Whilst everyone is hunkering down at home, many of us will be using the time to bake delicious cakes as a teatime treat for the house; but don’t worry if you can’t source all the ingredients for your favourite recipes, Bonne Maman’s store cupboard tricks can help you to adapt.
There’s a bit of an element of experimentation, but here are a few alternatives if you need them.
EGGS
Replace one egg with any of these other ingredients:
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp golden flaxseed soaked in 3 tbsp cold water
- 1 mashed ripe banana with ¼ tsp baking powder
CHOCOLATE
- Replace 25g chocolate with 3 tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tbsp softened butter
BUTTER
- Try using pureed cooked apple, mashed banana or pureed prunes. For best results, use an equal volume of the substitute i.e. replace ½ cup butter with ½ cup apple puree etc.
BUTTERMILK
- A mixture of milk and lemon juice works well. Roughly 1 tbsp lemon juice for every 150ml milk, leave to stand for 5 minutes before using.
SELF-RAISING FLOUR
- Mix 1tsp baking powder in to 100g plain flour.
SMALLER BAKES
- If you’re now baking for a smaller number of people, using a smaller tin and cutting the cooking time accordingly can successfully halve most cake recipes or you could also turn your favourite cake recipe into muffins by using muffin tins and again cutting the cooking time…
Here’s a real teatime treat, a scrumptious Bonne Maman Rhubarb Crumble Cake.
If you’re short of ingredients, you can use any type of flour, seeds and nuts for the crumble topping and if making a smaller version of the cake, halve all of the quantities and when mixed, pop into a deep 18cm sandwich tin or a 500g loaf tin. Bake for about 45mins to 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool and split in half. Make up half the filling from mascarpone or any soft cheese; even a soft, fresh goat’s cheese would be delicious!
Bonne Maman Apricot Compote can be used as an alternative to Rhubarb or simply use a Bonne Maman conserve such as Fig, Apricot or Plum.
So, as you can’t head out to afternoon tea at your usual café, why not make an occasion of it at home, dress the table with a pretty tablecloth and your finest tea set then relax, eat cake and catch up in the comfort of your own home………… Is it teatime yet?