Any bakers out there??......

masonsmum

Well I blame The Bake Off personally - I love cooking and can turn my hand to almost anything but find it impossible to bake and I really want to be able to do it!

I have tried on a few occassions and it just turns out a disaster, hard cupcakes that are crispy on top, a banana loaf that doesnt rise etc etc!

Now i have been advised that baking is an exact science and not to give up, so can anyone point me in the right direction of some easy recipes, tips etc so I can try again?

Thanks in advance folks!

juliettet

Very plain baker here. Other posters are so much more clever but in cupcakes or a Victoria sponge always weigh the eggs and use that as a base for flour, butter & sugar.

lulu_92

I'm a keen baker

It's all about trial and error. I never used to be be able to make biscuits without them going hard and now I'm a pro. Try with the basic fool-proof recipes and follow them to a T, after a while you'll know what you can and can't do with certain things and you'll be putting your own spin on things in no time.

I'm terrible at decorating but like all things it takes practice.

notanewuser

Know your oven. Mine tends to be slightly hotter than indicated and cooks everything faster than recipes state. So I adjust for that. I don't put things towards the front as my oven has a hotspot there.

psso

What sort of oven are you using, gas, electric,fan ? Reason I'm asking is I had a gas oven in my first house but electric in this one.

After many years of successful baking, I had several disasters all in a row.
As nothing else was different except the oven I decided to give up.

Some time later I found out that because it was a fan oven, I had to either reduce cooking time or reduce oven temp. Did that and no more disasters, unless I get distracted on here.

masonsmum

psso wrote: »

What sort of oven are you using, gas, electric,fan ?

My oven is a fan assisted electric oven

Gigervamp

As you've got a fan assisted oven, you need to reduce the temperature by 20 degrees, although check the recipe as some recipes give oven temps for fan ovens.

Have you tried Twinks hobnobs? They're really easy to make and everyone loves them.

Jenny_Wren_3

An easy sponge mix (Mary Berry) in one bowl add 225g caster sugar, 225g stork margarine, 275g self raising flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 4 eggs, 2 tablespoons milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Whisk the whole lot together till fluffy, pour into a lined baking tray (I use one about a cm deep from Wilko's). Bake for 25 mins at 180*.
Substitute 50g of flour for cocoa powder for chocolate, or add lemon zest for lemon drizzle (pour over mix of lemon juice and granulated sugar when the cakes been out of the oven for about 5-10 minutes).

psso

As it's a fan oven just reduce the temp by 20 degrees, that's what I had to do. If the recipe says 180 do it at 160, or some newer recipes actually give fan timings. My recipes are very old so only gas and ordinary electric temps.
Hope that works for you.

Runnerduck

I bake hundreds of cakes a week to sell on the country market, first thing Relax, then make sure your eggs are at room temperature, i use the 6,6,3,6 method for sponges, cream 6oz of stork soft marg, with 6oz of castor sugar, untill well mixed, then add one egg at a time with about 1tbs of flour and mix in, i add a tsp of vanilla essence, then add 6oz of srf and just mix enough to blend in all the flour, i do then put my sponges in my fan oven at 180 c and cook until they are firm and golden, for a chocolate sponge add 1oz of cocoa powder at the flour stage.

a delicious simple chocolate fudge icing, meld 4oz of marg, 2 tbl spoons of milk and 2 tbl spoons of cocoa in a bowl until all liquid, and add icing sugar and stir until it is stiff enough to pipe onto the cakes


Chocolate chip cookies are simple too cream 4 oz of salted butter with 2 oz of castor sugar until well creamed, add 2 table spoons of condensed milk, 1 packet of choc chips and 6oz of srf, mix to a dough roll into 12 balls and flatten onto a baking tray, cook until golden at about 180 c, i regularly cook these in my wood oven so the temp is not too important

give it a go and you wll be surprised how simple and enjoyable baking can be x

Wee_Pilsbury

If you can get hold of one, I would recommend an oven temperature gauge. My electric fan oven runs slightly cooler than the dial says and I find it makes all the difference. Plus, as others have suggested, reduce oven temperature by about 20 degrees (from that stated in the recipe) and also reduce cooking time a bit if you have a fan oven.

Apart from that I find you get better the more you do it, which is great fun. :T