This week I decided to concentrate on practicing baking Brownies and Blondies which I have baked many times before but not in my new oven which I am still trying to get the hang of. There are too many options on this oven and I am really enjoying trying them all out with the different products that I offer on the webshop, as well as, the meals we have at home.
Now, I think I have the hang of baking Brownies and Blondies so I am offering them as the Friday Treat Box next week on the 8th July so my customers get to taste them as I think they are delicious – but I am slightly biased – at the same time I don’t usually enjoy Brownies or Blondies but these are lovely!!
I decided to add different toppings to the Brownies and Blondies as I have seen so many other bakers pimp up their bakes so I wanted to give it a try. Instead of covering the whole tray with the same decoration like I normally do I sliced the trays up and then decorated them separately. Much more fun and much more creative as I got to use up the sweet treats which I had in my box of goodies so my Brownies and Blondies were adorned with Terry’s Orange Chocolate pieces, Smarties and sprinkles, Oreos and Oreo Chocolate pieces, Biscoff spread and biscuits, Mini Cookies and sprinkles to name but a few. Also, I made some homemade caramel sauce to mix with cornflakes which I then added to a couple of the Brownie slices. This combination is my favourite of them all and again one I have seen many other bakers doing. I think that this cornflake topping on a Blondie with a layer of jam between the two would be like a Cornflake Tart with a Blondie base MMmmm MMmm!! As I didn’t use up a lot of the caramel sauce I have stored the rest of it to use in another idea I want to try soon – Wagon Wheels. I am going to make these with a marshmallow and jam filling ,as well as, a marshmallow and caramel filling. Now home made marshmallow is something I have never made before so wish me luck an that one!!
Although, I haven’t received any orders this week I am putting it down to the cost of living which is playing a big part in everyone’s livelihood these days. I am noticing a change in the google reach and social media audience for my blog so I am working on it behind the scenes trying to improve it. Nothing is ever easy and you have to really push yourself to be noticed so I am researching what other bakers are doing. I don’t want to copy other bakers but let’s face it there are only so many ways to bake something and you can’t really copyright a biscuit so that nobody else can bake it can you?? I am hoping to improve my reach, my orders and try to make a few changes as I’m thinking that my webshop needs worked on as some products aren’t selling well in comparison to others. A bit of a cull is going on. I am looking at the prices of everything as I have noticed a few bakers putting their prices up to factor in the cost of living increases but as of yet I haven’t changed anything. Now with the added worry of Royal Mail and possible strikes I am considering other delivery services for any future postal orders but at the same time I don’t want to change something that isn’t broken so I am just going to go with the flow as I find Royal Mail to be very reliable. 🙂 Let’s just see how it goes!!
As for the rest of the week, I have book keeping to catch up on and some notes to write up for my recipe books which I am constantly re-working to make them better even though they are already available on Amazon 🙂 I have really enjoyed this last week but I am putting it down to having full school days to work in as my daughter who is at 6th form is on work experience this week so she is working from home and so I don’t have to be racing down to the school to pick her up early – she hardly does any full days usually so this is a welcome change and she is enjoying her work experience. Roll on the summer holidays when the school run is over for a few weeks 🙂