Baking quick questions

zcrat41

I make a really nice WW pud but can't remember the exact quantities. It's a tin of pears on the bottom of a dish with 1 tbsp of golden syrup. Then a chocolate sponge mixture on top and baked for 20 mins. I think its cocoa poweder, a bit of flour and some eggs - sorry not much help really now I've typed it!

Flibsey

one tin of cocoa powder in my cupboard is 6 years old....I kept losing it, buying another, finding it, using up the one I'd bought etc. oops.

Merry_Wanderer

I sometimes put a spoonful of pure cocoa in my fruit smoothies, or just with banana and a little water, it's like a thick choc milkshake.

vennypenny

When dieting, for nice desserst, I do DIY yogurts, so take a low or 0% fat yougurt like Total, and add flavours and artificial sweetner like Splenda.
One of the variations I do is cocoa powder (nice if you like chocolate yogurt) but it can be quite bitter without sweetner. If I'm feeling the need for a real treat, then Ricotta with cocoa powder mixed in is nice too - no sweetner needed in that, but the fat content in the Ricotta makes for a very satisfying dessert, so only a small portion is needed.

Here's another recipe I found and have adjsuted slightly to my own taste, which is low carb, and my OH and DD especially love:

Microwave flourless brownie
1 Teaspoon Margerine
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 egg
2 Tablespoons low fat milk (with vanilla or other flavouring added, to taste)
3 teaspoons sweetner e.g. splenda (again, adjust this to your own taste)

Microwave margerine in a bowl 15-20 seconds or till completely melted
Whisk in cocoa, then the egg, then the milk, then the sweetner
Pour into a microwaveable ramekin (you can use the same bowl that you made it in but cooking times will vary greatly depending on its size/shape) - I use glass ramekins (the kind that you get free with some of the indulgent desserts you can buy, though this recipe usually ends up just a little bit too much for a single ramekin)
Microwave at about 60-80% power for 30-45 seconds, and repeat microwaving at same power and duration until the centre has just firmed up. Warning - it will rise quite a bit (especially if using the same kind of ramekins I use), but the 'resting' while you open the door and check it helps keep it manageable . It gets quite hot, so be careful getting it out of the microwave and let it cool slightly before eating.
Serves 1

adelight

Make chocolate mousse with egg whites.
Chocolate custard.
Chocolate stewed fruit (don't add sugar and it'll be quite healthy).
Chocolate porridge- could even add an egg to some v thick chocolate porridge and fry into pancakes.

You say you're on a diet sooo if you have protein powder in a neutral or suitable flavour like vanilla, banana, chocolate etc you can make a microwave cake by combing a scoop of powder with 1 egg, 2tsp cocoa powder and a tbs cold coffee and microwaving it for 50-70 seconds until there's only a little bit of runny mix left. It makes a surprisingly tasty gooey chocolate pud if you eat it straight away and it's incredibly good for you if you eat it after exercising. I have it after all my mega workouts

skaps

Home cooking made easy is Lorraine Pascales follow up to Baking made easy.

She made pasta in the first episode and mentionned 400g of 00 flour, what type of flour is this?

notjustlaura

skaps wrote: »

Home cooking made easy is Lorraine Pascales follow up to Baking made easy.

She made pasta in the first episode and mentionned 400g of 00 flour, what type of flour is this?

As I understand it, 00 is the Italian classification of flour based on how finely it's ground. This link may provide some help if you want to make pasta but can't get 00 flour.

rising_from_the_ashes

OK, so I'm not particularly known for my baking skills:o but I love scones and was thinking I'd give them a bash and I could freeze some:D. (They surely can't be that hard to make!)

Anyway, I've found a (seemingly) straightfoward recipe in my Bero book (which was my granny's and the most fantastic thing!).

I've got some dried fruit (raisins & apricots) in the cupboard that really need using up and thought I could add them to the scones.

Now, 2 questions (which will probably be obvious to everyone else:o):

• Do I need to alter the amount of flour etc, or is it OK just to add the fruit?
• The recipe says to use lard (which I haven't got as I don't really like it), could I use something like Countrylife spreadable?

TIA

mandragora_2

I would just add the fruit and carry out the rest of the recipe as normal. I'd also use butter a) because it's what I have in b) because I love the taste! I'm no Mary Berry, but I'd have thought this would work. Mind you, if some Home Economist happens along and advises otherwise, I'd follow their advice not mine!

PS - my mum has the Bero book - she still uses it too. Have you tried the Melting Moments recipe? I think it's from that book, anyway! All the best, I'm sure they'll be lovely. Mmmmm - warm scones.

tanith

Most scone recipes suggest a 'hard' fat either butter, lard or half and half, I'm not sure what difference it would make using a soft marge though