Excuses, excuses...

I've lost my bakery book which has put a 'shitter' on my cooking. I'm a little bit concerned it's been packed off to the charity shop, and 'I don't think I can take it, cus it took so long to bake it and i'll never have that recipe again'. In the meantime, a musical interlude...

Cooking doesn't get much tougher than this

I haven't updated for a few days as I've been out and about doing the very commendable task of working to earn a crust (note: i'm not part of the distressed majority who don't want benefits capped at 26k). Lately I've been 'experimenting' in the kitchen and it hasn't been as pleasurable as it sounds. Soggy, wet banana cake and rubbery mini cheesecakes have been produced, along with separated meringue and a dry sticky toffee pudding. Nevertheless there have been some triumphs, the blondie was a winner and the second attempt at the sticky toffee pudding was beyond divine.

Not too sure why this photo is sideways, i'm not going to upload it again so perhaps a good idea to rotate your screen.

So, the blondie was divine and tasted even better warm, and it looked like the picture in the recipe book. At this point you'll definitely be thinking, 'it surely can't get any better than this'...

This is the caramel cheesecake I made at the request of Jon Jon, who also looks good enough to eat. Bashed up digestives with melted butter for the base, home made caramel sauce for the filling and cream cheese and double cream for the topping, with shavings/clumps of chocolate on the top.

I also made some individual ramekins of banoffee cheesecakes for Greg Wallace and John Torrode, understandably, they were loving it...

More baked treats to follow including; key lime pie and a success in the sticky toffee department

Clearing the backlog

Unfortunately it appears I bake faster than I blog, this need not be a problem though as I'm guessing no one is an avid reader at this stage anyway. As I sat at my laptop listening to Cher I felt the urge to blog, whether it was Cher's message to me or the lyrical genius of 'Turn Back Time' that drove me I shall never know. Anyway, I think it's safe to say for future reference; No Cher - No blog. So what have I been baking?...

With Christmas comes a whole host of yummy food and drink, therefore to lower the tone I decided to turn out some 'Snow Covered Ginger Buns', this isn't a pair of white man's bum cheeks with a slightly sandy tone to them, it's baking genius - They all got scoffed. I generally don't enjoy ginger, that includes; the fresh stuff, ground ginger, ginger biscuits, ginger people, ginger ale, and the aforementioned 'Snow Covered Ginger buns', but as my family eat near enough anything, as long as they don't need to prepare it, I was in luck.

Thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Ace (powered by Android) 5.0 megapixel camera with optical zoom I was able to capture the 'snow' effect, and also the tacky bit of plastic holly I dug up out of the cupboard for that extra special 'ASDA - Chosen by You' feel. I mainly bake with silicone moulds so I can tip them out and decorate them, on the odd occasion I will use the paper cases and inevitably burn the cake to them. All tray bakes, cupcakes and muffins are silicone based, with cheesecakes and flans being thrown into an 'old tart' dish.
Apologies for the bakery backlog, i'm getting through it slowly but surely. Chocolate and Pecan Blondie, Chocolate Cheesecake cupcakes, banoffee pie, caramel cheesecake, sticky toffee pudding, Banana and Honey Cupcakes, and upside down toffee apple cake to follow...

So, what do I bake?

Well I have been known to make yummy cakes...

Also, on the rare occasion, I bake some really rubbish cakes...

Goodness knows what I did to the one above. It had a sort of yorkshire pudding demeanour, and perhaps would've been better served with some gravy, but that's by the by. I make; cupcakes, puddings, tray bakes, cheesecakes, banoffee products, victoria sponges (variations of), muffins, and flapjacks. I don't sell them, that would be careless. I also don't feel that I bake for the love of baking, i'm mainly driven by starvation and my sickeningly sweet tooth. I eat the vast majority of the things I bake and sometimes share them, and no, i'm not fat, I practice Zumba fitness. I can't really say much else about my baking really, so I shall let the images do the talking...





This is just a selection of everyday cakes for the everyday chubby bastard. As you can see, I love silicone (see left).

 To the left: A smorgasbord, if you will, of fancy pants cakes, decorated with truffles, fudge and some suspiciously smelling writing icing from the pound shop.

 Warm caramel and pecan cupcakes. A wet dream.





The sort of concotion that would arouse Greg Wallace: Vanilla cupcakes with a buttercream and fudge topping.



I shall be adding more photos of previous triumphs (and disasters) as the days go on, and also adding newer photos. If the mood takes me, I might add some hints and tips, but only if the mood takes me. 

Introduction to my world

I've started blogging to showcase all the yummy things I like to bake/eat, and also to make people jealous that they can't taste them. I view myself as a healthy combination of Ina Garten and Nigella, maybe with a hint of Fanny Craddock. Anyway, I will be filling these pages with pictures and ramblings of an amateur treat maker with the underlying desire to put my main rival, Mr.Kipling, out of business. I'd like to point out that if whilst reading you encounter a grammatical error, please feel free to stop following this blog, I wouldn't tolerate it so I wouldn't expect anyone else to either. Pictures and more sarcasm to follow.