Queen & Country

Hellooooooo there!

Thank you so so so much for being so patient, I've been busy and the computers been broken and I've been DYING to post! 

I didn't willingly abandon you. :)

So I've decided to do a post about baking. 

We can't escape words like "recession", "deficits", "economic climate" and "budgets" from the headlines recently and I've found the ultimate cure for recession blues!

Baking! 

Baking instead of buying!

Everyone's having to make compromises at the moment but cooking doesn't have to be one of them. 

Investing time instead of money could work in everyone's favour, especially when it comes to baking and craft making. Not only can it save you money when buying birthday cakes but there are so many makeable and bakeable gifts out there!

I'll be posting more craft and home made gift related posts later in the month, and other tips and tricks I've found for saving.

So, whether you're a seasoned baker, or just starting out I have a few helpful bits and bobs to get you on your way!

I get most of my recipes or dinner ideas from the internet, most of which are posted by those lovely people across the pond, and the one thing that always catches me out is the american measurements as all my equipment is kitted out for metric. So as the helpful little person I am, I have created a table of cup to metric conversions.

There are 2 charts, the first is for flour and icing sugar and the second for honey and syrup,

so make sure you're using the right one!!

And now I also have a few translations. I occasionally struggle with American names and their terminology of ingredients, so here are a few of the ones I use the most in baking.

I've included how to make Buttermilk as this can be another way to save money. Please note that this is an alternative as opposed to the real thing. Recipes will taste better with the bought stuff but it isn't always readily available. 

The reason you can't use normal milk is to do with the acid and alkali balance in the recipe/cake, if you use normal milk this will make the recipe less acidic/more alkaline and the amount of baking powder or bicarb would have to be adjusted. In short, it's better to use the method above or use a different recipe!

And finally as sport relief is coming up and everyone goes bake sale mad, I'll be posting a recipe at the end of every post until the big night! 

Thank you all for reading!

Please continue to follow me on twitter @queencounty.