Stocking up and buying the supplies, even for a small business such as mine, is quite a time consuming job. Yesterday, all I did was make lists of what I needed to buy for new ideas and what I needed to replace that I had used. Also, I made a list of what I was planning to make this week to finish off my new recipe book and where I could give the food to so that there is not too much for the family to eat. I know there is a “Macmillian Coffee Morning” local to me on Friday, so some of the bakes may well end up there. Whilst restocking the freezer, I noticed that there was some fruit in bags which need to be used up soon and as it is Autumn, I am going to make a pie or crumble with the fruit. MMMMmmm there is pear, plum and rhubarb to be used and I am sooooo looking forward to some pudding and custard.
At the end of the week, I have a birthday cake to make and a birthday party to cater for so I am hoping I can use some of the Halloween ideas as treats for the party. I don’t think my daughter is too keen on this idea but I am sure I can persuade her. As long as I make her a Smash Cake I am sure she will be fine.
Starting up again as self employed has bought with it a lot of new paperwork which I am trying to keep on top of. Not difficult work but it could prove time consuming if I let it. Since stopping my job at the market the rules about working as a home baker in the UK have changed as more has been added about working with ingredients containing allergens and so on but as I added allergen and ingredient details to the bakes I sold at the market I don’t think it will be that hard a task.
I have a stock of very different ingredients now which I am keen on going to try out in the kitchen to see what I can make with them. One is coconut flour which I have never baked with before so I am looking for some ideas to see what I can make with it. Also, I have egg replacer which I found in Holland & Barrett in my local Tesco store. I wonder if there will be a taste difference or a change in texture. I will let you know about this soon. I haven’t bought any sweetener/sugar substitutes such as Stevia/Canderel as I have tried baking with these before and I wasn’t too impressed but then I spoke to a mother who bakes for her diabetic daughter and she just halves the amount of sugar in the recipe to cut down on the glucose present in the cake. I have tried this recipe and it does work and the only changes I can see are to the colour of the cake which is paler than a standard cake due to the lack of sugar and the height of the cake is slightly less. However, once decorated and prettified you can not tell the difference.