Inspire me to use my Kenwood!

[SkaterGrrrrl]

I was given a Kenwood mixer 2 birthdays ago and it's gathering dust on the counter. People keep raving about them and saying how great they are... what does a Kenwood do well? What food shall I try making in it that will inspire me to use it more often? I like cooking and baking.

Great for bread and pizza dough.

And cakes, woman, cakes.

Thanks midnight. I have a bread maker so am more likely to try cakes.

How is it better than a bowl and a wooden spoon? I guess it does the egg beating better?

Hmm... cake.

It's better because you don't have to do it yourself . Seriously though, you know how recipes tell you to beat the butter and sugar until they are 'pale' - I never really got that until I used a mixer to do the mixing - it goes a completely different colour.

Oh my goodness, they are fab! I have one. Playdough is a breeze. I made a batch in 3 minutes this morning, and only 30 seconds of that was mixing it. The dough hook is amazing.

I use it regularly for everyday tasks. So mashed potato using the Kbeater. I have some of the attachments. I use it for slicing carrots, mushrooms, etc., grating cheese for a cheese sauce.

Meringues are easily produced, anything that requires mixing, beating, etc.

Cakes are great. Actually, I use an all in one recipe, and I literally dump the ingredients in the bowl, whack the dial around, and pour/scrape the mixture into a tin. A cake mix takes about 45 seconds or 1 minute once you have weighed the ingredients.

Mayonnaise, etc. is also easily made in a kenwood.

Oooh, okay. So creaming butter & sugar and mash those are good starter tasks.

I have only used the dough hook of my Kenwood once, when DH went to a party dressed up as a pirate.

I made fish cakes from scratch in my Kenwood this week and they were lush - so thanks for encouraging me to use it!