There are certain bakes that get me more excited than others in this whole challenge/blog experience. Things, like jam doughnuts have been on my baking bucket list (also known as my Pinterest board) for some time. And at the top of that list sits English muffins! I have pinned countless recipes for English muffin bread, sourdough English muffins and more. I’ve even attempted crumpets which, in my mind, are a close cousin to the English muffin. But at long last it’s happened, I accomplished the goal, I made English muffins! Next bucket list item, fly first class….oops wrong list.
Month: August 2017
Angel food cake with lemon curd
Phew, I survived series three! For my favourite series/season of the show those were not my favourite bakes. From Treacle Tart and Creme Caramel to Fondant Fancies my patience and skill was pushed to the limit. But there were some real winners too. That Rum Baba was to die for and even the multi step Fraisier cake has earned a place in my heart. But it’s time to move one. Time to forget James and his sweater vests and prepare for such treats as; floating islands, nuns made of choux and pretzels!
Series 4 kicks things off with angel food cake. Which I can almost guarantee I will call angle food at least half a dozen times throughout this post.
Fondant not so fancies
You know what we haven’t had in a while? A good old fashioned all out baking fail. Well, do I have a treat for you. Don’t let the bright colours and tricky camera angles fool you, this bake was one disaster after another. Or at least one minor problem followed by one more colossal one. Is it fair to blame the eclipse? Or I heard Mars is in retrograde maybe that affects sugar in some undiscovered ways. Mostly though I’m pretty sure it was down to baker error.
Before I even attempted this recipe I was sceptical. Not only was it the final of series three, and all the bakers had a terrible time with it, but it just seemed pretentious. I don’t think I’m demure enough appreciate these little bite sized confections. I get that they are served after massive meals when you are too stuffed to enjoy a full piece of double chocolate brownie caramel explosion or whatever. But that has never happened to me. I always have room for dessert and I mean a proper dessert, something equivalent to about 5 petit fours. As my sister in law would say there is a separate compartment for dessert!
Fraisier Cake – a three day affair
I knew this bake would be intense, I mean it’s 34 steps and multiple recipes within recipes. But this was something else. From cellulite-y crème pâtissière to making my own marzipan the challenges just kept on coming. And don’t even get me started on the genoise. But there was a bright spot in this whole ordeal! For once in, what feels like the entirety of this process, I had the right size cake tin!
A Good Bake 