BBC Good Food Show fun!

I  was really excited when I found out I got a press pass for the BBC Good Food Show  because of The Jammy Bakers'  food blog. The press pass, which gave me entry to the press room, was a relaxing room filled with delicious samples.  I especially enjoyed the Earl Grey tea from The London Tea company, marshmallows from Marshmallow Heaven, crisps from Ten Acre and a range of Lindt chocolate.

The BBC Good Food Show was even better this year as it was two shows in one, and also included the BBC Good Food Bakes and Cakes Show.  The first demo of the day was Paul Hollywood.  He made a chocolate roulade and a fougasse.  We were interested by his bakes.  We are going to use Paul's recipe to make a special chocolate roulade for Christmas. Straight after the demo we met Paul Hollywood at the book signing and he signed my book and I told him about my success at the World Bread Awards.

Le Cordon Bleu were really kind to us when we asked about masterclasses.  They said in the future I should go and do some classes with them and learn some new skills. Later on in the day, we went to a Le Cordon Bleu masterclass and learned brushwork embroidery on some flower biscuits.  This was a new technique for me and it was fun learning how to do it.

Lindt did an interesting chocolate tasting session and explained how chocolate was made.  It was run by Master Chocolatier Stefan Bruderer who had flown in from Switzerland especially for the session.  He told us how he had been involved in inventing new flavours.  He encouraged us to use all our senses as we tasted the chocolates.  The chocolates were really tasty: my favourite was the salted caramel.



We chatted to Cyrus Todiwala from the Incredible Spice Men and he liked what I did and said I should go and work with him when I was older.  He was kind and generous.

One of our local businesses: Farrington Oils was at the show.  We tasted some roast potatoes cooked in their Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil - they were delicious.  Duncan Farrington kindly gave me a bottle of rapeseed oil which I am going to use in my breadmaking.

At demonstration with Mich Turner, we discovered how to make a tasty carrot cake.  Mich made her carrot cake even more delicious by adding some caramelised walnuts to the middle and top of the cake.  This is something I will try with my carrot cakes.  I chatted with Mich at the end and asked her about what subjects were important to be good in cookery.  She said it was important to do science, cookery and creative subjects.

I had a fantastic day at the Good Food Show, meeting lots of interesting people and doing some hands on activities to learn new things.  There were quite a few children at the show so next year it would be great if there was a special children's area where children could try out different equipment and learn new techniques.

Double Gold and Young Baker winner at World Bread Awards

 
On 6 October 2015, I went to the World Bread Awards as finalist for the Kitchen Aid Young Baker 12-17 category.  Last year I won the KitchenAid Young Baker under 12 category.  It was a really good evening and I met lots of famous people and judges.  The food was lovely and I especially enjoyed the Quicke's goats cheese as it was really creamy and tasty and the delicious Dickinson and Morris pork pie.

A fantastic banquet for us to enjoy

At the Awards ceremony, I waited for my category to be announced: "KitchenAid Young Baker 12-17".  My name was announced as runner up for my Otto the Octopus bread with eight tasty tentacles.  They commented on my creativity.  I sat down only to have my name called again as I came first with my Flower Power bread.  This had pesto in that I had made myself.  They commented on how tasty it was.  I have won two "Golds" for these breads.

Fiona, one of the judges of the Young Baker categories

Winning Kitchen Aid Young Baker 12-17: prize awarded by Stephen Hallam

I am really pleased that I am getting a lovely prize from KitchenAid.  This time I have won a Kitchen Aid Artisan Food Processor which will be really brilliant in the kitchen.  I also came home with a lovely goodie bag which included lots of nice things.  I loved the Tiptree jam which said congratulations, it was really special and looked amazing.  I am enjoying the Quicke's goat's cheese and hope to use it in some bread with the Marriage's flour and the Hillfarm rapeseed oil.  I am going to make some apple chutney with the Aspall's Cyder Vinegar.  I know this is vinegar is good as I have already made some chutney with it this year. 

I have really enjoyed being part of the World Bread Awards again this year so thank you to Brook Food, Tiptree and all the organisers and sponsors who have made it so special.

Meeting Kimberley Wilson and Charlotte White

  

All the winners at the World Bread Awards

Fantastic Foodie Fun Week

Best in Show at Northampton Flower and Produce Show

Carrying jams, tarts, vegetables, cheese scones, cakes and chutneys we headed off to The Northampton Flower and Produce Show.  There was an interesting display of vegetables, baking and preserves.  There was even a class called Vegetable Animal where there was a whole range of different animals.

Altogether our family entered 9 items and won 6 first place awards, and 2 second place awards.  Here you will see who won Best in Show with some bugtastic cupcakes!

Overall Best In Show

1st place in children's cupcake category and Best in Show

Some of our jams and chutneys

Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards

Earlier in the week, we were invited to watch the judging of the Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards Tea room of the Year category.  We watched a bake off where 6 different cafes make cakes and scones and then served to members of the public.  It was really interesting to see all the different things they made and how they presented them.  While there we even got to have a chat to former GBBO contestant Debbie Manger and picked up some scone ideas!

Sandingham Food Festival

Last Sunday, we enjoyed a visit the Sandringham Food Festival.  We were able to try lots of delicious local foods.  Highlights were meeting Shelina Permaloo and the Baker Brothers. Shelina made the most amazing chocolate torte which needed no baking and so would be quick to prepare.

Tom and Henry, also known as the Baker Brothers made us laugh when Henry got up on top of the table and pretended to be a cow.  This was to demonstrate which part of the animal the steak came from.

Tom and Henry in action

 
Tom and Henry also showed us how to make sticky sticks which are a bit like churros and Tom told us about a project he was involved in which was run by Tear Fund which involved teaching girls how to make sticky sticks for money, rather than turning to trafficking.   Here is more on sticky sticks with Tear Fund

The Baker Brothers also demonstrated sourdough bread.  We are trying hard to improve our sourdough bread making since Tom encouraged us to start last year.

At the end of the Food Festival we met Linda Hewett, who had also been doing demonstrations.  She kindly sent us some recipes which we are looking forward to trying out.

So a fantastic foodie fun week and lots of ideas for our baking!

Luscious Lemonade Recipe

Here is a lovely recipe I made up today: perfect for hot weather

Ingredients

2 Small Lemons

500ml Cold water

3tbsp Granulated Sugar 

Method  

1. First chop the ends off both of the lemons
2. Then cut off the lemon peel and take out the pips
3. Now put the inside of the lemons in a blender with the water and blend for about 10 seconds on full power.  I used my Omniblend.
4. Next put a sieve over a bowl and sieve the mixture.
5. Now wash the blender with water.
6. After that put the sieved liquid in the blender and add the sugar 
7. Now blend again for 5 seconds
8. Finally you can enjoy your Luscious Lemonade!

Cheesey Bacon Parcels: Leon Competition

I decided to have a go at the Leon Restaurants Competition with some lovely Cheesey Bacon Parcels.  They only took me a few minutes to make and were very cheap to make.  It is a great competition,  there are some really nice recipes on the page.  I am going to try some of the other recipes.

I actually won the cook of the month on www.leonrestaurants.co.uk/cook5/entries Why dont you try this month? The person with the most votes each month wins £100.

Cook 5 dishes with Leon Restaurants

Leon Restaurants are running a brilliant competition to encourage children of all ages to cook 5 dishes.  They have a winner each month.  I entered my super swirly pizza whirls and was really pleased that I got the most votes for February and won dish of the month.  The prize was a cheque for £100 and a special Cook 5 badge.  You can find out more about the competition on www.leonrestaurants.co.uk Have a go and enter your recipes.

 I adapted a basic pizza dough recipe from Southern Italian Family Cooking by Carmela Sophia Serano and then turned this into super swirly pizza whirls.


Super Swirly Pizza Whirls

Ingredients

235ml hand warm water
10g fast action yeast
450 g “00” flour
5g salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
80g grated mature cheddar
16 fresh basil leaves
2 teaspoon dried oregano
Approx 4 tablespoons of tomato puree
A half a teaspoon of garlic granules
60g chopped ham (optional)


Making the dough
1. Stir yeast into the water
2. Put flour, salt and olive oil in bowl
3. Gradually add the yeast and water mixture until it is all combined
4. Knead on a floured board or in a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for 10 minutes
5. Put in a bowl and cover with a tea towel, prove for 1 hour in a warm place

Filling the Dough
1. Cut the dough into halves. Leave one half of the dough in the bowl – you will use that later.
2. Roll out one piece of the dough on a floured board into a rectangle approximately 30 cm by 20 cm
3. Spread tomato puree onto the rectangle of dough
4. You now need to use HALF of your filling mix, so sprinkle on 40g cheese, 8 basil leaves, I teaspoon oregano, quarter of a teaspoon of garlic granules and 30 g ham – it will now look like a rectangular pizza
5. Roll the dough lengthways like a long “swiss roll” log
6. Cut the dough log into slices 2 cm wide. You will get about 12-14 slices per log.
7. Take the other half of the dough mix that is in your bowl and repeat steps 2-6 again, using the rest of your fillings.

Put the slices onto a baking liner onto a baking sheet

Leave to prove at room temperature for 1 hour, covered with a tea towel

Bake in the oven at Gas Mark 6 or 200C for approximately 20-25 minutes until the bread is cooked and is not sticky in the middle. Best served warm with salad, or would make a lovely lunchbox snack.

 
 
 
 

Super Cinnamon Bakes!

Two different types of cinnamon: Ceylon on left, Saigon on right

I met Cinnamon Hill  at the The Cake and Bake Show in London.  They gave me some cinnamon. There were two different types of cinnamon: Ceylon cinnamon and Saigon cinnamon. 



When I grated them they tasted and smelt delicious.  My favourite was the Saigon Cinnamon because it was easier to grate, it was sweeter and it fizzed a bit on my tongue.



Using my prizes,  the new scales were brilliant

I used my prizes from the Wallace and Gromit childrens charity competition and started to bake some cinnamon and banana muffins.

The kitchen aid hand blender whizzed up the bananas in a flash. I also used some of my years supply of Homepride flour



These are the prizes I won from the Wallace and Gromit Cracking Baker Competition

Both types of cinnamon were delicious in my muffins. 

Having tried both muffins, the result of my taste test is that I liked Saigon Cinnamon the best as it was sweeter. For more on superb cinnamon look on Cinnamon Hill

 

Cracking Contraptions Christmas Cake

I saw a leaflet at The Cake and Bake Show about this competition.  It is run by Homepride flour for the Wallace and Gromit Children's Charity fundraising for children's hospices. 

Because I like Wallace and Gromit I decided to do a Wallace and Gromit Christmas cake with cracking contraptions.  I included a super snowman o- matic and a perfect presents o- matic.  My favourite character I made was Shaun the Sheep.  Here he is throwing a snowball. 

I won the competition.  I got a superb Kitchen Aid handblender, Heston Blumenthal scales, Wallace and Gromit apron and oven gloves and a year's worth of Homepride Flour.

2014 - Marvellous Marmalade, Jamtastic Jams, Brilliant Bread and Cracking Cakes

2014 was a year of many new beginnings for us as well as building on previous successes.  We devised our own blog and began our journey on twitter.  Christopher has really developed his interests in all areas of baking and preserving, however all of us have been involved in various ways.    Here are a few of our highlights.

Winter

Having eagerly awaited the sevilles, they arrived in January and we made many batches of marmalade: dark and gingery, thick and chunky, Seville and apricot.

Having worked extremely hard with our marmalade making, Christopher and Charlotte proudly scooped Gold and were winners of the World's Original Marmalade Awards (Children's Section).  Christopher also won Gold for his Seville with Grandad's cider marmalade. 

Spring

The Jammy Bakers appeared in several local newspapers and were featured on Anglia TV.  We were also visited by Jessica and Louise who spent the day watching how we made blood orange marmalade and wrote about it in WI Kitchen Stories

Summer

When summer fruit was in season we started our jam making again, trying hard to get our friends involved this year with jam.  We experimented with  lots of different jams.  The worst jam we made was chocolate banana jam which no one liked!.  Mum even made jam on a campsite with a group of WI ladies which she sent to the World Jampionships.  We sent in group entries made at the village hall, and a scout group entry. 




Christopher was delighted to win the children's section of the World Jampionships with his Tutti Fruitti Jam  and 2nd Raunds Scouts won the group entry with their Blackberry and Apple Jam



We learnt how to make cordial this year and successfully made several batches of elderflower cordial which was delicious.  In the Isle of Man our campsite was full of blackcurrants and the owner allowed us to bring some back with us and we made some delicious blackcurrant syrup with that.

 

Autumn

We bottled some plums and greengages for the first time. Christopher was also delighted to harvest his pumpkins and his beetroot.  The beetroot was soon pickled ready for Christmas. 

 We made some delicious chutneys with the remaining apples, plums and damsons.






We went to an inspiring bread demo with Dan Lepard which was held at the Small Bread Company in Oundle.  The bakery's owner challenged Christopher to enter into the World Bread Awards.  He, along with the other two Jammy Bakers all sent in entries.   Christopher's creation, won him Young Baker in the Under 12 Category of the World Bread Awards.  He was delighted to attend an amazing awards ceremony in London and met lots of inspiring people. He won his dream prize of a Kitchen Aid which has been put to good use making a variety of cakes, meringues and breads. He was especially proud of his first ever harvest loaf, which was displayed at a local church.




Christopher was proud to be use his baking talents when he was involved in organising a charity cake stall at school.  He then decided to hold two Big Bake Sales for the Wallace and Gromit Children's Charity fundraising for children's hospices.  The two sales combined raised £105 - the excellent result was a credit to his hard work in baking all these cakes and also to the generosity of those who donated their money to a good cause.

We have attended various food shows including the Cake and Bake Show and BBC Good Food Show.  Highlights included chats with Richard Bertinet, Jo Wheatley, Paul Young, Wendi Peters, the Meringue Girls, winning Culpitt's children's cake competition and meeting Mary Berry.

We were fascinated by a blender demonstration, and were delighted that Omniblend UK  was able to send Christopher a superb machine with which he has been trialling various recipes from sorbets to soups to hot chocolate!

Christopher and Charlotte entered the Wellingborough Bake Off and won first and second prize.  Christopher's cake won the attention of the BBC who invited him on to present and identical cake to Sue Perkins who ate it with much satisfaction!

Winter

Christopher ended the year making a jumbo Christmas pudding and a cracking Christmas cake.  We all had a part in making homemade foodie hampers for our friends and family that were really appreciated. 

What next?

We have learnt and mastered lots of new things this year, but there is still lots we would like to learn.  We would like to build on our sourdough baking, make some beautiful biscuits and possibly learn to make pork pies.  Several people have offered us a chance to see them in action in their businesses and we are looking forward to following this up.  Christopher still dreams of his own cooking book so we would like to see how we can take this forward.