Baked anything tasty lately?

this weekend didn't feel like summer other than in my kitchen: made this mango-coconut mousse cake.

Been a while but made a few Banoffe"s for a neighbours party. I used to be a chef (but I'm OK now 😁)

Perfected a recipe many years ago when head chef at a well know Dublin Bar / Restaurant and no, not made by boiling ghastly condensed milk. The mix requires, Real butter, Golden Syrup, evaporated milk and sugar. The mix ideal for muffins, Cake fillers, ice cream dishes and if stored correctly will last for months.

So got some Rhubarb off a close friend, frozen some by cutting into short strips and layered in sealed containers. Always tricky, freezing Rhubarb so will see how it's works.

In the mean time, made a Glazed Rhubarb Pie last night. I made some short crust pastry, left in fridge for a few hours.

Rhubarb, cut into even pieces, generous sprinkle of sugar and left sit in bowl for a few hours, occasionally mixing. The sugar dissolves with natural juices from Rhubarb and you'll get a wonderful sweet syrup. Before making pie, I strain the Rhubarb and put syrup into pot and with heat, reduce it right down until it almost caramelises. Allow to cool.

Now I mix cornflour with the Rhubarb, about 2 tablespoons to a medium size bowl of chopped Rhubarb, I also add 2 tablespoons brown sugar. WHY CORNFLOUR? it essentially helps soak up juices, reducing the chances of a soggy Tart, Pie can be a problem with Rhubarb crumble & Pies.

Roll out pastry, place the Rhubarb evenly around base,

Cap it off, cut a small opening at top of pie, egg wash and pop into pre heated oven.

When cooked, back to the syrup, heat a little and pour gently over the pie after removing from baking tray, allow to cool and served with a large dollop of cream 🤗

It is one of those things you either love or hate and getting the right level of sweetness can be tricky. It can be quite a versatile ingredient and I've made compotes out of Rhubarb and have used it in Muffins, Sponges and sauces. I recall being almost forced fed stewed Rhubarb and custard as a child and the trauma of it put me off it for years 😂😂

So, it's been a while but baked a cake for a friends birthday, made a Victoria sponge, equal quanties of flour (self raising), caster sugar, Eggs.

The filling is cream and fresh strawberries (I also use frozen berries, sweetened, use the syrup moisten the sponge. I generally do 3 layers, but 2 would suffice.

Advance Presentation everything, so I toast, almonds, walnits in advance and make chocolate trelis"s in advance, using quality milk chocolate, slowly melted in glass bowl over simmering water, avoiding any moisture. Piping tricky, but I use those triangular radish bags or small disposal plastic piping bags.

You can also use these bags to do writing on your cakes, name, happy birthday etc

These decorations can be frozen in sealed containers. Using firm leaves (bayleaf) and artists brush you can make chocolate leaves also, peel leaf away when set.

It looks lovely, if using flowers and sticking them into the case it's best to use posy picks (from cake decorating suppliers) even if the stems are wrapped.

Also the 'cake police' go mad on the cake pages if they see baby's breath on a cake, apparently it is highly toxic, to be honest I use it and just ensure it's not in contact with the cake, obviously it shouldn't be eaten! I have done my own research on it and while it can be an irritant to breathing it can't be very common considering how much of it there is in bouquets and table decorations plus the florists working with it! The highly toxic part seems to be if ingested and dogs for example would be at risk if they ate a load of it, hopefully wedding guests can be trusted not to chow down on a bunch of flowers!

Absolutely fabulous 😉👌

Continuing my journey into sugar-free, diabetic friendly baking. We were watching re-runs of "Open All Hours" recently, and I took some inspiration from that and made a sugar-free Jamaican Ginger Cake.

What can I say? Mr Shen loved it - Arkwright might have been on to something there!

Anyone for Cheesecake 🤔 I'm not a lover of the Baked varieties, a little to heavy, instead I prefer the attached unbaked type.

Fruit flavours a favourite, I use frozen & fresh type. I generally use fruit Jelly as a setting agent, mainly for additional flavor but Geletine leaves also good.

Made the attached for a (Small outdoor gathering) at the weekend. Also a Baileys and Banoffe one.

It's pretty much this : http://www.cakezero.co/refined-sugar-free-jamaican-ginger-cake/

I did leave out the nuts and the rice malt syrup, and added a tbsp of cacao powder for colour.

I do bake fairly often because I'm vegan so obviously it's hard to find baked goods in store that are dairy free/egg free. I mostly stick to the basics (cupcakes/cookies/brownies) but I'd like to learn how to make cheesecake.