Baked anything tasty lately?

donnacha

My young lad requested battenburg for his birthday cake as he is a marzipan addict.

Michellenman

I attempted the bake off technical challenge from last week of Angel Cake slices.

First baking fail in a good while. The genouese sponge actually turned out well but despite two attempts and following the recipe to a T I couldn’t get the Italian meringue buttercream to work, it kept curdling. I’ve made it a few times before with other recipes and no issue so I’m still not sure where I went wrong The flavour was there but the texture was all wrong.

Even if they had turned out Ok I still don’t think they would have been worth the effort. Lots of faffing around, SO MANY BOWLS (9 bowls on the go at one point!!!) a sugar thermometer needed for both the sponge and the buttercream so was having to wash up constantly during the process, had to make a foil and parchment frame to divide the baking tray. Wouldn’t be arsed again to be honest, didn’t even bother ‘finishing’ them properly to make them look nice. We had a half slice each and then decided they weren’t worth the calories

Springfields

donnacha wrote: »

My young lad requested battenburg for his birthday cake as he is a marzipan addict.

That looks amazing ! Yum

RacoonQueen

I have my go-to brownie recipe that produces the most incredible brownies they're like a perfect mix between cakey and fudgey brownies, but a couple of other brownies have appeared on my instagram feed lately...I'd already made one they turned out ok...completely fudgey so yesterday I made those two recipes + one more that looked super fudgey in the picture. It meant I had to eat 3 brownies last night to ensure mine where still the best :pac:
So, I give you the brownie challenge..

B0jangles

I simply don't believe you.

You need to send me one of each of those extremely questionable brownies so I can verify they

a. Exist

and

b. are indeed, Very Fudgy

Michellenman

I could get on board with a brownie challenge

Tar.Aldarion

Made bread for the first time, sourdough. Took about a month to get the starter ready for me.

LizT

What brownie recipe do you use raccoonqueen? I use the BBC good food best ever brownies and it has yet to fail me.

Tar, how did you make your starter?

Toto Wolfcastle

Michellenman wrote: »

I attempted the bake off technical challenge from last week of Angel Cake slices.

First baking fail in a good while. The genouese sponge actually turned out well but despite two attempts and following the recipe to a T I couldn’t get the Italian meringue buttercream to work, it kept curdling. I’ve made it a few times before with other recipes and no issue so I’m still not sure where I went wrong The flavour was there but the texture was all wrong.

Even if they had turned out Ok I still don’t think they would have been worth the effort. Lots of faffing around, SO MANY BOWLS (9 bowls on the go at one point!!!) a sugar thermometer needed for both the sponge and the buttercream so was having to wash up constantly during the process, had to make a foil and parchment frame to divide the baking tray. Wouldn’t be arsed again to be honest, didn’t even bother ‘finishing’ them properly to make them look nice. We had a half slice each and then decided they weren’t worth the calories

Meet your sister. That Italian buttercream was really strange. The whole recipe was a pain in the hole to make and definitely not worth the calories. In the end they looked and tasted fine, but fine isn't good enough when you start the process at 9am and finish it at 6pm. (I did take long breaks to stop myself turning to drink.) The dishwasher went on three times yesterday and we still have a whole load of bowls waiting to go in. We ate two and I put the other 4 in the fridge but that's only to convince myself that I'm not throwing out perfectly good food. All in all, it went well. :pac:

New Home

LizT wrote: »

What brownie recipe do you use raccoonqueen? I use the BBC good food best ever brownies and it has yet to fail me.

The one on the old Green and Black recipe book is to die for (minus the candied cherries).

http://fuggleantics.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-ultimate-green-blacks-brownies.html

They usually come out crunchy on the top and edges, with a fudgy centre. Y-U-M!!! I once made them with coconut oil/butter instead of normal butter, and they were delish, too.

LizT

Cherries in brownies - yuck!!

Muahahaha

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Let us know how it goes please, especially the kneading dough bit. :P

Bought it in Aldi yesterday. Its my first stand mixer so dont really have anything to compare it with but for €60 it seems a decent piece of kit. Its got six speeds with the top one being very fast.Long term Im not sure how well the rubber feet will hold up but guess they can be replaced if necessary. Its very light, maybe 5 or 6kg and nowhere as bulky as I thought it would be which is good for storage.

Gloomtastic!

Muahahaha wrote: »

Bought it in Aldi yesterday. Its my first stand mixer so dont really have anything to compare it with but for €60 it seems a decent piece of kit. Its got six speeds with the top one being very fast.Long term Im not sure how well the rubber feet will hold up but guess they can be replaced if necessary. Its very light, maybe 5 or 6kg and nowhere as bulky as I thought it would be which is good for storage.

I seem to remember it was the lightness of the mixer I bought that couldn't cope with the heavy kneading dough. It just couldn't turn the mixing bowl, which you have to do. Can you detach the mixer and use it seperately?

Muahahaha

The mixing bowl itself doesnt turn, it is locked firmly into place with lugs during operation. The dough hook can be removed but not used separately. Ive seen a few youtube vids on it and it seems to handle pizza dough pretty well. Heavier doughs could be a problem, time will tell.

Gloomtastic!

Muahahaha wrote: »

The mixing bowl itself doesnt turn, it is locked firmly into place with lugs during operation. The dough hook can be removed but not used separately. Ive seen a few youtube vids on it and it seems to handle pizza dough pretty well. Heavier doughs could be a problem, time will tell.

OK, good luck with it. Let us know how you get on when you make some dough please.

Tar.Aldarion

LizT wrote: »

What brownie recipe do you use raccoonqueen? I use the BBC good food best ever brownies and it has yet to fail me.

Tar, how did you make your starter?

Just mix equal parts water and bread flour. Each morning I'd remove half of what was there and added more flour/water and let it do it's thing!

RacoonQueen

LizT wrote: »

What brownie recipe do you use raccoonqueen? I use the BBC good food best ever brownies and it has yet to fail me.

I had a recipe from a baking book I got years ago that I've adapted over time. They're quadruple chocolate (melted chocolate in the brownie and then milk, white and dark choc chunks)
I've considered putting a layer of choc ganache on top but honestly, they're perfect as they are.

New Home wrote: »

The one on the old Green and Black recipe book is to die for (minus the candied cherries).

http://fuggleantics.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-ultimate-green-blacks-brownies.html

They usually come out crunchy on the top and edges, with a fudgy centre. Y-U-M!!! I once made them with coconut oil/butter instead of normal butter, and they were delish, too.

That's completely different ratio of ingredients to what I use. It's mad how different the recipes are and everyone thinks theirs is amazing which is why I've been trying out different recipes recently.

My recipe seems to have won the vote in the office blind taste test so clearly is truly the best. :cool:

The ones in the left on my picture where super fudgey in the picture from the instagram baker so was disappointed to cut into them yesterday and see they didn't look fudgey. Today however they looked just like the picture. The taste is totally different to the others and yummy in its own way.

Wife was out so decided to make double chocolate muffins with my daughter. Made the recipe before so obviously, and they're really good, so it'll all be fine, right?



....except when I bit into them, I knew immediately - somehow I had forgotten to put sugar in, feck! Still, my daughter likes them...

Anyone got any recipes involving 18 sugar free muffins?

New Home

Turn them into cake pops?

New Home

New Home wrote: »

Cake pops?

Yeah, looking up a few recipes, I think that's the best shout. Thanks!

Any suggestions on adding sweetness after baking? My plan is to crumb the muffins and coat them in chocolate, but I still think I'll need to increase the sugar content in the crumb. Honey/maple syrup I've seen mentioned.

New Home

If you use an extra sweet buttercream as a binder, it should balance the lack of sugar in the cake crumbs (and you don't need to bake them again, AFAIK). Alternatively, you could slice them up and use them instead of savoiardi for an "alternative" tiramisu. If you prefer to keep them as they are, you could try injecting them with/soaking them in a sugar and cocoa syrup.

RacoonQueen

You could use condensed milk or tinned caramel as a binder for cake balls either.
With the chocolate flavour, caramel would probably be delicious.

Michellenman

Brownies on the brain since the conversation here the other evening

RacoonQueen

Michellenman wrote: »

Brownies on the brain since the conversation here the other evening

Making something like this is on my list now
https://www.instagram.com/p/B16vK0mlL1z/

Michellenman

I made a version of those before from a cupcake Jemma recipe, get ready to blow your head off with sugar!

Corkgirl18

New Home wrote: »

The one on the old Green and Black recipe book is to die for (minus the candied cherries).

I can second this. This is my go to brownie recipe. I'm always asked for the recipe! Haven't tasted any others as good. I do swap out a little dark chocolate for milk though.

blacklilly

I wish I never came across this thread! Everything looks delicious.

Haven't baked in years. Going to have a go at brown bread and banana bread this weekend. If anyone has a particularly nice recipe for either that would be really helpful

Dizzyblonde

I make Neven Maguire's wheaten bread regularly, it's easy and tastes amazing:

https://foodandwine.ie/macnean-wheaten-bread

My banana bread recipe - I think it's an old Odlums one:

225g/8oz self raising flour
125g/4oz butter, softened
125g/4oz soft brown sugar
2 eggs
2 large bananas (mashed)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g packet chocolate chips
(I throw in a handful of sultanas too)

1. Preheat oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas 3. Lightly grease and base line a 900g/2lb loaf tin.
2. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, mashed banana and vanilla extract into a bowl and beat well.
3. Add the flour and stir into the mixture. Finally, gently stir in the chocolate chips. - and sultanas if using.
4. Transfer to the prepared tin, Smoothe the top with the back of a spoon.
5. Bake in a central oven position for about 50 minutes until well risen and a knife gently pressed into the bread comes out clean.
6. Allow to rest in tin for about 10 minutes then turn onto a wire tray to cool.
7. When cold wrap in greaseproof paper and tinfoil.

Gloomtastic!

blacklilly wrote: »

I wish I never came across this thread! Everything looks delicious.

Haven't baked in years. Going to have a go at brown bread and banana bread this weekend. If anyone has a particularly nice recipe for either that would be really helpful

Here’s my go-to banana bread recipe. You can also add fruit and nuts as you want.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread

RacoonQueen

RacoonQueen wrote: »

You could use condensed milk or tinned caramel as a binder for cake balls either.
With the chocolate flavour, caramel would probably be delicious.

I can confirm caramel is indeed delicious with them! Great shout. I crumbed them the other night, left them in the fridge and mixed with caramel made tonight. Made balls out of them, then back in the fridge until tomorrow and then it's white chocolate and sprinkles time.