Tuesday 13 August 2013

A couple of handy tips

Erratic Internet connection make me a bad blogger of late, but I'd just thought I'd fill you in on a couple of handy tips I picked up a couple of weekends back.

I was making a bit of Afternoon Tea for my running buddy and her daughter, which we enjoyed in the garden on another scorching hot day.  This time I cheated slightly and used some of the scones I had made for this spread from Mary Berry's Baking Bible



The recipe made about 25 scones, so I had frozen a load.  As suggested by my Mum, I took the required amount out of the freezer and left them to defrost.  Just before they were required, I popped about 8 on a plate and pinged them in the microwave on high for 20 seconds.  They were perfectly refreshed and delicious with clotted cream and homemade blackcurrant & gooseberry jam.

I also made another batch of Mary's Lavender Biscuits.  I baked up half the amount of biscuit dough and put the other half in the freezer (wrapped in baking parchment and then in a freezer bag )for another tea party, all ready to slice and bake.  I plan to try the biscuit recipe with some freeze-dried raspberries instead of the lavender, but more on that another time.



Some lemon cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and a lemon & poppy seed cake from The Bodyfoods Cookbook topped it all off with a nice cuppa tea!

According to the Hummingbird blog, cupcakes with fruit, fruit puree or juice in them never rise as much as those that don't.  A handy tip to know.  All the more excuse to put added frosting on top.

Happy baking!