Pinnies And Petticoats.

At the Scottish Food Bloggers' Conference, I was chatting to people who are members of baking clubs such as Jac who is in the Dundee Clandestine Cake Club and I decided it was time to start some kind of baking club in Aberdeen.  On the way home on the train, I tweeted to see if there would be much interest in starting something.  I got a good few responses from people in Aberdeen and then someone tweeted that @MissKazzieB and @colene1985 had already started to organise one and had a venue sorted out.

Brilliant!  It turned out that they were planning a fairly informal club which suited me perfectly.  Our first night was at Tiger Tiger in Aberdeen and there were no rules or regulations. 

I decided to bake Dan Lepard's Rye Apple Cake just because I love it.  You can get the recipe from the Guardian website here or from Dan's brilliant baking book, Short and Sweet.  I know I have blogged about this cake before but it is a good bake.

We had a successful night. Eight bakers managed the first night and there are a few more due to come to the next one.  Because it was fairly small, we started by sitting down and having a chat and getting to know each other.   We then got stuck into some serious eating. I'm sorry the photos aren't great - we will maybe have to make more effort with our presentation and lighting next time but, having said that, I think there were only two of us who were bloggers - the other blogger is Foodie Quine - great to meet another local blogger.  The bakes were brilliant and what a varied selection.  We had black velvet cake, passion cake, chocolate cakepops and cute cupcake cake balls, peanut butter biscuits, traditional Scottish tablet, sherbet lemon meringues, pale ale parkin (missed yourself with that one, Mince and Skirlie!), peanut butter balls and everything was very tasty and indulgent. 

We were then invited downstairs to Kanaloa for free cocktails to round off a very successful night.

I can't wait for the next one which is Wednesday 17th October at 7pm at Tiger Tiger on Ship Row.  

It is Halloween theme so looking forward to some fun bakes.  You are welcome to come along if you bring something baked and please bring along friends who are welcome just to eat.  You can find us on twitter by searching #pinniesandpetticoats or on the facebook page.

I'm away to start thinking about what I'm going to bake.  Here are some of the Halloween things I have made in the last few years - 

Cobweb and bat cupcakes.

  

My pumpkin cakepops.  These were the first ever cakepops I had made and I was so proud of them at the time!

My mummy cupcakes.  I still love these.

Last year, I made meringue ghosts.

Has anyone got any fun suggestions for this year?

Just What The Doctor Ordered...

Cake!

Yes, after my last post trying to get the world to eat more fibre, it was timely indeed that this week's Short and Tweet challenge was to make Dan Lepard's Rye and Apple Cake.  The recipe can be found in Dan's new book, Short and Sweet, or by searching on the Guardian website.  

Choclette mentioned that she uses rye flour when baking her cakes and I realised I have never tried it and almost always use plain white flour in my baking.  Well that is to change right now.  This apple cake is one of my favourite apple cakes and I was very taken with the rye flour.  The uncooked mixture tasted absolutely beautiful - like caramel apple porridge.  I was particularly surprised by how soft the cake was.  It was very decadent and didn't at all taste like something you would expect to be good and wholesome!  I even treated myself to two large slices for breakfast this morning.  And how smug do you think I feel when I give my boys a lovely slice of delicious cake and laugh up my sleeve at how much fibre there is in it?

  Now I can't wait to try Dan's chocolate brownies made with rye flour and I also want to try some breads. Zeb Bakes has lots of good information on baking breads with different flours. 

So, I have made a few things from Short and Sweet now.  Using and enjoying this book seems to make me rather more on-trend than I am used to being.  The fact that everyone is raving about the book makes me want to find faults with it so I'm not just going along with the fashion but it really is a very good book.  I imagine that is because he has been baking these things and adjusting the recipes for years and he does know a thing or two about baking.  It really is a book written by the expert rather than a celebrity offering hastily put together.  If you don't know Dan Lepard's recipes I would suggest looking through them on the Guardian website and maybe trying one or two of them.  You will soon be hooked and decide to buy the book.  Personally, I think the book is set out very well and with lots of useful information and tips.