You are browsing the tag archive for baking.

Photo: hashmil / Flickr

Tessa Kiros shares this traditional Portuguese ‘Rose Cake’ recipe in her book Piri Piri Starfish. She, in turn, got the recipe from a neighbour in Italy – who got in from someone in Venice. The ‘Rose Cake’ owes its name to the way the cake is decorated with dough ‘roses’. To add to its uniqueness, the recipe calls for yeast and warm milk (besides the normal cake ingredients of flour, eggs and butter). Be careful not to over-bake this cake. (more…)

Photo: buncheduptv / Flickr

Besides being good on its own, custard is the perfect companion for many desserts – whether it’s a hot dessert or a cold dessert. This vanilla egg custard recipe uses three egg yolks and makes 400 ml of custard. It takes half an hour to make ‑ 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook. It should be strained through a fine mesh sieve once it is cooked (to remove any lumps) and is best eaten within 24 hours. (more…)

Photo: Food Thinkers / Flickr

Pastry cream is a custard that is used for filling various pastries like profiteroles, éclairs and Danish pastries. Confectioner’s cream is a thick and sturdy custard but it can be thinned down with cream, should you prefer a runnier consistency. The custard can be flavoured with coffee extract, melted chocolate or praline – or whatever other flavour suits your taste. This recipe makes 700 grams of confectioner’s cream and takes ten minutes to prepare and ten minutes to cook. (more…)

Photo: Elin B / Flickr

To make sweet potato rolls, peel one large sweet potato, cut it into chunks and then place them into a saucepan with two cups of water ‑ bring it to the boil. Place a lid on the saucepan and turn down the heat and cook the potato until tender. Strain the potatoes and keep the cooking water – then mash the sweet potato. Place one and a quarter cups of the sweet potato into a large bowl and set about preparing the dough. (more…)

Photo: mccun934 / Flickr

Traditional Irish soda bread was originally baked every day using the simple ingredients of butter milk or soured milk, flour, baking soda and salt – and sometimes, in the hard times of famine, soda bread was the only food on the table. This recipe makes one large loaf and uses oats and sour milk, as well as a blend of flours. This adapted version of soda bread is written about in Home Baking – The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition Around the World. (more…)

Photo: wiosanna / Flickr

If you have made meringues, you are bound to have plenty of egg yolks left over – but what can one do with them so they don’t go to waste? You could make a proper egg custard or you could make lemon curd. Lemon curd is said to have come from the curd tarts of Europe in the 17^th century. It took a few hundred years for the idea to catch on that lemon curd could be used as a spread on buttered bread. (more…)

Photo: Food Thinkers / Flickr

When starting out as a baker, one can often feel rather flummoxed when following a recipe. For example, when being instructed to beat a cake mixture until it is ‘light and fluffy’, one is often left second-guessing oneself. And when told to ‘incorporate’ the flour, one may not feel confident about how best to achieve this. But then even experienced bakers are faced with the odd flop – and find themselves wondering at the mysteries of baking. (more…)

Photo: Lodigs / Flickr

There are many reasons why cakes flop. Mixtures may not have been incorporated properly, the cake might have been removed from the oven before it was completely cooked or the oven door may have been opened at the wrong time. Then there are performance problems with ovens or baking tins not being the correct size for the batter. Everything may work out well but the cake may be ruined when removing it from its tin. Here are some answers to common problems. (more…)

Photo: noricum / Flickr

To tell if a cake is ready and to avoid over baking it, check to see if it is ready at the suggested time ‑ the cake should be a golden brown. If it is pale and uncooked then give it a further ten minutes before you test it again. When the cake looks firm and golden brown, gently touch the centre – if it is firm then test it with a skewer before removing it from the oven. (more…)

Photo: ninjapotato / Flickr

‘I know you’d think, indeed I’d have thought, that it would be pointless to make something at home when the bought versions can be so good, but I find it peculiarly satisfying to make these, and although they look slightly ramshackle and unprofessional, they do have an edge on any shop-bought stuff,’ says Nigella Lawson in her book Feast – Food That Celebrates Life. Since Good Friday is around the corner, why not consider making Nigella’s hot cross buns? (more…)