280 Bakes
  • Home
  • Cakes
  • Blog
  • Letterbox Cake
  • About
  • Contact

Three rules of baking that were meant to be broken

27/7/2018

0 Comments

 

Some Rules are Good. Always Drive on the left. No heavy petting at the pool. However, these baking rules were meant to be broken!

Mary Berry - 280 Bakes

1.  WHEN USING BUTTER AND SUGAR IN THE CAKE MIX, CREAM IT TOGETHER FIRST BEFORE YOU ADD THE OTHER INGREDIENTS

This works with a lot of recipes, and is beneficial, but I saw Mary Berry has said that there's two ways to make a Victoria Sponge: The traditional way of creaming the butter and sugar together, then add the other ingredients, or there's the way she prefers, which is to put everything into the bowl together and then mix. I would say that not creaming the butter and sugar is totally ok, then, if Mrs B says so! Do follow the recipe though - some recipes it might be especially pertinent for. 
​

Not sure what 'creaming' means, in baking terms? It's simply mixing the sugar and butter together until they are well combined, and you can't really see the sugar anymore. 

2.  ONLY USE HIGH QUALITY BUTTER FOR THE FAT NEEDED IN CAKES

Well, you can throw that one right out the window! Over 60% of the orders we have are for vegan cakes, so there's no butter at all there. We use other things like bananas, avocados, oil and dairy-free margarine. 

Yes, the cakes will taste different, and if you'd prefer to use high quality butter when 'real' butter is required, that's a good thing, but cakes can easily be made with no butter at all. Check out our recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake, for example.  

3.  ALWAYS PRE-HEAT YOUR OVEN

If we were just talking cake baking, I'd agree. Pre-heating the oven is essential for cakes to ensure a consistent bake - and also for bread, actually, as the dough needs to be baked hot and fast. However, when baking pies or crumbles, it's totally fine to whack the dish in the over before it's up to temperature, and it makes the process more heat efficient too. 

Can you think of any more rules you can break while baking, cakes, bread or otherwise?

The Team @ 280 Bakes
​
View my profile on LinkedIn
0 Comments

5 crazy things you find in foreign Supermarket baking aisles

20/7/2018

0 Comments

 

It's holiday season, and our Bakers are having a great time... poking around in the foreign supermarket Shelves!

I mean, what else do you do when you're on holiday, really, other than have a gander in the local supermarket shelves, comparing them to home? A sad little pleasure of mine, and it seems our other bakers, when I'm abroad is to have a nosey look for any interesting local foods. 

This is what we've found already, and summer holiday season is still young! 

Picture
USA: Standard: Got to love sprinkles!
Picture
In Spain: Different brands, different bottles designs of vanilla essence...
Picture
Green sugar in Costa Rica - love this!
Picture
Central America has food colouring displayed like a kid's paint store!
Picture

Finally, eurgh, the Pillsbury man. I'll be making my own buttercream, I think! 

What interesting baking ingredients have you found while on holiday? Share in the comments below, we'd love to know!

Louise & Team
280 Bakes
​

View my profile on LinkedIn
0 Comments

How to bake with no scales

15/7/2018

0 Comments

 

If you have no scales or your set has broken, don't despair! you can still bake a delicious cake!

Yoghurt pots - 280 Bakes
It's always best to weigh your ingredients when you bake, especially flour, as it can be a huge variable in terms of the dryness of the cake and the quality of the bake if you get it wrong. However, you do have a few ways you can make a cake if you don't have any scales - let's take a look...

1. Bake a cake using a yoghurt pot

1 pot of yogurt
2 yogurt pots of sugar
2 eggs
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3 yogurt pots of flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 yogurt pot of neutral-tasting oil or melted butter

Heat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
Beat the yogurt and the sugar together in a bowl.
Beat in the eggs and lemon zest. Sift the flour with the baking powder and beat in.
Finally, add the melted butter (or oil, although it doesn't taste quite as nice) and beat the whole mixture well.
Pour into non-stick muffin tins or a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, approx. 25 minutes for a loaf, 15 mins for buns.

2. Use cups to measure

This is the 'American way'. There are so many recipes online which use cups to measure, you'll never run out. Just nip down the shop and buy a cheap set of measuring cups - they can be as cheap as £1.00.

3.  Use a liquid measuring jug

My mother-in-law uses this method. I don't like it myself, as it can be incredibly inaccurate, but, you know, horses for courses!

4. Try cookies instead

And if you'd like to start a little more simply, try a cookie recipe like this. I call these 'Emergency Biscuits' when there's nothing interesting in the baking cupboard and I can't find the scales! 

​Great optional additions include a couple of tables spoons of oats, chocolate chips or dried fruit. ​
280 Bakes - measuring cups

2 level tablespoons sugar 
4 level tablespoons butter 
9 level tablespoons flour 

Cream together the butter & sugar, stir in flour. 
Roll out the dough, shape/cut out, and cook for 10 mins at 180 degrees. 


Look away now, we don't approve of this final idea!! 

5. Buy a packet mix
​
Everything's already weighed out in these mixes, you just need to add eggs normally, sometimes oil or milk. I warn you now, it won't taste as good as 'proper' cake, but it kind of had to be included on the list as an option...

​
Picture

Next time your battery goes in your digital scales or you old ones break, don't give up. Why not try one of these baking hacks? Let us know how you get on!

Louise
Owner, 280 Bakes

​
View my profile on LinkedIn
0 Comments

Does Caffeine Cook out when baked?

9/7/2018

0 Comments

 

A recent question we've been asked is 'does caffeine cook out when baked into a cake?' We answer that question here!

280 Bakes : Coffee CakeWho 'hearts' coffee cake?

When you bake a boozy bake (and I know you do!) the alcohol in your G&T cake or the brandy in your Christmas cake bakes out and won't get you drunk, no matter how much of that liquored-up cake you eat. 

However, the same is NOT true with coffee. When you bake a coffee cake, the caffeine stays in the cake. Cooking coffee generally makes the taste stronger in removing the water, but it won't increase the caffeine content - no extra kick, so don't start justifying coffee cake for breakfast! 

​
Caffeine has a crystalline structure, a bit like sugar. When you cook or bake something with coffee as an ingredient, the water will cook out but the caffeine stays in the food, it doesn't denature.


Birthday Style Coffee: 280 Bakes
A birthday style coffee cake from last summer

If you're looking for a great coffee cake recipe, why not try ours? This one is vegan too - try something new today!

Remember, different coffee beans or powder have different strengths. I know for a fact I get more of a kick out of the ground coffee we have at home than the Douwe Egberts instant jar we have for when we're feeling a bit lazier. A lighter roasted bean will have a higher caffeine content than a dark roast, as some of the caffeine sometimes breaks down in the process of roasting. 

Soaking the coffee and evaporating the water can decaffeinate it, but it's not 100% effective, and you lose a lot of the delicious coffee taste. If you're really worried about the caffeine levels in a coffee cake, I'd just go for something other than coffee cake!

​
Order a cake

​Now go have a coffee, enjoy your Monday!

Louise
Owner, 280 Bakes

View my profile on LinkedIn
0 Comments

    Author

    Welcome to the 280 Bakes blog! Most posts are by myself, Louise, but if you fancy guest blogging, give me a shout!

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

    Categories

    All
    280 On Tour
    Baking Tips
    Baking Workshops
    Birthday Cakes
    Blog Recommendations
    Boozy Bakes
    Business
    Celebrate With Us
    Christmas
    Community
    Cupcakes
    Customer Stories
    Fairtrade
    Friends Of 280 Bakes
    Gluten Free
    Guest Blog
    Halloween
    Home Baking
    I'm A Mum
    Just For Fun
    Lockdown Special
    Low Fat
    Low Sugar Cakes
    News
    Recipes
    Special Offer
    Summer Bakes
    Team 280 Bakes
    The Great British Bake Off
    Tre
    Vegan Bakes
    Wedding
    Well Being
    Work For Us
    Zero Sugar Cakes

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Cakes
  • Blog
  • Letterbox Cake
  • About
  • Contact