A quiet weekend for my family and myself spent doing some normal family chores (well for myself anyway) such as washing and ironing but I did manage to sneak into the kitchen to bake some trials of a couple of recipes which were mulling around in my head. I am messing around with gluten free, egg free, dairy free and sugar free recipe ideas at present but before I have tried to bake anything different I had to look at examples and the reasons why the alternative ingredients are used in the way they are. It is a lovely feeling to think you still have to research as you don’t know everything. We are always learning.
There are so many choices of ingredients which can be used instead to allow everyone to enjoy homebaked goodies but to use these alternatives correctly requires plenty of thought followed by plenty of practice until you get it right. This weekend, I have made two lots of Blondies and I am still not completely happy with them. The first batch came out oily, greasy and flat, whereas the second batch (after reducing the butter and adding more flour and baking powder to a different recipe) came out dry and crumbly. I need to get the “in between” of these two recipes in order for the Blondies to be acceptable. This trials have been eaten by my family so nothing has gone to waste. Once I have achieved a Blondie recipe which I am happy with I will be offering them for sale through my webshop for delivery to your door when you order them online.
Another piece of information to let you know about is that my Easter Treats Recipe Book has been reviewed by Readers’ Favourites and received a 5 star review:-
Chocolate. Aw, we all love it. Or, at least, most of us do. And what better season for chocolate than Easter? Well, perhaps any season is perfect for chocolate. But, you have to admit, the idea of chocolate seems to be attracted to the season of chocolate eggs and all kinds of other chocolate treats. So, why not make some? Like, Cookie Dough Brownies or Scotch Crème Egg Brownies or No Bake Fudge or Crème Egg Gateau. Of course, you don’t have to just make chocolate treats for Easter. There’s always the fruity Simnel Cake, an English fruitcake tradition that is catching the attention of fruitcake lovers around the world. And there’s the Lemon Bakewell Slice. But you would have to appreciate the history and tradition of the Bakewell treats, as, in the United Kingdom, the real Bakewell is second to none. And, of course, Easter isn’t Easter without Hot Cross Buns, though this delectable treat is now available just about any time of the year in some countries.
V. Dale’s delightful little book, Baking At Its Best: Easter Treats, is an interesting collection of recipes, complete with some background detail as well as some anecdotes about each recipe in the collection. The recipes are clearly presented, with clear instructions on how to prepare and serve the food creation. And, believe it or not, for a book of sweet treat recipes, the author also provides a nutritional guide for each recipe. Note: The measurements are in the United Kingdom’s system of grams instead of the North American system of cups and fluid ounces. So, depending on where you live, you may have to do some conversions.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite.
I will be adding an offer or two regarding my current books some time in the future. So watch this space for details. In the mean time my books are available on Amazon as e-books or paperbacks and if you are a member of Kindle Unlimited you can borrow my books for free. It would be really great if you would leave a review on my Amazon page if you read the books.
This week apart from Halloween baking to be done I am going to make a start on Christmas Cakes which I will be selling on my webshop. I need to get some baked and leave them to mature. My favourite fruitcake is the Chocolate Fruit Cake which I made for my market stall where the customers would pre-order ready for the week before Christmas, as long as they paid a deposit. I just need to order some ingredients in to crack on with this. For now, I can go in the kitchen and use up some ingredients as I want to have a go at Chocolate Chip Cookies which will be gluten free. I am thinking Halloween themed – maybe a shortbread dough with choc chips thrown in for good luck. (ohhh an activity for the children to do this afternoon). 🙂