lust after books.

so my twenties have arrived and with them another addition to my collection of baking books. and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the new hummingbird book.

their latest offering is home sweet home

so as i cradled my hangover yesterday i had a good look through and there are SO many things i want to make from this book! i really don't know where i am going to get started.

from my initial glance it also seems that they have become more aware of the limitations that the british audience presents - it suggests alternatives for ingredients that might be more readily available in british supermarkets.

what i also really like is that it explains a little bit about the background of the recipes - which is interesting from an english baking perspective as sometimes these american recipes can be a bit bewildering!

but moving on from books i have acquired to those that dominant my wish list...

1. john whaite bakes

i am SO excited for this book! i rooted for john the whole way through GBBO and love keeping up with his baking adventures on twitter (@JohnWhaiteBakes)

it is released on the 25th april - and i'm yet to preorder my copy as i need to work out whether i'll be at uni or home (don't want to risk this getting abandoned at a post office!) but as soon as i know this will be £10 my bank account won't miss!

2. tea with bea

i haven't had a chance to look inside this book, but the cover photograph alone is enough to get me salivating! it's had really good reviews and moves away from cupcakes which would be good to help push the baking trend further.

3. short and sweet

i've heard this is a bit of a classic and can teach you everything you need to know. it's also got 40% off at whsmiths at the moment which makes it highly tempting... goodbye birthday money!

i hope you've enjoyed this small selection of baking books. there are so many out there - have a look in book shops and find the ones that tempt you! and hopefully you can expect a post with my attempts soon

love,
nen
x

farewell to my teenage years...

so here it is - my last post as a teenager as on tuesday i enter a new decade (and quite possibly a quarter life crisis...!) i'm not entirely sure how this has happened so fast, but let's make the most of these last couple of days with some chocolate fudge cupcakes!

my school friends grace and louise came round the other day for a lunch and baking session (including a few cheeky lunch time glasses of rose - see i'm totally sophisticated enough to be in my twenties!!) once the lunch had been consumed (french bread with brie, ham and smoked mackerel pate) and gossip swapped we entered the kitchen to whip up a fresh batch of chocolate cupcakes.

we followed an equal quantities mixture of six ounces. to make the cakes chocolate you substitute two ounces of self raising flour for cocoa powder.

 spooning the mixture out

the tricky part of making chocolate cake is making sure it stays moist - as cocoa powder can dry the mixture out - however these came out sooooo moist and light! you opened your mouth to take a massive bite and your teeth just sank into little more than air, perfection!

 a complicated spooning out process...

also most people know i'm not normally one for raw cake mixture - but chocolate cake is definitely an exception!

waste not, want not!

 fresh out of the oven and smelling good 

the natural topping of choice was butter icing. the butter was nice and soft and i was able to demonstrate the back-of-spoon motion that is needed for creaming. louise asked why we didn't put it in the electric whisk, however (speaking from a lot of experience) putting a motorised whisk into a bowl of icing sugar tends to end in a lot of mess!

but once you've got a more paste like substance developing it is possible to then use an electric whisk. this is necessary if you want to make really light icing as it's impossible to get that much air in by hand. however we were going for a 'rustic' look and wanted to minimise the making-to-mouth time so did a basic mix by hand, taking turns.

i had a rummage through my baking box and found some fudge pieces from sainsburys that we decided we could put on the top of the cakes (after each sampling!)









the decorating process

so with justin timberlake playing in the background, grace and louise iced the cakes and i sprinkled the fudge pieces on top.

being as impatient as ever the cakes were cool enough to ice but still warm in the middle - which was absolutely perfect!

so while they may not be things of great beauty, they sure did taste fantastic and have kept me going while we've been tidying the house up.

all it remains for me to do is bid you a final farewell from my teenage self - i'll see you on the other side!

love,
nen
x



brilliant bakesoc news!

so i hope you are all having a lovely easter and eating plenty of chocolate and possibly a hot bun or two! this easter monday it's all about filling you in on some exciting bakesoc news!

i am the new president! *insert fanfare and confetti*

i am so excited - especially as i have april as my vice president and amanda as publicity officer so it's going to be so much fun next year! (although possibly less fun than this year as i'll now be in charge, eek!) but i am really looking forward to it - april and amanda have already had some great ideas about how to develop the society next year (including april's fantastic suggestion of a bake-related tour around exeter). and i can't wait to meet the rest of the new committee.

so that's the main piece of news. another development was the other day when we hosted our first 'make and take away to bake' class. we're still having issues getting hold of kitchen space so we thought we would host a basics class in which people would make up the raw mixture and take it away to cook at home. we began with shortbread and vanilla cupcakes - both simple recipes. there were a few hiccups - which can only be expected the first time around - but it's all great experience for next year. so here are a few photos from the class:

and finally to round off this post and to cash in on the easter vibe - here are some nest cakes april and i made to hand out at the bakesoc elections. they are ridiculously easy to make - melt some chocolate down in a bain marie and then mix that into a large bowl of cereal (we used cornflakes but rice crispies are a popular choice too).

then keep adding cereal until all the flakes are coated.

next scoop into cake cases (as it's not a wet mixture you don't need a cake tray, any baking tray or a plate will do - just something so you can place them in the fridge).

decorate with mini eggs (the best thing about easter) and place in the fridge to set.

then you're all ready to go! they are super moreish so don't expect them to hang around for long!

you can also customise the mix anyway you fancy - my mum used to put raisins in them which i really like because it adds a chewy texture amongst all the crunch.

don't forget the best part - scraping out the bowls!

so if you're feeling a bit bored this bank holiday why not whip a quick batch up? i'm sure you've got plenty of chocolate and eggs lying around!

enjoy the rest of your bank holiday everyone!

love,
nen
x