[pinkpiggy]

Has anyone else found that the Golden Syrup in NZ is not very good for baking with? Twice now I've tried to make some flapjacks and been left with a pile of gooey oats. :wah First time I thought it was made but after my second attempt I've come to the conclusion that the golden syrup is too runny.

For that matter are there any other ingredients you've struggled with when trying to bake?

[zardell]

For that matter are there any other ingredients you've struggled with when trying to bake?


Self raising flour - isn't self raising enough!!

I always add baking powder now.

Oh and suet is suet mixed with flour, so instead of using 1 suet (Atora for the Brits reading this) to 2 flour, I now have to use 2 suet mixture (Shreddo) to 1 flour.

I must say though, that the sponge recipe on the back of the yellow Cornflour packet is superb.

Not doing too well with this diet I'm supposed to be on......:o

Julie

xx

[Moorf]

Self raising flour - isn't self raising enough!!

Ohhh it's not just me then! Whew....

[mgbridges]

Has anyone else found that the Golden Syrup in NZ is not very good for baking with? Twice now I've tried to make some flapjacks and been left with a pile of gooey oats. :wah First time I thought it was made but after my second attempt I've come to the conclusion that the golden syrup is too runny.

For that matter are there any other ingredients you've struggled with when trying to bake?

OH wanted to make Parkin so I searched out some Lyles Golden Syrup and Lyles Black Treacle. A little on the pricey side but it worked OK, slightly more gooey than he would have liked by everyone in the office scoffed it down and said it was delicious! Maybe its something to do with the climate?

Anneliese

[lockstock]

Not sure about the quality of the GS but I'll volunteer to sample any further batches. I didn't get this far in life without being a flapjack connoisseur!

[pinkpiggy]

Not sure about the quality of the GS but I'll volunteer to sample any further batches. I didn't get this far in life without being a flapjack connoisseur!

You're on Gilly! :laugh :laugh

[Familyofmonkeys]

Try making flapjacks with half honey/half golden syrup. The honey has a higher water content which evaporates during cooking...so it is not quite so gooey when finished.

[lockstock]

Try making flapjacks with half honey/half golden syrup. The honey has a higher water content which evaporates during cooking...so it is not quite so gooey when finished.

But I don't like honey:wah

[dilanium]

I've never used a syrup in my pancakes. I always just use brown sugar.

[pinkpiggy]

But I don't like honey:wah

Neither do I. :(

[babscat]

I have a coffe cake recipe which contains G syrup. It was a disaster on 3 occasions but I eventually discovered the problem was the oil based margarine. Used butter and the problem was solved.

Barbara

[Debbie]

O' I'm so glad I read this thread. I had wondered if my limited cooking skills had abandoned me since moving here. I also couldn't get flapjacks to work.
I can't get bread to work here either, I don't know if its the flour or the yeast. Plain flour seems dryer and needs extra moisture and SRF not as much lift as I'm used to.
When ever I use a cup measurement the result is unreliable. Are you meant to loose pour dry goods like flour or pack them down. I've been loose pouring.

I have these culinary disasters but they still keep disappearing out of the cake tin.
Debbie

[Familyofmonkeys]

We make tons of flapjacks that work just fine....if anyone wants to try some recipes I can post the propotions of ingredients I use.

We also make all our own bread at home. I have found that bread recipes have all needed adjusting compared to UK (espeically in humid summer weather) and in almost all brown bread recipes I have needed to reduce the water by at least 1/2 cup and also reduce the yeast quite a bit too.

[Den]

I'd love your flapjack recipe - nothing much else to do except bake! Already got loads in the freezer, haven't got a good one for flapjacks though and OH loves them.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I'd love your flapjack recipe - nothing much else to do except bake! Already got loads in the freezer, haven't got a good one for flapjacks though and OH loves them.

Right...it is in Ounces i'm afraid, but works a treat.

6oz butter
6 oz brown sugar
8 oz oats (maybe a sprinkle more if you like more crumbly flapjacks)
1 generous tablespoon golden syrup
1 tablespoon runny honey

Options for flavours:

Good handful chopped dried apricots, slithered almonds and almond essense.
Good handful raisins or sultanas, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds.
Chocolate chips or broken chunks dark choc and vanilla essense.
Chopped dates and either walnuts or pecan nuts and replace 1/2 honey with maple syrup.


Destructions:

Add butter, sugar and golden syrup and honey to cold pan. Warm butter on medium heat until melted and sugar warmed up, but keep stirring so sugar does not caramelise and never let butter & sugar boil. As soon as butter melted turn off heat and stir until thoroughly mixed. Add flavoured essense if using. Stir in oats and any fruit/nuts (not choc) until well mixed. If adding choc, add at end, mix as little as possible. Cook in tin lined with baking paper and make sure you press it down firmly with metal spoon before cooking. I personally find it best to cook at lower temperature for longer...160 degrees for about 25 minutes or so. Let it set in pan for about 15 minutes, then slice up into squares with knife and lift out all squares in one go by edges of baking paper and place on wire rack to cool (still on paper). Separate squares when cold.

If you change the quantities it works best if the butter and sugar are always 3/4 the weight of oats.

[gil]

Have used Cheslea GS only for Anzac cookies and they work fine every time....:confused:

Gil

[Carol]

poor quality eh?

SR flour....
Golden Syrup....
Ironing Boards....

lol

[pinkpiggy]

Will try your recipe FoM and swap margerine for butter. Does the honey affect the taste of the flapjacks as I don't like honey?

[jubjub]

I find I have to use butter with anything involving oats & golden syrup or it ends up a mess.... margarine is an utter failure in that respect!

[Familyofmonkeys]

Will try your recipe FoM and swap margerine for butter. Does the honey affect the taste of the flapjacks as I don't like honey?

Be careful with margerine...as JubJub said, it doesn't always work so well. You can't taste the honey at all in the flapjack recipe, but it just seems to work well and you can cook it for that bit longer so that it is not too crumbly without the flapjacks ending up rock solid.

[Den]

Thanks FOM for the recipe! I'll give it a go next week! need to get the oats.

PS I agree with the "ironing boards" wish I'd brought my old thing from uk. The iron I bought is brill though, its a sunbeam ultra platinum 55 - just in case anyones interested.

[Debbie]

I find I have to use butter with anything involving oats & golden syrup or it ends up a mess.... margarine is an utter failure in that respect!

May be that's what I'm doing wrong. I have always just substituted butter in everything baked. Off to add butter to the shopping list.
Debbie

[Familyofmonkeys]

Have used Cheslea GS only for Anzac cookies and they work fine every time....:confused:

Gil

Have you got a recipe for anzac cookies.....never tried baking those yet, and they are delicious :)

[jubjub]

This is the one I use, from the recipe thread.. http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3900&highlight=anzac


Rae - you're a star. Yummy, can't wait to try these recipes, especially the potato salad!

So, for todays recipe, here's a Kiwi favourite.

ANZAC BISCUITS

125g (4oz) Flour
150g (6oz) Sugar
1 cup Coconut
1 cup Rolled Oats
100g (3.5 oz) Butter
1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup
0.5 tsp Bicarbonate Soda
2 Tablespoons Boiling water

Mix together flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats. Melt butter and golden syrup. Dissolve Bicarb Soda in the boiling water and add to butter and golden syrup. Make a well in the centre of the flour, stir in the liquid. Place in spoonfuls on greased trays. Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).
Debs

[Familyofmonkeys]

:nice1 Will be baking some of these this weekend!

[jubjub]

They are yummy, I kinda roll them into a ball and squish them a bit once on the tray, and they spread quite a bit too....

[Familyofmonkeys]

They are yummy, I kinda roll them into a ball and squish them a bit once on the tray, and they spread quite a bit too....

Right...will try doing that. Will make a nice snack when we come back from swimming lessons on saturday :)

[Debbie]

What make of yeast do you find works in best in your bread machine? I was looking for those packs with 6 individual sachets but can only see little tubs.
I have brought 1 that said for bread makers but it only contained 45% yeast the rest was improvers and fillers. The other one I brought was dried and didn't work , I think it needed adding to water first. I'm having to use yeast shipped from the UK which isn't a long term solution.
Debbie

[Familyofmonkeys]

We buy 150g tubs of Edmonds Active Yeast from supermarket and it works just fine...put it in dry!

[Familyofmonkeys]

They are yummy, I kinda roll them into a ball and squish them a bit once on the tray, and they spread quite a bit too....

Very very yummy.....made some this afternoon with the monster boy :) Had to add a couple of tablespoons of warm water as it was a bit too dry to bind well.

[nippa&pippa]

Just made this flatjacks, very tasting as it contain NO golden syrup or honey. My OH normally HATE flatjacks but love this..as well as my children (inc 9 months old baby love it :yes)

Apple and Sultana flapjacks

Sunflower oil or margaine for greasing
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
1 heaped tbs sultanas/golden seedless raisins
half cup soft brown/molasses sugar
half cup wheat-free, milk-free margarine (can take any margarine, we used Oliavani (dairy-free, so baby can have one too :)))
1/3 cup ground rice mixed with 1/2tsp wheat-free baking powder (we used normal plain flour and normal baking powder)
2 cups rolled oats

1. Preheat the oven to 350'F/180'C/gas mark 4. Grease the base of a square 15cm cake tin with oil or margarine.
2. Put the grated apple, sultanas and 1 tablespoon of the sugar into a small pan. Heat gently for 5mins, stirring until the mixture is soft and the sultanas plump.
3. In a separate pan, melt the margarine over a low heat. take off the heat and stir in the ground rice/plain flour and baking powder mixture with the remaining sugar and oats.
4. Mix both mixtures together till well blended, spread the mixture over the base of tin and pressing down firmly.
5. Bake at the top of the oven for 30-35mins, until golden. Cool in the tin and cut into 16 small squares. Store in an airtight container and eat within 4 days. (I found it better to cut into square as soon as coming out of oven rather wait till it is cool for easy cut ;))

[pinkpiggy]

Sounds delicious Sophia. My taste buds are salivating already. :nice1

[Debbie]

Store in an airtight container and eat within 4 days.

No problem with them lasting 4 days!!

Made these last night for the lunch boxes and then OH and I sat sampling them all evening.
Debbie

[nippa&pippa]

No problem with them lasting 4 days!!

Made these last night for the lunch boxes and then OH and I sat sampling them all evening.
Debbie

:laugh Seem we need to make twice as much to last long with our kids

Got more interesting recipes...I will have look. Yesterday I also make victoria sandwich type chocolate cake without egg and milk etc and all eaten by teatime!

[Kate D]

I made some Scottish tablet yesterday (white sugar, condensed milk, normal milk, butter and vanilla essence) and I had to boil it for AGES to get it to set and was very pale in colour compared to its normal much darker caramel shade. I know, I know, hardly anyone's idea of a low calorie option but I needed the energy for all my unpacking! Tablet is very similar to fudge but sets harder and is more brittle. Anyone else found differences with the white sugar or maybe the condensed milk..? My house is warm and dry so those conditions are fairly typical to what it would have been in the UK.

I also made a banana and walnut tea loaf using muscovado sugar and that came out perfectly!

Kate

[Familyofmonkeys]

Ooooo......looks like a fabbie recipe sophia :nice1 We've just polished off the remaining pieces of weekend batch of chocolate flapjack, so might give this a bash for next weekend :)

[KerryS]

I made some Scottish tablet yesterday (white sugar, condensed milk, normal milk, butter and vanilla essence) and I had to boil it for AGES to get it to set and was very pale in colour compared to its normal much darker caramel shade. I know, I know, hardly anyone's idea of a low calorie option but I needed the energy for all my unpacking! Tablet is very similar to fudge but sets harder and is more brittle. Anyone else found differences with the white sugar or maybe the condensed milk..? My house is warm and dry so those conditions are fairly typical to what it would have been in the UK.

I also made a banana and walnut tea loaf using muscovado sugar and that came out perfectly!

Kate

I had to boil my last lot of tablet for ages too - and beat it for far longer than I ever did in London. I've got a sugar thermometer, so I know it was definitely at the right temp, but it just wasn't starting to crystalise. I never really considered the difference in ingredients being a factor - just put it down to being a duff batch...

[chocolate cake]

I made some Scottish tablet yesterday (white sugar, condensed milk, normal milk, butter and vanilla essence) and I had to boil it for AGES to get it to set and was very pale in colour compared to its normal much darker caramel shade. I know, I know, hardly anyone's idea of a low calorie option but I needed the energy for all my unpacking! Tablet is very similar to fudge but sets harder and is more brittle. Anyone else found differences with the white sugar or maybe the condensed milk..? My house is warm and dry so those conditions are fairly typical to what it would have been in the UK.

I also made a banana and walnut tea loaf using muscovado sugar and that came out perfectly!

Kate

Anyone else found differences with the white sugar or maybe the condensed milk..?
Yes, might be the condensed milk. I've tried making my usual recipe for millionaires shortbread and with both attempts so far, the filling has been a tad runny. Still delicious though :-)

[jubjub]

Apparently the white sugar is diff to caster sugar, and there doesnt seem to be an equivalent of normal granulated sugar... unless you try raw sugar, that looks more the right kinda size...

[Steadybears]

Im pleased to hear that Im not the only one having baking problems. I tried making a chocloate cake - a recipe I used often at home - but had two goes and both - heavy and hard although we managing to plough through it as we dont want to waste. This recipe has no marg that I could substitute with butter - but can anyone suggest what it could be.... sugar..... flour....baking powder. Might have to get a new recipe might help.

OH sick of cake and custard, cake and cream and even cake and icing sugar.
Am glad Im on WW that Im not allowed to have any of it.

[marcia]

Might have to get a new recipe might help.



Try the Edmonds recipe book - supposed to be the one 'All new Zealanders' use. Had it bought for me as a welcome gift and have used quite a few of the cake recipes with success (I wasn't a big baking person in the Uk - now converted!)

Our favourites are the one egg chocolate cake, banana cake and afgans.

[Steadybears]

Thanks Marcia - will have to get off tomorrow to look for one. Tks again

[chocolate cake]

Ooooo......looks like a fabbie recipe sophia :nice1 We've just polished off the remaining pieces of weekend batch of chocolate flapjack, so might give this a bash for next weekend :)

choclate flapjack, mmmm that sounds good, any chance of a recipe?

[jubjub]

Try the alison Holst recipes too, they are good, should be able to get one out of the library, but i do see Edmons quoted quite a lot as being "the" basic book its a bit like Delia for NZ!

[Familyofmonkeys]

choclate flapjack, mmmm that sounds good, any chance of a recipe?

I've posted it on page 2 of this thread :nice1

[chocolate cake]

I've posted it on page 2 of this thread :nice1

Thanks, I'll be trying that this weekend :cheers

[Oregonkiwi]

to anyone having problems with baking cakes - it might also be because you're using a different oven. Every oven cooks a little differently (hotter/colder/different air circulation, etc), or you might have switched from gas to electric. The kind of pans you use will affect the end result too, maybe you bought new ones when you arrived? Humidity levels will affect the amount of moisture in the flour; different egg sizes will change the amount of moisture in the mixture too. There's so many variables that it can be hard to pinpoint one thing that goes wrong.

Having said that - I've never had any problems using US recipes in NZ & vice versa - only ever had to adjust for high altitude (which isn't really a problem in Auckland :laugh )

happy baking!:)

[Familyofmonkeys]

Humidity levels will affect the amount of moisture in the flour

This has definitely been an issue for me with my bread making...but once i'd figured out it was the humidity affecting the flour (especially wholemeal flour), I reduced water in all recipes and everything works fine now!

[chocolate cake]

Well thanks for the flapjack recipe, turned out fine. I'm still having no joy with my usual millionnaires shortbread recipe though. The caramel's always too runny, still delicious but makes it tricky to cut properly.

[Familyofmonkeys]

Well thanks for the flapjack recipe, turned out fine.

Glad it worked for you....i've been chobbling on maple and pecan nut flapjack this week :)

[JandM]

Chobbling is a lovely word - where does that come from?

[Familyofmonkeys]

Chobbling is a lovely word - where does that come from?

Haven't got a clue...it was a word I was brought up using :)