I once tried making a Victoria sponge. Two hours in the oven and it was still liquid (yes the oven was on). I think j you can either cook a good curry or a good cake. I'm a curry cooker. I'm messy and imprecise. Bakers are about detail. WHO HAS TIME FOR DETAIL WHEN THERE IS CAKE TO BE EATEN?!
In life I'm fairly chaotic, but I can bake. But I can't make a decent curry at all. I totally agree. I don't know anyone who can do both. You may have cracked a secret of the universe.
Baking parchment. Either wet it and scrunch it into a ball; when you unscrunch it it is more amenable to fitting inside the tin. Or cut the corners diagonally (about an inch deep) and the thing will fit better (assuming you’re using a square or rectangular tin). If round tin make the square paper into a round one to cover the bottom of the tin. Confession time: I buy ready-formed tin liners
As for the dessert trolley, I remember Arctic Roll being popular. The ice cream was alright, but goodness me the sponge they wrapped it in was foul. You wouldn't clean round your bath with it, let alone eat it!
My mum clearly went to the same cookery school as your Mum. She'd buy those packet cake mixes that were supposed to be dead simple and find fascinating new ways to ruin them. Indeed my dad used to tell us he took slices to work to use as chocks to stop lorries rolling down hills. Looking back this seems unlikely as (1) Norfolk isn't blessed with hills and (2) lorries are usually driven by people conscientious enough to use a handbrake or suchlike. She found her talent 'baking' yule logs, i.e. spreading chocolate icing over bought swiss rolls.
Ooooooh I love baking. Slightly above amateur, but not even close to Bake Off level. OH AND I AM CAPSLOCK LEVEL EXCITED THAT BAKE OFF IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When lining a tin, I use the pre-cut parchment sheets, pressing them into the pan and then making creases in the corners. These kind of stick into the batter sometimes, but I or my friends don't care. My default saying is it's not pretty but it tastes good.
Ice Magic I guess is known as Magic Shell in the US, which I loved growing up. Now that I see how horribly unhealthy it is, I rarely buy it, but it has a flavor unlike any other.
The concept of a sick bowl blows my mind. For us, it was a towel on your bed, or hope you make it to the toilet. I'm more grossed out by the thought of vomiting into a bowl than vomiting itself.
I didn't know the family sick bowl was not universal. While I sort of agree that it's better to throw up on a towel than in somewhere that you mix cake batter, towels are not waterproof! And they do not have edges that contain stuff! On reflection, the best solution is a bucket so I think I'll buy one.
Love this! I also only recently found out about icing sugar being tiny normal sugar, and the reason I found out is because I googled “does it matter if I use granulated sugar instead of caster sugar” and was met with the astonishing answer that caster sugar is just smaller granulated sugar, and icing sugar is even smaller again. Who knew?!? Surely they should be teaching this stuff at school!!!
We went on a very similar journey! There are probably thousands of us. They should definitely teach this kind of stuff in schools now and also put it on the news so adults can know.
The poor bunny! I made a lime jelly (in a basic non-animal mould) for my son's 4th birthday party and it was a huge success. They really should become popular again.
I remember working from home 10 years ago because my then 3 year old was ill. She fell asleep on my study floor, and I sent a photo to a friend at work saying "At least I can get some work done now". She replied saying "Remind me never to eat any of your baking". It was only then that it occurred to me that using the mixing bowl (which was in the photo I sent next to my sleeping daughter) as the sick bowl was obviously a bit disgusting. So pleased to hear it's normal....
That icing sugar fact is insane. Are all the sugars the same thing just presented differently?
Haha! We really all need to have an exclusively for sick bowl.
And yes the icing sugar thing is crazy. It makes me wonder if caster sugar is just finer granulated sugar and just writing this makes me think it almost certainly is.
I loved angel delight but my go-to was tinned puddings: rice, sago, tapioca. My Mum was a prolific baker. Every Sunday she made cakes, pies, scones etc. I love scones now but was recently admonished for my apparent mispronunciation of the word. I asked for a scone (sc-on) in a Waterstones cafe but the server didn’t understand me. I repeated myself several times and then pointed at one. “Ah. You’d like a scone (sc-own) then? Why do you call them scones (sc-ons)?” I guess I’m just an ignorant northerner!
We also had the Mr Men cook book! And I think we also only ever made those nauseating peppermint creams - the mixture of concentrated sugar and toxic chemical essence which has to be one of the defining tastes of the 1970's. I may have attempted the jam roly poly, I have a vague memory of that, but it certainly wasn't even slightly successful.
Chocolate flavour Angel Delight was my go-to dessert, and one of the best things about going away to university was being able to eat a whole packet by myself. That's the kind of adulting I can get behind! My friend and I used to bake vanilla slices, but only ever at her house as her parents had puff pastry in their freezer, and I don't think mine knew what that was. They also bought those big Viennetta ice cream blocks, a sure sign of their superior social sophistication.
Oh that’s so funny that it was just peppermint creams for you too. I think the others must’ve been way too complicated. And definitely too complicated for my mum.
I think chocolate was my second favourite Angel Delight. And we definitely need Vienetta on the dream dessert trolley. Maybe also some ice cream with some Ice Magic on top.
Yes, ice magic! Yet another toxic mixture of Tomorrow's World chemicals that tasted amazing. I tried and failed to find it for my kids, maybe it died the sad death of EU health and safety laws.
I once tried making a Victoria sponge. Two hours in the oven and it was still liquid (yes the oven was on). I think j you can either cook a good curry or a good cake. I'm a curry cooker. I'm messy and imprecise. Bakers are about detail. WHO HAS TIME FOR DETAIL WHEN THERE IS CAKE TO BE EATEN?!
In life I'm fairly chaotic, but I can bake. But I can't make a decent curry at all. I totally agree. I don't know anyone who can do both. You may have cracked a secret of the universe.
This is such an interesting theory as while I can’t bake, I’m okay with a curry.
Baking parchment. Either wet it and scrunch it into a ball; when you unscrunch it it is more amenable to fitting inside the tin. Or cut the corners diagonally (about an inch deep) and the thing will fit better (assuming you’re using a square or rectangular tin). If round tin make the square paper into a round one to cover the bottom of the tin. Confession time: I buy ready-formed tin liners
Hold on... ready-formed tin liners? Why don't I know about this kind of stuff?!
Baking is a dark art….
😂
Brilliant, I never knew that about wetting and scrunching it!
As for the dessert trolley, I remember Arctic Roll being popular. The ice cream was alright, but goodness me the sponge they wrapped it in was foul. You wouldn't clean round your bath with it, let alone eat it!
Arctic roll! All the way from the North Pole! Delicious (apart from the sponge).
My mum clearly went to the same cookery school as your Mum. She'd buy those packet cake mixes that were supposed to be dead simple and find fascinating new ways to ruin them. Indeed my dad used to tell us he took slices to work to use as chocks to stop lorries rolling down hills. Looking back this seems unlikely as (1) Norfolk isn't blessed with hills and (2) lorries are usually driven by people conscientious enough to use a handbrake or suchlike. She found her talent 'baking' yule logs, i.e. spreading chocolate icing over bought swiss rolls.
😂 Very much like your dad’s teasing/ridiculing.
Ooooooh I love baking. Slightly above amateur, but not even close to Bake Off level. OH AND I AM CAPSLOCK LEVEL EXCITED THAT BAKE OFF IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When lining a tin, I use the pre-cut parchment sheets, pressing them into the pan and then making creases in the corners. These kind of stick into the batter sometimes, but I or my friends don't care. My default saying is it's not pretty but it tastes good.
Ice Magic I guess is known as Magic Shell in the US, which I loved growing up. Now that I see how horribly unhealthy it is, I rarely buy it, but it has a flavor unlike any other.
The concept of a sick bowl blows my mind. For us, it was a towel on your bed, or hope you make it to the toilet. I'm more grossed out by the thought of vomiting into a bowl than vomiting itself.
I didn't know the family sick bowl was not universal. While I sort of agree that it's better to throw up on a towel than in somewhere that you mix cake batter, towels are not waterproof! And they do not have edges that contain stuff! On reflection, the best solution is a bucket so I think I'll buy one.
Love this! I also only recently found out about icing sugar being tiny normal sugar, and the reason I found out is because I googled “does it matter if I use granulated sugar instead of caster sugar” and was met with the astonishing answer that caster sugar is just smaller granulated sugar, and icing sugar is even smaller again. Who knew?!? Surely they should be teaching this stuff at school!!!
We went on a very similar journey! There are probably thousands of us. They should definitely teach this kind of stuff in schools now and also put it on the news so adults can know.
Not baking, but I’m still traumatised by novelty jelly moulds in the 70s. I never knew where to cut the poor blancmange bunny!
The poor bunny! I made a lime jelly (in a basic non-animal mould) for my son's 4th birthday party and it was a huge success. They really should become popular again.
I remember working from home 10 years ago because my then 3 year old was ill. She fell asleep on my study floor, and I sent a photo to a friend at work saying "At least I can get some work done now". She replied saying "Remind me never to eat any of your baking". It was only then that it occurred to me that using the mixing bowl (which was in the photo I sent next to my sleeping daughter) as the sick bowl was obviously a bit disgusting. So pleased to hear it's normal....
That icing sugar fact is insane. Are all the sugars the same thing just presented differently?
Haha! We really all need to have an exclusively for sick bowl.
And yes the icing sugar thing is crazy. It makes me wonder if caster sugar is just finer granulated sugar and just writing this makes me think it almost certainly is.
Icing sugar is just ground up normal sugar. What!!!
I know!!
I loved angel delight but my go-to was tinned puddings: rice, sago, tapioca. My Mum was a prolific baker. Every Sunday she made cakes, pies, scones etc. I love scones now but was recently admonished for my apparent mispronunciation of the word. I asked for a scone (sc-on) in a Waterstones cafe but the server didn’t understand me. I repeated myself several times and then pointed at one. “Ah. You’d like a scone (sc-own) then? Why do you call them scones (sc-ons)?” I guess I’m just an ignorant northerner!
I’d expect better from a Waterstones cafe!
We also had the Mr Men cook book! And I think we also only ever made those nauseating peppermint creams - the mixture of concentrated sugar and toxic chemical essence which has to be one of the defining tastes of the 1970's. I may have attempted the jam roly poly, I have a vague memory of that, but it certainly wasn't even slightly successful.
Chocolate flavour Angel Delight was my go-to dessert, and one of the best things about going away to university was being able to eat a whole packet by myself. That's the kind of adulting I can get behind! My friend and I used to bake vanilla slices, but only ever at her house as her parents had puff pastry in their freezer, and I don't think mine knew what that was. They also bought those big Viennetta ice cream blocks, a sure sign of their superior social sophistication.
Oh that’s so funny that it was just peppermint creams for you too. I think the others must’ve been way too complicated. And definitely too complicated for my mum.
I think chocolate was my second favourite Angel Delight. And we definitely need Vienetta on the dream dessert trolley. Maybe also some ice cream with some Ice Magic on top.
Yes, ice magic! Yet another toxic mixture of Tomorrow's World chemicals that tasted amazing. I tried and failed to find it for my kids, maybe it died the sad death of EU health and safety laws.
Yes my first thought was that it had been banned.