What I've baked Wednesday...

I know this is late but my internet has been playing up the past few days :(

Not as much baking as I would have liked done this week. It has been so hot here and I've been avoiding having the oven on any longer than need be. 

I have tried something new and failed! It was a fatless sponge, but the texture was of a bathroom sponge! It looked fine though...

It had risen well...

A slightly odd shape but I'm not entering into a competition! 

I decorated the top but obviously hadn't tasted it yet!

I am trying to recreate the lightness of a bought sponge cake. I love to bake cakes but actually prefer the texture of a bought sponge like a Madeira cake or I choose to make a melting method chocolate fudge cake...lovely.

Has anyone else had any baking day fails?

Has anyone got a lovely recipe for a fatless sponge that you'd like to share?

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

What I've Baked Wednesday...

Hi everyone,

It's been so hot here that I haven't really been in the mood for baking. Today is baking day but as I don't need the oven on for tea I have decided to bake tomorrow instead. Tea is cooked in the oven then and I can use the empty space for a cake and possibly some shortbread. 

I have baked since last Wednesday though, a spur of the moment thing because I accidentally knocked a shopping bag off the worktop and cracked some eggs :( I took out a loaf of bread and made it off balance (pretty unlucky I think) and the eggs were in with the bread. Two were on the floor, but another four were cracked, I managed to save the rest. I cracked open the four and kept them in a bowl until I'd finished putting the shopping away. I then made a Mary Berry Victoria sandwich cake for hubby's pack-up...

This is his favourite, plain and simple...sandwiched together with jam and a dusting of icing sugar on top. Sorry that the photo is of inside the cake carrier, but I'm paranoid about flies getting on our food. That's probably why I have forgotten to photograph Mondays and yesterday's meals! I'm so keen to get the food dished up and onto the table before the flies land. If must be quite funny to watch me flicking them away and moaning. Does anyone else find the flies a nightmare? The windows and patio doors have to be open because it's so humid, but they keep on inviting themselves in! I'm going to have to get some of those sticky things to catch them.

This time of year is not my favourite...I have a phobia of spiders and wasps and both scare me. The big spiders will be showing themselves anytime now (I saw enough of them in the garden) and the wasps seem to smell my fear. I'm not afraid of being stung because that has happened to me before (it sat on my shoulder and I only realised it was there when it stung me!) it's the way that they fly into my hair and hover around my face. Once they arrive in full force, I start to wish for the first frost so they'll disappear! 

Does anyone share my fear of wasps and spiders? 

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

What I've baked Wednesday...

Hi everyone

Well I've discovered that thrifty tips is my most popular of posts. Yesterday I received 400 page views! I normally get less than 50, so I'm thinking you want me to share more of these?

On to today...

Lately I've been trying to reduce my grocery spending and reduce my food waste. This means I only bake small amounts so it all gets eaten. This week Daisy and I have baked chocolate cake! Daisy was in charge of her lactose free recipe of little chocolate cakes and I made a chocolate sandwich cake...

It's a moist cake and doesn't rise much!

 

Tastes good though :)

Here's the recipe...

Dark Moist Chocolate Cake

125g marg

125g sugar

2 eggs

75g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

3tbsp cocoa

Icing sugar, cocoa and real butter to make the icing...plus a little icing sugar to dust on the top.

Method

1). Beat the marg and sugar until pale.

2). Add beaten eggs slowly with a little flour.

3). Add remaining flour, baking powder and cocoa. Fold in.

4). Spoon into two greased and lined sandwich tins. Level the top.

5). Bake for 30mins @ 170oC until it springs back when touched. Cool.

6). Make the icing and use it to sandwich the the cake together. Dust the top with icing sugar.

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x

What I've baked Wednesday...

Hi everyone

Not much baking been going on here lately but I did make fruity fairy cakes with Daisy today...or if I'm honest...Daisy did most of it and I just supervised, took care of the oven side of things and tidied up the floury mess!

A really simple recipe of...

100g butter

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

100g self-raising flour 

A good sprinkling of raisins

Daisy even cracked the eggs with me! So proud she did that for the first time today and only a tiny bit of shell went in the bowl.

Fresh out of the oven she had to test one    And so did grampy (as you can see in the photo)...

Thanks for reading,

Mandy x