Origami Pies

From the Amazing Mary-Anne Boermans amd something I will definitely try as it combines baking (current passion) and origami (childhood passion).

Time To Cook - Online

Wotchers!

The Festive Food recipe this week isn’t really a recipe, (What? No! Boo! Wot a swizz! We wuz robbed! etc.etc) it’s more of a ‘how to give a new twist to an old favourite’. After all, the Festive Season can be stressful enough without having to learn entirely new culinary creations. Its much easier on the cook to jazz up a firm family favourite with a little nifty pastry work and then be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the day itself. It’s an idea that everyone can adapt to their own festive requirements – pastry origami!

Behind the glamorous exterior, it’s basically a pie, or a tart, but a little pastry magic turns it into a thing of beauty. You can use any pastry you wish – the pictures here show the effects created by three different kinds of pastry. The top photograph shows mince pies made…

View original post 545 more words

Quiche Lorraine

I was wondering what to bake this weekend when the better half requested a quiche. Orders given, I dived into my recipe books to refresh my memory and check ingredients for my shopping list. I’m doing my normal trick of combining elements from different recipes and the pastry is adapted from Repentant Carnivores and the filling from the ever reliable Hairy Bikers. This recipe is made a little healthier by using a low fat pastry, half fat crème fraiche, and by trimming the rind from the bacon. A good job too as we tend to follow the Marjorie from Little Britain example, if it is half the fat you can eat twice as much! 😀

Makes 4-6 portions (or 3 if feeling particularly hungry)

Time 1 hour prep and 1 hour cooking

Practically Perfect Pancakes

Who doesn’t love a good pancake? Whether served with fruit and cream, chocolate, maple syrup or even the classic lemon and sugar, there are as many combinations as you can come up with. I must admit I prefer the British thin version to the American fluffy one and for ultimate elegance a French Crepe! This recipe is one I make every Sunday for my other half and me as a weekly treat and just makes the weekend a little more special. Originally this was a Saint Delia recipe but I have modified it over the years.

Makes 6 pancakes

 Time 30 mins

Chocolate Orange Marrow Cake

I was given an absolutely ma-hooo-sive marrow by my boss at work as she has marrows coming out of her ears. Never one to turn down free food I happily accepted and then came the issue of what the hell do you do with a marrow! After doing a bit of recipe hunting online I saw 2 recipes from Thrifty Household and BBCGoodFood (links below) that I liked the look of and took elements from each and the end result was this Chocolate Orange Marrow Cake.

 All in all we managed to get 3 meals worth out of this marrow! But the others were savoury dishes so therefore not as exciting as cake but may make an appearance on the blog if I get more marrows. (Also forgot to take a pic of the entire marrow and had already used a third).

Time 45 mins preparation, 45 mins bake

Makes 1 Loaf (12 slices)

Leamington Food Festival 2014

Last weekend was my favourite of the year as it is the local food festival. 2 whole days of yummy gorgeousness and this year I was joined in my endeavours by some of the fabulous ladies from @sundaybakeclub (a twitter group for amateur bakers who each week compete for the coveted golden spoon on a different baking challenge theme). After a bit of ‘Is that X?’ trying to recognise people from avatars we all me up and had a wonder around the festival.

Beer Review August 2014

Along with creating my blog this month I also joined Untappd a social network for beer lovers. In all honesty I joined just as a convenient way of logging beers I had tried rather than the social aspect, or at least that is what I tell myself as I have 0 friends on it.

I came across this site through some of the Beery people I follow on twitter and after a few teething problems (due to not having rebooted my tablet in months rather than the site itself) but I must mention the support from Untappd was fantastic! I wish the IT helpdesk at work was even half as efficient.

Nutella Star Bread

It’s bread week on #GBBO so as part of my BakeAlong and @SBCtakeover challenge I was looking for a bread recipe that would stand out. Not easy when there are so many talented bakers around and so many things you can do with bread. I saw someone had made a Nutella version of @richardpburr’s pesto pinwheel. After a bit of searching I found a couple of recipes online and yes it is a showstopper but I’m cooking for 2 not 8! (Although I would happily eat it all my waistline would probably complain) My smaller loaf still has the wow effect and even netted me a BakeTalk Golden Mixer award!

Nutella Star Bread

Time 30 mins preparation, 90 mins proving, 12 mins bake

Makes 1 loaf (serves 4)

Lemon and Blackberry Pinwheels

I love biscuits, well eating them anyway! Making my own is definitely not one of my specialties but if I am ever going to get on GBBO (and pigs have of course flown) then master them I must. I baked these lemon and blackberry pinwheels as part of the GBBO and @sbctakeover BakeAlong challenge and they turned out really well. The other half definitely enjoyed them considering how many he snaffled! Even more importantly they impressed the resident baking queen at work. (Just for clarification I am not talking about myself here) Recipe is adapted from BBC Good Food – Lemon Kisses.

Lemon and Blackberry Pinwheels

Time: Preparation 45 mins, Cooking 12 mins

Makes: 20 biscuits (or more if you slice thinner)

Welcome

Hello and welcome to beerandbaking.net

I am an amateur baker (emphasis on the amateur!) and sharing my adventures in the wonderful world of baked goods. Bread, cakes, tarts and pies and a few beer reviews as well. I am also experimenting with ways to make by beloved bakes at little bit healthier by reducing sugar and fat, but everything in moderation so there will be some absolute decadent recipes as well.

You can also follow me on twitter @beerandbaking

Low Fat Pasties

Recipe based on Repentant Carnivores Low fat pastry and Hairy Bikers for the filling. This works really well for pasties as it creates a really thin but strong pastry due to the bread flour. Also reheats beautifully in a microwave so I normally make sure there are extra to take to work the following day.

Time: Preparation 1 hr, Cooking 35-40 Mins

Makes: 4 pasties