Kim’s Cake Challenge- my favourite parts so far, with so many left to go….

Posted on Apr 6, 2014 by kimsideas

As I mentioned last week, I have had an operation which means that I am currently recovering and there will be no bake this week.

I must admit that I will miss not baking this week but I am not up to standing for any length of time. I went to the supermarket with my mum today and that has pretty wiped me out and I am now tucked up on the sofa.

I have been thinking back to my favourite bakes to date and I must say that in no particular order, I have particularly enjoyed the millionaire’s shortbread, the hot cross buns and the giant all in one Victoria sandwich cake so far. The millionaire’s shortbread reminded me of my nan and mum’s baking and I was amazed that I could produce hot cross buns that looked anything like they should!

My least favourite to date still has to be the parkin, perhaps it was my bake but whatever it was, I really didn’t like it and will not be making it again.

I don’t know how long baking the rest of the challenge will take but I am thoroughly looking forward to it and extending my baking skills further.

Week Seventy Five- Mary Berry’s Date & Chocolate Loaf & Iced Chocolate Tray Bake

Posted on Mar 31, 2014 by kimsideas

Week seventy five and I sat on Saturday with my coffee and my well used copy of Mary Berry’s Baking Bible to see what I fancied doing this weekend. I chose Mary Berry’s date & chocolate loaf firstly as I knew that my other mum would particularly like this and what else could I give her for Mother’s Day?!

Mary asks you to soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes. Melt the chocolate and roughly chop the brazil nuts- they pinged every where! Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and pour in the egg and milk then everything else and mix well together. Pour the mix into a lined loaf tin and sprinkle some brazil nuts and sugar on the top. Put in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours.You might need to cover the top of it towards the end of the bake to prevent over-browning.

The second recipe was one of Mary’s tray bakes which always go down well in our house.

Apart from blending the hot water and cocoa together, it’s one of Mary’s usual throw everything in together and mix. Pour into a tin , level it and put it in the oven for about 40 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin.

Once cool, melt some chocolate- I must admit, that Mary suggests dark chocolate but I went with galaxy for this topping! Beat in some icing sugar and pour over the cake. Mary suggests covering the top of the cake with some melted apricot jam first which I did.

Once set, cut the cake into squares and serve.

So , 118 recipes to go, but there will now be a break for a week or maybe two as I go into hospital soon to have a procedure that should have been done last year. I will try and blog perhaps about the recovery and how I found it and also about my favourite bakes of the challenge so far.

Finally I would like to wish 2 special ladies a very happy mother’s day with love always. xx

Week Seventy Four – Mary Berry’s Sultana Streusel Buns & Banana & Chocolate Chip Bars

Posted on Mar 23, 2014 by kimsideas

Week Seventy four found me up at silly o’clock on a Sunday morning , having walked the dogs and completed both bakes by 8.45am! I chose Mary Berry’s sultana streusel buns and the banana & chocolate chip bars from her Baking Bible.

I made doubly sure that I read the recipe for the sultana streusel buns before I started, as I didn’t want any disasters this week. Mary asks you to put the flour and baking powder in a bowl and rub in the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs. I must admit this is my least favourite method as I never feel that it looks like it should! Mary then asks you to stir in the sugar and the sultanas. Then lightly beat the egg and milk together and mix all in one go to the bowl and beat to a smooth mix. Put spoons of the mixture in the cases.

This recipe has a topping that is made by flour, sugar and melted butter. Use a fork to mix it until it is crumbly and put a spoon of this on top of each bun. Then put it in the oven.

I have never made these before and they needed about 5-10 minutes longer to cook than Mary suggests but they looked quite unusual.

The second recipe was the banana and chocolate chip bars. As I have mentioned before, my hubby is allergic to banana and I have made other banana recipes when visiting my mum so that the family can eat them. Mary does suggest in this recipe that you can substitute apricots for the banana so that’s what I did.

The recipe is quite simple. Mary asks you to put the flour, oats and sugar into a bowl and mix and then rub in the butter- ( did I mention that I don’t like this method?!) Put half the mix into a tin- Mary suggests a square tin but I put mine in a round one. Then add the apricots and then top with the rest of the mixture. Bake in the oven.

Allow the finished product to cool in the tin and then cut into bars. I am renaming my bake to “Mary Berry’s Apricot & Chocolate Chip Bars”

The countdown continues…..120 left to go…..

Week Seventy Three- Mary Berry’s Swiss Wild Strawberry & Walnut Cake & Almond Tuiles

Posted on Mar 16, 2014 by kimsideas

Week seventy three and I should heed my words in a recent blog- read the recipe fully and carefully before attempting the bake! I dipped into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found the Swiss wild strawberry & walnut cake which sounded lovely.

Stupidly I weighed everything into a bowl and mixed it and turned it into the tin as I kind of assumed that Mary’s recipe would be her usual throw everything in a bowl and mix affair- how wrong I was- but I ended up with a rather thick pancake!

So take two- Mary Berry’s Swiss wild strawberry & walnut cake – even though hubby was trying to persuade me to leave the walnuts out. After CAREFULLY reading the recipe and begging three eggs from my other mum, I put the three eggs in a bowl with the sugar and whisked until mousse like and thick, leaving a trail. Then fold in the sifted flour and walnuts. Put into the tin and bake for 45 minutes.

This time the cake rose but despite being on the right temperature for the full amount of time and the oven door not being opened, it still rose less in the middle. But it was 100% better than the last effort.

When cool, Mary asks you to slice the cake into three- with trepidation I grasped the knife and made my first cut. The top layer came away quite easily as there was a slight crust on the top but the next cut was harder as the sponge is very light but I managed it. In my local Morrisons I found a box of Spanish strawberries which looked heavenly and when I opened them , they smelled amazing and tasted just like strawberries from my childhood. I whipped double cream until it was nice and thick and spread cream onto each layer with some strawberries and finally the cream spread over the top and sides and finished with more strawberries.

The second bake I had left for a while as I had watched with amusement the contestants on the last Great British Bake Off making tuile biscuits with varied results .

The almond tuiles recipe was rather bizarre in that you creamed the egg and sugar together. In another bowl, add the egg white and mix the flour in. What Mary doesn’t tell you is that it goes like glue! Then mix all the ingredients together including the chopped almonds. Mary then asks you to put a teaspoon of the mixture onto the baking tray- she suggests four spoonfuls on each tray to allow for spreading. Only bake four at a time and this is really important.

Bake them until they are brown around the edges but not the middle. Remove from the oven, time is of the essence here. Allow to cool for a few seconds and use a spatula to lift and drape over a rolling pin to create the curve. Allow to cool on this before putting on a rack for final cooling.

I was pleased with my tuiles and the curves I managed to get!

I usually listen to music while I am in my own little world baking in the kitchen. I can become a bit of a sports widow while there is rugby or formula one on and baking is a good way of filling this time. I have been listening to Robbie Williams album “Swings Both Ways “ and its brilliant. Such an eclectic mix of music, quite different to his normal style and I can highly recommend it. He is no Michael Buble (sigh…) but he has certainly given him a run for his money with this album!

Oh, and the countdown now stands at T – 122 recipes left to go….

Week Seventy Two – Mary Berry’s Apricot & Orange Cheesecake & Lemon Drizzle Tray Bake

Posted on Mar 12, 2014 by kimsideas

I am still on a roll and managing to bake 2 of Mary Berry’s recipes from her Baking Bible. This week my mum came to stay and to celebrate, I decided to try one of the more difficult and lengthy cheesecake recipes. Mary Berry’s Apricot & Orange cheesecake started with melting butter and crushing digestive biscuits. Mix these together and press into a deep circular tin and chill.

The next part of the cheese cake involved boiling orange juice and the apricots for about five minutes, then blitz in a food processor and add the gelatine, sour cream, cream cheese, honey, and egg yolks and blitz again until smooth. Whip the egg whites with the sugar until stiff and fold into the cheesecake mix. Pour this onto the biscuit base and chill again overnight. Finally , melt some apricot jam and pour over the top of the cheesecake. Chill again. Mark the cheesecake into 10 slices and decorate each slice with a whipped cream swirl and a ratafia biscuit. This has been the most complicated cheesecake I have ever made but it looked good and tasted even better!

The second recipe was Mary’s lemon drizzle tray bake. This was one of Mary’s through all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Line a tray bake tin ( Lakeland…) and bake for about 40 minutes.

Once baked and cooled, mix granulated sugar with some lemon juice and drizzle over the top. Cut into squares.

I loved watching Mary’s show this week, with the dinner party recipes. I particularly liked the salmon mousse terrine with asparagus. I am looking forward to next week’s roast dinner recipes.

Week Seventy One – Mary Berry’s Apricot Swiss Cakes & Lemon Cream Tartlets

Posted on Mar 3, 2014 by kimsideas

Week seventy one and this week’s venture into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible found these two recipes. The first was the lemon cream tartlets. This tartlet has a shortbread base so I followed Mary’s recipe and made the shortbread and then had to wrap it in cling film and pop it into the fridge for 15 minutes.

When the time was up, Mary asks you to roll out the shortbread and use a cutter to cut out 12 circles and put them into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Once cooked, Mary tells you to allow them to cool in the tin before attempting to get them out- wise advice, I only attempted one while they were warm and took part of the edge off!

When they are completely cool, whip some double cream and add some lemon curd. This is the filling for the tartlet. Mary tells you one important thing here- only fill the tartlet when you are ready to eat it or the filling will make the crispy shortbread go soggy- and you do not want a soggy bottom here! Mary suggests adding a strawberry to the top. I decided to stick with the citrus theme and added a clementine slice.

The second recipe was the apricot swiss cakes. This is pretty much a mix all the ingredients together recipe and then add to a piping bag and pipe circles into 12 cake cases and bake for 15 minutes.

Once cooked and golden brown, allow to cool and add a spoon of apricot jam to each cake and sprinkle with icing sugar. These remind me very much of Viennese whirls.

As usual, the hairy hoolies were in the kitchen while I was cooking. Hubby came in at the end to see if he could scavenge some remnants from the bowl- his favourite part and he allowed the hoolies to sample a little of the whipped cream- not all of it I hasten to add and then thank goodness for a dishwasher!

Well I did a really silly thing just now- I decided to count how many recipes I had left to cook- I thought it would be significantly less by now but no …. I still have …..126 recipes to go….but at least I now have a countdown!

On a lighter note- Mary Berry is back on the television this week- yay!

Week Seventy – Mary Berry’s Irish Soda Bread & Bath Buns

Posted on Feb 23, 2014 by kimsideas

Week Seventy and I am ahead of myself this week. As it was half term, I managed to get a few days holiday at the end of the week and decided to devote Friday to baking and was super excited about it too! I sat with my usual cup of coffee and browsed Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and settled on her Irish soda bread recipe and the bath buns.

I began with the bath buns recipe as it involves yeast and therefore rising time. I made the dough as per Mary’s instructions and left the dough in an oiled bowl covered in cling film. My kitchen wasn’t overly warm but I hoped for the best.

After an hour, the dough had barely risen at all. I wasn’t sure if it was because my kitchen was too cool or the yeast pack past it’s best. I pondered for a while and turned the oven on low. I left the bowl on the oven door with the remnants of the oven heat coming out for another half hour. It didn’t really change. I kneaded it again and divided it into buns and put cling film over them and left them on the oven door which was still slightly warm. At this point I was rummaging through my cupboard. I found a newer pack of yeast and decided to make a second batch. I made the dough again and left it to rise. This time, it did rise but still didn’t double in size. I then divided the dough into buns and covered them with cling film and they did rise slightly again. I decided to bake both batches to see how they came out.

The bun on the left is the second batch and the lighter smaller bun on the right is the first batch. Actually they both tasted okay but the second batch was better. I think I will ensure that I have really fresh yeast next time and ensure that the kitchen is warmer but I enjoyed making them and will probably make them again.

The irish soda bread in comparison was an easier bake. The dough was easy to make and no yeast or rising time to contend with. Mary tells you to shape the dough into a round and bake for about half an hour in the oven and then turn it upside down for about 10 minutes to ensure the bottom is baked- no soggy bottoms here!

The result was a round rough looking loaf of bread. The weight of it compared to a normal loaf is astounding- really heavy. You could use this recipe to make bricks I think!

Anyhow, as my other dad isn’t supposed to eat anything with yeast in it, he got the whole loaf to eat. I did leave him some bath buns too!

Week Sixty Nine – Mary Berry’s Marmalade Tray Bake & Melting Moments

Posted on Feb 16, 2014 by kimsideas

Well I am definitely back in the baking saddle this week, I was raring to go this morning and delved eagerly into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible to find 2 bakes that I could fit in today. I do like the tray bake section- have I mentioned that I am still recycling my Lakeland foil tray bake tins?! Well Mary’s recipe for the marmalade tray bake is a “no brainer”- throw all the ingredients into the bowl and mix. The only thing she warns you about is measuring the marmalade carefully as too much will make the tray bake sink in the middle.

The finished tray bake looks like a mix between a fruit cake and a bread pudding but with a tangy orangy smell.

Mary’s next recipe should have been just as easy but either I was tired or not reading the recipe as carefully as I should have- and I wasn’t wearing my glasses. Mary tells you to add the butter, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract and flour into a bowl and mix into a dough- my HUGE mistake was at a quick glance I “misread” the golden (sugar) for golden syrup- and yes, that’s what I added instead of the sugar….. when I realised what I had done, I had 2 choices, continue and see how they turned out or throw the mix away and only have 1 bake this week…… so I continued…. and added the porridge oats to the dough and mixed them in when Mary clearly says ( on closer and second time of reading!!!…..Sigh…) make the biscuit dough, roll into small bowls and roll the balls in the porridge oats…. well at this point I was really kicking myself and decided to bake a batch to see how they turned out anyway- waste not , want not as my Nan would have said.

Well, given that I added golden syrup instead of golden caster sugar and mixed the oats into the mix rather than rolling the small dough balls in it, I didn’t think they turned out badly at all so I baked the rest of the batch and was rather pleased that my complete hash turned out okay after all.

Note to self, ” read all recipes at least once and with glasses on before attempting next bake.” !!!!!

Illness stops play….but only temporarily!

Posted on Feb 9, 2014 by kimsideas

It should be week sixty nine and I should be posting about the culinary delights that I have attempted from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible this week. Alas that is not the case as from Friday, I have had the sickness bug that has been going around and I have pretty much just curled up on the sofa most of the weekend and the thought of trying to bake something without either being sick or infecting any of my tasters was just too much to take.

I find myself missing the time in the kitchen though, just me and Mary’s book and getting lost in the moment, with the hairy hoolies waiting to see if I drop anything.

I found myself tucked up in bed rather early yesterday, a combination of being a winter Olympic/rugby union widow and just generally feeling wiped out. I put on a DVD that my friend at work had lent me when she heard about my challenge and blog and the dvd had sat on my kitchen table for some while. It was called “Julie & Julia” and within minutes I was captured and thoroughly enjoyed the tale of Julia Childs and Julie Powell who set herself a challenge to cook her way through Julia Childs cookbook and blogged about it. If you haven’t seen it, I would thoroughly recommend it and it has given me a real boost while flagging a little with my challenge. The only jaw dropping moment was when Julie heard that Julia Childs “hated” her blog and she was devastated. I was astonished given the kind of woman she was portrayed as that she would say such a thing. I researched this further and found an article here that explained it in more depth and that is wasn’t as harsh as the journalist in the film tried to portray.

The film reminded me of the day I read in the Daily Mail the article about Anneliese, a young mum who baked her way through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and wrote “Rising to the Berry” , her blog of her adventures. This inspired me to begin this journey and I have seen others who have started this journey too.

Everyone needs to rise to a challenge sometimes and this has certainly challenged me. I have enjoyed every moment so far even with time restrictions and various health issues. The challenge continues until I had baked every single recipe in Mary’s book…but the bigger question is- what do I do then?

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Week Sixty Eight, I am a week behind with my previous blog and ahead of time with this one so I guess they kind of balance out….don’t they?! I haven’t got back into the swing of choosing two recipes a week yet so when I delved into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible, the iced lemon tray bake called to me!

It’s one of Mary’s throw all the ingredients into the bowl and mix, our into a tray bake tin- and my recycled Lakeland tray hasn’t bitten the dust yet! Into the oven it went for about 40 minutes and it was done. To make the topping, you mix lemon juice and granulated sugar. Mary as usual gives you a pretty meagre helping of the topping so I had to add to it to cover the top of the sponge.

Hubby and I couldn’t help but try a piece before we put it into a tin but we thought it was rather yum!

This time of year has brought an awful lot of rain and when I take my two hairy hoolies out, I come back with 2 swampy monsters! I have created a “mud” kit which consists of giant dog wipes and lots of extra towels, the dogs get wiped down before I bring them home but they are not overly keen as they go sliding everywhere too . Our mission is to try and find somewhere not too far away that isn’t too muddy! All this exercise though makes our older hoolie rather tired!

Lewis & Kim

Lewis & Kim Brown's blog of Baking, Photography, Dogs, Canada and whatever takes our fancy…

Tag Archives: Mary Berry

Kim’s Cake Challenge- my favourite parts so far, with so many left to go….

Week Seventy Five- Mary Berry’s Date & Chocolate Loaf & Iced Chocolate Tray Bake

Week Seventy Four – Mary Berry’s Sultana Streusel Buns & Banana & Chocolate Chip Bars

Week Seventy Three- Mary Berry’s Swiss Wild Strawberry & Walnut Cake & Almond Tuiles

Week Seventy Two – Mary Berry’s Apricot & Orange Cheesecake & Lemon Drizzle Tray Bake

Week Seventy One – Mary Berry’s Apricot Swiss Cakes & Lemon Cream Tartlets

Week Seventy – Mary Berry’s Irish Soda Bread & Bath Buns

Week Sixty Nine – Mary Berry’s Marmalade Tray Bake & Melting Moments

Illness stops play….but only temporarily!

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