What are you baking this week?

[PatsyMFagan]

I always make my marzipan … I loathed marzipan as a child … then I discovered the ‘proper’ homemade stuff … heavenly … there is no comparison

It's a long time since I made my own but I agree, no comparison.. yummy

[RockyBVI]

I stopped baking really ages ago. But OH wanted something that was a bit healthier than the Cadbury Heroes he has in his lunch box. So I have made these (he also wants to eat more seeds). He has declared them delicious.

https://nadiashealthykitchen.com/4-ingr ... ate-bites/

[slimpersoninside]

They look good Rocky. I'm not usually a 'healthy' baker but I just might give them a go.

[Earthmaiden]

They look deliciously naughty to me!

[Pepper Pig]

Felicity’s recipe. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/o ... ity-cloake

[slimpersoninside]

Today I made half a batch of my go to rolls
https://www.talesfromthekitchenshed.com ... eds-rolls/

Made yesterday upto shaped, almost fully proved and overnight in the fridge. Out of the fridge first thing this morning, brought upto room temp and left to fully rise. Baked in plenty of time for lunch. If you fancy giving them a go sometime be aware, they cook quicker than the recipe says, mine took about 15 minutes. They are quite a good size at just over 100g of dough each.

Fresh from the oven

This is the crumb, it's actually better than it looks in the photo, soft and fluffy

[Earthmaiden]

Nice! I always find that rolls cook quickly.

[aero280]

They look nice.

I make my rolls at 100g of dough each.

[slimpersoninside]

Ah, good to hear that EM, I thought I must be doing something wrong!

Aero, I've often seen recipes that don't use that much dough but 100g or so makes a good sized roll doesn't it?!

[aero280]

100g is right for us. Just enough to go with a bowl of soup or cheese to make a light lunch. I do mine in batches of two dozen and freeze them until needed.

[herbidacious]

Christmas Cake question:

I am half way through making Delia's Classic Christmas cake. I have her book, and then there's the recipe online, a print out of which was tucked into the book. They differ in the following ways:
Online - use spreadable butter and mix into the flour with the eggs and sugar.
The book - use unsalted butter and cream the butter and sugar separately.

Is the difference in method simply down to the butter(y ingredient)? I can't remember what I did last time as it was two years ago (and I could count the total number I've ever made on one hand).

I am at a point where I could go either way.

I don't want to do an entirely different recipe though. All the ingredients have been measured out and the flour and spices sifted.

I was prepping in my 'lunch break' so won't continue until later.

[Suffs]

Spreadable butters and margarines are softer because of the higher liquid/oil content so they cream quickly if prepared by the ‘all in one’ method.

Butter is firmer and needs to be creamed with the sugar first (until pale and light) before eggs and flour are incorporated. I think it tastes better too.

Use the method given with whichever ingredients you’re using.

[herbidacious]

Thanks. I had both butter and spread but went with the spread... primarily that I didn't have to bother getting the Kenwood Chef out. But then, really annoyingly, I was about to set to it with an electric hand whisk when I discovered that one of the whisk bits was missing (I know who is responsible but he can only be blamed insofar that he can never seem to remember where I keep the bits when he empties the dishwasher. Although this doesn't explain why one bit was in the right place?!?) So transferred it all to the Kenwood. Probably for the best anyway...

It's in the oven. I couldn't move the shelf so it's not on the lowest shelf. Fingers crossed. Desperately tired, now, but I daren't nap.

[herbidacious]

I am happy with this...

I seem incapable of adding eggs to a butter sugar mixture without it curdling btw. It used to happen when I baked with my mother (to me, not her) and still does. I am not a natural baker.

[WolfGirl]

Ooh well done Herbi.
It looks fab.

My cake mixes always curdle when I add eggs.

[Earthmaiden]

Very nice, Herbi. Bet the smell while it was baking was lovely!

[Amber]

I never bake with spreadable butter, the results are variable.

I baked my Christmas cake today too, using a twelve egg mix. I add some flour to the fruit, which has been steeped in alcohol for a few days, and some to the butter/sugar/egg mix.

Six and a half hours later…it’s done. It will be well ‘fed’ over the next few weeks, then marzipanned, and iced, using Royal icing sugar.

[Suffs]

I won’t be making our Christmas cake until a very few days before Christmas … DS loves fruitcake but as he is teetotal we do no ‘feeding’ of the cake to keep it moist. Instead I make a version of my usual boiled fruitcake which is really moist, using cold tea as the liquid and lots of additional fruit with muscovado sugar. It makes a fabulous cake and ices well, although we often have it with a topping of glazed fruits and nuts.

[herbidacious]

I didn't make one last year as we didn't start eating the previous year's until July. It was really good. I meant to make this one much earlier as clearly 9 months or so ahead is good.
I am teetotal, as you know, but still feed it. Not enough to make it taste of alcohol though, or, of course, feel its effects. T's uncle in France apparently made one once and, as his husband said, it ended up seeming like it was more booze than cake That seems very Uncle P!

I normally use butter on the very rare occasions I make cakes, but am happy to trust Delia in this.

Does egg temperature affect curdling? I have tried adding the eggs in tiny tiny amounts with long pauses between, but it always still 'turns'. I know it doesn't really matter but I'd like to know what I am doing to cause this. Given it used to happen when I was a child, I suppose it can't have been egg temperature (unless it now happens for a different reason - possible) as the eggs would have been kept in the pantry and my mother was probably supervising anyway.

Blimey 12 eggs, Amber! How big is your cake? I am assuming much larger than mine if it took that long to cook, too. Mine took 4.5 hours.

[Suelle]

Does egg temperature affect curdling? I have tried adding the eggs in tiny tiny amounts with long pauses between, but it always still 'turns'. I know it doesn't really matter but I'd like to know what I am doing to cause this. Given it used to happen when I was a child, I suppose it can't have been egg temperature (unless it now happens for a different reason - possible) as the eggs would have been kept in the pantry and my mother was probably supervising anyway.

I thought everyone knew to add a small amount of the flour from the amount in the recipe (less than a tablespoon) with each egg, to lessen the likelihood of curdling.