A Thread For All Uk Bakers!!

Decorating By hailinguk Updated 25 Aug 2017 , 10:29am by Magic Mouthfuls

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nannycook Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:02am
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bashini Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:05am
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ARoxylee, your cakes is amazing!!!:)

Regarding the dome of the cake, I use a flower nail and bake in 140c / 140c fan assisted. Another thing is it use bake even strips around the tin but they are pricey. Alternately you can use old towel, cut into strips wet them but not soaking wet and attach it around the cake. But this, I haven't tried. The other two I have.

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maisie73 Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:19am
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AMorning all. :-)

Siany, I love that hat!

Roxylee, that cake is stunning! I love the tablecloth and the board and the little teaset, I love it all. I don't believe for a second you can't make a caterpillar!

Jo, I'd definitely recommend the flex edge beater. They're about £20-£25 I think, shop around, they do vary in price. The cheapest I've seen is ebay but I got mine from QVC. Not the best price but they've got a no quibble 30 day money back guarantee, really good if you're trying something you're not sure about.

Can't remember who asked about doming but I do what Kathy does, cool them upside down. Well, I do that if I'm trying to be on a diet! If I'm not I quite like a dome! :-D

Jo, did you ask how old my daughter is? She's 14 (15 this month, 2 cakes to make, one for home, one for school!) but she's disabled so she's about 3 in her head. I've got a 19 year old alien, oops, I mean teenaged boy as well!

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DaysCakes Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:43am
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Stupid question alert:  re this flower nail thingy that you put in your cakes - at what point do you put them in?  See - told you it was a stupid question.....

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roxylee123 Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:50am
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Thanks everyone for the lovely comments and for the tips on doming. I have recently started using flower nails and do cool them upside down I think maybe I need to turn my oven down a bit.I have always had a gas oven but got myself a range cooker about 6 months ago when my very old gas cooker started to not cook properly and it is an electric fan oven which I have never had before. What temp does everyone use for a sponge cake in electric fan ovens. I split the cake between 2 tins to bake.

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roxylee123 Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:52am
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Dayscakes the flower nail goes in the tin then pour your mix in, and its not a stupid question.

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Jo Field Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:55am
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Hi Days cakes, I'm not sure flower nail all together that great tbh it didn't work for me on my large mix that ended in disaster. Also after one use it has rusted !! You put it upside down like an upside down drawing pin and pearce it through your baking paper then easily removed after.

 

Maisie, bless her I'm sure she loves mummys cakes though :-) As for the 19 year old Alien I do sympathise ! I find putting wet cut up towels really good but a bit faffy would like to buy the strips really but have spent soooo much lately on kit I can't really justify it! 

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roxylee123 Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:55am
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I've just noticed Bashini had already answered my question on oven temperature thanks Bashini.

 

Nanny that teal is a lovely colour.

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roxylee123 Posted 2 May 2014 , 8:58am
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I have looked at the bake even strips a few times they have mixed reviews has anyone on here used them?

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chasingmytail Posted 2 May 2014 , 9:16am
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Quote:

Originally Posted by roxylee123 
 

Has anyone got any tips to reduce doming on top of cakes, I do the making a dent in the middle of the mixture but still get a dome. I tried putting a damp cloth on top as soon as it comes out of the oven and gently pressing it down and it worked but sometimes I forget with doing other things. I read about making your own bake easy strips with a towel and putting this around the tin (damp of course) to help them bake more even anyone tried this or have any easier suggestions. 

With doming it can mean either the tin is too small, temp too high try 160 deg or the edges are cooking too fast.  I make foil wraps made strong with reused brown envelopes and hold with string this in essence blocks the edges from setting too quick hence the dome.

 

Put less in a tin and make sandwich layers instead.  Certain recipes I have dome like my rich chocolate fudge but I still get a great rise so all I do is cut it off.  

 

I find many recipes are flawed and not great tasting.  My basic recipe is the BBC good food basic vanilla cake (change to lemon, orange etc), Tracys cakes chocolate fudge cake, Tracys maderia, Mich turner coconut.

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maisie73 Posted 2 May 2014 , 9:26am
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ALovely teal colour nanny. Spot on I'd say and I'm well versed in all things teal, it's the colouscheme for my stepsons wedding!

Roxylee I've never used bake even strips or flower nails or anything like that. I use newspaper when I'm making fruitcake because that's what my gran taught me but anything else just goes in a greased tin with the base lined. The only cake I've ever had trouble with was a gluten free mix in a giant cupcake tin and I think that was more to do with the mix than the deep tin. Maybe I'm lucky cos my gran taught me to bake, years ago they didn't have much in the wY of equipment so they learned to get things right without it. Maybe that's where the newspaper round the fruitcake comes from, it works a treat though.

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Jo Field Posted 2 May 2014 , 9:54am
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Come on then Maisie share you Grans wisdom - I could do with it lol :-)

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DaysCakes Posted 2 May 2014 , 10:02am
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Maisie - my nan used to put brown paper round hers!  :wink:  I have also done this but I never really noticed a difference with/without and as I'm lazy, I don't bother now.

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Siany01 Posted 2 May 2014 , 10:38am
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ANanny, that's a lovely teal. She wants a top tier and the cupcake tower. (Bit gutted as I wNted to do something different) but I'm planning on doing quilling with teal and white and I'm thinking rather that just piped cupcakes I may sugarpaste them and do quilling on those too.

What's the real being used for in yours?

Whoever asked about what I use for my models. I generally add tylo powder to my paste but if I need to roll it thin I use flower paste, obviously for flowers I use flower paste.

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petitecat Posted 2 May 2014 , 10:51am
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Hello everyone.

 

Lovely cakes Nanny and Roxy! Siany fab bunny and hat! 

 

Ack hope I didn't miss anyone out.

 

Can't remember who asked about the bake even strips, but I got a tip somewhere about wrapping wet (not dripping) newspaper in foil, and wrapping around the cake pan. I did try it and it seemed to help cut down on doming. You can keep it and reuse it, or just change the newspaper if it gets too scruffy. I also have to oven temp lower for the recipes that tend to dome more than others. With minimal doming I gently press down on the cake with my oven glove until its not as domey or has gone flat. 

 

My mum sewed me some bake even strips. I'll ask her how she did them. She used an old towel and oven gloves and sewed them together. Work great! They work so good that once I soaked the strips in very cold water, and after placing them on the tins and baking my cake, when I took the cake out of the oven the outer edges weren't cooked! 

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petitecat Posted 2 May 2014 , 10:53am
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Also bringing up that tip (sorry I can't remember who in this thread gave this fab tip) about using BBQ skewers from B&Q as baking nails. 

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Jo Field Posted 2 May 2014 , 11:06am
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AIt was thanks re: typo as wondering how much to use in my horse! I've only ever used it once on a royal blue colour and it went all dry and flaky in parts, maybe I'll just knead some tree in to help. Yes maybe skewers better but how would you get them to stand upright??

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Jo Field Posted 2 May 2014 , 11:07am
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AStupid phone keeps autocorrecting TYLO :-)

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petitecat Posted 2 May 2014 , 11:29am
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Jo Field 

It was thanks re: typo as wondering how much to use in my horse! I've only ever used it once on a royal blue colour and it went all dry and flaky in parts, maybe I'll just knead some tree in to help. Yes maybe skewers better but how would you get them to stand upright??

Not done it yet but I assume the thickness of the batter keeps it upright

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nannycook Posted 2 May 2014 , 11:43am
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ASiany, the cake is teal with a flat white wedding dress, got one or 2 teal roses and mostly white just to sit under the bodice, on a white sugar pasted board.

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Siany01 Posted 2 May 2014 , 11:44am
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A

Original message sent by Jo Field

It was thanks re: typo as wondering how much to use in my horse! I've only ever used it once on a royal blue colour and it went all dry and flaky in parts, maybe I'll just knead some tree in to help. Yes maybe skewers better but how would you get them to stand upright??

I just guess it. If if goes too dry knead in some trex. Don't use skewers as you shouldn't put in edible things in them. I use spaghetti (as in the dried long pasta kind not the tins pmsl)

I would make 4 legs, put a piece of spaghetti in each, just longer than the leg so it spears into the body to hold it, and then use glue to stick them to the body. I would so the same with the head. Does the horse have to stand? In you do a more cartoon horse her could be sat down and it would be a lot easier to do than a standing one.

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Siany01 Posted 2 May 2014 , 11:46am
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AOh and to add, when you're not working with you paste keep it wrapped in cling film and in a bag, it will stop it drying out so much

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Jo Field Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:13pm
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AOK yes good tip re: spaghetti some people use rice crispies I've also learnt! I'm probably setting myself up for a big fail but I will put a pic on of what the cake 'should' look like ...

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Jo Field Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:16pm
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Siany01 Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:24pm
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AOh ok. You don't need spaghetti in his legs. Make his body, then his head and use the spaghetti as the neck bone if that makes sense, the rest just sits on the cake so downy need support.

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Siany01 Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:29pm
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AMy flipping carrot cake won't cook. 2 hours 40 mins and counting.

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-K8memphis Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:32pm
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yeah i often squeeze the carrots after grating them--they are just a fountain of liquid

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petitecat Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:42pm
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Siany, sorry your cake is taking so long! 
 
Great tip K8Memphis!
 
Jo, that cake is uber cute! Gaahhhh wish someone would order a cake from me with something cute on it!
 
Could I get your suggestions please? I am making cakes to sell for a school summer fair in June and I'm planning my menu. I'm making cake pops for the kids in choc and vanilla flavours and cakes for adults. I'm wondering if the following cakes for adults will be popular:
 
Victoria Sponge - with jam and cream (or is butter better?)
Chocolate Cake - with SMBC (I'll probably ice this on the outside with buttercream ruffles or something nice)
Brownies
Lemon Bars
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Siany01 Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:49pm
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A

Original message sent by -K8memphis

yeah i often squeeze the carrots after grating them--they are just a fountain of liquid

I've never made one before as I don't eat it but that's a top tip for next time. It's almost there now I think.

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Siany01 Posted 2 May 2014 , 12:52pm
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AOh it won't let me quote you jean for some reason.

Yes to all vein popular. They are all 'family faves in cake flavours. Thought it is England and we are not known for our heat I still wouldn't use fresh cream in June outside. It'll be your luck we'll get a 30 degree day.

Hang in scrolling back up to find out the other question lol

Oh no other questions lol

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