During this time we have been trying out a lot of baking recipes like bread, cakes, biscuits and even hot cross buns! Top tip, if you have been struggling to get flour and yeast online, try looking on the website or social media of your local bakery to see if they are supplying any, we have been lucky here to be able to get some delivered so we can put together some of these simple baking recipes. There are also some fruit and veg box delivery companies are doing extra items too!
I thought it might be helpful to to share some of these easy bake recipes with you here, and tell you our hints and tips for making them extra delicious. I want to start with a big disclaimer; I am not a professional!!! Far from it. Call me more ‘amateur who likes cake a bit too much’! I used to do a lot of baking pre-kids but nothing serious and no training, just a lot of trial and error.
How to bake bread at home?
First up, bread, we have been having a lot of fun trying to make bread, some attempts fairing better than others!
The recipe we have been using is this one from BBC Good Food. It is very easy and only uses a few ingredients. We actually use less oil than the recipe recommends as we have less of that, and top it up with water. The dough keeps well in the fridge and so I tend to double it up and use it over two days. It also makes a delicious base for homemade pizzas. If you leave it in a warm place, covered overnight, you get more of a sourdough effect when you bake it. I’ve also been experimenting with different shapes, making rolls and even giant plaited loaves and adding toppings, the one above had chopped fresh rosemary sprinkled on it before it baked.
Loaves
Using the above recipe, after your first rise, place your dough into a loaf tin, score the top with a sharp knife and place back into the warmest place in the house, (covered) for a further hour. Then bake it according to the recipe. The check if a loaf is baked, take it out of the tin and ‘knock’ on the bottom, you want to hear a hollow sound. Tip: If you don’t have a loaf tin, shape the loaf with your hands and place onto a baking tray with baking paper on.
Rolls
Similar above, after the first rise, divide your dough into equal pieces and shape them by hand into rolls. The brilliant Alice Through The Year, an absolute Baking Queen, has a brilliant live tutorial on her Facebook page on making hot cross buns, skip to 7 minutes in, where she explains about rise and demonstrates the technique perfectly. You sort of smoosh the roll hard with your hand in a circular motion and then gradually lift up making the dough a lovely round ball. At least that’s what happens for Alice, my rolls have been some incredible shapes but they taste good! The ones in the photos above were made following her directions and turned out such better roll shapes than the others!
Easy Cake Recipe
My failsafe easy cake recipe is one I’ve used forever. It’s in ounces, 6oz butter, 6oz caster sugar, 6oz self raising flour, 3 eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla essence.
You can play around with the amounts if you need more or less mix, just making sure the three main ingredients are the same amount and then half the eggs. E.g. 8,8,8,4 etc To this I add grated lemon zest, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, chopped maraschino cherries and raisins, the options are endless! You can find a lovely blackcurrant and apple crumble cupcake recipe here. For basic cupcakes I bake at 180 degrees (fan oven) for approx 15 mins, turning the tray halfway as our oven doesn’t cook evenly. For a loaf tin, it’s about 30 minutes but the best way to check is to insert a skewer and if it comes out clear, it’s cooked through! For a proper Victoria sponge, try this recipe for timings.
We’ve had a family birthday in lockdown made a marbled cake by splitting the cake mix in half and adding cocoa powder to one half and swirling together in the tin. Then we iced with buttercream with cocoa powder added and drizzled over some toffee sauce we found in the cupboard and some chocolate buttons for decorations. It went down a storm.
Banana bread
Let’s be honest, there’s nothing bread like about this! It’s a great way for using up forgotten about bananas that have turned brown and yucky. We always use this recipe but of course I make it my own by adding ‘a good shake’ (technical term!) of chocolate chips to the mix and stir in before baking and omit the banana chips as we don’t have any.
Banana Flapjack Bites
This was another discovery I found when trying to think of a way to use up old bananas with no eggs. We used this recipe but I found them a little bit dry, I’d already added more syrup than the recipe stated and so I would add a little more butter next time I think.
Biscuits
Another popular one when we talk about baking is biscuits. We used a simple biscuit recipe and then let the kids go crazy with the icing colours which kept them busy for well over an hour. Makes approx 25 biscuits depending on your cutter size. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees, 170 fan.
Ingredients: 200g butter, 200g caster sugar, 1 egg, 400g flour, tsp vanilla essence (optional).
Method: Cream the butter and sugar, add the egg and flour and mix until a dough forms. Put the dough into the fridge for at least an hour, (we left ours overnight) make sure you flour a clean surface well and roll out so it’s an even thickness, 3mm is perfect. Then use cutters or if you don’t have any, cut around paper shapes placed in top of the dough with a knife. Once you have cut out as many shapes as you can, gather the left over dough and re-roll until you can’t get any more shapes. Place onto baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake in the oven for about 10 – 15 minutes, or until the edges turn golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. The biscuits will be soft still in the middle but will firm up as they cool.
Icing: The fun part! This is very simple, just icing sugar and water, (or lemon juice for lemon biscuits.) I tend to guess at measure and sieve some icing sugar into a bowl and add a couple of teaspoons, stir well and then literally just drip water in a few drops at a time until I get the right consistency as it changes SO fast. I always used to end up with a huge bowl of icing as I’d add too much water, then too much sugar and so on! Slow and steady is the key! You want the icing to coat the back of the spoon without sliding off at speed. Then add whatever colours you have or leave them white, top your biscuits and add sprinkles! (Optional) Waiting for them to set is recommended as they can be very messy eaten with wet icing! 😀
Just have fun!
For more lovely simple recipes, check out this 3 ingredient shortbread or these delicious 3 ingredient chocolate twists. Yum!
So there you have it! Some easy home baking ideas for you to try.
I hope you’ve found some inspiration here. I really enjoy making cakes and biscuits and now bread too. I think it’s something I’ll continue after all this is over. I’m just enjoying baking and eating the creations, although my waistline isn’t as keen! The children are also really enjoying learning new skills and recipes. And also eating the finished goods! Next to try is these raisin oatmeal cookies. Yum!
For some pros, check out Tempting recipes by Amy Treasure for sweet treats galore, Eats Amazing for fab children’s food ideas and plenty of bake alongs on her Facebook page and A Mummy Too for loads of different recipe ideas, Emily is also doing regular bake alongs on her Facebook page and is also the author of Get Your Kids To Eat Anything.
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