Baking A Cake

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Bored out my skull this afternoon, took a mad turn and decided to bake a cake for the second time in my life:-) Found some apples in the fridge a quick browse on the net and decided on Milopita (Greek Apple Cake) using a american style menu from the net, big mistake with measurements ...I'm no baker. o_O Wife came home seen the mess in the kitchen as I was starting to use the mixer flour mixture splattered everywhere. All I heard was F$%^^ng Idiot! and the kitchen door slamming behind her:eek: . Mix is now in the oven and last look through the glass door gungey mixture was seeping out of the bottom of the spring pan:runaway: Smells nice though:-)

Took me ages to clean the kitchen and worktops LOL not it looks like I'll be spending Saturday night with my head in the oven cleaning it. Anyone else here have disasters in the kitchen .

Do the baking experts here use american recipe measurements or do they stick to UK ones such as Mary Berry etc?
 
Lbs and ozes usually, g if I must! Can't be doing with the vagueness of cups. LOVE Milopita so send us a couple of slices, please!

Rarely have disasters but when I do, they tend to be on the same sort of scale as yours (top off liquidiser etc....)
 
The US cup system isn't vague at all, and it does away with the need to weigh anything.

It's folks' understanding of it that's vague. :lol:
 
And 'a stick of butter ' ?

Now what the ....... is that when it's at home
 
camerassassin said:
And 'a stick of butter ' ?

Now what the ....... is that when it's at home
Click to expand...

It's either a half or a quarter of a pack of butter....depending if you have bought a small or a large pack.
1/4lb....4 oz....110g
Again, rather simple given that in the states, butter is sold in 1/2lb or 1lb packs. :p
 
camerassassin said:
And 'a stick of butter ' ?

Now what the ....... is that when it's at home
Click to expand...

Nigella Lawson said:
US butter is sold in 1/2 or 1 pound packages and divided into "sticks". Each stick weighs 1/4 pound/4 ounces/110g. One stick also contains 8 tablespoons and for convenience the packaging is marked with the tablespoon measures. Each tablespoon weighs 1/2 ounce which we usually equate to a metric weight of 15g
Click to expand...
 
I don't think it really matters which weights/measurement system you use, providing you stick to it. For us, that's metric.

My biggest disaster was leaving the top off the blender when I was making coconut milk for a curry (SA supermarkets didn't sell it in cans then). Made a hell of a mess and annoyed the cats, but wife wasn't too fazed. She generally takes that sort of thing in her stride!
 
My worst was likely the home made curry paste. We were in rented accommodation and I seriously stained the worktops in the kitchen, took bloody hours as well. Never again.
 
Several years ago, spent hours lovingly making a moussaka that had been a hit the previous few times I'd made it.

One mouthful and we all had to spit it out.



I'd forgotten to rinse the salt off the aubergines. :puke:
 
Oops! Nowadays, aubergines don't need the salting and rinsing - the bitterness has been bred out of them.
 
Nod said:
Oops! Nowadays, aubergines don't need the salting and rinsing - the bitterness has been bred out of them.
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Something I subsequently found out, and which did not help to improve my mood. :(
 
HHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Mousakka (as many different spellings as menus listing it!!!) is usually made with lamb or goat - wonder if llama would work?

I was wondering if Aubergines were of South American origin (like tomatoes and potatoes) since they're part of the Solanaceae family as well - would make llama a more "natural" choice, hence my musing above!
 
I bake two fruit cakes a week, one for me and the missus and the other for the kids whom we visit each week. I stick with a simple recipe of 3 eggs 70z sr flour half pound of baking butter and a bit of Vanilla extract, lemon zest a bit of baking powder, and a couple of hand fulls of mixed fruit per cake. It comes out really lovely and fluffy, I am trying to omit the mixed fruit, but the missus wont have it!
 
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As it happens, aubergines seem to be native to the Eurasian land mass rather than the Americas, so lamb is the more natural choice. How they made it before spuds'n'toms crossed the pond is a mystery. Same goes for Spag Bol! (Although in that case, it seems that the tale of Marco Polo introducing pasta/noodles to Europe is not true - the Romans apparently had pasts well before MP's trips.)
 
Nod said:
As it happens, aubergines seem to be native to the Eurasian land mass rather than the Americas, so lamb is the more natural choice. How they made it before spuds'n'toms crossed the pond is a mystery. Same goes for Spag Bol! (Although in that case, it seems that the tale of Marco Polo introducing pasta/noodles to Europe is not true - the Romans apparently had pasts well before MP's trips.)
Click to expand...

As in European and Asian mixed parents?
 
John, if you (et al.) like a light fruit cake, I can give you a really easy and delicious recipe. We pep it up a little with a little marzipan (both got rather sweet teeth!) and cocktail cherries but it's pretty damn good straight off the page. http://ni.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/428 If you want to add extras, chop them reasonably small (sultana size) and add them at the mincemeat stage. For a little extra, we also use Amaretto instead of water!
 
Nod said:
John, if you (et al.) like a light fruit cake, I can give you a really easy and delicious recipe. We pep it up a little with a little marzipan (both got rather sweet teeth!) and cocktail cherries but it's pretty damn good straight off the page. http://ni.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/428 If you want to add extras, chop them reasonably small (sultana size) and add them at the mincemeat stage. For a little extra, we also use Amaretto instead of water!
Click to expand...

One slight snag, me and the missus don't like Marzipan! The Cherries sound lovely though, thanks for the recipe. The son in law made a lovely Carrot cake for us the other day, it was lovely and light. I did not know Carrot cake had cream in it, but I am meaning to get the recipe off him :)
 
The marzipan is one of our little added extras, so leave it out! I have a feeling that Cranks have a carrot cake recipe on their site - if so, I can vouch for that one as well.
 
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