whip up some soda bread to impress them! I used Paul Hollywood's recipe from his How to Bake book for the basic recipe, divided it into two, then filled one with cheese and one with sundried tomato. I might have been a bit more adventurous with fillings but we have two picky eaters in the household. I would definitely bake this again and try out lots of different fillings.
Finally, I didn't bake this before going back to work but a few weekends later it was my little boy's 3rd birthday. After scouring Pinterest for inspiration, I decided to opt for a dinosaur cake made from a simple Victoria Sponge and an extra Chocolate Sponge for the tail and head. My favourite bit to make was probably the spines which were cut using the point of a star cutter then sandwiched together with a cocktail stick in between. After leaving to harden over night they were then pushed into the cake. Needless to say the cake was a big hit and I was a bit proud of the final result.
So back at the start of September I had a go at making them for what was the second time using Edd Kimber's recipe for Chocolate and Raspberry Macarons. I followed his recipe carefully, although I don't have a sugar thermometer, so that bit was guess work. The result was better than my previous attempt but the mixture was a little bit runny and I think this was due to my folding in technique. I have never been good at folding in - I think I'm not really delicate enough generally - not just in baking but in general life. I have since learnt a new technique for folding in (more about that later) and my most recent batch were definitely a bit better.
The overall flavour of the macarons was good - although with all that sugar, how can it not taste good? The colour though, could have been stronger and this is something else I worked on with batch number 3. I also aimed to improve the shape. You can see from the pictures that the shapes were a bit ermmmmm irregular with batch 2, so with batch 3 (which I didn't take pictures of) I made them smaller and neater. With neither batch did I achieve a 'foot' and some of them were cracked in batch 3.
Perhaps a little foot?
Still it's all a learning experience but I do think I'll give them a rest for a little while, not just because we are sick of macarons but I also worry that I'll give us diabetes if we keep eating this amount of sugar!
Further inspired by the Bake Off, I also had a go at soda bread, which I have now decided to think of as the easiest and quickest bread ever. What a low effort but big impact thing to make. Friends coming round in half an hour? Just whip up some soda bread to impress them! I used Paul Hollywood's recipe from his How to Bake book for the basic recipe, divided it into two, then filled one with cheese and one with sundried tomato. I might have been a bit more adventurous with fillings but we have two picky eaters in the household. I would definitely bake this again and try out lots of different fillings.
Finally, I didn't bake this before going back to work but a few weekends later it was my little boy's 3rd birthday. After scouring Pinterest for inspiration, I decided to opt for a dinosaur cake made from a simple Victoria Sponge and an extra Chocolate Sponge for the tail and head. My favourite bit to make was probably the spines which were cut using the point of a star cutter then sandwiched together with a cocktail stick in between. After leaving to harden over night they were then pushed into the cake. Needless to say the cake was a big hit and I was a bit proud of the final result.
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