[manupalace]

I can't wait to start my new job, I wont have a huge amount of time to bake but I'll at least have the money to buy stuff like a stand mixer (and I can pretend to be buying it for my mum).

[gracie88]

(Original post by manupalace)
I can't wait to start my new job, I wont have a huge amount of time to bake but I'll at least have the money to buy stuff like a stand mixer (and I can pretend to be buying it for my mum).

My stand mixer is one of my most prized possessions. If I had to rescue three things in a fire it would be one of them. They're amazing and I definitely couldn't imagine baking without one now!

[Da CorrupteD KiD]

My gateau opera!

[Oh-WOW]

(Original post by Da CorrupteD KiD)
My gateau opera!

Wow. they look really great. Always wanted to taste gateau opera. Sounds divine!

[Viennaberry]

(Original post by Da CorrupteD KiD)
My gateau opera!

Recipe please!

[manupalace]

(Original post by Da CorrupteD KiD)
My gateau opera!

Wow, just Wow!

[Da CorrupteD KiD]

(Original post by Oh-WOW)
Wow. they look really great. Always wanted to taste gateau opera. Sounds divine!

Thanks! It's basically a chocolate and coffee cake. Those two can never go wrong really!

[Da CorrupteD KiD]

(Original post by Viennaberry)
Recipe please!

I've posted the recipe on my blog, just scroll down if you wish to skip the introduction.

http://stressreliefbaking.blogspot.co.uk/

I've added my own twist to the recipe by using rum and earl grey. And I've also scaled down the recipe to suit a student baker like myself.

(Original post by manupalace)
Wow, just Wow!

Cheers!

[Dalimyr]

OK, I think I'm going to be learning a lesson the hard way here My last few attempts at burger buns have been, well, rubbish. They look fine but the crumb inside is really dense and heavy, and not nice for its intended use. Having looked at recipes in a few books for breakfast rolls/morning rolls/[insert name here], they all have two things in common - they use more yeast than my recipe does (I used around 5g of dry yeast, these recipes use 10g of dry or 20g of fresh) and they all use milk instead of water (or use a 50/50 blend of the two), sometimes with an egg as well. So I'm attempting rolls again tomorrow, this time following a recipe from a book (which I haven't done in quite a while) and fingers crossed the damn result'll be worth it

[Da CorrupteD KiD]

(Original post by Dalimyr)
OK, I think I'm going to be learning a lesson the hard way here My last few attempts at burger buns have been, well, rubbish. They look fine but the crumb inside is really dense and heavy, and not nice for its intended use. Having looked at recipes in a few books for breakfast rolls/morning rolls/[insert name here], they all have two things in common - they use more yeast than my recipe does (I used around 5g of dry yeast, these recipes use 10g of dry or 20g of fresh) and they all use milk instead of water (or use a 50/50 blend of the two), sometimes with an egg as well. So I'm attempting rolls again tomorrow, this time following a recipe from a book (which I haven't done in quite a while) and fingers crossed the damn result'll be worth it

I'm no expert in baking breads but I have been dealing with yeast when I made my croissants. From my experience dense and heavy texture can be a result of under-proofed dough. Normally the dough has to be quite jiggly and nicely puffed up before you send it to the oven. A second cause is under-baking. Most student flat ovens have a heating element at the top which means often you can't bake your stuff for as long as the recipe requires or else it will burn. This means the centre may well still be under-cooked when you take your bread out.

Conventionally, 3g of fresh yeast is equivalent to 1g of instant/dried yeast so for 20g of fresh yeast you really should use about 6g of the instant equivalent and not 10.

Did you check your proofing temperature etc? The last two days' temperature has been great for proofing though.

I personally almost never go for the recipes written in random cookbooks. The internet is a great source of recipes that often come with lots of reviews from people who have tried and tested the said recipes. You can also find lots of forums where you can ask the pros about your problems etc.

Good luck with your upcoming attempts at burger buns!

[Viennaberry]

(Original post by Da CorrupteD KiD)
I've posted the recipe on my blog, just scroll down if you wish to skip the introduction.

http://stressreliefbaking.blogspot.co.uk/

I've added my own twist to the recipe by using rum and earl grey. And I've also scaled down the recipe to suit a student baker like myself.



Cheers!

Thanks! :3 Saved XD I've always wanted to try baking one (I'm half french and loooooooooooooooooooooove Gateaux L'opera when I'm in England), would you reccomend it as possible for an amateur bakeress to attempt it succesfully?

[Da CorrupteD KiD]

(Original post by Viennaberry)
Thanks! :3 Saved XD I've always wanted to try baking one (I'm half french and loooooooooooooooooooooove Gateaux L'opera when I'm in England), would you reccomend it as possible for an amateur bakeress to attempt it succesfully?

Of course you can do it as an amateur baker! Here's a living example! En fait, c'etais ma premier fois pour faire l'opera (and I forgot to add l'accent aigu on the e ) You do need to set aside at least a whole afternoon to make it though since there are quite a few elements to be prepared separately. I think I'll make mille feuille next, with my own puff pastry of course. Hopefully my experience with croissants will help me in making the pastry.

[Viennaberry]

Bon! Je va essayer dans ma vacance maintenent! Merci beaucoup

Oooh I hope you do try a Mille-feuille! I will keep track of your blog for sure

[Da CorrupteD KiD]

(Original post by Viennaberry)
Bon! Je va essayer dans ma vacance maintenent! Merci beaucoup

Oooh I hope you do try a Mille-feuille! I will keep track of your blog for sure

Haha. Vous etes tres gentil mais merci! I will be traveling quite a bit for the next few weeks though so I think my next baking entry will be in August. Have a good time baking!

[Chumbaniya]

I'm a pretty novice baker (baked my first ever cake about a year ago and haven't done a huge amount since) but I'm trying to push myself a bit as I've got some free time over the summer.

I tried making bread for the first time today! I'm a bit of a run-before-I-can-walk sort of person so I didn't go for anything basic. So here's my herb and sun-dried tomato tear-and-share bread.

The balls are alternating with and without the tomatoes. It's a little dense in the middle. I think this is because it was a bit cramped in the tin (it was the same size as the recipe suggested, but my bread ended up much taller so I think it needed more space) so it didn't cook through as well as it should have done. It could also be down to too little proving time. The flavours are good though, and I'm pretty happy with it for a first try.

[gracie88]

Sooooo I've been asked to make someone's wedding cake. This scares and excites me at the same time.

[kiss_me_now9]

(Original post by gracie88)
Sooooo I've been asked to make someone's wedding cake. This scares and excites me at the same time.

Ohh! Exciting, what you making? If you need help I'd suggest checking out cakecentral.com, fantastic website for cake makers

[Oh-WOW]

(Original post by gracie88)
Sooooo I've been asked to make someone's wedding cake. This scares and excites me at the same time.

ooo. that's cool. but scary! what sort of cake do they want?

[gracie88]

The girl who is getting married has said this much; she would like a chocolate cake, the colours are navy and ivory, she'd like 3 tiers and she liked the cake I made for my birthday (being this one):





So I was thinking two layers piped in ivory and one in navy... I'm more worried about construction and baking much larger cakes etc than I am the decorating.

Anyway I'm putting together a quote to email off her her

[Dalimyr]

10-ish days alone in the house means lots of time available for me to do baking without having to put up with whining about "the mess" in the kitchen (which might be actual mess, but usually refers to bags or tubs of flour, scales, measuring spoons and so on left out on the worktop because putting them all back in the three or four cupboards they came from is a bit of a nuisance, especially when I'm planning on baking frequently in a short space of time)

First things first, I need something for my tea tonight so I'm doing garlic bubble bread today. 'tis also my mum's birthday next week so next weekend I'll be baking a cake for when she gets home on the Sunday (current plan is to try a three-tier chocolate cake, with dark, milk and white chocolate for the layers, but that's not guaranteed yet and I might change my mind completely over the next week if I see something that inspires me to go down a totally different route ). Surely with Wimbledon on at the minute, strawberries must be on sale in the shops, so the strawberry teabread recipe I've found the other day while flicking through a book might be something I'll try as well.