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Wood Pussies

677 replies

VikingVagine · 24/02/2012 15:43

Carrying on from Chat.

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Somersaults · 29/02/2012 09:32

Mmmmmm they sound good. Prospero Joe II is going to be a busy boy!

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 29/02/2012 10:02

Woke up to an email from Amazon offering a 20% refund! Grin

HazeltheMcWitch · 29/02/2012 10:14

20% ? Kerching.

Ooh, you could 'reinvest' in some new baking equipment!

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 29/02/2012 10:40

Hazel, my thoughts exactly. Lakeland, here I come!!!!!!!

AmandinePoulain · 29/02/2012 10:52

Envy eddie Grin

Ilovefluffysheep · 29/02/2012 11:28

I'm obviously being very thick, because when I put the food processor on it, it won't switch on! Obviously there is something I'm not locking into place properly, but I can't work out what!

Can anyone talk me through simple instructions of putting the processor on and locking all the bits?

TunipTheVegemal · 29/02/2012 11:53

handle at same end as feed tube and little grey triangle lined up with little grey line?

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 29/02/2012 12:39

The processor has to click further round than you think .

DO NOT leave anything pushed into the mixer end however when you use the processor

TunipTheVegemal · 29/02/2012 12:43

...unless you want to grate your cheese for the cheese scones and mix the scone mixture at the same time, I am very proud of my Ken for doing that!

Ilovefluffysheep · 29/02/2012 13:44

Will try again later and see if I can lock it all in! Been battling with pastry all morning, something I have never been able to do by hand. Did it in mixer with k beater after failing to set processor up!

First lot fine, rolled beautifully. Second lot too dry, crumbled when I rolled, so have broken it up, added more water, mixed again, and am hoping it might work! Is currently in the fridge until I'm brave enough to try it!

Somersaults · 29/02/2012 14:36

I was so eager to use Joe this morning that I didn't wait fur the butter for my Victoria sponge to soften so poor Joe had a hard time trying to K-beat it into submission the sugar. Result = batter with tiny solid butter lumps throughout. Can't blame Joe though, entirely my own fault. Wanted to do brownies this afternoon too but DD is very grouchy and clingy after 12 week jabs yesterday so it's not looking hopeful.

EddieVeddersfoxymop · 29/02/2012 14:50

Good point tunip.........however I left the K beater in and the dough hook in the bowl, and then switched on the processor..........Confused

VikingVagine · 29/02/2012 16:00

I finally made scones this afternoon. DD (2) "helped" and they were delicious you could hardly taste the bread and clothes peg if a little oddly shaped due to the intervention of tiny hands when brushing with the egg.

I tried to make something vaguely resembling thick cream but it just tasted like crème fraîche, although it didn't prevent DH and DS eating it, DD and I just stuck to butter. Found some jam my DM had made last summer with the plums from her garden; it had crystallised but was still nice and tangy, mmmmmm.

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Somersaults · 29/02/2012 17:51

I got DH to pick up lemonade on his way home from work so I could try PP's lemonade scones recipe. They sound interesting. DH doesn't sound too convinced or enthusiastic about them (obvs a scones purist) so they will just have to be fab to convince him.

VikingVagine · 29/02/2012 17:58

I tried making bread the other day but it didn't rise (at all), think I probably killed the yeast with the salt. Anyway, I wrapped the dough in cling film & put it in the fridge.

Tonight I decided to try one of the river cottage veg recipes on the guardian website - carrots and chickpeas in pita bread - and, not having any pita handy, I thought I'd make flat breads with the failed dough. Turns out they puffed up into perfect pita breads, yay!

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TunipTheVegemal · 29/02/2012 18:00

Excellent!!

HuevosRancheros · 29/02/2012 18:01

OK, clearly you are all great at this and I am not :(

I made pastry this morning

If relevant, it was quite a lot, 12oz flour/6 oz fat.
The fat was a 50:50 mixture of butter/Trex (veggie "lard")
The fat was at room temp.

Thing is, the butter just wouldn't all mix in. I was expecting a breadcrumb texture, but no matter how long I beat it for, there were still lumps of butter. I ended up using fingertips
Then I added water, and realised I didn't really know how much to add, was just trying to remember the gazilllion times I watched my mum do it. It seemed OK at the time, I then fridged it for the day, and when I got it out an hour or so ago, it was rock hard. Am hoping it will be rollable in an hour or so.

Any tips?

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 29/02/2012 18:19

Huevos I have only tried pastry once as well and I also got buttery lumps. Next time I am going to make sure the butter/Trex is softer. I also think it might have helped if I had been doing a larger quantity, mine was only a 4oz mix (I have also found a 4oz cake mix doesn't work brilliantly as it just smears round the bowl and doesn't get picked up, going to try all in one next time).

Have you got the food processor? My old one does a brilliant job of rubbing in.

I would expect it to be rock hard if it was in the fridge for that long, but should be fine once it has warmed up a bit.

VikingVagine · 29/02/2012 18:20

Did you cut the butter into small chunks first?

When it comes out of the fridge it usually is rock hard, you just need to pummel it a bit and once you get going it should soften up a bit.

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WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 29/02/2012 18:30

I cut mine into 1cm cubes. It wasn't rock hard, sort of medium, would have been quite hard work rubbing it in by hand like that, will zap it in the microwave for a fe secnds next time. Just seen that you were doing a larger quantity than me Huevos so quantity I guess isn't the problem.

TheCunningStunt · 29/02/2012 18:37

Hmmm I have two hungry boys after school tomorrow for tea. What delciousness cake/snack can I make??

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 29/02/2012 18:39

Scotch pancakes always go down well with hungry children in this house Cunning

Did anyones Be-Ro book arrive yet? Is anyone still here from when we were talking about that last week?

TheCunningStunt · 29/02/2012 18:42

I have one!!

TunipTheVegemal · 29/02/2012 18:51

In the tart recipes in the first Jamie Oliver Naked Chef books, he gets you to slice bits off the pastry when it's hard and piece them together in the tart tin rather than roll it out - it's quite a nifty idea because it's easier if you're a beginner than doing the whole rolling pin thing (though once you're confident at all the rolling out that's quicker). It also means the pastry gets handled less so it ends up lighter. (No good for a pie though.)

I've always rubbed in using a food processor, not yet tried with the KMix. You can't do much in one go though (and the Prospero's fp bowl is quite dinky).
Rubbing in does take forever when you're doing a lot.

Re the quantity of water, this is the story of how I learnt to do pastry.
When I was a teenager my mum asked me to do the pastry for her mince pies. I forgot it needed water and made the pastry stick together through sheer determination and force of will. The mince pies crumbled in your hand but they were the most scrumptious thing ever. Several people told me they were the best pastry they had ever tasted. And all because I had got it wrong.
After that I realised that the less water you use, the better it is. So put in a little at a time (ice cold), just enough to make it stick together. If you put in too much the whole thing will still work absolutely fine, it just won't be quite so melt-in-the-mouth, but it will still be lovely because fresh home-made pastry simply is lovely. If you put in too little it will fall to pieces but that will be balanced out by the fact that it tastes better, so it's a trade-off.

The secret with pastry is never compare yourself to Delia or Mary Berry or the women in your local WI. If you do that you will lose confidence. Compare your pastry to a Taste the Difference fruit tart from Sainsburys and yours will actually be a hundred times better because of being all fresh with nothing but proper ingredients.

VikingVagine · 29/02/2012 18:56

I never use water in mince pie pastry, just an egg yolk. The less water, the nicer the pastry.

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