Quick questions on ANYTHING (see first post for Freezing, Reheating, Slow Cooker, +)

Generali

Lelc wrote: »

Hi

I made shepherds pie from the leftover roast lamb cooked on Saturday. Half of the pie is still left so is it safe to freeze it - given that I've used cooked lamb to make it? If not, will it be safe to reheat it tomorrow or Wednesday?

Many thanks
LC

Should be fine either way. Just make sure it's piping hot all the way through when you reheat.

Generali

Justamum wrote: »

I do quite a lot of baking, but have always wondered why a cake recipe calls for salt. I've never added it because I've always worried it might "taste" the cake. Does anybody know the purpose of salt in baking?

2 reasons:

1. It acts as a preservative (not needed in the Generali household when there's a good cake on the go!)
2. It's a flavour enhancer so it helps the other flavours shine.

Sunnyday

Hi,
I`ve been into the user cp and put the shopping challenge totals into my signature previewed it and saved it but it can`t be seen on my posts, does anyone know why?
I can`t see what i could have missed

Edited to say please ignore this cos it`s suddenly appeared lol

loumac

As a non baker sorry if these sound really daft.

1) When a muffin recipe says 'milk' does it matter if it's skimmed, full fat etc?
2) What is oat bran?

Thanks.

Generali

loumac wrote: »

As a non baker sorry if these sound really daft.

2) What is oat bran?

Thanks.

Oat bran is the outside bit of the oat grain as it is on the plant. You can buy it ground up. It's high in fibre and so hard to digest and favoured for recipes on the 'GI Diet'.

My Dad used to pout it over his breakfast cereal when I was a kid. I thought it looked like sawdust. Mr Generali puts it in her baking sometimes.

Pink.

loumac wrote: »

As a non baker sorry if these sound really daft.

1) When a muffin recipe says 'milk' does it matter if it's skimmed, full fat etc?

No idea if the type of milk makes a difference, but I always use semi-skimmed milk when I bake muffins and they turn out really well.

Pink

sweetpea03

hi, I want to make this date & walnut cake with leftovers from xmas http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/iced-date-and-walnut-cake,1792,RC.html but I don't have any soft dark brown sugar, would it still be ok if I used granulated or caster sugar & if so which would be the best to use? Also I don't have any almonds but do you think I could substitute the 3oz of almonds for 3oz of walnuts as I have loads of those
Thanks for any help you could give

thriftlady_2

sweetpea03 wrote: »

hi, I want to make this date & walnut cake with leftovers from xmas http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/iced-date-and-walnut-cake,1792,RC.html but I don't have any soft dark brown sugar, would it still be ok if I used granulated or caster sugar & if so which would be the best to use? Also I don't have any almonds but do you think I could substitute the 3oz of almonds for 3oz of walnuts as I have loads of those
Thanks for any help you could give

Any sugar will make an nice cake. The colour won't be as dark if you use white sugar and the flavour will be slightly different.

As for the nuts, of course you can sub walnuts or any nuts or indeed sunflower seeds . Chop and change the dried fruit as well if you like. These are additions and won't affect the structure of the cake.

In my opinion, being able to substitute ingredients so that you use up what you have is real cooking. Anyone can follow a written recipe, but once you start experimenting you become a real cook. It is much more thrifty to use what you have rather than go out and buy special ingredients.

Enjoy your cake

sweetpea03

Thank you very much Thriftlady, I've cracked all the nuts, chopped the dates & am going to make my cake now

juliejim

I know this is a very silly question - but what is the best way to do breadcrumbs?