Frances Bakes

Gerhard’s Masterclass, Konditor & Cook

Posted on September 13, 2015 by francesray28

so on Friday I had a very exciting day experiencing a whole day full of cake! I went to the Konditor and Cook masterclass run by its founder, Gerhard Jenne. There was a small class of 4 and we experienced a 4D introduction to the history of the company, complete with our own tasters:

We then used marzipan to make roses and animals, followed by a trip to the local shop to choose our lunch and see,inside the kitchen. We also brought back a,,selection of cakes for dessert! The Strawberry Heaven was amazing; like a mix of Eton Mess in a slice.

After lunch we were taught how,to make our own piping bags and decorated some biscuits:

We also sampled the cake that they are putting on the menu for Christmas.

We then got to decorate a curly whirly cake using the techniques we’d learnt.

I used a spiral theme for mine. I had to rope my sister and her boyfriend into meeting me for a picnic in the park afterwards to eat up some of the supplies. Plus, I still have half a cake to take into work tomorrow….

Posted in Biscuits, Cakes | Tagged curly whirly, decorate, gerhard, konditor and cook | Leave a comment

Pimms cupcakes

Posted on August 16, 2015 by francesray28

As it’s nearing the end of summer (or so it seems by the weather anyway) I thought I should make some of these pimms cupcakes before it’s too late.

We’re having a sweepstake at work on the Great Britiish Bake-off and as my contestant went out last week 😞 it means I have to bake for everyone at work.

Alcoholic cupcakes always go down well & Lakeland had a good recipe. I adapted the icing recipe and made half of the icing strawberry flavoured (by heating strawberries and sugar until softened, pushing them through a sieve and then adding to the buttercream once the mixture was cold). I then used a special duo colour icing kit, sold by Lakeland http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16656/Lakeland-Duo-Colour-Icing-Kit to pipe in 2 colours. I’ll finish them off with a slice of strawberry and some mint.

Here’s the recipe if you want to give them a go:

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/r80625/Pimms-Cupcakes

Can’t wait for Pimms o’clock!!

Posted in Cupcakes | Tagged cupcakes, great british bakeoff, pimms | Leave a comment

Smarties cookies

Posted on August 2, 2015 by francesray28

I was going to make some summer berry cookies, however there were no summer berries in the shop 😔

So you’ll have to make do with smarties instead!

Here’s Rachel Allen’s recipe:

Click to access Bake_a_Smile_Celebrity_Receipes.pdf

And the cookies;

Posted in Biscuits | Tagged cookies, smarties | Leave a comment

Spinach roulade with cream cheese and pepper

Posted on August 2, 2015 by francesray28

I fancied making something summery and healthy for dinner so opted for a spinach roulade. My Dad often makes one with cottage cheese in the middle, though this one has cream cheese.

Here’s the recipe if you fancy giving it a go yourself:

http://www.food.com/recipe/spinach-roulade-with-cream-cheese-peppers-315529

Here it is prior to being rolled up:

And complete:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged roulade, spinach | Leave a comment

Zucchini bread

Posted on July 26, 2015 by francesray28

I’m trying to make this sound healthy as it has vegetables in it….!!

I made 2 loaf cakes from this recipe so there’ll be no fighting over who gets to have some 😊

Here’s the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-zucchini-bread/

And the finished articles….

Posted in Cakes | Tagged loaf, zucchini | 1 Comment

Chocolate chip muffins

Posted on July 19, 2015 by francesray28

For something quick and easy I made chocolate chip cookies with milk and dark chips:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/640645/chocolate-chip-muffins

Posted in Muffins | Tagged chocolate | 1 Comment

English scones

Posted on July 19, 2015 by francesray28

My friends are having a party – Aussie BBQ meets English garden party, so I’m making scones to take along to represent the English side.

With whipped cream and strawberry jam these tasted delicious and were quickly demolished!
I used the Queen of Baking, Mary Berry’s recipe:

http://www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/baking/devonshire-scones

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged mary berry, scones | 1 Comment

Strawberry and white chocolate muffins

Posted on July 12, 2015 by francesray28

To be seasonal, and with it being the Wimbledon finals weekend, I decided to make some muffins with strawberries in. These are Kentish strawberries from the Garden of England, my home county.

Here’s the recipe – Let’s hope they taste good!

http://www.bakingmad.com/white-chocolate-strawberry-centre-muffins-recipe/

Posted in Muffins | Tagged Muffins, strawberry, white chocolate | Leave a comment

Spinach, feta & sun-dried tomato muffins

Posted on July 5, 2015 by francesray28

As a change from the usual sweet baking repertoire I decided to make some savoury muffins today.

These taste great warm from the oven but are also really good for taking on a summer picnic. If I’d been organised I would have made them yesterday and taken them for our picnic at Henley Regatta.

Here’s the recipe for you to make your own:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12981/spinach+feta+muffins