Baking on a budget

While baking is fun, it can sometimes be an expensive hobby. This was particularly a problem when I was a student so I came up with some nifty ways of saving my pennies.

Shop smart

Supermarket own brands of ingredients are often so much cheaper than the branded versions. I always use value flour which is always under £1 for 1.5kg and works just as well. You can also grab some bargains in budget supermarkets such as Lidl who have expanded their baking range in recent years. I even found some usually expensive ingredients like ground almonds in the pound shop. It does pay to shop around!

Find cheaper ingredients

You can often find ingredients at a reduced price if you look outside of the baking aisle. For example, chocolate and cocoa powder is usually cheaper if you pick them up in the confectionary or hot drinks aisle. Instead of chocolate chips, I like to buy an inexpensive bar of chocolate and chop it into chunks. It tastes better and is a fraction of the cost! Butter can also be pricey so Stork is a great substitute when making sponge cakes. Try to make as much as possible from scratch, homemade icing and pastry is much cheaper than their supermarket counterparts. Free range eggs can also be dear but many supermarkets do boxes of mixed sized eggs which are cheaper than buying ones that are all the same size. The ultimate free ingredients can be found outside. Be inspired by the seasons and bake with what's available such as my pear and blackberry pie, blackberry ice lollies or wild garlic scones.

You don't need fancy equipment

I love looking at posh baking equipment in shops like Lakeland but can't afford the dear price tag. Most of my kit is from supermarkets, Poundland, Wilkos and even the Works. These shops have surprisingly pretty ranges and often you just need something that is functional. If you don't have a certain piece of equipment, be creative. I used a clean wine bottle to roll pastry before I got around to buying a rolling pin! If you don't have scales, you can use the internet to convert measurements into cups. Cookbooks are also quite costly so scour the internet for fabulous recipes on blogs, YouTube, Pinterest and websites like BBC Good Food.

So there are some of my budget baking hacks. Happy baking!

Comments

Tea with a ghost? | Tiny Tim's Tearoom | Canterbury

Canterbury is such a historic city so I was looking for a traditional place for afternoon tea. Tiny Tim's Tearoom was the perfect place. Housed in a gorgeous 17th century building, this tearoom is particularly inviting with its baked goods displayed in the shop windows. Inside, Glen Miller was playing softly in the background, giving the place a nostalgic, vintage feel. Many British favourites were on offer, such as, crumpets, scones and hearty sponge cakes. I had an excellent coffee and walnut cake which had a wonderfully potent coffee flavour unlike many shop-bought ones. Served with a dollop of cream, ice cream or custard, these cakes are the ultimate comfort food. Tea is also in abundance. I tried Keemun Orchid which was a black tea that had notes of plum, orchid, sesame and pine. There are also more traditional blends for those who prefer more conventional tea. I attended this tearoom alone after a pleasant morning visiting Canterbury Cathedral. However, was I t...

Gruesome Marshmallow Eyeballs | Halloween

Marshmallow eyeballs make a fun treat for Halloween next week. They are super easy to make as there is no cooking involved. I made a whole load while watching TV! Ingredients 1 packet of Marshmallows 1 packet of Maltesers Red and green writing icing Method 1. Use a chopstick to make a hole in the marshmallow. 2. Widen the hole with your fingers and add in a malteser. 3. Ice a dot in the middle of the malteser for the eye's iris and use red icing on the marshmallows to look like veins. It really is that easy!

Fried Chicken Parfait? | Karafuneya Coffee, Kyoto

We've been around the world and tried many strange ice creams, from the tomato flavoured ice cream of Nice to the salt ice cream of Dublin . However, nothing quite matches the crazy ice creams available at Karafuneya Coffee in Kyoto. As soon as you enter this lovely cafe in the Sanjo area of Kyoto, you are greeted by an enormous number of plastic models representing the amazing desserts. The best thing about Karafuneya is the sheer range of sundaes. We were equally thrilled by the classic chocolate and strawberry parfaits and the slightly more unusual Japanese flavours, such as macha and black sesame. There were even enormous sundaes (about 2 feet tall) that you can share with all your friends. However, the real eye catchers are the more outlandish ice cream combinations. We spotted a model for a French fries parfait, a deep fried chicken parfait and an American hot dog parfait. The models actually looked surprisingly delicious, but we weren't feeling too adventurous. So ...

Crumbs to Crunch

Search This Blog