Posts by The Pink Whisk:
The Ones to Treat Yourself!
August 16th, 2013Here are the ones that I would be tempted to make and hide – the less people know you’ve made them the better otherwise they’re gone in no time at all!
Vanilla Slices – yes please! My Nanna taught me to make these when I was 12, boy am I glad she did. Read the rest of this entry “
The Ones for a Picnic!
August 9th, 2013Hopefully the weather will be good enough to get on at least one picnic this summer – here’s what I’ll be packing in the cool bag!
Ultimate Sausage Rolls – that’s if I don’t eat them hot off the cooling rack!
Oven Baked Scotch Eggs – if you haven’t tried homemade scotch eggs then you’re missing out. Read the rest of this entry “
The One for the Kids to Make
August 1st, 2013Always good to have a quick rainy afternoon activity so here’s my top 3 recipes for the kids to have a crack at!
(Click on the title to take you to the recipe)
Chocolate Chip Cookies – who’d say no to one of these?
Pizza Dough – with the bonus of making and cooking their own pizzas, still a sure fire winner with my boys! Read the rest of this entry “
It’s the Holidays!
July 29th, 2013Yay! It’s the start of the summer hols! For those of you who’ve tried it you’ll know that working from home and trying to look after the children at the same time is a challenge.
This year, to try to ease frayed tempers, I’m going to be concentrating on my boys rather than the laptop, I’ve figured there’s probably only a couple of years left to run in the park, climb trees and jump in a stream before they’re all at high school and not getting up till lunchtime. So, I’m going to make the most of it!
That does mean though, no new recipes until September. I’m sure you will cope. Instead, I’ll be posting a reminder, starting at the end of this week, of three archived recipes each week. Some you’ll have seen already if you’ve been on The Pink Whisk adventure since day dot and others you’ll have found scurried away in a corner on the blog. Hopefully you’ll all find something new in there.
So I’ll bid you all a very happy (hopefully sunny) summer hols and I’ll catch up with you all in September!
Ruth x
Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire
Come and visit us at The Pink Whisk Shop – caking, baking and decorating goodies galore!
Victoria Sandwich Inside Surprise Cake
July 12th, 2013
There’s been a lot of you asking for me to do a surprise cake tutorial on the blog after seeing the birthday cake I made for my eldest. If you didn’t see it here it is – a giant green skittle hiding a ton of skittles inside.
I will be doing a sweetie surprise cake for you next week but for now I thought I’d go with an easy peasy summery version! Victoria Sandwich Surprise Inside Cake – of course you can use any kinds of fresh fruit you prefer if you have an aversion to strawbs. Read the rest of this entry “
Brioche Burger Buns
July 5th, 2013 
I love a good burger on a toasted Brioche bun, trouble is it’s not something you seem to be able to buy easily. So, with us definitely heading towards a spell of BBQ weather I’ve slightly adapted by Brioche recipe (which you’ll find in my new Bread Making book) so I can get some burgers on the go!
If you’re not a keen breadmaker, and that did include me until recently, you’ll be thinking that bread is a faff, tricky and hugely time consuming. But, you’d be wrong, it’s more a case of do a bit, then go do something else, – put the washing in, go shopping, put your feet up while the dough does it’s stuff and then do a bit more. Good recipes will always help you succeed with bread, and once you start I think you’ll be hooked!
Ingredients:
500g strong white flour
50g caster sugar
4 eggs, large
4 tsp water Read the rest of this entry “
The Pink Whisk Guide to Bread Making
July 4th, 2013
It’s here!!
Well very nearly! Official release date is the 30th August but the books are due in next week. Because some of the big retailers play naughty monkeys and don’t hold the books back until the official date, the books are being issued to the smaller independents first and that means me too!
Whether you’re completely new to bread making or a seasoned homemade loaf baker there’s recipes and techniques in the book for everyone plus of course step by step photos to help you along the way.
If you want to be one of the first to get a copy I have a couple of options for you…
1. If you want a signed copy
Dedicated to you, you can order it here – The Pink Whisk Guide to Bread Making £10.99 plus P&P- the book will be signed to the name of the person ordering it unless you tell me otherwise so if it’s a gift or for someone else be sure to tell me in the notes to seller section in the Paypal checkout who to dedicate it to. Books will be despatched w/c 15th July 2013
2. If you want a copy, but don’t need it signing
The best deal is on The Pink Whisk Shop – £8.69 and for a limited time you get a PDF download of the book so you can get going before the actual book even arrives on your doorstep! Read the rest of this entry “
How to Temper Chocolate
June 27th, 2013
I’ve managed to avoid the need for tempering chocolate until now and managed just to wing it in the past. The time has come and chocolate is intriguing me, so in order for it to play ball I figured it was going to be important to learn how to temper chocolate.
Now before you all switch off I’ll tell you this – it’s actually way easier than I ever thought it would be!
So what are the advantages of tempering chocolate? Well then, it sets quickly at room temperature. It stays dark and shiny instead of blooming or looking swirly. It will also melt at a higher temperature than untempered chocolate – meaning it won’t go soft and melty at room temp – covering you in it all over again!
So I use the seed method for tempering which I’m definitely finding the easiest so that’s what I’m going to show you here, the pics show tempering dark chocolate but there’s temps for milk and white too. Read the rest of this entry “
White Chocolate Mud Cake
June 13th, 2013
Looking for a Father’s Day Showstopper? Here’s just the cake – a White Chocolate Mud Cake with white chocolate frosting wrapped with a chocolate collar and topped with fresh juicy British strawberries!
A big thank you goes to Jess Taylor who inspired me over on facebook to create this this week, and whilst my Dad doesn’t have a sweet tooth so won’t appreciate a big slice, he has been in the kitchen with me whilst I made it. No, not wielding a spatula but fitting me a brand new kitchen window!
Yay for Dads, and yay for being able to see out of the window!
Let’s get on with this cake then… Read the rest of this entry “
How to make a Chocolate Collar
June 13th, 2013
Making a chocolate collar for a cake is much easier than you’d think, its an impressive way to finish a spectacular cake. You can use your favourite chocolate white, milk or dark the method is exactly the same. So let’s get cracking!
For a collar for an 8″ cake you will need 250g of chocolate, melted and cooled slightly so it’s a fairly thick consistency and ideally you want it in a jug.
Cut yourself a long piece of baking paper, long enough to just overlap by 1-2cm if it wrapped around the outside of your frosted cake. Read the rest of this entry “
