Mary Berry webchat: Join the queen of tarts on Monday 1.30 - 2.30

[RachelMumsnet]

We are excited and delighted that queen of the kitchen, Mary Berry, will be joining us at MNHQ for a live webchat.

Mary Berry, CBE is one of the UKs best-known and most respected cookery writers and television presenters. She has over 80 books to her name and over 6 million sales worldwide. A judge on The Great British Bake Off she has been voted as Britains favourite baking companion.

Mary's autobiography A Recipe for Life is out this month. A touching, evocative and fascinating memoir, Mary tells the story of her remarkable rise to fame. Everyone who joins the webchat will be entered into a draw to win a signed copy of A Recipe for Life. Join us on Monday or post a question in advance to Mary on this thread.

[AngelsLieToKeepControl]

Oh no, I'm bloomin working on monday

I absolutely love her, I can't think of a profound question to ask though, can you make up a super intelligent question about flour or something from me

[HoneyDragon]

[tak1ngchances]

Just wanted to say that I LOVE Mary, and honestly hop with glee on Tuesdays in the knowledge that I will have a heavenly hour of GBBO to watch. I always have food handy though, it makes me so hungry!

Little question: I am delighted to see some gluten-free bakes creeping in, any chance of seeing any more?

[expatinscotland]

Mary, I'd like to ask if it is necessary to adjust my cake and biscuit recipes in any way if I am using duck eggs, which are richer than chicken eggs.

(P.S., am a big fan of yours . Also, as a mother bereaved of my beautiful daughter, thank you for being so sharing of your experience of bereavement and I am sorry for the loss of your son).

[forcookssake]

Gah! I'll be at work during the actual chat, but I do have a question...
When making creme patissiere, other than using cornflour, which looks a bit like cheating... does Mary have any tips or hints to stop it curdling please?
and for my favourite person on television!

[mamathechicken]

I would like to thank you Mary for teaching me how to cook! My question is what cook books other than your own would you recommend , for good family meals.

[TallyGrenshall]

I love Mary! My mother bought me one of her books 13/14 years ago and I used it all the time until it got lost in a move and I can't remember what it was called to replace it :( (white cover with all the basics in it if anyone remembers/has it)

My question is what has been your favourite bake from all the GBBO series?

[itsonlysubterfuge]

I don't have a question, but a cute story to relay. I was looking through your Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook today and my daughter (she is 14 months old) came up to me and I said "This is Mary Berry's cookbook" and she kept pointing out the pictures and saying "Mmmm!" and then she pointed to your picture and said "Mare Bear".

I can't wait until we can flip through your cookbooks together and choose what to have for dinner or even better, for dessert.

I hope you have a happy day! You seem such an absolutely, lovely person and it's a joy reading your cookbooks and watching you cook on the TV.

[OPeaches]

Mary, I think you're fabulous, your books are my go-to for all baking.

My question is, do you have a recipe for a toffee flavoured sponge cake? I've used various brown sugars but it's never been quite right, not toffee-ish enough. I would like it to be a light(ish) sponge, rather than muffin-y.

Thank you.

[exhaustedmummymoo]

Ooh I love Mary Berry, my mum has her books from late 70s/early 80s and when I got married passed them on to me thinking I might need some help in the kitchen! I now use the cook books with my small people.
But my question is: please help if I put fruit into my sponge cake mixtures it always sinks to the bottom of the tin. What am I doing wrong? I have tried both mixing and folding the mixture but the result is always the same!
Any help huge thanks.

[NotAFeminist]

{Ooh, I have never been part of a webchat before and am not quite sure how it works??? But I have only just discovered the joys of The Great British Bake Off (4 series in, I know, where have I been?!) and love it immensely! I think Mary Berry is simply delightful which is why I would love to ask the following question...}

For someone who has only really baked in cooking classes at school and a handful of other times, what advice would you give to someone starting out in the world of baking? For example, simple recipes to start with, or what vital cooking utensils should every budding baker have in their kitchen, or what ingredients must one always have to hand etc...

Many thanks in advance if you answer my question! :)

[OhDearNigel]

Hello Mary,
My mother and i are huge fans, i am a patissier by trade and always use your recipes for my home baking. I have loved watching you on GBBO and am usually inspired to bake the technical challenge. Im always sad when the series finishes and i go back to lemon drizzle and victoria sandwiches !

My question for you is, where can i buy an angel food tin that doesnt cost me £40 ? I love it, bought all the ingredients to make it after the episode but couldnt find one anywhere. Could you persuade lakeland to put one in the next catalogue ?

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

Hello! Thank you for coming on....I would like to know some scone tips please....mine always turn out flat...even though I follow instructions.

[GerardButlersSecretLover]

Hi Mary! Chris Evans read out my text for you on Friday on the Breakfast Show. I am the lady who's copy of Fast Cakes is falling apart.
I want to THANKYOU for your wonderful books, as I said as well in my text I was a HUGE fan of yours ten years ago. When I bought your books my friends were all saying "Who is she???" Your recipes are easy to follow and lovely to eat. My son is at boarding school and I often make your tray bake in various forms!!

[50ShadesofXmas]

Hi Mary, my question is...what do you do if you don't like the flavouring that someone has used in one of their dishes in gbbo? I hate coconut and would hate to have to taste 14 lots of coconut slice for example!! :-)

[littlestressy]

Hi Mary, I love GBBO and my mum applied but sadly didn't get through
My question is: whenever I make sponge cakes I always cream the butter and sugar first then add the eggs. But the mixture always looks like its curdled after the eggs have been added, I add them a little at a time but nothing seems to work.
What am I doing wrong?

[OhDearNigel]

Ah, More Fast Cakes. I loved looking through the pictures as a teenager.

[OhDearNigel]

And one final question for you, could an ex patissier who hasn't cooked professionally for 15 years apply for gbbo ?

[SoleSource]

Hi Mary, what made you decide to that Keith Lemon in your house?

[LegoCaltrops]

Hi Mary. Please could you advise what I'm doing wrong with my shortcrust pastry. I've used various recipes, they taste fine when cooked but invariably when I lift the pastry up with the rolling pin to transfer to the dish/tray, it falls apart. Every single time! Is my kitchen too warm, am I over/under working the dough, is it too dry? I currently use a simple recipe of 225g flour, 110g butter, 2 egg yolks, & a couple of tsp water to bind. Please help as I'm a keen cook & this most basic thing eludes me. Thanks.

(Also would be interested in the answer to the scones question as mine also turn out like biscuits, and the toffee sponge, if such a thing exists.)

[MarmaladeTwatkins]

Hello Mary,

The last few times I have made flavoured cakes, I have had to do some last-minute tweaking as the flavours just aren't coming through in my cakes. For example, last week I did some Pina Colada cupcakes for my friend's birthday and I used (what I thought was a copious amount of) Malibu, coconut cream and pineapple chunks. When I ate the test cake, it just tasted of... nothing.

I rescued them by cutting a small hole in the top of each and pouring in a little pineapple juice and a chunk of pineapple, then going mad with the frosting (more Malibu and coconut cream!) In the end they DID taste very Pina Colada like but I could have done without that faffing at the last minute.

It's not the first time my flavours have got 'lost'. Please tell me where I am going wrong?!

[Purplelillies]

Hi Mary,I am a huge fan and your 'Baking Bible' is my favourite book for all my baking.
I have two questions actually.First one is ,in general,how much quicker do cakes bake in a fan oven compared to a conventional oven? Say if a cake will take 3-3and a half hours in an ordinary oven how long will it take in a fan oven(I did an oxford lunch cake a few days ago and it seemed to be done after 2 hrs in the fan oven..it tastes fine and looks fine but it seems a ridiculously short cooking time).Or say if a traybake is supposed to take 30-35 minutes how long will this be in a fan oven?
Other question is I recently made a lemon traybake using your recipe but I put 4 tablespoons of lemon juice into it instead of the 4 tablespoons of milk.The top seemed to be a bit hard and crusty as a result.Is this because there is too much natural sugar in the lemon juice and it has sort of burned?
Thanks if you answer Mary-absolutely love you to bits .

[anotetofollowso]

Hello Mary,

I adore all things lemony, especially lemon cake. But all the lemon cake recipes I have tried, (including yours - thank you!) all call for lemon zest, and no matter how finely I grate the zest it always makes my cake gritty. What am I doing wrong? Is there any way to extract the flavour from lemon zest without ending up with a slightly sandy-textured cake?

[AngelsLieToKeepControl]

I thought of a question.

Can you please come up with a great recipe for Irn Bru cupcakes for your next book (or just for me )

I have tried about 10 different recipies but none of them are very bru-ey. Every time I try to change quantities they just come out flat. Is there some way of intensifying the flavour without it all going horrifically wrong?

Can't believe I'm asking someone so classy about Irn Bru cupcakes