You meet all the best people on the Internet these days. During the last series of The Great British Bake Off a group of Aberdeen based fans of the show started meeting up on a weekly basis at each others houses to watch the programme and indulge in a cuppa, a bit of baking chat and lots of cake. Much fun was had and friendships formed. Now the Bake Off is back and this time its for Comic Relief. Again have a valid excuse to get together on a Wednesday night for hilarity and cake. This week it was my turn to be the hostess with the mostess.
My son had received a Bake Off Cookie Set from his sister at Christmas so stamped biscuits definitely had to be made. I'd never attempted any before so put a shout out on Twitter for a recipe that would work well with them. The lovely Sisley at Sew White was among those who answered my plea and shared her Basic Vanilla Biscuits Recipe. I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter although I did it all in the food processor. Everything in at once and blitz. I would recommend working with only half of the dough at a time and keeping the other half in the fridge as it softens up very quickly. It took a few attempts to get the level of force needed for pressing the imprints quite right. Too much pressure and the dough stuck to the stamp but too little and the imprint wasn't entirely visible. Lots of flour on the stamp is a must. I cooked my biscuits for longer than the specified 8-10 minutes. Even after the 15 minutes I gave them I still felt they were a wee bit underdone when it came to eating.
Once out of the oven I sprinkled them with Gingerbread Spiced Sugar. I was a bit disappointed that the pattern had disappeared rather a lot on some of the biscuits and I fully admit to picking out the best ones for the above photo. For some reason the "Great Bake" ones seemed to be the worst offenders.
My second bake was a joint effort with my daughter. We both loved the "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" cupcakes that Abby Clancy made for the signature bake on Comic Relief GBBO Week 2. Here's our attempt at recreating them.
RAINBOW FAIRY CAKES
Makes 12
100g Butter - softened
100g Caster Sugar
2 Large Free Range Eggs
100g SR Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
Red, Green, Yellow & Blue Gel Colouring
Preheat the oven to 180c Fan and prepare a 12 hole bun tin with paper cases.
Cream together the butter and sugar before adding the flour, baking powder and eggs.
Divide the mixture between 4 bowls and add gel food colouring to each and mix well.
Put a teaspoonful of each colour of mix into each cake case.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.
We were both somewhat crestfallen when our rainbow cakes came out of the oven. They had looked so fantastically vibrant when they went in but the baked colour was much more subdued. We used Dr Oetker Gel but I have since been recommended to use either Wilton or Sugarflair. The Red Nose Day cake cases and toppers are from Sainsbury's. Once broken/bitten open the cakes were more colourful on the inside, in hindsight they would have worked better with icing or buttercream on top and a surprise rainbow interior.
If you've enjoyed watching The Great Comic Relief Bake Off and would like to donate £5 you can text BAKE to 70005. Texts costs £5 + standard network message rate. T&C
Look good as you cook with a Bake Off Apron, Bake like the best with a Comic Relief Recipe Book and download the Great Comic Relief Bake Off Kit with all the bits, bobs, bunting and recipes you’ll need to host a fundraising bake sale.
I've never had much luck with stamped biscuits... Yours look great though, and the coloured buns... I always use Wilton, I think they are fab and only need a wee spot so they last ages...
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be on the lookout for more cookie stamps now. This could be addictive! Must get me some Wilton colours.
DeleteI love how colourful and bright your cupcakes are. I'm really tempted and inspired by them! x
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you liked the biscuit recipe.
Thank you and thanks for pointing me in the direction of your biscuit recipe. I think it will prove to be really versatile.
DeleteHow fun, I love the stamped biscuits and your version of the rainbow cakes. Both look delicious.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I love a fun and quirky bake. They were indeed delicious.
DeleteI never thought those biscuit stamps worked at all but they look really effective. I know my daughter will be asking for the rainbow cakes for her next birthday. Thanks for linking up.
ReplyDeleteMe and my daughter had such fun making the rainbow cupcakes. She's already planning another two batches for her friends at lifesaving and jafa.
DeleteThe cupcakes look fab, just perfect for fundraising.
ReplyDeleteThank You! Everyone seems to love them - both the little and big kids.
DeleteLove these! I know the boys would enjoy making rainbow cakes too.
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing your biscuit success I've just treated myself to a letter stamp set which should be arriving in the next couple of days :-)
Thanks for joining in with #FoodYearLinkup x
I hope you have success with the stamped biscuits, there's definitely a wee bit or trial and error needed to find the right technique.
DeleteOh wow, I LOVE the rainbow cupcakes! I think your stamped cookies looked great too!
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking up at #FunFoodFriday!
The rainbow cupcakes were a big hit, two more batches have already been made by my kids. They are definitely fun food.
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