Tuesday 17 April 2012

Baking Failure


So it turns out I can’t make hot cross buns. After being inspired by @WeeklyBakeOff, I decided to make some to take home for Easter. I followed The Pink Whisk’s recipe and made half a batch of buns and half of swirls. All was going well and using a bit of oil on the surface instead of flour even meant that I didn’t quite look like a ghost in a snow storm! The buns and swirls went into the oven and the kitchen smelt amazing. Then something went wrong.


I think that maybe I forgot to compensate for the fan oven or maybe my temperamental oven was just too hot. Either way, despite the fact that I always take things out a bit early out of a fear of over cooking anything, I over did them. I wouldn’t say that they were burned but I wasn’t happy with them. I tried to salvage the swirls by slathering them in jam (can’t go wrong) and actually they were ok.




Determined that I would make successful buns and convinced that it was close enough to Easter to still make them, this weekend I went for attempt #2. This time I wanted to use Paul Hollywood’s recipe but I didn’t have apples, peaches or mandarins and was too lazy to go back to the market so I decided to use Mary Berry’s recipe. I omitted the candied peel and added in the zest of half an orange but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. I promise. It was a complete disaster. The dough didn’t rise. At all. In an act of desperation I rolled the dough like The Pink Whisk’s swirls and made what my boyfriend called ‘magic swirls’.




So from now on I think I’ll just buy hot cross buns.


On a better note, I am trying to decide what cupakes to make for the Brixton Bake Off and would appreciate any opinions/ideas/suggestions. At the moment I'm thinking of white chocolate and cranberry, strawberries and cream and chocolate orange..... tweet me (@mixingbowlmagic) or comment on this post.


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