Boredom Solver & First time!

Present Solution …

So as I was driving home from Sheffield yesterday morning I was thinking what can I do for my father in law's birthday. I mean we had already gotten him a present and card, but I was feeling creative! So as I was tootling along the M1 bored and a bit tired I remembered I'd seen some new coloured fondant icing in Tesco … hmmm Lightbulb moment!

Having no shame in having limited funds, I paid a quick visit to Waitrose and then Tesco's where I brought Cake mix (2 Vanilla & 1 Chocolate), Red Food Colouring, Quick Cake Release (which is the cheats way of greasing a cake tin), coloured ready made fondant and white fondant icing, and some vanilla ready mixed butter cream.

All of these are a heaven send for those with limited time on their hands as well, and you can alter the mixes and variations anyway. With the Chocolate mix it requires 2 x Eggs and 8 tbsp of water well I substituted 2 tbsp for red food colouring and hey presto you have red velvet as thats all it is! And the red looks amazing next to the creamy vanilla sponge when they are all stacked on top of each other.

Virgin moment …

Now the reason this was a massive moment for me was the fact that again my previous experience of sponge making is its a nightmare and dealing with icing well a few choice words are normally screamed from the top of my lungs. But this time whether maybe because I was using cake mix? Or the fondant was already made up it worked lovely.

I happily kneaded and mixed the fondants to make different colours again as I had once done back in my Nan's kitchen. I made my figures and I baked my cake, I even managed to stack them and attempt to cover it. OK so it looked a bit lumpy but first attempt with no smoothing tools or previous tutoring with any of it. Not bad (I may say so myself anyway). No in fact the most traumatic part of this situation was driving the finished product to my boyfriends parents house, an average speed of 30 mph and a long queue of traffic behind me I got there just, quick fix before getting it out the car, and he was absolutely amazed and love it! And it didn't taste that bad either :) Needless to say there was none left when I came home last night.

Claire x

The WHOOPIE! Goodness

A Small History lesson …

The origin of a Whoopie Pie is thought to be from Amish women who would bake these desserts (known as hucklebucks at the time) and put them in farmers' or lunch boxes. When farmers would find the treats in their lunch, they would shout "Whoopie!" It is thought that the original Whoopie pies may have also been made from cake batter leftovers. The whoopie pie is the official state treat of Maine, although it appears though that German immigrants brought the predecessor of the Whoopie Pie to communities throughout the northeast.

The Book that started it all for me though is 'The Whoopie Pie Book' by Claire Ptak, the owner of Violet Bakery in London. This book is amazing and will never leave my kitchen! And a trip to her bakery is top of my list of things to do.


My First attempt …

Well the photo say's it all and the fact that my friend at work loved it so much and felt threatened by everyone else she ate it whole (and yes it did fit) but it led me to make more and more and more! Although it wasn't all plain sailing! I still have not managed to master the chocolate chip Whoopies with their Chocolate Marshmallow filling … they are my arch-enemy and they are always peoples favorites which is TYPICAL!!! Although again that is the amazing thing with the book, instead of telling you to hunt high and low for Marshmallow fluff it tells you how to make it yourself! Although patience is needed if it goes wrong. I have shed many tears over this stuff now and still can get it wrong quite badly! But as I always remember the golden words from my nan "If at first you don't succeed! Chuck it out and start again!" and that's the thing it may not be cheap and trying to get hold of buttermilk is a mission in this country, but the results and seeing how people literally do want to say 'Whoopie' is why I do it. It is pure satisfaction.

Claire x

New Hobby? New Venture? My Introduction

Baking History …

Well I've always loved to bake … it's something I remember from my childhood vividly the time spent with my nan in her kitchen whenever we would visit her. It was one of the main activities in which my little sister and me would be stood on kitchen chairs either side of her as she gave us the ingredients to pour into the mixer.

A New Chapter …

I never thought I'd bake again (as dramatic as that sounds) but to be honest I was never that good with it until this year! I brought a new cook book but the difference was this was a whoopie pie cook book. It seemed to be around the time I was unsure of the world. I'd been in my current job for just under a year and was faced with the threat of redundancy something many are facing country wide. But whilst stood in the supermarket in a daze this book caught my eye, and I put it in my basket and took it home. I read it cover to cover numerous times and felt excited at the thought of baking the numerous recipes, even book marking the main ones that I wanted to try.

My new found Passion …

I'd only had a Whoopie Pie before which my sister and I had brought from M&S years ago before the cupcake boom took off! But stood in my mum's kitchen and baking them was a nerve racking experience. My previous attempts at baking on my own had always dramatically failed! But this was working? I couldn't understand it! They actually looked like the photos in the book, and tasted nice, they weren't sticky messes, they weren't burnt, they didn't taste funny … they were as they were suppose to be!

Now for the guinea pigs! I carefully piled them up onto 2 plates and took them off to work (leaving some for my mum and dad to try as well) within an hour there were non left … and people were fighting over them. And then asking when the next lot were coming in, now I would argue taking in free cakes to any office and they would disappear. But I'd never had that response before with any food I've taken in to share. One colleague took some home for her girls and another took 2 home for his girlfriend and himself (then complained the next day she had eaten both! So therefore I had to make more as it wasn't fair!)

The Future …

So then I got the baking bug! I wanted to bake all the time and different flavors and everything!
I suddenly had that enjoyment from when I was a child, and I wanted to make them for everyone else! So now I've decided what I bake and make I will share with everyone! What inspires me I want to share as well.

Claire x