A few months ago, gripped by baking fever, I purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible. I quickly decided to embark upon a mission to bake everything in the book, and turn myself from an occasional baker into a bit of an expert. My Grandad Ern was a Master Baker by trade; the man responsible for introducing Danish Pastries to England in fact, and I wish it had occurred to me to spend more time learning from him, rather than simply enjoying the fruits of his effortless labours. This project is almost a way of making amends for that; I'd like to follow in his footsteps (if not in my career, at least as a hobby) and continue the proud heritage of baking in my family.
I credit my friend Rachel with the idea to write a blog about my baking exploits, hoping that there will be more successes than failures as I attempt all 213 of the Queen of Baking's recipes.
So as not to bore the husband with a monotonous diet of sponges, followed by weeks of biscuits, I've decided to tackle the recipes by selecting the first bake from each chapter, followed by the second recipe and so on. I'm not going to pick and choose; I'm determined to face my baking demons and learn how to do everything baking-related, even if the consequences are disastrous!
Everything will be photographed, with comment about how I found baking it, and a husband rating (to be taken with a pinch of salt as he has a very selective cake-tooth).


Tuesday, 6 March 2012

8. Chocolate Crispies

I'm being naughty. I've got a challenging cake to make and I keep finding myself making other things from my first 'section' instead! I'm keen to bake every week, but I've been too busy to devote the time to anything serious, so I sought solace in the kids' section and made these instead. They're probably one of the easiest things to knock out (apart from the faff with the golden syrup), but I managed to bodge them up a bit by using the wrong type of chocolate. The recipe book was at home; I was in the supermarket; they were intended for my A Level students; I bought milk chocolate instead of dark. Didn't think it would matter too much until I melted it with the syrup and butter and it started to go all grainy and sort of claggy. It was actually quite difficult to work with once I tipped the cornflakes in. I couldn't really coat the cornflakes very well; the chocolate seemed to start re-setting quite quickly. I think I'm gradually learning a few more things about ingredients and chemical reactions! I definitely need to do something about my bun cases as well: they don't fit the tin and this makes putting mixture into them a pain in the backside.
Baker's verdict: really easy to make, but the wrong type of chocolate caused problems. Tasted pretty good though.
Husband rating: 6.5/10 - very tasty with a good texture but not the most attractive crispies.
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