2010's Baking

Since I'm going to start my Baking Challenge in just over a month I thought it might be cool to post up some of my previous attempts, so that you can get a sense of what sort of level I'm at at the moment and also so that, I, myself can look back in coming weeks to compare and contrast, and see if any real improvement has been made!
So yeah, here's something I made earlier...

Buns

My first attempt at icing - shocking I know! I had visions of Humming Bird Bakery - esque iced cupcakes but instead I ended up with... well... as you can see it probably wasn't the best idea to use a tube of shop bought icing on fresh out of the oven cupcakes!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These actually turned out really well, some merged a little in the oven, but otherwise they were pretty good - even if I do say so myself! haha :)

Lemon Drizzle Cake

My last baking attempt. Again, at the risk of appearing big headded, this was also fairly good. It was however in dire need of some icing on top to give it an added crunch!

Iced Sponge Cake

I made this last year. After a friend told be that she was going to be making an iced cake, I thought that I'd have a go at making one myself - It was a lot more difficult than I expected, and needless to say, mine was no where near as good as hers! But for a first attempt I suppose it could have been a lot worse. I think the worst thing about it was that the icing started to split as I was placing it on the cake, so I had to desparately try and salvage the situation by hiding the cracks with the polka dots, but shhh I don't think anyone really noticed!

Carrot Cake

This was pretty yummy - a little burnt around the edges but not too noticeable. Yeah on the whole it was A-OK :) and if you want to know the icing on top is orange flavoured!

So that's pretty much everything I made last year... I'd say that on the whole, I was fairly successful (If you ignore some of the horrible icing and eversoslightly charred carrot/cupcakes!)
So my aim this year? - to become Gizzi Erskine or you know, someone who can cook with perfection! Watch this space...

Happy Baking! :)

X

Buying for Baking: The Quest for Perfect Piping

I finally decided that if I'm going to do this thing properly, then I'll need to have some sort of equipment, so at the weekend, I went to buy supplies and pretty things to decorate my cakes with.
I arrived at the shop and looked around, and was instantly amazed by the wealth of equipment which is available to bakers - I never realised that there was such a large industry surrounding baking! (Which looking back, I suppose was pretty naieve of me, but it took my breath away!)
As I stood looking at all of the glitter and cake stands, coloured icing and cake toppers, it took every ounce of will power that I had not to buy the entire store. I was in absolute heaven, and ended up having to limit myself to piping bags, cake toppers and glitter, but I promise that I'll be back for more!



So I checked it all out and went merrily back home, happy with my purchases only to discover when I get there, that piping bags need Nozzles - who knew?!!
I've committed my first baking faux pas. In an attempt to correct this I went down to the supermarket in the hope of finding the all important nozzles. No luck. I began to despair.
A few days later I called by another supermarket and found what I thought I'd been looking for - A piping bag set, with actual nozzles!!!!! I snapped it up straight away and went on my way back home with the intention of making cupcakes later in the week...
I'd made a second mistake - These nozzles wern't for icing cupcakes, they were too small and were only for thin decorative icing...
Feeling absolutely crushed I made one final attempt to address my nozzle situation and went off to a department store in Clitheroe! It was in this department store that I found what will from henceforth be known as my primary nozzle... A snip at just over £2, it is everything that I'd dreamt it would be, perfect for icing even the daintiest of cupcakes!
So yay - My first baking crisis was narrowly avoided, and I now feel ready to take on the world with my nozzled piping bag in one hand and my spatula in the other!
Happy Baking!

x

If anyone knows of any good baking supply websites that may be of use to me then please feel free to comment me! :)

Let the challenge begin!

Argh the scary first post... I suppose I better introduce myself... soo I'm Caroline and I'm a student!
And because I'm a student I get a silly amount of time off in the Summer (six months to be exact - I can't believe it either!) which I usually spend either studying, or catching up on my daytime TV (which if I’m honest is the preferred option)!!!
However, recently this has ceased to be as fulfilling as it once was, so this summer I've decided to bake - And when I say bake I mean REALLY bake, not just packet mixes and refrigerator cakes (although I probably will end up making the iconic rice crispy cake at some point, coz lets face it - who doesn't love them!) But on the whole I want to experiment and explore what the world of cooking has to offer, and improve my skills on the way!
So a bit of background to my baking history... I've never been the best cook - a teacher once pointed at my baking and said 'ew what's that?' - so you have a rough idea of my previous skill levels, but more recently I have begun to be almost competent, and last year I decided to make cupcakes and mess around a bit in the kitchen.
Since then I have pretty much managed to get down most of the basics, but this year I'm going to go for it (I have a plan and everything).
My aim is to bake something new every week (or every other week), starting with the fairy bun in week one (16.5.11) and leading up to the dreaded soufflé (which will hopefully rise!) in week Seventeen.
Along the way, I hope to improve my baking skills and post a few recipes for anyone who happens to stumble upon this and wants to start baking too! I'll also post photos of my results and perhaps even review some of the treats I find when I'm out on my various coffee shop excursions!
Anyway we shall see... If you're interested, then grab an apron and come along for the ride!
:)

(If anyone has any recipe suggestions then please comment me!)