4.3.2.1…Let’s bake a cake!

Hi all!

I missed you!
Now there’s a reason for my disappearing act…I was studying up on cake science. Yup, not cake making but cake science.
My mum has an awesome recipe for butter cake. Sometimes she makes it up to be an orange cake or a chocolate cake or her favourite a sweet cornmeal cake! A bit dense but always yummy, moist and always sticky on top which I love!
It always works and it’s damn easy. So where’s the problem then you ask?
Well it’s great if you have a huge 30cm rectangular cake tin which I don’t. I end up making a 25cm round tin and a smaller 18 cm round tin which always comes out flatter 😦

Trying to adjust cup size portions is also a nightmare!

And bakers come out with cakes all the time so surely there must be a way of understanding “cake” and then play around to get the size and results you want, right?

Also there’s a great Germans chocolate cake recipe that I want to make. I made it before but the cake recipe itself is tricky, extremely thin batter and time consuming so if I get the understanding cake bit right then maybe I can make an easier chocolate cake for my Germans chocolate cake too!

Germans chocolate cake: My first attempt

So here are the pics from my first endeavour and I’ll be sharing how my next steps go!

Day 1 was the ratios part and it’s here in tips and tricks.

Day 2 was sweet cornmeal and orange cake. I’ve posted the Orange tea-time cake & soon to come the sweet cornmeal cake!

Sweet cornmeal cake

Orange tea-time cake

Day 3 was tasting :))))) They were yummy!!!!

And day 4 (i.e today) will be….I’m not sure yet!!! I’ll Keep you posted!

Cheers!

Easy “Caramel” Dulce De Leche

Dulce de leche, is a really beautiful topping similar to a caramel with a lovely smooth and creamy consistency. I know dulce de leche is made in several ways, this just happens to be an extremely easy way to make it. It takes a bit of time, but you are not really doing anything, just babysitting the can a bit to make sure its always covered with water, that’s all. Perfect for my Banoffee Pie.  

What you need:

1 can condensed sweetened milk

1 deep pot Water

1 deep pan & spatula, whisk or biggish spoon.

How:

1. Place your can of condensed milk, after removing the wrapper, in the pot and cover it with water. 
2. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down so its simmering.  
3. Boil/Simmer for 3 hours, topping up with water every once in a while (check every half hour or so) to always keep it submerged. It can literally explode if it’s not covered with water. Dangerous and seriously messy!
4. After the 3 hours, turn off the heat and let the can cool so you can handle it.
5. Open the can & voila! Lovely creamy Dulce De Leche! 
6. To use: Tip into a deep pan & place on a low heat and stir/whisk till its smooth.
7. If you don’t want to use it straight away, just store it in the fridge unopened or opened and tipped into a sterile jar till ready to use.

How to de-pip kalamata olives in a few minutes!

Taking olives wa7da wa7da to cut open with a knife is boring and tiresome! And if you have 1/2 a kilo or a kilo to do its just terrible!!! So here’s a quick and easy way to get you done in minutes!

1. Place the olives in a plastic bag – 2 or 3 handfuls – and tie up. Pat them down into a single layer. (If you are doing a big quantity then just repeat this process 2 or 3 times – my half kilo was done in 2) 
2. Get something heavy like a meat pounder, 2eed hon (mortar), rolling pin and bash the olives lightly, you want to open them, not make a puree! Go around the bag feeling with your finger tips to make sure they are all bashed. 
3. This is how they look when you open the bag:

Finished product! I did this half kilo in less than 10 minutes!