WHEN The Great British Bake Off begins on Channel 4 on Tuesday, no expense will be spared.
But even baking at home can be costly, with the price of ingredients and equipment soon adding up.
Read on for tips on baking for less[/caption]
Whisk up some savings with these short cuts . . .
BULK BUY BASICS: Stick to recipes that use similar staples, so nothing goes to waste.
Sophia Butler, who runs a mobile tea room shop (sugar tearoom.co.uk), says: “Ready-made mixes end up costing more than buying sugar, flour, eggs and margarine, so save money by buying value versions and then you can make lots of different kinds of bakes.”
KEEP IT SIMPLE: You don’t need top-of-the-range equipment like the Bake Off cooks.
Sophia says: “All you really need is a hand-held electric whisk and a plastic bowl. It’s easier to store and simple to clean. I’ve run my whole business using a hand-held whisk.”
SWAP AND SAVE: Seeing the price of butter and caster sugar soar, Reshmi Bennett, of luxury bakery Anges De Sucre (angesdesucre.com), created this Hero Sponge recipe:
Pre-heat oven to 150C.
Crack three medium eggs into a mixing bowl.
Pour in 80g of sunflower or vegetable oil, 120g low-fat natural yoghurt, 100g milk and 20g vanilla extract.
Whisk until well combined. Add 300g granulated sugar and 5g salt.
Whisk until combined.
Sieve in 350g plain flour and 15g baking powder.
Mix until no lumps are visible. Grease two eight-inch cake tins and divide the batter evenly between them.
Bake on the middle shelf for 27-29 minutes.
Once a cocktail stick inserted into the middle comes out clean, take it out of the oven and cool.
LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS: Reshmi has tips for using up leftovers.
She says: “Leftover sponge can be used to make French toast or baked to make cake rusk for dunking in tea. Cake crumbs can be frozen and used as toppings on desserts and ice creams.
“Almost-off berries can be put in a saucepan with sugar and reduced to a coulis to fill layer cakes or top desserts.”
- All prices on page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability
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