Quick Questions on ANYTHING part 2. Please read first post for links to other threads

Penelope_Penguin

trying-very-trying wrote: »

Can someone please direct me to the oven cleaning threads.

It's here - cleaning the oven

Penny. x

princess_leia_3

Hello, I am making a beef stew and have some of those awful frozen roast potatoes and wondered if they would be ok if I chucked them in for an hour or so? Anyone else done this!

Penelope_Penguin

princess_leia wrote: »

Hello, I am making a beef stew and have some of those awful frozen roast potatoes and wondered if they would be ok if I chucked them in for an hour or so? Anyone else done this!

No idea In what way are they awful They may be improved, but they may make your stew worse.

Sorry not to be any more help, but without tasting the potatoes, it's difficult to say

Penny. x

princess_leia_3

I just don't like them as they are dry and unreal (only got them as they were 50p in Mr M's!!)
I have chucked a few of the small ones in so will let you know what happens (I reckon they might disintegrate LOL)

blahn

Is there some substitute for greaseproof paper, or is it okay to leave it out and just grease the cake tin? Also, with the Be-ro (non-easy) fruitcake recipe, will I have to change the quantities? I have a cake tin 27 cm long, 11 cm wide, 7 cm deep and it holds around 1 litre of water. I don't really want to follow the instructions and end up with too much to fit the tin, but I don't know how to work out if it will have fit, hah. Also, the recipe won't somehow hugely fail if I don't add the listed pinch of salt, will it? I have no salt in the house and I didn't want to buy a huge sack for one pinch.

Sorry for the (probably stupid) questions. I'm giving baking a first go tomorrow and don't want to mess it up too badly.

princess_leia_3

Sorry, got no idea about the cake recipe - altho I have baked without using greaseproof paper, I just grease with marg then dust with flour

RE Frozen Roast Potatoes - the were fine thankfully so I will do that next time too til I have used the blighters up

Savvy_Sue

blahn wrote: »

Is there some substitute for greaseproof paper, or is it okay to leave it out and just grease the cake tin?

You need to grease the tin VERY well, and then dusting it with flour wouldn't hurt either, although that gives a sort of more crispy edge to the cake. However it all helps get it out of the tin in one piece.

Substitutes for greaseproof paper: in granny's day she would have used butter or margarine papers, so if you have any blocks of those you could unwrap them and use the paper, butter side next to cake. If you expect to use the blocks soon they could go into any empty plastic tub, if you expect it to take a while then wrapping in clingfilm or foil might be more airtight.

Personally I swear by 'bakewell' paper or cake tin liners: it's non-stick greaseproof. You can now buy re-useable cake tin liners but they're not cheap, worth it if you make a habit of this IMO.

Or if you have one of those non-stick silicone sheets for cooking pizzas on - the thin black ones not the thick ones! - that's getting a bit shredded, you could cut that to size.

Or you can line the cake tin with foil, BUT your cake will probably cook faster if you do. You don't have to line it completely, just in one direction, leaving 'handles' which you tuck down the outside, then slide a spatula down the side you've not lined and lift the foil.

blahn wrote: »

Also, with the Be-ro (non-easy) fruitcake recipe, will I have to change the quantities? I have a cake tin 27 cm long, 11 cm wide, 7 cm deep and it holds around 1 litre of water. I don't really want to follow the instructions and end up with too much to fit the tin, but I don't know how to work out if it will have fit, hah.

I'm not familiar with that recipe. What size tin does it say you need? That sounds an odd shaped cake tin to me, is it a loaf tin?

IF YOU READ THIS BEFORE 1.20 AM, IT WAS WRONG!

If the recipe says you need a round tin, divide the diameter they suggest by 2, then multiply it by itself, then multiply that by 3 (VERY rough value of pi), and then multiply that by the depth (7 cm is about right for a deep cake tin, I think, if you don't have one to measure!). So, a 20cm round cake tin = 10 x 10 x 3 x 7. If the answer you get is less than 1000, I think your cake tin is larger than the one suggested.

If the recipe is for a square tin, multiply all its dimensions (so a 20cm square tin would be 20 x 20 x 7) and again, if your answer is less than 1000, your cake tin is OK.

That's because 1 litre of water is 1000 cubic centimetres, and cubic centimeters is what you get when you multiply the surface area of the tin by its depth.

I GOT IT WRONG FIRST TIME AROUND BUT DH NOW AGREES WITH ME!

If your recipe calls for what I think of as 'normal' deep cake tins I think you might need to cook your cake in two batches, which will be fine, just might cook quicker.

With something like a fruit cake it's fine to use a different shape cake tin, but you need to be aware that it may take more or less time than recommended to cook. And if it's getting very brown on top but still not cooked in the middle, you need to cover the top.

blahn wrote: »

Also, the recipe won't somehow hugely fail if I don't add the listed pinch of salt, will it? I have no salt in the house and I didn't want to buy a huge sack for one pinch.

I'm pretty sure it will be fine. It 'does' something in bread, but even that copes without any!

But no salt? Not even a salt cellar?

blahn wrote: »

Sorry for the (probably stupid) questions. I'm giving baking a first go tomorrow and don't want to mess it up too badly.

Not stupid questions at all, and I hope it works out.

blahn

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

You need to grease the tin VERY well, and then dusting it with flour wouldn't hurt either, although that gives a sort of more crispy edge to the cake. However it all helps get it out of the tin in one piece.

...

Or you can line the cake tin with foil, BUT your cake will probably cook faster if you do. You don't have to line it completely, just in one direction, leaving 'handles' which you tuck down the outside, then slide a spatula down the side you've not lined and lift the foil.

I'm not familiar with that recipe. What size tin does it say you need? That sounds an odd shaped cake tin to me, is it a loaf tin?

princess_leia wrote: »

Sorry, got no idea about the cake recipe - altho I have baked without using greaseproof paper, I just grease with marg then dust with flour

Thanks a lot. It is a loaf tin and I'll probably just grease and dust it with flour as you both said. Or try foil. The house is all quite empty of anything even vaguely relating to baking, though, hah.

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

If your recipe calls for what I think of as 'normal' deep cake tins I think you might need to cook your cake in two batches, which will be fine, just might cook quicker.

The recipe calls for a 7 inch cake tin, so I think you're probably right. I might split the recipe in half and see how that goes, but I don't know if then I'll get too little. Hmm. But I can only try.
(Edit: although I think this site http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/kitchen/tins.htm is telling me the capacity is the same. So I should probably just go with the recipe. I don't know, ahhh.)

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I'm pretty sure it will be fine. It 'does' something in bread, but even that copes without any!

But no salt? Not even a salt cellar?

No salt whatsoever. I don't quite know how.

Thanks a lot for your help - it's much appreciated!

Savvy_Sue

blahn wrote: »

The recipe calls for a 7 inch cake tin, so I think you're probably right. I might split the recipe in half and see how that goes, but I don't know if then I'll get too little. Hmm. But I can only try.
(Edit: although I think this site http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/kitchen/tins.htm is telling me the capacity is the same. So I should probably just go with the recipe. I don't know, ahhh.)

Your site is useful, but doesn't say anything about loaf tins.

I think I'd do the full recipe, don't overfill the loaf tin, but if you don't have much mix left over you could do little fruit cakes, like fairy cakes, if you have any tins with individual compartments in. They won't take long to cook. Any little cake cases in the house? If not, can you pop out and buy any while the cake is cooking if it needs a long time?

If you leave cake mix standing, you need to stir it well before using again, to get the air back into it. But don't beat after the flour has been added. According to my school cookery teacher, that does something dreadful to it. Although probably not too dreadful ... she was a scary lady!

blahn

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I think I'd do the full recipe, don't overfill the loaf tin, but if you don't have much mix left over you could do little fruit cakes, like fairy cakes, if you have any tins with individual compartments in. They won't take long to cook. Any little cake cases in the house? If not, can you pop out and buy any while the cake is cooking if it needs a long time?

That's great - thanks for the ideas! I went out to get started this afternoon only to discover that the margarine says it's not suitable for baking. It's Tesco olive light spread. Do you think this would be okay? I have some vague recollection of it being used for fairy cakes with success before, so I might try it although I can get to Somerfield tomorrow if a definite no.

Feel like I'm clogging the thread here...thanks for all the help though.