keaalu: (CAAKE)
[personal profile] keaalu
Dear world:
If your "recipe" reads: make up cake mix according to box, cook
...then it is NOT a recipe.

Either that, or the fact I can microwave "sweet and sour chicken and rice" must make me a masterchef.

Situation is: I want to make cakes for work, because a colleague is raising money for when she runs the London Marathon and people have been donating cakes to help out, and I WANT IN. Anyway.

One colleague said "Oh I just go 8884" (8 flour, 8 margarine, 8 sugar, 4 eggs) but I didn't get time to ask her for the rest of the details. So instead, I go looking for "cupcake recipes". Simple enough task, right? Google gives me a million and one results. Awesome!

...99.99999% shouldn't have the nerve to call themselves recipes, you know? It's not a "recipe" if your instructions are "make up cake batter mix as per packet, cook".

The other fraction of a percent are American, and want things like "buttermilk". Does that even still exist as a "thing" you can buy in the UK? (After Googling around a bit, I think they might have it in Sainsbury's. I'll poke my nose in on the way home from work tomorrow.)

(It's like when Jill posted her delicious-sounding cornbread, I had to run off to Google to work out what name we sold "cornmeal" under. Turns out it's "polenta".)

(no subject)

Date: 9 Apr 2012 07:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] garedeuropa.livejournal.com
Easiest cake recipe I know: 4oz sugar, 4oz butter or marge, 4oz self-raising flour, 2 eggs. 20 minutes at 180 degrees celsius (that's fan-assisted; might need to be longer/hotter otherwise). If you want it chocolatey just add some cocoa powder. It's such a basic recipe it's pretty hard to mess up. It makes one big cake or several small cupcakes, or several sponge drops.

But yeah, most of my recipe books are American and the ingredients are weird.
Edited Date: 9 Apr 2012 07:09 pm (UTC)

(no subject)

Date: 9 Apr 2012 08:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sober-irish-guy.livejournal.com
We have buttermilk in Ireland (American style pancakes? SO DAMN AWESOME!).

Re: online receipies: I was looking up what the heck analouise sauce was (it's a Belgian thing) and found a receipy that goolge helpfully translated:

"Step One: Clarify the eggs being careful to separate the seeds"
Oh Google... you will not take over the world with that level of translation.

8884, I would assume you don't work it together -too- much and just try to get the big lumps out.

Or try Madeira http://www.odlums.ie/index.php?page=madeira-sponge-cake
(actually... since Odlums sell flour, they might be a good receipy archive. No pre-mix worries)

(no subject)

Date: 9 Apr 2012 09:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dragonheadthing.livejournal.com
I am of no help here... I have just started making cookies myself out of the box.

Most Popular Tags

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags