biscuits/cookies/cake

[ben ashton]

Not having all of the ingredients for any of the recipes that I have, I just tried making chocolate biscuits without one.
1st lot came out like 'snaps', 2nd lot looked like cookies but had the texture of cake! (good tasting cake, but it wasn't supposed to be cake). I shall clearly have to go shopping before the next attempt!

Would be interested in hearing (reading) any reliable recipes that you people may have? Need to combat the boredom of unemployment, and at least baking produces edible results!

[englishangel]

When my husband was unemployed he used to bake bread, he found/finds kneading it very therapeutic. The favourites were the rolls he made to put in the children's lunch boxes. He caused a near riot at a family picnic one day when he had made each child a roll with their initial on, they loved that.
Daughter, though not a great cook has started at uni. with bread and cookies. Her Facebook status one day said "Helen is baking cookies". About three hours later it was "Helen has piggy friends, they have eaten all her cookies". I will ask her for her recipe.

[Angela Woodford]

Always happy to talk recipes, Ben; the only thing is that all my most reliable recipes are still in Imperial measurements, and you will be thinking in metric!

Hmm - what sort of flavours do you like? What sort of cooker do you have?

[gma]

When my husband was unemployed he used to bake bread, he found/finds kneading it very therapeutic. The favourites were the rolls he made to put in the children's lunch boxes. He caused a near riot at a family picnic one day when he had made each child a roll with their initial on, they loved that.
Daughter, though not a great cook has started at uni. with bread and cookies. Her Facebook status one day said "Helen is baking cookies". About three hours later it was "Helen has piggy friends, they have eaten all her cookies". I will ask her for her recipe.

Now that's a lovely story EA!

[englishangel]

Always happy to talk recipes, Ben; the only thing is that all my most reliable recipes are still in Imperial measurements, and you will be thinking in metric!

Hmm - what sort of flavours do you like? What sort of cooker do you have?

I have found this site very useful.

http://www.onlineconversion.com/

Daughter has made our Christmas cake this week from a recipe I have used since before I got married. Actually used it for my wedding cake, 33 years ago today since you ask.

I think I mentioned somewhere that "Student's guide to cooking2 or somesuch has measures like,
teaspoon - spoon for stirring tea
dessertspoon - spoon for eating cereal
cup - what your grandmother drinks her tea from
mug- what you drink your tea from
pint - you are a student, what do you think?

However she is now getting a bit more adventurous so we have bought her some proper kitchen scales.

[ben ashton]

Metric, imperial... its all good, used to have customers at waitrose asking for all sorts of odd weights, scales were only in metric. One man, a barrister, would ask for 160g of haddock (same thing every time!) and could tell you exactly where to put the knife, he was so spookily accurate that several colleagues refused to serve him!
Also good at judging 1/8 of an oz
I generally work out the ratio of e.g. flour to sugar and then base everything I put in on the quantity of the first ingredient I use!
Electric unfortunately. Gas is far more fun.

[sejintenej]

Metric, imperial... its all good,
I generally work out the ratio of e.g. flour to sugar and then base everything I put in on the quantity of the first ingredient I use! .

Unfortunately that doesn't always work. It may be all wheat flour, but some flours (apparently identical) need different quantities of fat / liquid. You need to get to know your source and ingredients.

Electric unfortunately. Gas is far more fun.

I have a gas stove (hob and oven) and an electric oven (both without fan) here. Using a separate thermometer, 220 deg C in the electric oven agrees with the thermometer. That same setting in the gas oven (which is its maximum temperature) translates as 170 deg C on the thermometer after 30 minutes warm up time.

There was a comment elsewhere about bread; the above electric oven (and the Neff in England) can hold 30 deg C for proving - the gas stove is all over the show (and cannot get hot enough for bread). Yes - a gas hob any day, but 2 electric ovens!!!