I actually prefare to use my hand mixer for most of my cakes unless it's a big mix. I use the hand mixer for the butter, sugar and eggs then fold in the flour by hand.

AOh crikey think I won't tell hubby this mixer news as it was his present to me !

AJo I always mix wet ingredients first and then gradually add the dry mixing until just incorporated.

Not sure if that would help you?

I stick to three eggs too. Four eggs make mine dense

I always use one egg less than my sponge needs and put some water or milk in the mix.

I'm off to bed night 

ATry to put it out of your mind tonight jo. Go to bed, get some sleep and come back to it tomorrow.

I'm off to bed now as well, busy day for me tomorrow keeping two grouchy pensioners happy! Night all. :-)

AThat's interesting roxy. Is that what you mean Kuuushi? Use 3 eggs as opposed to the 4 your recipe calls for? I was confused when I read that.

AYes Maisie that's how I do it. If the recipe falls for water I always use milk too.

Bloody chest is killing me. Anyone got any idea how I can try to get rid of this cough? I'll try anything right about now!

AMorning

Kuuushi and Roxy I always use 4 eggs and my 8 inch cakes are never dense usually. I blame it all on the lemon juice, going to bake just half the mix and test with no juice just rind that way if it goes wrong I don't have too much waste.

I simply can't leave this unsolved !

Nanny well done on you 4 pounds off what's your secret? I desperately want to shift a few pounds before holiday but can't seem to loose an ounce. Running as well !

AMorning all.

Jo, I just out snacking, and stuck to portions, I'm a devil for a spoonful of this, a spoonful of that, love crisps, then a bottle of beer, all adds up. Once I'm determined I'm fine, its getting to that point tho, and not fitting into holiday dresses did it this time.

Jo I always use that recipe and same quantities, never add the juice, only the zest, beat it for 2 mins, never ever have probs with it, 8ozs and 4 eggs always gives me 2 nice size 8" rounds, gas 4 35mins.

AOK thanks Nanny I will keep you posted!

Yes me too I love crisps beer and worst of all wine ! Although to my dismay I ran twice last week and stayed off the wine etc and gained weight !! It's so depressing I only want to loose probably half a stone people at work say I'm crazy but if you don't feel happy with yourself you have to do something don't you. Thought about slimming world but a friend told me they won't probably take me ! Plus I only three weeks till holiday now ! Well done you though it's not easy to be good these days especially with all the baking we do :-)

AI know I am chuffed ax where I work in the Opticians, its a nightmare, theres been two huge and I mean huge boxes of Thornton choc in the last week alone from customers, not had one, and always there biccies, really naughty they are.

Jo I'm sure it was you who tried my method before, cant remember if it didn't work for you, I always do the same, put it ll in the Kenwood and beat for 2mins.

Morning!

 

Marvel, can't help with the buttercream because I use Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC). It's not stiff enough to use as a dam (you'd have to fortify it with icing sugar to make it stiff enough) and it doesn't crust. American buttercream is too sweet, I've never looked back after making SMBC. 

 

Jo, sorry I've not made a lemon cake for ages, I probably really should start making some in case I get an order! I've still got two bottles of lemon essence in my cupboard so will be using those up first, and probably just adding a bit of rind for a lovely flavour. I have saved Sweetapolita's lemon meringue recipe (you can omit the meringue) and was going to give it a try at some point: http://sweetapolita.com/2013/03/lemon-meringue-delight-cake/

 

Nanny, I meant to respond to your question about feedback. I really don't get much feedback at all. For the customers who I know, I send a text to say I hope the party went well and Alex/Suzie/Joe had a great time and leave it at that. I've tried not to fret when I don't get any feedback at all, but I'm sure we're all guilty of this at one point or another with any service that we get. I certainly never thought to contact the bakery that made my wedding cake to thank them and say the cake was lovely. We had a tasting so we knew the cake was going to be lovely. My only complaint was that the bride topper's hair didn't match mine, when I'd specifically asked them to make one with black hair. But I wasn't upset or bothered enough to complain, and I was shattered afterwards and just glad that everything on the day went well. I have to say, though, that if the cake was made by someone I knew, I'd definitely have thanked them afterwards and told them the cake was lovely, even if I'd already had a tasting!

Oh and Nanny, congrats on the weight loss!

AThanks Jean, I'll be nowhere near as slim as I'd like to be but at least I wont look like a beached whale, mind you saying that some of the states you see on hols, I have no worries, ha ha.

I did actually hear from her last night, she FB me, ad said she loved it and cant bring herself to cut it, now I made this cake Thursday, hope it still takes ok when she does cut it!!!

ADon't worry Nanny, the cake is sealed in buttercream and SP so should still taste fresh. I'd tell her to take lots of photos of the cake then eat it!!!

A"Someone else has quoted me this, but I'd prefer to use you, because your cakes are amazing."

So put your hand in your pockets and pay for it!! She wants a full-on Ace-of-Cakes-worthy bake, but doesn't want to pay more than £50.

*head desk*

Jo - I have lemon extract - it's not as good as the real thing but less liquid if you use the lemon zest.  Also - you could do a drizzle of lemon syrup once baked???  I am no good with the science - wish I was to be honest as it sounds so impressive!  I never put milk in my sponge mixes - my granny used to and then, when they were a hard lump - she said "it's the milk that does it!" Lol.

 

M4rvel - this person is taking the proverbial......mind, it will be good practice for you since your cakes are amazing and people just love to think they can get a bargain.  Why is that?  Cheapskates.

 

Barbara - forgot to say well done on the diet - it's so hard to lose weight any way let alone when there are chocolates and other tempting goodies around.

 

Kathy

Marvel, don't feel down about it. People just have no idea how much cakes cost and how much labour is involved. Just send an email back to say the cake itself will cost £x and that's just for ingredients, cake board etc and that's the end of it. Also give her an idea what kind of cake she can get for £50. When you start charging for labour- well, it gets worse I'm afraid because your cakes will double/triple in price. Hang in there though, best to expect these kinds of emails but keep your cool head on when responding back :)

AMorning all :-)

Poor you kuuushi. My mum would always force honey down us when we had a cough. I hate to admit it as it was gross, but it did help. Especially that ridiculously expensive manuka one...

Well done nanny! That's brilliant! I've lost the same 3kg for the last year or so :-)

Roxy, I don't know if you've got the same, but mine is sciatica and degenerative discs. I was in pain ALL the time, particularly the sciatica, but since this fab physio it's more just a niggle with occasional flares. She doesn't 'work' me like you see in the films, she's literally just been pushing on a certain area on my back. It was far too painful for her to touch where it actually hurt, but I'm not exaggerating when I say she did one session passing on that area for 3x1minute goes, and my leg felt better than it had for years. I actually cried because the pain had lessened so much.

If you feel your physio isn't listening/helping, ask for a different one. I wish I had, I might have had this one two years ago. Both the other ones I had just told me they needed to work where the pain was, so I would tense up and leave worse than I came in. I know it's different for everyone but if you know there might be other options at least you can ask!

My friend was like you maisie, she couldn't do what she was told she had to. Her physio told her to stop walking the dog, stop playing with the kids , get a housekeeper and give up work. She wasn't even joking. When my friend said that was impossible she was told that the physio couldn't help her anymore.

I've told you about my aunt's cake haven't I nanny? Gave it to her for her 70th,she's about 82 now and according to my mum it's still in her display cabinet, completely intact, albeit a bit dusty!

AI wouldn't even bother justifying yourself M4rvel. As soon as you do that you look like you're apologising for the price. And this comes from someone who used to end every quote with 'if that's ok?' I still have to stop myself doing that :-D

Jo, I use lemon zest and juice but I do find it needs extra cooking. It's not dense unless I underestimate the time needed. I find with lemon that it feels done but then needs another few mins! I also make a sugar syrup using lemon juice rather than water, which gives a lovely tang and extra boost of flavour.

A

I've done all of that... ;)

A spent a few years in PR at a very large and very well-known energy company. I'm well-versed in staying polite when inside I am raging... ;)

AIs it me, or does covering the board make a MASSIVE difference?

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3270108/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

ANope, not just you, I have to cover them. It's really grated on me the couple of times I've been asked to leave them plain.

AFab cake though!

A[quote name="kuuushi" url="/t/622656/a-thread-for-all-uk-bakers/14670#post_7539467"]Is it me, or does covering the board make a MASSIVE difference?

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3270108/width/200/height/400[/IMG][/quote]

It makes such a difference. I look back at earlier cakes where I didn't cover or ribbon the board and positively cringe now!

A

Agreed! You gonna have a go kuuushi?

AOMG lizzy it really bugs me! I've been asked to leave a board plain soon and to write a message on it because she wants it silver underneath.

GRR :lol:

A

Ooh not yet! I'm going to have a go at a smaller carved cake before I go that big. It's definitely on my radar though!

AAAAAHHHHH, SO EXCITED!

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3270109/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

I had the remaining half of the payment for one of my August cakes and I was very naughty and used some of it for this!

I can't try it yet though as our floor currently looks like this [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3270111/width/200/height/400[/IMG] so we're back to an inch of dust :-(