Tuesday 9 July 2013

Diary of a Wedding Cake

After a year of indecision, deliberation and at least four cake styles that didn't quite make the cut, I have finally chosen the decorative style for my wedding cake. It has been a difficult decision mainly because I have such disparate and schizophrenic tastes in cake styles that I have found it hard to settle on a particular idea.

At one point I was considering a Winter related cake as I'm getting married close to Christmas. I also quite liked the idea of a Parisian style cake that would fit in well with our honeymoon destination. I have torn out countless picures of cakes from wedding magazines, spent hours trawling Pinterest in search of inspiration and even spent a cosy Sunday afternoon snuggled up on a window seat in a branch of Waterstones with a stack of baking books in the hope that my ideal cake would be only a page-turn away. I have been seduced by rainbow hued confetti cakes, stacked Victoria Sponge 'naked' wedding cakes and floral vintage styles. I keep returning to a particular cake style but I am also a bit scared that I do not have the experience yet to do it justice. I'm a girl who loves a challenge though, so despite some fear that I won't reach this sky-scraper standard, I'm going to have a bloody good go!

Over the next few months, I will be testing out each tier to ensure that I'm happy with the cake recipes and to experiment with freezing/defrosting the un-iced cakes to see if this could help in terms of preparation. I will also need to learn how to dowel up the cakes to ensure that the cakes are strong enough structurally to stack on top of each other. SCARY!

Watch out for more wedding cake updates soon,

Becky BakesWell x


Sunday 7 July 2013

Update...




The BakesWell blog has been a bit quiet of late - I've been settling into my new job and I've been researching baking techniques for the last few months. I want to make cakes and sweet treats that are as near to perfect as I can make them, so I have been reading into the science behind baking. I have been learning about raising agents and how different types of flour affect the finish of baked goods. I am also trying to find the best way of baking cupcakes that are moist, light and evenly baked with flat tops. 

In my baking research, I stumbled across cake flour - a specific type of flour. I'd like to experiment with this type of flour in the next round of taste tests, so once my flour is delivered, Taste Test #2 will be announced...


Wednesday 3 April 2013

Taste Test #1 Results







The results are in from Taste Test #1 - Cheap eggs v Posh eggs! Click on the video above to see the test and my findings. The result is based on 4 rounds of blind taste tests and the decision was unanimous...



Have you watched it now? Was the result as you expected it to be? Feel free to use the comments box to ask me questions about the test or to let me know what you think.

Watch out for Test Taste #2 soon!

Monday 1 April 2013

Taste Test #1 Cheap eggs v Posh Eggs



Eggs perform several vital roles in making a successful sponge cake, so I thought it would be perfect to start here with my first taste test. In this first test, I am focusing on how the chosen eggs affect the quality of the cake's rise, its taste, appearance and its crumb structure.  The prices of eggs have increased dramatically over the last three years and due to this, it can be tempting to cut corners and buy cheaper eggs of a lesser quality than to buy organic free range eggs.

However, I find that every time I am tempted to reach out for the economy battery hen eggs, my conscience stops me. To meet the requirements of my taste test I needed to use cheap eggs. So after some consideration, I decided to use the cheapest free range eggs I can find which are from Aldi and are priced at 99p for half a dozen. 

At the other end of the scale, Posh Birds eggs are the brand I have chosen as my premium range eggs. Retailing at £2.50 for half a dozen, these duck eggs are marketed as 'perfect for light and fluffy sponges.' The brand also touts its eco-credentials with birds that have access to better living conditions and are free to feed and roam in fields on demand.


So, will the posh eggs produce a superior quality sponge or have I been seduced by clever marketing?
Do you think there will be any noticeable differences in quality between the cakes? Feel free to make any predictions in the comments box below.


Pop back tomorrow to find out the results...

Becky BakesWell x

Monday 11 March 2013

taste tests



I'm quite excited about the new series of posts coming up over the next few weeks - Taste Tests. It is easy for people to think that because a supermarket can produce a cake cheaply, then a baked-to-order cake should also be similar in price. However, using good quality ingredients will inevitably affect the overall cost of a cake made to order. I have decided to create what I think is the ultimate Victoria sponge cake and taste test the core ingredients over the next few weeks using economy range ingredients and premium range ingredients side-by-side to evaluate how the quality of ingredients affects the finished product. 

Watch out for the first post in the series this weekend...

Becky BakesWell x

Sunday 3 March 2013

The Baking Book

Left-hand photograph: My Nan and my Dad in the 1960s.
Right-hand photograph: I'm on the right working the highly fashionable chocolate cake face
Background recipe: Spicy Buns - watch out for it featuring on here soon...
















When people ask me where my passion for baking came from, the question is always simple to answer: My Nan. My earliest memories of my Nan's house come from playing bakery in the kitchen with a tray full of magnets that I would pretend were biscuits that I had baked. There were also times where I would pretend to be a TV cook with my cousin and we would make up recipes which we wrote in The Baking Book.

As soon I was old enough to hold a wooden spoon and stir ingredients in a baking bowl, I was lifted up on to the kitchen counter and my baking days began. I would watch how my Nan would rub dots of butter into her pastry, fold the pastry into three and roll, roll, roll to create light puff pastry or she would let me stir the cake mixture in the big baking bowl and put the paper cases into the bun trays for fairy cakes.

Waiting patiently for the cakes to come out of the oven, I would often flick through the pages of the cookery books stored in the baking cupboard. My favourite has always been The Baking Book as I loved to read the familiar recipes written in my Nan's flowing and sloping handwriting.

My Nan has recently let me borrow The Baking Book and I have decided that I will bake some of the recipes contained in the book and share them with you over the course of this year as a sort of thank you to her for inspiring me to bake.




Sunday 10 February 2013

Pancake Day



Don't forget that it's pancake day this Tuesday (12th Feb)! If you're looking for a reliable and tasty pancake recipe, then look no further than the Banana and Blueberry Pancakes I posted about on the blog that I share with my friend: Cooking From Books.

Cooking From Books - Banana and Blueberry Pancakes

Although the pancakes do contain bananas, don't be alarmed if you're not such a fan of them. The bananas just lend a tender and springy texture to the pancake, rather than dominating the taste. You can also serve the pancakes with a squeeze of lemon, a sprinkling of sugar, a handful of raspberries and a dollop of creme fraiche if you fancy that instead.


Handy Hint

Another reason why this recipe is handy is that the batter improves if it's made the day before, so you can make the batter tomorrow night (Monday) and come home to quick, fuss- free pancakes on Tuesday - just give the batter a quick stir and you're ready to get flipping! I love it when a plan comes together... snarf snarf!

Happy Pancake Day,

Becky BakesWell x

Friday 1 February 2013

Becky BakesWell guest posts

Hey there,

Just a quick note to tell you about 2 new Becky BakesWell  guest posts!

Duck Egg Designs

Image courtesy of Duck Egg  Designs (C)

Click me to go to Duck Egg Designs.


Last Autumn, Thursday nights were spent with a cheeky biscuit (or three), a mug of hot chocolate and Kirstie's Vintage Home. I think that my fella must love me as Kirstie's weakness for a bargain at an antiques fair or her wild eyed looks when she gets near a button box do not ignite the creative spark for him as they do for me, but I love all things crafty and Allsopp related so he kindly obliges! 

If you watched Kirstie's Vintage Home, you might remember seeing Ellie Harrington in Episode 3. I remembered the episode in particular because I was really impressed by the quirky yet sophisticated vintage style achieved in Ellie's kitchen and dining room with the big reveal at the end. One particular feature inspired me and that was the roman blind with the hand stamped duck motif. 

Since the programme aired, Ellie's interior business 'Duck Egg Designs' has developed into a strong brand which has received acclaim and a strong following on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. In a funny twist of fate, Ellie gave me the amazing opportunity to write a guest post for the Duck Egg Designs blog which you can read here...


Click me to go to Duck Egg Diary guest post.



So big thanks again to Ellie for the opportunity!


Cooking From Books


The second post is on the blog that I share with a friend - Cooking From Books. After a bit of a break from posting on there, we wanted to get it up and running again, so my post for the Ploughman's Pasties that I've been talking about on Facebook and Twitter went live on there yesterday, so hop on over to check it out!




Click me to go to Cooking From Books guest post.



Ploughman's Pasties for Cooking From Books.
Image courtesty of Ma Memoire Photography (C)






As I will have more time to dedicate to Becky BakesWell and Cooking From Books from now on, watch out for some Becky BakesWell tutorials, baking films courtesy of Ma Memoire Photography, updates on wedding cake planning and a series of themed posts.


Exciting times are ahead!


Becky BakesWell




Friday 18 January 2013

From the Bookshelf...

Before Christmas, I decided that I wanted to give the BakesWell blog a bit more variety in terms of content, so that it can be used as a resource for you beautiful people out there, instead of just a diary of my baking thoughts. With this idea in mind, I've decided that I will run a series of posts on here called 'From the Bookshelf'' which will discuss the books from my collection that I find most useful - and boy do I have a collection of cookery books!


#1 The Kitchen Diaries II by Nigel Slater




After much heavy hinting, I received a copy of this for Christmas. I already own Nigel Slater's first volume - The Kitchen Diaries which is well loved and often returned to for seasonal inspiration. On Boxing Day, cheese and crackers in hand, I decided to dive in. After about five minutes, I knew that this book will be one of the most useful books in my collection - you see it's the go-to-guide for learning about ingredients, using ingredients in seasonal way and is packed full of advice on kitchen kit. 


You can still read the book as a cookery diary, flicking to the page with the day's date to see what Nigel cooked on that day and if it tickles your fancy. However, you can also use the book in a more thoughtful way, to gain insight on how to use up leftover ingredients hanging around in the fridge. Living in a more cost-conscious way is one of my aims for this year and I have already turned to this book several times since Christmas, to find ways of using up my leftover veg without it feeling like a second best meal - the cheese and leek pie below is a perfect example of this.





However, the aspect of this book which sets it apart from most is the advice on kitchen kit. I learned from the book that Nigel advises us not to buy expensive woks, but to buy a cheap wok 'made of steel no thicker than a ten-pence piece', so that it cooks the ingredients quickly at a high heat. It is this sort of unpretentious guidance, free from the view that equipment needs to be expensive to be effective, which is so liberating. It is easy to clutter the kitchen with gadgets which are expensive, cumbersome and only perform one task, so it is useful to be reminded that the art of good cooking is the marriage of ingredients you like, cooked simply with care and attention. 

As Julia Childs once said: 

"In department stores, so much kitchen equipment is bought indiscriminately by people who just come in for men's underwear." 

Quite.

This book is well worth the money invested in it as it will serve you well for many years, is a pleasure to look at in terms of the beautiful photography that graces its pages and though it's hardly pocket sized, it sits beside my bed so that I can read it with a brew and a biscuit for a bit of bedtime inspiration... Rock n' Roll eh!




Becky BakesWell x