Mumsnet Talk

I've got to a point where 90% of snacks in our house are now baked. Biscuits buns for lunchboxes and cake at the weekend. In fact the family no longer like shop bought stuff. I love it and have found it very rewarding. However it's hard to keep the cost down and ensure its cost effective for us. The cost of flour and sugar is not too bad. But I find that butter is very expensive. I tend to make less flapjacks now as although they taste better than shop ones, the cost of the oats seeds syrup and butter racks up.

How do I keep up with my baking without spending too much? Do you think I should just use something cheaper like stork?

I now look out for offers on butter. Fairly often a pack will drop to £1 and then I buy up looking for a really good date. Can usually get at least a month. Last lot I got was Asda and before that it was bizarrely in a small (usually dear) costcutter in kerrygold. Also I do buy salted if that's what on offer and skip any salt in the recipes.

I buy the cheapest/value butter and it's fine. If butter is on offer, buy as much as you can get in your freezer. It freezes brilliantly.

Cheaper oats are fine too. I buy supermarket own brand of everything.

I used value/ basics butter I can't tell the difference and was very when the professional cake people running a course I did said they use value everything - especially butter!

HTH

You can also freeze butter.
I was told on a cake course to use stork in cakes instead of butter as it gives a more even finish - it did work but there's obviously some recipes you wouldn't swap

Lurpack butter is 2 for £2 in tesco and sainsburys at the moment.

Thanks everyone. I'll stock up and freeze some. And try and remember to take it out of the fridge before baking. It's bad enough trying to remember to get it out of the fridge so it's room temperature.

I was discussing this with my mum and she was saying how she baked and it saved pounds and cost pennies. Now she says it often costs her more to make a basic sponge than to buy as food prices have gone up so much.

Yep smart price everything, and cut corners where you can. I use oil instead of butter where I can, for muffins and buns. Sometimes I'll use one egg instead of two for things like rock buns and just add a splash of milk instead. I do use stork or baking butter unless its something special which needs real butter like buttercream.

Agree that it's often cheaper to buy ready made biscuits/cakes.

Can you ever cut down eggs? What would happen to a sponge if instead of four eggs you used two?

Unless its changed in a week, asda always has £1 butter. You can freeze butter by the way.

I second the stork in cakes thing. I use butter in biscuits as I can taste the difference but cakes seem lighter with stork or own brand equivalent than with butter. Sorry to double up on price and freezing advice.

I'll happily use stork in cakes, just not in icing!

You can't really cut down in eggs in a sponge. It wouldn't rise well. But medium where it says large would be fine-I always buy the 15 pack mixed size free range eggs and my cakes are good (was going to say fine but that sounded as if mixed size eggs gave average results )

I always use stork - makes fab vicki sponges.

Value oats and flour are the way to go.

Asda Smart Price butter is 55p. Their regular own brand is £1. All the supermarkets will have a similar value offer.

I've just bought the Smart Price one to try out, baking some cookies.

Smart price flour has gone up from 52p to 60p for 1.5kg recently-the effect of the wet summer I imagine. Like for like-ie comparing nice supermarket cakes with homemade, it's still cheaper but it's not like it used to be. When dd was a baby (she's seven now), organic butter was 89p. Can't buy value for that now. I think I sound like my mother now so best pipe down

Always use stork in fairy cakes, sponges etc, but not for biscuits as it has a more pronounced marge flavour. And DEFinitely not in icing like my friend does!
Something to do with is having a high water content and so steams up inside the sponge leaving it light (think I read this, might not be true but it does make a lighter cake than butter).

I look on mysupermarket.com before I choose where to get my shop to check where stork, butter, eggs are cheapest if I need to stock up and use stork in cakes but butter for biscuits and icing. Own brand flor unless mcdogalls is on offer cheaper.

Flour and McDougalls even

I have swopped the creamy stork lately for the aldi or lidl(either one is fine) spreadable butter called heavenly buttery or beautifully buttery.It comes in a yellow tub like Clover and is perfect for cakes.I have had the lightest,fluffiest cakes using it-I bake a lot of traybakes,fairy cakes etc and its perfect for this.Half the price also.

Muffins can be made very successfully using oil, which I assume is cheaper than butter - I haven't done the sums. Big bags of supermarket smart price oats should also be cheap (weather permitting).

I think I paid £1 for a 1kg bag of oats from Aldi - in fact it may even have been £1 from Morrisons and 75p from Aldi - made some lovely cheese oatcakes. I also buy flour and sugar from Aldi, along with nuts.

I decided to try the Cooltrader shop near where I live and they had 6 free range eggs for £1 which was good.

ChristmasEvie - thanks for the tip re: Aldi spreadable butter - I will look out for this. Is it OK in biscuits as well as cakes?

I use Willow instead of butter as it's soft straight from the fridge. We've never noticed a difference in taste.

Home bargains are also good for cheap baking ingredients, flour, dried fruit, porridge oats etc.

Kerrygold butter is 2 for £2 today in tesco's. have stocked up!

I ve got a few half jars of dark choc and pot au orange (bought from M&S on offer). It's quite intense I seem to remember. Any ideas? Oh Ive got some frozen raspberries too