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Help with my baking

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  • Ben84
    Ben84 Posts: 3,069 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Cooking stuff gets easier, but it helps to start with very simple recipes. There are lots of variables that can wreck a recipe, and someone who hasn't cooked a lot will have no past experieince to compare against, so won't always see a problem. Using recipes that require less ingredients and simpler methods (all in one cakes for example) should mean less variables to worry about.

    Two important things that seem relevant to your comments is to pre-heat the oven before cooking anything, and to use the right size and material container to bake things. When you change the size tin the cooking time dramatically changes too, and so do the results. This is a very likely explanation for the problem with the brownies. Too big a tin and they will cook faster and result in a harder dry texture. Too small a tin and they will cook on the outside and stay too sticky on the inside. While you can bake just about anything in any size tin, you'll have to adjust the times and temperature, so it's easier to stick with the reccomended tin size or as close as you can.

    Another important thing is using real margarine. There are a lot of weird substances in tubs with names like "wish it were butter", and low fat spreads that are hopeless for cooking. They can contain everything from gelatine to large proportions of water. Plain vegetable fat margarines are the best option for most recipes. I've reguarly used stork baking, vitalite and sainsburys own label sunflower margarine with good results.

    As for the pastry, it sounds like you didn't add enough water. Also, shortcrust pastry needs to be baked in a reasonably hot oven for the starch granules in the flour to burst. If you bake it too cool it comes out hard and yucky. Gas mark six or higher seems to work fine.
  • Speaking of things to do with left over pastry.........I use frozen puff pastry for pie topping to a wonderful beef and mushroom mixture I have on the hob right this minute.

    I cut out four rounds for tops and throw the remainder (of which there is a fair bit) out.:eek:

    I hate waste and really should do something with these but what?

    Don't really want to do vol au vents and Ive tried refreezing but didnt cook successfully.

    Any ideas?:confused:

    If you've any mincemeat (sweet) left over from christmas - mincemeat turnovers or spread it on an oblong of pastry and roll up then slice and bake.
    :wave:
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