Ginger Cake

I bought a really simple ginger cake mix from Aldi the other day. I don't like cake mixes as as I like to be able to control how much & know exactly what I'm putting into my cake but  I think it was only £1.49 & the instructions were simple so I thought why don't I just give it a go! I've never made ginger cake before. They had other mixes, a carrot cake one & can't remember what the other one they had. All you have to do is add 200ml of water & 60ml (4tbsp) vegetable oil to the 500g cake mix. You just put all the ingriendients into a bowl & whisk it for a couple of minutes with an electric whisk. Once it's a smooth batter you put it into a lined 2lb loaf tin & bake it for 50-60 minutes.

I really like this photo which was only taken with my phone (Nexus 4) think it's the best photo I've ever taken with it & I've had it since January! It's a little over baked, I baked it for 55 minutes but my mum was cooking bacon at the same time so kept opening & closing the oven door which you shouldn't do whilst baking a cake. You should only open the door when you're near the finishing time otherwise your cake can lose it's rise. 

It's really nice, very gingery. If you like ginger nut biscuits you'll like ginger cake as it tastes just like it but a soft version. It could have done with some nuts or something in it as it's a bit bland soft cake inside if you get me..

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Family Weekend

Leather Jacket - Matalan

Top - Danielle gave to me from New Look Kids

Necklace - Mango Via New Look

Pants - Given by cousin from H&M

Cutout Boots - Zara

With this crazy hurricane passing through I had to wear pants & the leather jacket is back out! I'm hoping it goes away quick & that it gets warm again especially for Friday when I plan on queueing super early to see The Killers to make sure I get to the front!

Last night was the first Wing family get together since Gary & Kirsty's wedding party which was over a month ago now! Can't believe how quick it's gone I've been back from Florida for like nearly 2 months. How I wish I was there now :( 

We went to Uncle Ray's house for the first time for dinner, he's had this house for ages but only recently moved in with Christine. It was really nice being together & going somewhere different other than Nanny Wing's house. 

Of course Christine had some baked goods for us. These were like minced pies, with toasted almonds which were really nice.

She's going to teach me how to make egg tarts which you will have seen on my Christmas post which were the best! I've been thinking about them ever since & need to learn to make them myself!

Ray made a baked white chocolate cheesecake which we didn't know he could bake! It was really nice & he made his own strawberry coulis to go over it.

Kirsty had a pretty good idea that we should do like a family bake off competition but we already know who the winner will be! Unfair competition that is. 

On Saturday it was my dad's birthday so I made him a sponge cake. I used the ingridents & measurements from Mary Berry's Victoria sponge cake recipe but didn't follow the instructions hoping to end up with a lighter sponge cos it was the all in one method which I don't think works that well so was kinda watching a video I found on youtube whilst just doing my own thing!

I turned out alright but would have been better if I had 2 small shallow dishes to bake it in. Because I think the bottom is still a bit raw.

I also baked fairy cakes. The first batch is from a mix my mum bought form B&M which was only 49p meant to be £3.99! She only bought it cos it had to pipping bags in it. The second which is massive cos I overfilled the cases were my own recipe I use. I think they were nicer, the mix tastes a bit like caramel & is very chewy compared to my own which is very light & fluffy.

The Great British Bake Off was back on last weekend & on BBC1 due to how popular it got. I'm loving it! Haven't got a favourite yet but I think I will by this week.

 I wish I could bake like them but I've cut down on the baking this year as it wasn't doing my 6 pack any good baking cookies every weekend! Definitely not getting one with all the baking. But it's still something I love doing & will experiment as I prefer making things myself rather than shop bought due to it being healthier. 

Julie

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Flapjacks!

So the last time I baked was well over a month ago when I baked a birthday cake for my dad for when he came home from Spain. I was definitely having withdrawal symptoms from not baking for so long especially watching The Great British Bake Off which I'm absolutely loving!

I baked the biggest batch of Flapjacks yesterday however I think I over baked it & used a bit too much porridge oats as they didn't stick very well!

This was actually the nicer tray!

The burnt black things are the sultanas that got burnt!

500g Porridge Oats

250g Butter (A whole pack of butter soften at room temperature)

6oz Sugar

Mix all these together then add anything you want to it! This time I put

Tablespoon Honey

Tablespoon Peanut butter

Handful of Sultanas

Hanful of Walnuts

Handful of Peanuts

Handful of Sunflower Seeds

Handful of Black Sesame Seeds

Bake 200°C for 30mins or less once it goes a nice golden colour.

This batch below was from the first time which turned out really well but I though it was too buttery so I put more porridge oats but if you want it to be buttery then use 400g of porridge oats rather than 500g. (I actually used 600g which is too much!)

Julie

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