Toad in a hole.

Whilst I'm not sure if it technically falls under the category of baking I dipped my toe in new waters again on Saturday and made toad in the hole. It's actually pretty easy, although there was a few nail biting minutes before it began to rise, where a floppy soggy Yorkshire mess was a real possibility!




But alas, it did rise, and they ate, and it was good.

Shortbread for a shortwhile.

Last week I got a little experimental in the old kitchen; I attempted to make Jam Donught cupcakes from an amalgamation of a couple of recipes I'd found on-line. They came out okay, but had one major issue; despite the fact that i filled the cake case almost to the top before adding the jam in, it had still sunk completely to the bottom by the time they had finished baking leaving a sticky jam mess in the bottom. They also tasted more like mini Victoria sponges than donughts, but that's no bad thing! A colleague at work even called them amazing. I definitely need to make them again at some point and try and figure out a way to avoid my jammy conundrum.

Due to the fact that my first bake hadn't been the complete success I had hoped, I decided on a whim to make some shortbread. I went with the simplest recipe I could find on-line and muddled my way through something I had never made before. The result was well.... not amazing. I think i overworked the dough a little before baking, mainly due to the fact I had to improvise a rolling pin which in turn made them a little tough and dry. However they couldn't have been that bad as my boyfriend managed to polish them off without complaint in a few days!

I couldn't let my shortbread failure beat me so this week I tried again, as my parents were visiting and I wanted something impressive to give them as a gift. This time I made the dough a bit different and found a much better substitute rolling pin. I also cut the dough into a big circle and the cut this into the traditional pizza slice shapes, like the shortbread your grandma used to have in a tartan tin.
My parents didn't believe I had made it; this means one of two things, it was pretty darn great or it was distinctly average and my parents just have very little faith in my baking ability! I'm going to convince myself its the latter!

Old Faithful

When I was little cupcakes weren't trendy, they didnt cost you £3 for one from some swanky west-end boutique and they weren't called cupcakes. They were fairy cakes, they were neither fancy nor impressive but they always tasted great. The recipe is easy and the process doesn't require much skill (except a strong arm for beating life into the little things and the knowledge to know when to take the out of the oven) yet everbody loves them; well everybody except my housemate who can't eat wheat or dairy but if she could she'd love them too.

My first batch of treats are the old faithful - Fairy Cakes. Nothing fancy, but I did put smarties on them.Verdict: Pretty darn tasty; and made without the use of a food mixer, i'll let you decide wether thats a decision made by my poverty or my integrity!

In the beginning...

My one and only New Years Resolution this year was to take up a new hobby and decided it should be baking. Seeing as it's now February and the excuse "well I'm moving house soon" is no longer going to fly thanks to our lovely new flat, I thought it about time to haul my ass to Tesco, buy some flour and make some magic.

I used to bake quite a bit when I was younger but nothing more than cupcakes and the odd failed jam tart, pastry never was my strong point! So I figured at the grand old age of 23 it was time to try and recapture some of my misspent youth; this teamed with the fact that society has recently deemed it socially acceptable to admit to having baking as a hobby (Fern Cotton bakes, and she hangs out with rockstars) made it seem like the perfect choice. It also means I'll soon be able to bribe my nearest and dearest into liking me more by promising them yummy treats!

This blog will chronicle my efforts, for better or worse. The ups, the downs, the burnt things and the great things. And who knows I might make it onto the next series of The Great British Bake Off.

I thought my life couldn't get any more rock and roll.... then I started baking.