Tag Archives: Mary Berry

Week Eight- Fast Flapjacks- with chocolate chips!

Posted on by
3

Week eight and I have adjusted to mum living at a distance again.

I didn’t want to cook anything too taxing this week so chose flapjacks. Mary Berry’s Fast Flapjacks with the option of adding chocolate chips sounded like it fitted the bill.

Since I have started this challenge, I have 2 avid fans in the kitchen watching my every move and if I drop anything, well, they make sure it’s cleaned up quickly!

Ok, the recipe seemed simple enough, golden syrup, butter, Demerara sugar and porridge oats– vaguely healthy too- well the porridge oats say they are a “super food” any way!

The syrup, butter and sugar all went in the pan and melted together.

Then in went the porridge oats, a thorough stir in and left to cool for 10 minutes before adding the chocolate chips, then pressed into a tray bake tin and into the oven for 35 minutes.

 

All in all, another success, quick and easy and no hidden extras- such as preservatives that you get in shop bought things. I am also beginning to think more about buying things in the supermarket, before I stop and I think- ” I can make that!”.

Week seven – Cheese & Olive Scone ….and a bonus..Chocolate Crispies!

Posted on by
1

Week seven…and it’s a bit late in publishing, my mum went home and I didn’t feel like baking ….or blogging…but now I’m back in the saddle, so where were we?

I fancied a savoury challenge this week and thought that Mary Berry’s Cheese & Olive Scone fitted the bill. It isn’t like your usual scones in that you don’t cut them out into neat little rounds, the recipe suggests you press it into a rectangular tin and mark it out into sections and bake. That’s what I did.

It mixed easily enough, no hiccups with making the dough and into the oven it went.

I also decided to do a “bonus” recipe, Mary’s bible has a children’s section and there were the old favourites of Chocolate Crispies recipe. Now, I am no “great shakes” in the cooking department, but even I thought that I would feel like a fraud if I devoted a week’s blog and challenge to chocolate crispies on their own…….!

So while I waited for the scone to bake, I mixed up the chocolate crispies and spooned the mixture into the cases. I then put these into the fridge and took out the scone bake.

The recipe said to take it out of the oven after 15 minutes and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over it and return it to the oven for 5 minutes. I did this and got out the cooling rack ready.

I was really pleased with the way the scone turned out. I allowed it to cool and cut it into sections and put it in an airtight tin. We sampled it the following day with a little butter and even if I do say so myself, it wasn’t half bad!

So what to do next week? Back to something sweet I think………..

Week six – Mary Berry’s “My Mother’s Bread and Butter Pudding”

Posted on by
2

Week six here already, I seem to have settled into this challenge lark and am gaining confidence in my cooking abilities too.

I now look forward to sitting with Mary Berry’s bible to choose the recipe I fancy tackling this week.

 

I had quite a lot of a tiger loaf left over this week that was not fresh enough for sandwiches but I didn’t want to waste it so the bread and butter pudding fitted the bill!

The last time I tasted this pudding was when my own mother made it so it also brought back childhood memories too.

The recipe was very easy to follow, and in no time at all the pudding had been put together, I took a little time to layer the bread and as it was a tiger loaf, the pieces of bread were not a uniform square that was easy to cut into sections. Once made, Mary recommended leaving it for an hour to stand before putting it in the oven for 40 minutes.

I had the time, so sat with a nice cup of tea and reminised with my mum on her memories of making bread and butter pudding. then the pudding went in , timer on and waited.

The finished result looked good to me and Mary says in her book that although it tastes good hot, that it is just as nice cold…..well, we dug into it while it was hot and I enjoyed it very much, I am actually beginning to enjoy my own cooking, something I don’t usually do.

The rest of it? Well hubby had some later in the day and his parents took some away today. The only thing I would do differently? My mum recommended serving it hot with clotted cream ice cream……..naughty but nice….and mum always knows best!

Week five – lemon meringue pie

Posted on by
2

Week five came so quickly, where do the weeks go?

Ok, so I opened Mary Berry’s bible for my weekly inspiration and my mum was also coming up to visit …and the lemon meringue pie recipe just jumped out at me.

A quick trip around my local Morrisons to get some condensed milk and some unwaxed lemons and I was off.

A roast dinner with mum and hubby was planned so that all went in and then I got out my all new, all singing, all dancing Breville mixer on a stand (I don’t just buy things you know- my electric hand mixer only had one speed- despite what it said on it- and that speed was “painfully slow”!

I crushed the digestive biscuits, melted the butter and mixed my base, and pressed it into my flan tin (yes- that was new last week!) and put that in the fridge. Then I mixed together the lemon filling- Mary Berry says mix the tin of condensed milk, the “finely grated” rind and juice of 3 lemons and 3 egg yolks. The Breville made short work of that and that was poured on the base and set to chill.

Lastly, the 3 egg whites and caster sugar were whisked by the trusty Breville until it was forming nice soft peaks. The mix was spread on the lemon topping, swirled around and put into the pre- heated oven for 20 minutes.

This is the final effort and Ieven if I do say so myself, I think it  looked ok.

Once the roast dinner was consumed, I then dished the pie up for pudding..and it seemed to go down well with hubby and mum!

Hopefully one/both of them will leave a comment with a truthful opinion!

Until next week……. Kim x

Week Four – Shortbread!

Posted on by
Reply

Week four and I decided to go with Mary Berry’s “The very best shortbread” recipe. I already had a shortbread mould from Lakeland and thought that this would come in useful with this recipe.

The other retail therapy item I treated myself to was the perspex cookbook stand from Lakeland which is fast becoming my second home. Each week I was struggling to find space on a work surface to cook, weigh, roll out etc while keeping the recipe book at hand and relatively clean. This solved this issue, I can clearly see my book now and it keeps it nice and clean.

Lakeland perspex cookbook holder

I followed Mary’s recipe for her very best shortbread and got out my Lakeland mould and followed the instructions on that to prepare the mould. I carefully pressed the dough into every nook and cranny of the mould and put it in my pre-warmed oven. I checked it after the time Mary recommended and decided to give it about another 10-15 minutes. Then I took the mould out of the oven and left it to cool completely. It then said to “turn it out onto a rack and dust with castor sugar“- it didn’t say “how do you get the stupid shortbread out of the mould in the first place?” ! I used a knife around the edges, I turned it onto the rack and tapped the back of it. It just wasn’t shifting!

Eventually I resorted to chiseling it out and it still stuck!

Well, being ever resourceful, I decided to google this issue and came across a blog with the same issues as I was having with this mould. http://cakesbakesandcookies.com/tag/shortbread/

Lakeland also have some comments/feedback under their website for this item with the same issues. http://www.lakeland.co.uk/11537/Shortbread-Mould

I decided to call it a day, go and get some more ingredients to make this again. I decided to make 2 batches, one in a tin as per Mary’s recipe and one giving the dratted mould another go.

The mix went well for each batch. I pressed the shortbread into my tin and after oiling and then flouring the mould, I pressed the mix into the mould. I had taken on board the tips on the websites to turn the temperature down a little and cook it for longer and in the oven it went.

Lakeland recommended a lengthy bake, allowing to cook to the colour of toast. I set the time for 45 minutes, then after this had gone by, added another 15 minutes…..then another 15 minutes….and eventually decided that they were done.

I turned the tin shortbread out fairly quickly, dusted it with castor sugar and cut it into fingers. The mould I left to cool.

The shortbread fingers were golden in colour and the semolina in the recipe gave it a nice crunch.

Now to the mould quickly becoming my nemesis. I went around the edge with a knife and tipped it onto a tray no movement yet. I tapped it gently all over. Still no movement. I used a small meat hammer to tap it smartly and hey presto, it released onto the rack.

I was not impressed with the result, the thistle mould could barely be seen, despite carefully pressing it into the design. The colour was too golden and it was very crunchy!

Oh well , I have achieved my goal and the tin of shortbread I was happy with the results so task done, but I am going to have to read more into the solutions to my mould it will not beat me!!

Week Three..came around so quickly! Sultana Malt Loaf

Posted on by
1

Welcome to week three, it seems like only yesterday I was having such fun with swiss folds…opps swiss rolls, hot porridge and all!

I decided on a more savoury bake this week and malt loaf is one of my childhood favourites and it is still a comfort food for me.

I settled down with Mary Berry‘s bible and read the recipe carefully, I had most of the ingredients already , the only thing I had to get was malt extract and thought (silly me) that I could get it on my usual supermarket run….oh no, not that simple.

After a detour via Holland and Barrett, I had every thing I needed and set off.

The recipe was easy to follow and I had 2 tins already. I lined one with greaseproof and used a ready made loaf tin liner for the other, just to see which was better. I made the mix, poured it equally into the tins, set the timer and waited. An hour later and they were done. It looked like a malt loaf- so there might be hope for me yet- but not sending in my application for The Great British Bake-Off yet!

It smelt good when it was done and Mary recommended that you store it in an airtight container for two days to enhance the taste and that is today……so I eagerly got the butter knife out…..cut a slice…..buttered it…….ahhhh – the taste of childhood!

Week 2……and a bit…..the lemon swiss roll

Posted on by
Reply

Yes, I know…the plan was to bake a recipe a week and blog about it…..and no excuses but boy what a week it was though…my hubby had a medical emergency that I needed to help him with and when it was sorted, we got home at about three in the morning!

That evening, after very little sleep and a full day at work, I attempted the recipe..and it was a disaster. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have baked while shattered and stressed but hindsight is a wonderful thing. The tin I used was also wrong so the sponge came out a lot thicker than it should. So my swiss roll was more of a swiss fold!

Then further disaster struck…..yeah I know, not my week at all! I was making porridge in the microwave and when it was done, took it out and placed it by the sink in order to get the dates, nuts and berries I wanted to add to it. ( I was trying to be healthy!) The bowl tipped off the work surface and without thinking, I went to grab it and got a hand full of boiling porridge! OUCH! The rest then went on the floor and I must have looked a right sight because I had to get my hand under the water as soon as I could while trying to keep the dogs away from the hot gooey mess on the floor. Then i had to try to clean it up.

When the air hit my hand, it really began to hurt and I realised that I had done some damage to it. So a trip to the local Urgent Care Centre was needed where the lovely staff patched me up.

I spent a day or two feeling sorry for myself and took a retail therapy trip to Lakeland to buy a swiss roll tin. (Such a hardship…)

I rolled up my sleeves today, and tried the recipe for the second time. This time, although it isn’t as perfect as Mary Berry’s roll, I am pleased with it. It might not make the “Great British Bake Off” grade but hey, we all have to start somewhere…..

This is mine……

So , I have a day or two before week three comes around..and I have already decided what this weekend’s challenge is going to be….so watch this space.

Week One – The Coffee Victoria Sandwich Cake

Posted on by
Reply

Ok, here we go, week one and the challenge is on.

I made sure I got all the ingredients in and sat and read through the recipe. Mary Berry’s instructions are clear  and concise but with no fancy terms, she inspires confidence that i can do it…..

After a confidence bolstering cup of tea, I ventured into the kitchen and got out all the equipment I needed and all the ingredients.

Putting this cake mix together didn’t take long and to be honest, it felt like I was back at school in my home economics class. At the moment it didn’t feel so much of a challenge but a revision on what I already knew but I ploughed on regardless.

The mix done, I carefully divided it into the prepared tins,  put them in the pre-warmed oven, set the timer and it was time for that ever-so-english tradition of another cup of tea again.

“PING” went the timer and I approached the oven with trepidation.  How would they look?  Was it too soon?…..or too late to take them out? Had I been a bit too blasé in setting the timer and not checking every so often?

Phew- I wiped by brow with relief, they looked risen, brown and didn’t immediately subside when I looked at them, I removed them and set them aside to cool and then removed them faily easily from the tins onto the cooling rack.

I then set to making the coffee buttercream – I love making buttercream icing but the initial mixing always creates clouds of icing sugar which seem to settle on every surface nearby!

The final step, putting it all together, would it resemble in any way the picture on Mary Berry’s book? Well, not so pretty or precise but not bad for a first effort…..

Well,, I will leave that up to you, but week one’s challenge is under my belt, i will now spend the week browsing the challenge bible and deciding what week two will bring……

Kim

Inspired by “The Great British Bake-Off” !

Posted on by
1

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2191208/Mary-Berry-helped-bake-away-blues.html

One day last week, I was browsing the news online and came across the above article, a young mum who set herself a challenge to bake EVERY recipe in Mary Berry‘s “Baking Bible” cook book. I read it with interest as I have always liked baking but have pretty much stuck to fairly easy stuff such as cupcakes which look great with little skill or effort.

This young mum worked her way through Mary Berry’s book, not front to back, but ensured she covered every recipe – boy was she eager! She baked 2-3 recipes a week even when she was on holiday.

I admired this lady and decided that after watching “The Great British Bake-Off” that I should set myself some culinary challenges and this article inspired me.

So, I went online (ahhh retail therapy…), ordered my copy and waited for it to come through. I then sat and flicked through all the recipes, some I had no worries of completing, others I had fancied making and some looked a real challenge!

I decided that one recipe a week, most likely a weekend challenge is what I would go for and announced on Facebook what I was going to do.

My hubby , work colleagues and in-laws will become the taste panel and hopefully give their verdict and (hopefully not too much) constructive criticism!

Watch this space – week one – decided to start with a fairly simple (hopefully!) coffee victoria sponge cake………

Kim