Hello everybody

[fudgebum]

I just want to say hi, I am new to baking and am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. I have been suffering with anxiety and depression for 3 years this year, it been an extremely challenging at times with more downs than ups. Over the last 3 months me and my fella have binge watching Bake Off on Netflix. During this time I have been watching and seen many things created that I really liked the look of and wished that I could copy them myself. now that I have watched all of the episodes I decided to pluck up the courage and try to bake something myself. I first started by buying the premixed items from the supermarkets and I was shocked that they actually worked, not only that but they tasted great too. Having tried lemon drizzle and traybakes with great success I finally decided to try and bake something from scratch. If you knew me like I knew myself then you think no way, but I thought stuff it I’m going to try it and see what happens.... OMG! It has been over 2 months now and I’ve baked banana bread, Jaffa cakes and even a loaf of bread all from scratch and they actually worked and taste great also. My fella now takes some of my baking to work and he’s still alive and keeps asking me to bake his favorites which are banana bread and lemon drizzle from scratch. It feels really strange that he is taking my baking to work to eat in his break time but at the same it feels great to think that I made them but at the same time it feels really good inside to know that I was able to make them for him. Since then I have really got the baking bug to the point where I dream about it sometimes. Now when my fella goes to work he says ‘On your marks get set bake’ and I go in my own world where nothing else matters.

I have really surprised myself as I have never been able to cook but have managed to bake with great success and am looking forward to trying new things.
being a tech person, I now Find myself looking at baking and kitchen utensils in the shops, what’s wrong with me

I look forward to being part of this forum.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I just want to say hi, I am new to baking and am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. I have been suffering with anxiety and depression for 3 years this year, it been an extremely challenging at times with more downs than ups. Over the last 3 months me and my fella have binge watching Bake Off on Netflix. During this time I have been watching and seen many things created that I really liked the look of and wished that I could copy them myself. now that I have watched all of the episodes I decided to pluck up the courage and try to bake something myself. I first started by buying the premixed items from the supermarkets and I was shocked that they actually worked, not only that but they tasted great too. Having tried lemon drizzle and traybakes with great success I finally decided to try and bake something from scratch. If you knew me like I knew myself then you think no way, but I thought stuff it I’m going to try it and see what happens.... OMG! It has been over 2 months now and I’ve baked banana bread, Jaffa cakes and even a loaf of bread all from scratch and they actually worked and taste great also. My fella now takes some of my baking to work and he’s still alive and keeps asking me to bake his favorites which are banana bread and lemon drizzle from scratch. It feels really strange that he is taking my baking to work to eat in his break time but at the same it feels great to think that I made them but at the same time it feels really good inside to know that I was able to make them for him. Since then I have really got the baking bug to the point where I dream about it sometimes. Now when my fella goes to work he says ‘On your marks get set bake’ and I go in my own world where nothing else matters.

I have really surprised myself as I have never been able to cook but have managed to bake with great success and am looking forward to trying new things.
being a tech person, I now Find myself looking at baking and kitchen utensils in the shops, what’s wrong with me

I look forward to being part of this forum.

welcome to the forum. It’s pretty amazing that you went from premixed to Jaffa cakes!! But baking fearless is the way to go! Looking forward to seeing your creations keep up the great work.

 

[Akos]

welcome to the forum. It’s pretty amazing that you went from premixed to Jaffa cakes!! But baking fearless is the way to go! Looking forward to seeing your creations keep up the great work.

God bless you, Cate. You encourage everyone here on the forum.

 

[fudgebum]

hi,
thank you for your encouragement. My other half thinks my Jaffa cakes are more like Jaffa fakes. McVities have nothing to worry about. Having tried several times, this is as good as it gets. See for yourself.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

hi,
thank you for your encouragement. My other half thinks my Jaffa cakes are more like Jaffa fakes. McVities have nothing to worry about. Having tried several times, this is as good as it gets. See for yourself.View attachment 2857View attachment 2857

Oh no no no no.... We never give up! It gets better than this. One of these days The other half is going to say yours are better.

your story is every Baker’s story. we try a box mix. Then we try a scratch recipe. Then we buy a cookbook on baking. Then we buy a mixer. And we keep trying and trying to reproduce something Then one day our family and friends say, “you know what this is better than _________!“

we all have our little specialty. Mine is biscotti. I am known as the biscotti Queen in my family. Come Thanksgiving I start baking biscotti for the holidays. After Thanksgiving dinner my family is dividing up the leftover biscotti before the leftover turkey. Sure they know there’s gonna be more biscotti throughout the holiday. But everyone wants their share of biscotti that’s brought to Thanksgiving dinner.

every famous pastry chef is known for something:

Pierre Herme Macarons

Belinda Leong Kouign amann

Hironobu Fukano Angel Cake

So fudgebum Jaffa cakes cannot be “as good as it gets”. You’re just getting started!!!

 

[fudgebum]

Thank you, your biscotti must be amazing, I would like to give baking them a go at some point.

the reason why the Jaffa cakes are not quite right is that i am not able to spread the chocolate on top, I make an absolute mess of it. I have found the perfect chocolate to use though, Cadbury’s Bournville, the taste is perfect. I also find that after the Jaffa cakes are made, the chocolate seems to sweat which ruins them.

I have made some banana bread today and it has turned out really well, I have surprised myself.
I just absolutely love baking and everyday I can’t wait to get in the kitchen and try to create something. The only problem is there is only me and my other half and I can’t share my bakes with anybody right now, which means that we just have to eat them. Although I shouldn’t complain as a piece of cake cannot be beaten .

 

[retired baker]

Thank you, your biscotti must be amazing, I would like to give baking them a go at some point.

the reason why the Jaffa cakes are not quite right is that i am not able to spread the chocolate on top, I make an absolute mess of it. I have found the perfect chocolate to use though, Cadbury’s Bournville, the taste is perfect. I also find that after the Jaffa cakes are made, the chocolate seems to sweat which ruins them.

I have made some banana bread today and it has turned out really well, I have surprised myself.
I just absolutely love baking and everyday I can’t wait to get in the kitchen and try to create something. The only problem is there is only me and my other half and I can’t share my bakes with anybody right now, which means that we just have to eat them. Although I shouldn’t complain as a piece of cake cannot be beaten .

You need to add a bit of cocoa butter to the bournville to thin it out a bit.
Jaffa cakes can be a bit messy, I made some last summer, filled them with turkish delight.
For the base I made almond maccaroons, it worked good but is expensive.
I dipped them in callebaut with a small chunk of cocoa butter to thin it.
Your choc sweated because you put it in the refrigerator , right?
That usually happens, I temper my chocolate so it doesn't need chilling to set.

I have an old friend who was the chief engineer at Cadbury before he retired. Ron Sweeney.
I toured the factory with him one night when it was shut down for the day, they keep 6000 lbs of chocolate tempered 24 hrs a day.