Friday 4 December 2015

Mama Bakes Cakes Newsletter Edition 1

Here we are then, a lovely new start to a new format for how I share my thoughts on Nanda's and my Instagram tag project - Mama Bakes Cakes. This is a thriving community of ladies who have a passion for baking and sharing their gorgeous images with us through Instagram using the hashtag #mamabakescakes.
We are so fortunate to have so many people want to take part but I was struggling to not sound repetitive with how I told you about them, so a change of format was needed and now I hope to share with you this monthly "Newsletter" with my thoughts on baking, recipe ideas, baking equipment and of course, showcasing your bakes!
I hope you enjoy it. All you need to do to participate is tag any baking related pictures and follow Nanda and I and you could feature!

Mama Baking:
I look through all of your pictures each week and think to myself, how do these women do it? These bakes are popping up and looking flipping amazing and I would not have picked up a spatula and just opened a packet of biscuits in the time they bake them. This is not because I am not into baking, I love it, but I find a week goes by so fast I just don't get an opportunity! I am hoping by sharing a recipe with you to try each month, it will help Etta and I pair up and get in the kitchen experimenting! I need to bake with her more often but sometimes if I am just making a quick batch of something it is just easier for me to do it! That's not the right attitude though so maybe I will make it part of my New Year's resolution to make sure she and I both cook each recipe we do for this together! I think that will be a lovely thing to do!


Christmas hanging biscuit recipe:
As we are here at the beginning of December it only seems fitting that we share a Christmas recipe. I first made these biscuits last year but these are such a perfect thing to do with children that it seemed an appropriate place to start!

Into one bowl put 350g plain flour, 1tsp of cinnamon and 3tsp of ground ginger. (I had no ginger as I couldn't find it in the cupboard so used 1tsp of nutmeg and 3tsp of cinnamon. (I love cinnamon though!) mix them all together.
Then into a pan, measure out 175g dark muscovado sugar, 85g golden syrup, 100g butter. Melt these down on a low heat.
Whilst melting the mixture, mix a tsp of bicarbonate soda with a tbsp of water. Also, beat one egg.
Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients and pour your sugar mix into it and also the bicarb and egg.
Mix all together well. The mixture should be soft and squishy. Leave it to cool then cover with Clingfilm and put in the fridge for an hour. This will firm it up. The mixture keeps for up to a week so you could always make it and not make the biscuits until a little later.
To make the biscuits, place the dough on a heavily floured surface. Roll out and cut into whatever shapes you want. For hanging them make sure you put a hole at the top with a skewer.
Then bake in a 180C oven for 12-15 mins until. They darken slightly. If the hole closes whilst baking, while they are still warm re-skewer.


We actually had our first school friend play date to ice these biscuits which was lovely! The kids all enjoyed making a massive mess and eating more smarties than went on the cookies!


What do you think to Kitchen Aid?
I love the look of these Kitchen Aid mixers. I mean, they are worktop perfection. The colours available are just fantastic and they really look like they mean business! I should hope so for the price of them too! They are a very expensive piece and I would love to know, are they worth it?
As far as my research goes everyone seems to love them, and with retailers like John Lewis stocking a huge range of colours, they must be an in demand product!
One to add to an "In my dreams " list!

Available from John Lewis in a range of colours.

Yummy #mamabakescakes gallery:





Thank you all for getting involved with your bakes. Each month I will share a selection to inspire you also!

I hope you have enjoyed this new format. I'm afraid it will be a monthly venture to start with just as I am very busy with other projects and a week goes so quickly, I don't find time to prepare.
I would love to hear yours thoughts!

Also, Nanda has started her own blog so head over to Made of love and dust and follow her journey.

Emily
SHARE:

No comments

Post a Comment

Blogger Template Created by pipdig