Baking basics

iz007

Here's my suggestions.....

Flapjacks


150g / 6oz butter or marg
150g / 6oz Demerara sugar
200g / 8oz porridge oats (cheapest you can buy!)
pinch salt

Optional – handful of sultanas

For more moist flapjacks, replace 3oz dem sugar with 3 tablespoons of golden syrup

• Melt butter/marg in saucepan over gentle heat or melt in microwave
• Mix in sugar, oats and salt, stir well
• Add golden syrup and sultanas if using
• Turn mixture into tin (7 x 11) lined with baking paper
• Smooth over surface with a knife
• Bake in centre of moderate over (180 C / 350 F / Gas mark 4) for 20-25 mins (keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn)
• Leave in tin to cool and then cut into fingers

iz007

Chocolate Fudge Bars


Makes 15 – 20

2 tablespoons of golden syrup
100g / 4oz butter or marg
100g / 4oz plain chocolate, broken into pieces (plain cooking chocolate is fine)
225g / 8oz digestive biscuits, coarsely crushed
50g / 2oz desiccated coconut or chopped nuts
50g / 2oz glace cherries, quartered
50g / 2oz sultans

Preparation time: 15 mins, plus chilling

• Spoon the syrup into a heavy-based saucepan and add butter/marg. Heat gently until both are melted and stir well.
• Away from heat, add chocolate and stir until melted
• Stir in biscuit crumbs, coconuts or nuts, cherries and sultanas into the chocolate mixture. Mix well.
• Line the base of an 18cm (7inch) square cake tin with greased greaseproof paper. Pour in the mixture, spread evenly and press down firmly. Cool, and then chill until set, about 3 hours.
• Carefully turn out biscuit slab onto a chopping board and cut into bars. Keep chilled in warm weather.

Rebekah24

Hi Guys

Feeling very inspired to bake at the moment, come over all nesting ..cleaning everything, organising and would love to bake!

Anyway whats the cheapest way to get started & what do I need first of all?

I will warn you my cooker is off at the mains and I really only go in my kitchen to put the kettle on!:rotfl:lol however I have made simple things before - victoria sponge, brownies etc

I havent got any tins etc, so any advice would be ace!!

Thanks guys (if there is already a thread please move this ta!)

Rebekah

RealButter

This might help with some basic baking questions http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking

For basic sponge you need eggs, flour (self raising), sugar (caster is best for baking), and fat (marg, oil or best of all unsalted butter) and a tin or oven proof dish. Use same weight of all ingredients, plus something to flavour e.g. vanilla or lemon zest. 1 egg is approx 2 oz so use that to make it easy. E.g. 8oz flour, 8oz sugar, 8oz butter plus 4 eggs

elf06

To be honest I dont have many tins as I find most recipes can be adapted to what you DO have if you get what I mean. I would prob say a muffin tray, some sort of round cake tin and a square one would be the basics. As for ingredients - flour plain and self raising, bicarb, baking powder, butter and eggs and you've got your basics - all you'd need was the different flavourings etc for the recipe. I would also recommend getting a decent bottle of vanilla EXTRACT, its expensive but I have had mine for years as you only need a small amount at a time. I also wouldnt be with my cheapy hand mixer and my food processor but thats because I bake a reasonable amount and am lazy!!

I am sure others will be along shortly - hope that helps for now

stiltwalker

Fairy cakes are a good simple way to start - same mix as a a sponge but put into bun cases. You can then have fun decorating them with different bits and pieces - I think that they ae being called cupcakes these days and they are trendy so googling should give you lots of ideas. If you really like baking you could always ask Father Christmas or the birthday fairy for better quality bakeware but to start you off there is nothing wrong with the value ranges of supermarkets for tins and such like. It sounds daft but kids websites (things like cbeebies) have lots of really simple but fun ideas for things to cook.

HTH

triticale

Poundland have a range of baking tins, I'd just get a flat baking sheet or two for now, a pack of cheap paper bun cases from a supermarket, and go from there. Being a flat sheet it will be suitable for cookies, biscuits etc too.

As you progress and try different recipes you can add muffin tins, loaf tins, round sponge tins etc.

For me, a decent mixing bowl and scales are the essentials. Before I got my nice plastic bowl, I was mixing cake mix in in old woks, casserole dishes etc and it's a right pain!

Rebekah24

Thanks so much guys!! doh..why didnt I think of poundland!!

I have mixing bowls & digital scales (for atkins) ...looks like the kids are in for a cupcake delight!!

Will ask santa for some fancy smancy cake tins

emiff6

Check out your local auction houses. You can often pick up a big cardboard box full of baking tins and assorted stuff for a couple of pounds from the type of auctions that sell off house clearance stuff. With a good clean and maybe a soak in biological powder to shift baked on grease, they can come up looking good as new.

Pitlanepiglet

emiff6 wrote: »

Check out your local auction houses. You can often pick up a big cardboard box full of baking tins and assorted stuff for a couple of pounds from the type of auctions that sell off house clearance stuff. With a good clean and maybe a soak in biological powder to shift baked on grease, they can come up looking good as new.

I'd agree with this, also most of my decent stuff has come from car boot sales!