Baking

Nobody likes a mouldy turnover…

~ MKW Publishing ~ 2 Comments

This incident happened months ago now and I very briefly mentioned it in my piece the day after it happened in ‘Death of the High Street‘. I have had a number of disappointing experiences in the local shops, but this is the one that sealed the deal for me. I guess I had decided to overlook the lack of professionalism, customer service and standards, as this is now the norm. But I draw the line at being served mouldy food. That’s where they made it feel personal and made me think ‘why should I give you my money?’.

So, the context for this is as follows. I went to the local bakery to purchase a cherry turnover, I have had them a few times before and other than a lack of adequate filling, I had no complaints. However, on this occasion, the shop assistant went to the tray slightly to my right and out of eye line and selected my turnover, personally put it in a paper bag and took my money. It was not until about two hours later that I went to eat my pastry treat, I took it out of the bag and put it on the plate, instantly seeing there was an issue. I mean, who would be happy with seeing that green powdery tinge on your apparently freshly baked produce…

Norths Bakery - Moldy Turnover #1 (10.09.19)

So, I took some pictures and found the contact details online and immediately contacted the owner of the bakery. I’ve worked in two bakeries in my time and have to say have never seen mould that far gone on ‘fresh’ food. To me there are many points of failure to have reached that stage. How did it get so moudly so quickly? From the storage area onto the shelf without being noticed? How did it make it from the shelf into the bag of a customer without being noticed? Either way I wasn’t prepared to eat there again. I did get a seemingly sincere apologetic email back from the owner, telling me that apparently they were baked the day before with a 4 day best before, but held their hands up and said this does not seem to be the case. Although offered a voucher for £10 at the bakery, I didn’t take it or reply. I was just glad they acknowledged the very serious issue and how someone along the line isn’t doing their job properly. Whether they actually care or notice they have lost a local customer for life I don’t know. There is so much passing trade these days, people can afford to lose a few it seems.

On the positive side, it as made me brave enough to attempt to cook my own as I no longer trust the standards of people trying to make money from me. And I really like turnovers. I have made apple and apple and raspberry so far, and have to say they taste better than any shop bought ones! (although still using shop bought pasty as puff pastry is still a bit beyond my capabilities and time available for baking).

Lush turnover 2

(c) K Wicks

Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe…

~ MKW Publishing ~ 1 Comment

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE

I’ve used raspberries for this cheesecake, but you could also substitute blueberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries or strawberries. (this is adapted from an internet recipe for a whole cheesecake of which I cannot find the source).

My adaption is for 4 ramekin servings

SYRUP

110 g raspberries
50 g caster sugar
50 ml water
5 g cornflour

BASE                                    

65 g digestive biscuits or Hobnobs
25 g butter, melted

FILLING                                            

75 ml double cream
25 g caster sugar
130 g cream cheese, such as Philadelphia/mascarpone (or mixed)
½ tsp vanilla extract

Syrup = 90 g of the raspberries into a pan with the sugar and 40 ml of the water. Slowly bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar, then simmer for 7 minutes or so. Mix the cornflour with the remaining 10 ml water and add to the pan, stirring. Simmer and stir, for 2-3 minutes until thick. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Base = Crush the biscuits in a food processor until they are the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. (Or smash them in a plastic bag with a rolling pin which is my preferred method.) Melt the butter and add the blended/crushed biscuit crumbs, evenly divide the mixture between the 4 ramekins and leave to cool.

Filling = Whip the cream and sugar together until fairly stiff. In another bowl, beat the cream cheese to soften, then fold in the whipped cream and vanilla extract. Lightly fold through half of the raspberry syrup (not too thoroughly though if you want a rippled effect).

Spoon the mix on to the biscuit bases, mix the rest of the raspberries with the remaining raspberry syrup and divide between the 4 dishes on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Place in the fridge for 2-3 hours until firm. Eat and enjoy.

Raspberry Cheesecake - 18.12.19

Baking – Jam Tarts

~ MKW Publishing ~ 5 Comments

It may seem like a silly thing to some people, to really like baking. I’m not overly good at it and am not a big eater, but it’s such an enjoyable activity it makes me wish sometimes I had more imagination for it. Or knowledge of flavours and what goes well with what. But I do not, and I have tried. My brother was a chef for years and my mother cooked well with African influences (she grew up in Uganda), but none of this rubbed off on me.

To try and enjoy cooking and eating a bit more, I decided to look at the processes and the content – i.e calories, carbs, protein and building a balanced meal. Possibly too scientific and not enough creative, who knows. With a recipe though I am usually fine and can pull it off, if I follow it. Once nailed I can improvise a bit, but stray too far from it and it usually goes wrong. My favourite has to be pastries and desserts, this is where I am comfortable.

I also forget how engaging it is, you have to be present, again if you stray mentally, it can go wrong. It’s good exercise, standing and moving to create something tasty. I need to remember all these things and do more baking!

Today we have Jam Tarts – Strawberry, raspberry and apricot.

MKW Baking