What are you baking?

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

I love that recipe as I love nuts in my Xmas cake. Is the egg white icing alright unrefrigerated?

The Nigel Slater recipe? I haven't iced mine yet, but I wasn't planning on using raw egg whites of any kind as I'm in China and I'm not 100% confident in their eggs. I was going to use meringue powder instead. I am really looking forward to the cake considering it has hazelnuts in, though they were a right pain to shell!

 

[spanglechick]

so - @aqua and anyone else...

icing the crimble cakes.

not yet, i know, but when?

also - methods? My mum used to do royal icing(?) and do it in little peaks like snow. Everyone now seems to use rolled fondant but that tastes a bit funny. plus, i don't see how it doesn't end up in pleats down the side... unless you do it like the marzipan with a circle shape for the top and a separate long strip to cover the sides?

anyway, which is easier, i guess I'm asking. and do they last the same length of time?

and then - i have a fancy to make decorative holly leaves and berries. I have holly cutters wiith plungers to make detail in the top, and i have wet food dye and red and green lustre dusts. do i use rolled fondant? or something else?

 

[purenarcotic]

Yup, she would have used royal. Break your teeth goodness.

You don't get pleats by rolling it out so that it's a very big and then you slap it over the top and gently smooth it down the sides, cutting off the excess. Like this:



@spanglechick

 

[Pat24]

making banana cake now http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bananabread_85720

 

[miss direct]

I made these yesterday. They're red velvet cupcakes with rum and cream cheese icing. My friend helped to decorate them.

 

[cesare]

If you add a little liquid glucose to royal icing you get a softer finish, which is great for the traditional Christmas cake peaks so you don't break your teeth You don't add glucose when you want the royal icing to bear weight eg for trad wedding cakes with pillars holding up each layer.

 

[RubyToogood]

My royal icing never comes out hard like that, possibly because I just do it a day or two before so it doesn't dry out, or maybe it's my recipe?

 

[aqua]

probably your recipe ruby

I don't ice my cakes more than about 3 days before (fruit cake) or the day before for sponge cake

marzipan needs 24hours drying time x

 

[Looby]

Yup, she would have used royal. Break your teeth goodness.

You don't get pleats by rolling it out so that it's a very big and then you slap it over the top and gently smooth it down the sides, cutting off the excess. Like this:



@spanglechick

You can get smoothers too, I found one on amazon for about 2 quid.

I used royal icing last year, I do prefer that for a crimbo cake.

Here follows a shameless repost of last years fluke effort. ; )



I don't even like Christmas cake so this year we're having a gingerbread bake off. : D

 

[aqua]

@sparklefish if you don't like christmas cake it may be the recipe you're using - I have LOADS of fruit cake recipes that I love and I hate fruit cake pm me your email and I'll send you them x

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Well, I would have been making a Christmas cake but my husband ate all the nuts and most of the dried fruit. I was left with a bowl of sultanas and candied peel soaking in brandy when I realised everything else had been snaffled over the last few weeks so there's a really boozy bread and butter pudding in the oven.

 

[toggle]

lol

 

[Looby]

@sparklefish if you don't like christmas cake it may be the recipe you're using - I have LOADS of fruit cake recipes that I love and I hate fruit cake pm me your email and I'll send you them x

Ok cheers, will do.

I should point out, I hate peel of any kind. : D

 

[aqua]

Same as me, its rank

 

[Mrs Magpie]

I have to resist eating it out of the pack

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Have you tried soaking it in brandy first? Really softens it up. I don't like it when it's hard. I love peel though, especially in dark marmalade.

 

[aqua]

I have to resist eating it out of the pack

Really? But its grim! I do put it in for cakes going to fruit cake nuts (like my nephew) but otherwise no no no

 

[Mrs Magpie]

The crap quality candied peel is grim though, but decent stuff is lovely.




Ooh forgot to pass on my top tip Christmas cake thing....do little ones in paper cases with icing. I did a load like that in a nice tin as a present for the barstaff in the Albert one year and they went down well.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Well, I would have been making a Christmas cake but my husband ate all the nuts and most of the dried fruit. I was left with a bowl of sultanas and candied peel soaking in brandy when I realised everything else had been snaffled over the last few weeks so there's a really boozy bread and butter pudding in the oven.

Ooh, it's lush...just lifted one of the crusts on top and hoicked a bit out of the middle to check it's cooked....

 

[madamv]

I did some in metallic red, green and silver cases a few years ago. Gorgeous, and if you're not a huge Xmas cake.fan, just the right size.

 

[RubyToogood]

Ok cheers, will do.

I should point out, I hate peel of any kind. : D

I don't understand perverts like you and aqua.

What really enrages me is when you give someone a delicious slice of your home made Christmas cake and they sit there picking bits out of it in an offensive manner. Either eat the fucking cake or don't eat it . They always seem to say the name of the thing they don't like wrong as well. Like one friend with a bizarre aversion to glacé cherries called them "glazed cherries" whilst picking them out and a peel phobic referred to the bits of peel as "the peels". She was Swedish (presumably still is) but I don't regard that as sufficient excuse in this instance

 

[toggle]

it is completely unacceptable in anyone over the age of 6 IMO

 

[RubyToogood]

Anyway, I have started my Xmas cake (with extra peel and cherries, also dates, walnuts, almonds, pecans, apricots, pineapple, brazils and a lot of dark rum). I'm experimenting with putting all the fruit in a low oven with the alcohol for a bit instead of soaking it overnight, because I want to try and finish it today really. This was my own idea. Will report back. Possibly not till after Christmas.

Am also substituting marmalade for black treacle, because I don't like it really dark.

 

[Looby]

I don't understand perverts like you and aqua.

What really enrages me is when you give someone a delicious slice of your home made Christmas cake and they sit there picking bits out of it in an offensive manner. Either eat the fucking cake or don't eat it . They always seem to say the name of the thing they don't like wrong as well. Like one friend with a bizarre aversion to glacé cherries called them "glazed cherries" whilst picking them out and a peel phobic referred to the bits of peel as "the peels". She was Swedish (presumably still is) but I don't regard that as sufficient excuse in this instance

It's disgusted as are glacé cherries. Tbh unless it was a good mate who wouldn't mind me picking peel out, I would just decline the foul, peel ridden cake and the mince pies too.

I don't like quite a lot of Xmas food, turkey, pudding, cake.

 

[RubyToogood]

It's disgusted as are glacé cherries. Tbh unless it was a good mate who wouldn't mind me picking peel out, I would just decline the foul, peel ridden cake and the mince pies too.

I don't like quite a lot of Xmas food, turkey, pudding, cake.

There is no hope for you

Meanwhile, early indications are that my tactic of putting the fruit and alcohol in the oven has worked well.

 

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

Belgian buns for a Thanksgiving party. Not as spiral-y as I was expecting but hopefully they'll be edible. I dunno if they even qualify as Belgian buns tbh. Buns anyway.

 

[Biddlybee]

Didn't involve th oven, but made some raw brownies today to try and stave off my sweet cravings

 

[killer b]

i'm baking sourdough. eventually anyway. i've mixed the dough, rising it til tomorrow evening.

 

[RubyToogood]

Didn't involve th oven, but made some raw brownies today to try and stave off my sweet cravings

Raw brownies?

 

[Greebo]

This week, it'll be shortbread and a couple of different batches of tiny cheese biscuits.