What are you baking?

[smmudge]

Does anyone have any good recommendations for birthday office treats? Something easy, individual portions, but v tasty and easy to look good? I'm thinking brownies, cookies, something like that?

 

[Epona]

How to Make Pinwheel Cookies - Sally's Baking Addiction

Enjoy classic chocolate and vanilla pinwheel cookies using my tried-and-tested homemade recipe and video tutorial as your guide.

sallysbakingaddiction.com

Quite easy, look fancy

 

[Saffy]

Something like rocky road or Bakewell traybake which you can portion up and looks pretty on a plate or cake stand? There's some great traybake recipes around.

Rocky Road Crunch Bars

If ever there were questions raised about the need for Rich Tea biscuits, then Rocky Road would be all the answer required. A doddle to make, and easily transportable, a batch of these has saved me often when I have to go somewhere with a sweet treat in hand. Bear in mind that rocky road —...

www.nigella.com

Bakewell traybake recipe

This classic almond tart with a hidden layer of raspberry jam is a tried and tested crowd-pleaser.

www.google.com

 

[iona]

Brownies are good for taking to places because they still look appetising after you've chucked them in a tin and thrown that around in a bag or your car on the way there.

I use this recipe and people always ask me for it after they've tasted them (it works well with gluten free flour too if that's an issue)

110g unsalted butter
120g dark chocolate
200g light muscovado sugar
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
100g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
100g chopped pecan nuts

Melt chocolate & butter in a bowl over a pan of water. Stir in sugar, leave to cool.
Add vanilla and salt. Beat eggs in one at a time.
Sift and fold in flour & cocoa, then nuts.
Pour into lined or silicone tray, bake for 20-25 mins at 200°C (knife test should still be a bit gooey when you take them out - they'll cook & set more but end up rock hard if you cook them too long because of all the sugar).
Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

 

[smmudge]

Thank you!! They all look great so it's a hard decision think I will try the brownies and pray I don't overbake them!

 

[iona]

Thank you!! They all look great so it's a hard decision think I will try the brownies and pray I don't overbake them!

You want them to be just barely done, less than you'd think. A bit raw in the middle is fine, they'll carry on cooking from their own heat once you take them out of the oven and you want them to still be gooey.

If I'm adding nuts I keep back a spoonful of flour to shake them in first (supposedly stops them sinking as much) and if I'm using anything like chocolate or fudge pieces I add them frozen so they don't melt into nothing when they're baked.

 

[RubyToogood]

I usually go for flapjacks made with vegan marge and/or coconut oil as they are then both vegan and gluten free. You can add in interesting dried fruit and nuts to make them more exciting, but at least nearly everyone can eat them.

 

[Saffy]

Just made some bread rolls and I'm pretty happy with them considering I used plain flour.

I also made a roasted veg plait last weekend which went down a storm at a do we had.

 

[Yossarian]

Groundhog Day cake

 

[Callie]

Groundhog Day cake

View attachment 361758

By your own fair hands?

 

[Yossarian]

By your own fair hands?

Yep, first cake

 

[RubyToogood]

Groundhog Day cake

View attachment 361758

Again?

 

[seeformiles]

Just out of the oven - Wheaten Soda Bread. When it cools it’ll be buttered and topped with lettuce, prawns and Marie Rose sauce

 

[smmudge]

Brownies are good for taking to places because they still look appetising after you've chucked them in a tin and thrown that around in a bag or your car on the way there.

I use this recipe and people always ask me for it after they've tasted them (it works well with gluten free flour too if that's an issue)

110g unsalted butter
120g dark chocolate
200g light muscovado sugar
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp salt
100g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
100g chopped pecan nuts

Melt chocolate & butter in a bowl over a pan of water. Stir in sugar, leave to cool.
Add vanilla and salt. Beat eggs in one at a time.
Sift and fold in flour & cocoa, then nuts.
Pour into lined or silicone tray, bake for 20-25 mins at 200°C (knife test should still be a bit gooey when you take them out - they'll cook & set more but end up rock hard if you cook them too long because of all the sugar).
Leave to cool completely before cutting into squares.

I have just been informed by a colleague that these are possibly "the best brownies she's ever tasted"!!

I took all the credit of course.

And neglected to mention that the cat had walked over them last night when we were out.

There was a tea towel between cat and brownie but still.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Just made some bread rolls and I'm pretty happy with them considering I used plain flour.
View attachment 361028
I also made a roasted veg plait last weekend which went down a storm at a do we had.
View attachment 361031

I like the look of that veg plait

 

[Saffy]

I like the look of that veg plait

It's become a bit of a favourite for us.

 

[Saffy]

Had friend come over for a cuppa today and so made some crinkle cookies. Absolutely delicious but I fail to see how you can get 35-40 like they recommend.

 

[Epona]

They look gorgeous!

 

[Rebelda]

Not exactly baking, but rocky road. I've had to barricade the tin at the back of the fridge

 

[Saffy]

Hot cross buns for lunch. Made them using tangzhong method again this year. Absolutely delicious, even if I do say so myself.

 

[Saffy]

Rain stopped garden work, so I made profiteroles.

 

[May Kasahara]

Bread.

 

[Saffy]

That looks a good loaf!

 

[Aladdin]

Just a simple sponge cake with lemon curd filling.

 

[Biddlybee]

Bakers of urban... most of my loaf cake recipes are for a 2lb tin. I've got 2 x 1lb tins.

Normally I halve the recipe and make one and wing it with the timing. But if the oven's on I'm going to make two!

So, if I split the batter between two 1lb tins, how much do I reduce the baking time by?

Plane takes off?

 

[BoatieBird]

I'd probably give them 2/3rds of the time and then check them.
Maybe a bit less?

 

[kittyP]

Bakers of urban... most of my loaf cake recipes are for a 2lb tin. I've got 2 x 1lb tins.

Normally I halve the recipe and make one and wing it with the timing. But if the oven's on I'm going to make two!

So, if I split the batter between two 1lb tins, how much do I reduce the baking time by?

Plane takes off?

Sorry the laugh was for the final comment.
I have absolutely no idea I'm afraid

 

[moose]

The same time as you normally wing it, plus the time it takes to sing a little song.

 

[RubyToogood]

Mary Berry has probably done a table somewhere.

 

[Epona]

The same time as you normally wing it, plus the time it takes to sing a little song.

I actually went to a foraging walk and talk recently where the person leading it suggested that the origin of spells in folklore (as in repeat this verse 3 times while stirring the ingredients bubbling in a pot) originated due to the need to time before the era of clocks and watches how long to steep or simmer certain herbs to make a poultice or a medicinal brew, and if you repeated a particular thing x number of times it meant that the mixture had brewed for the appropriate amount of time. The length of the verse/litany and the number of repeats would provide an appropriate length of time to cook or brew the particular something that it was associated with.