Bakewell hangover

It was supposed to be Mia's turn to write this week. She has a far busier social life than me and, as I write this, is at another tap exam session. Oh for the love of all things show and biz.  

It's been another whirlwind week in our house, but at least there's never a dull moment; apart from the laundry. There was a sleepover (always manage to stay awake later than grown-ups), a trip to Pizza Express (not involving grown-ups), a stylish yet ultimately raucous wedding reception (very grown-up...), and then the inevitable hangover from hell.

As a distraction from feeling like death I decided there was no excuses, we had to 'do' pastry. And I knew there was a reason I'd been avoiding it. 

The shrunken pastry case looking
a bit better thanks to jamminess



We followed the cold pastry method, where you rest the dry ingredients in the freezer, add iced water and egg yolk to bind, and then put it back in the fridge to rest. The result was really easy to roll out and  seemed very flexible. That is until I tried my Mary Berry trick of cutting the edges around the case to make it look all neat and tidy. 3 attempts later, Mia had to wrestle the rolling pin out of my hand as I wailed 'there must be a way!'

Blind baking was OK - we used pasta to weigh down the paper on top due to lack of beans (I was lacking in beans in many ways that day). Not sure it did anything. Lesson number 1: pastry shrinks. So all that time we'd spent trying to get it neat was for NOTHING.

Frangipane was satisfyingly easy to make - Maddie helped this week and she did all the hard labour (sugar and egg yolks whisked until light and frothy) and then folding (ground almonds and a touch of vanilla).

I had no raspberries - it's February FGS! so we defrosted some frozen berries, mixed with a little raspberry jam and spread thinly on our cooled, now very shallow, pastry case. Poured the frangipane on top and that was it - into the oven gas mark 6. I then had a leisurely half hour eating a Dolmio (don't judge me) lasagne, and watching a rubbish sci-fi movie with Scarlett Johanssen in it.

Maddie being very helpful

We had loads of pastry left over (probably due to over zealous trimming) so the girls made mini bakewell tarts. Thinking about it now, it was a nice sight to see them sharing and enjoying making something together.

Some time later..."can you smell burning?". Aargh! Lesson no. 2 check on tart regularly. I was gutted. The girls however, were delighted with their mini tarts which came out perfectly after just 15 minutes in the oven and no blind baking!

Where's Photoshop when you need it?

Why is it everything tastes so much better when it's bitesize? They didn't last the evening so I'm sure are going to be a regular fixture in our baking calendar.

So I took the 'edited' version of the big berry bakewell into work and it all seemed to go pretty quickly. When it comes to a less than perfect finish, there's nothing a bit of icing sugar and sprinkles can't fix I always say.

Pastry you will not defeat us. Next week will be round 2 and I will be back to fighting fit once more!

What my lovely colleagues did see...and eat

Jean Valjean and other French classics

Mia and I watched Les Miserables on Sunday. This is the reason this blog is a bit late. Sorry, but we have no regrets and it was WORTH IT! What an amazing film. I don't usually go in for gushing but it was. The theatre was so quiet, Mia felt embarrassed eating her popcorn. There was actual applause at the end of the film. That never happens!

with hair...*sobs*

This week we wanted to make Bakewell Tart, and then (inspired by Michel Roux on Food & Drink) a more challenging Creme Patissiere tart; so safely ticking sweet pastry off our list. But! Life got in the way, which I guess I knew it would occasionally. A trip to London and a mountain of housework meant baking time on Sunday was really limited. Mia also had a friend round, so this week's bake was a group effort. And you know what they say about too many chefs...



This will be Sunnyside one day



So we opted for something a bit quicker and with fewer ingredients. The macaron. A French classic. Not the coconutty macaroons you see in your mum's local bakery, but the light-as-a-feather crunch, and then melt into swoonsome creaminess ones. Pretty pastel colours delicately displayed on tissue paper. Throat-catchingly expensive to boot.

What a thing to get right.
I want to offer them as part of Sunnyside's wedding collection one day - but it's safe to say I think a little practice may be needed first.



leaving them out to dry for 15 minutes before baking - already look dodgy



I'm not sure if it was the recipe or the method, but it was a disaster! The first effort was too dry so we added another egg white (we used Claire Ptak's recipe which is in her book on Whoopie Pies). The 2nd recipe (using Nigella) was so runny I had to completely abandon ship.

Claire said cook on Gas Mark 6 gradually reducing to 1. Nigella said cook on Gas Mark 4 throughout. Aargh!

The 5 that made it through

We managed to pipe the rounds and make 5 little ones. They had the texture of cake and were not crispy or chewy in the slightest. They were yummy, but not sure they'd pass any trade description test.

Not to be beaten, I will find a foolproof recipe and we will crack it - the satisfaction of getting it right will be super sweet.

And the moral of the story is - don't be afraid of your failures as they are what make you a success... or something. I tried to write a link back to Les Mis, but it was actually a bright sunny day and pretty fun to do, so nothing like the French Revolutionary angst we loved watching so much.



Mia and Evie with the creations. Didn't last long



Embarrassing Dad and shortbread

Hello its Mia here this is my first blog so don't laugh! So this blog is all about me and my mum learning how to bake and today's bake was millionaire short breads it was the first thing we liked the idea of as we couldnt do the recipe we were thinking of as we didn't have the right ingrediants and it involved soaking the peaches for six hours so short bread it is.

We started baking quite late today as I had a sleepover last night and I went to have a nap also i was quite stressed as my dad had took me and my friend Romy out of dance early because my dance teacher was running over time it was really embarrassing! He goes to football on a Sunday and never misses it. A few days after Mum had Felix he still went.  We also had to nip out to get some extra ingredients.

I chose millionaire short bread because its my favourite kind of biscuit and it's a loveable thing that al my friends will enjoy. We started off by halving all of the ingrediants as it had 375 grams of butter which is like 2 blocks! The short bread went really well but when we were putting it in the tin it was too big so we had to convert it to a smaller one. As I write I am waiting for it to set in the fridge taste test coming up.

This is generally the mess I make

OK so I think the chocolate's a bit dark, but overall it's really yummy. Here's a picture of the cake and my Dad eating it...how embarrassing.

Taking it to school tomorrow. so I'll let you know how it goes! See ya xxx

Leaving a legacy

I'll admit it. I did think about entering GBBO this year. But the fact is, I only know cupcakes. Pastry, bread and even biscuits come to think of it, are all a bit of a mystery to me. If I do try it's usually what I like to call 'kamikaze cooking'. There is a beginning, but it's doubtful the end will be pretty. If it is then it's usually luck rather than judgement.

So Mia challenged me. Enter next year when you've had more practice. Oh and can you teach me how to bake as well?

I love the idea of legacy. Of leaving traditions, recipes... really anything we enjoy together, which Mia in turn can share and treasure with her children. I didn't get much in the way of recipe or skills legacy from my Mum. She'll probably say it was because I wasn't that interested...(update: Mum actually did say this to me on reading this blog!). But I am now - and I don't want my daughters to think I never gave them anything (apart from money to go to Yogberries).

So Paul and Mary. I guess this blog is in part, inspired by you. But mainly it's inspired by Mia. My ballet dancing girl. And to assuage some of the guilt I feel by working full time again and never really getting the quality time that we all agree is a 'good thing'.

So this is how we're going to do it. Each weekend we'll pick a recipe, starting with Nigella's classic 'Domestic Goddess'. If this blog gets any followers, we may even ask you to pick one. Results will be published for all to see, and then swiftly taken to place of work or school to 'feed' others. I'm 40 and have had 3 children - I can't eat cake all day any more.

So that's it. You'll have to forgive us if this blog meanders off into other topics that touch on our weekend lives. Mainly they are a mix of: learning tap routines, giving lifts to the village, botched attempts at gym sessions, The Trafford Centre, homework, drinking wine and falling asleep at 9pm. Until then...I need to go and buy various baking tins and ground almonds. There's a lot of recipes with ground almonds - I'm not sure if it's because one of her family are gluten intolerant or Nigella's love of anything vaguely Italian, but either way this could be an expensive experiment for us.

Sunnyside F*** up

For 10 years I wanted to open my own cupcake bakery just like Magnolia. I first visited in November 2001 and was completely smitten. So, in what some might say was a fit of pique, I eventually left my well paid job in marketing to start a cupcake business. What a cliche right? Possibly one of the most popular hobbies, turned into 'ooh you could get paid for this', turned into Mum who bakes cupcakes for a pittance.  www.sunnysidecup.com

To be fair it was pretty successful actually - for nearly three years Sunnyside Cup was Bramhall's, and I suppose the outer edges of Stockport's, premier cupcakery. I did countless weddings, Christenings and baby showers. It was rewarding. In the way that getting a gold star is - a brief glow of satisfaction followed quickly by a exhausted slump and a kitchen full of icing sugar. I loved it, I really did. Even in the early hours of a Saturday morning making roses, butterflies, delicate Chanel shoes, and possibly my weirdest order, Chewbacca. But it was always for somebody else's party. Time at the weekend I wasn't spending with my family - I was in the kitchen or in the car. Nothing prepares you for how physically hard the pipe dream is...and to think I thought working at home would give me a better balance. 

Then along came Felix. My boy. Even though I should have been on 'maternity leave' I didn't have an income. I did a Christening order for 50 cakes when he was 2 weeks old. Wise husband said you won't miss it. I don't. 

And so, my head was turned to more regular better paid work. and I'm back to where I was before, a full time marketeer. With a 15 month old baby, a spirited 7 year old girl, and Mia my 12 year old first born. And the reason I'm writing this blog.