Cooking and Baking

Thank you all so much for your advice and help. I made the cake and saved a small fortune!

@Ann-Maree, I used your excellent idea of two cakes. Whilst Hugo and Co were making speeches and ‘cutting the cake’ a good friend and I were cutting and plating up the other cake, close by.
By the time speeches were done, cake was ready to be eaten.

Thank you!

@motherof5 Nicole, yes I found it in the ‘free from’ section of my supermarket along with all the other special diet ingredients. I know it is in health food shops as well.
I really enjoyed the cake and didn’t miss the sugar. My husband said it wasn’t sweet enough for him. But he has 3 sugars in his tea and sugar on his cereal so his expectations…[Read more]

Yum, can you get agave at the supermarket?

(just moving this as it went onto a different page..)

If anyone is after a sugar free carrot cake recipe then have a look at this one:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sugar-free_carrot_cake_71797

I promised to post this for Sharon and I am sure you will all want to have a go too. It was on the Great British Bake Off Masterclass the other…[Read more]

This, http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/15715/easy-butter-chicken.aspx , tripled and made up with 1.5 kg of chicken breast fed 8 teenagers.

And it was good!

This, http://www.food.com/recipe/orange-dessert-pancakes-287026 , was absolutely delicious for afters

An army marches on its stomach 🙂

Cake flour can apparently be made at home – http://joythebaker.com/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/ from the looks of the directions in the link it’s all-purpouse flour mixed with a bit of cornflour/cornstarch.

Thanks for posting those recipes and instructions @reeni! I’m bookmarking for reference.

Wow
Thank you so much 😘

No problem, I think it’s the pastry teacher in me that can’t help but help!
Cake flour is not necessarily self-rising, but if that is what you can get, eliminate the salt and only use 8 g baking powder. In the US, cake flour has brands like Soft a silk and Swansdown… King Arthur’s cake flour is labeled Gueneviere.
Swiss meringue buttercream…[Read more]

A neighbour dropped me off a bag of lemons this morning so I made this for supper http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/20191/lemon+delicious#comments

I doubled the recipe but reduced the sugar by 1/3, still fantastic.
I did add an extra 1/3 cup of lemon juice too.

A neighbour dropped me off a bag of lemons this morning so I made this for supper http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/20191/lemon+delicious#comments

I doubled the recipe but reduced the sugar by 1/3, still fantastic.
I did add and extra 1/3 cup of lemon juice too.

I am open to any flavour @Reeni, just after a great tasting cake that will freeze.
You have been so helpful

Just a few questions…. cake flour, is that Self Raising flour?
Do you have a good recipe for Swiss meringue icing? I could Google one but I love tried and true recipes.

Thank you again!

xx Nicole

Btw, I love Swiss meringue frosting to finish cakes — it takes care of the egg whites left over. You can also use 6 whole eggs in the cake but the texture will be a little more open and have more crumbs… works fine for cupcakes tho! For white cake, 270 g egg whites instead. Kids (and many adults!) love the white cake with a handful of sprinkles…[Read more]

I forgot to ask, chocolate or yellow cake? You have a few chocolate ones to try so i’ll give you vanilla. This quantity fits well in a 6-quart mixer; it’s originally from the Cake Bible. Bake at 340 F or 170 C… this makes 2 12″ round layers or 10″ squares, approximately enough for 40 people (maybe 30 teenagers!) Grease pan sides, line bottoms…[Read more]

@Reeni, thank you!!!

Do you mean attendance or weighing scales? I have kitchen scales and my 1960 Sunbeam mixer 🙂

I am waiting on my new stove (happy dance) and my existing free standing oven is being moved out to the shed as a warmer/hotplate. It is gas and quite large but the door seals have gone so not so good for baking.

I would love your…[Read more]

do you have a scale? I can give you the recipe we use at work (bakeshop) — it freezes well and we make our wedding cakes for up to 300 people with it.
Short answer, for 200 people I think it is easiest to do one “showpiece” cake and a large sheet cake, they can be cut at the same time so nobody is waiting too long for cake. Or cupcakes! 200…[Read more]

Awesome, thank you!
My new stove is being shipped and my children are pretty happy about the testing that will take place.

Any more? Savoury or sweet.