# We should have an ugly baked goods thread ...



## summerflyy (Mar 15, 2015)

So I've not been soaping much since I am at uni now and I don't have any of my mold or equipment and it's now nearing the end of the academic year anyway (I will make sure to correct this the next acad year in Sept) 

But I've been baking ! I had some apples that are a week past their best before so I decided to make some apple tarts to use them up. 

Looks-wise ? Not the best. 

Taste-wise ? THEY ARE SO GOOOOOD. 

While I was mixing up the dough, the smell of butter was absolutely intoxicating. 

My flatmates really loved it and wanted me to make more the next time round ! (I would !) 

If anyone is interested in the recipe: 

Apple filling: 
5 apples (red if you like it sweet, green if you like it slightly sour) 
2 tbsp sugar 
1 tbsp corn starch 
1 tbsp water 

Peel and slice apples thinly then put in a saucepan on medium heat to soften the apples. Stir from time to time to ensure that all the apples are being softened. Do so for 10 mins, or until softened. 

When it's ready, pour in 2 tbsp of sugar and stir well to dissolve. Dissolve the corn flour in the water and mix it up. When sugar is dissolved, add in the corn flour to thicken the filling up. (Or if you don't think it's thick enough, you can add a little more) 

When done, leave to cool. 

Tart Pastry: 
300 g of plain flour
60g of sugar
125g of butter 
1 egg, lightly beaten. 

Combine plain flour, sugar and butter. Mix it till it reaches breadcrumbs-like texture. Add in the egg and make into a dough. 

If you are using small individual moulds like I did, get some of the dough, roll it into a ball and then flatten with your palm and fingers, make it into a circle (or as circular as possible) then press it into the mould, adjusting it as you go. 

If you are using a loaf mould or if you are using a pie mould, roll the 1/2 of the dough between two plastic wrap till it reaches 1/2 inch thickness and press in your mould. 

Then spoon in your apple fillings. Cover the fillings with pastry and then use a fork and poke some holes in them. 

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 30mins or golden brown. 

 !


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## Sagebrush (Mar 16, 2015)

They may not look gourmet, but they look like they taste delicious!


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## Seawolfe (Mar 16, 2015)

I think they are lovely! such a treat


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## summerflyy (Mar 16, 2015)

@sageonmountain and @seawolfe 

Yes ! They don't have the best looks but they are really nice ! This is the recipe my mum always uses and it just taste so beautifully awesome ! 
I am thinking of buying some tart molds so that they would look better !


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## KristaY (Mar 16, 2015)

I don't think they look bad at all! They look handmade and delicious which is much better than the perfect, machine made junk you get in a store. I'm sure your flatmates think you're the best making such yummy treats that don't include all the additives and preservatives that come in processed food. Nice work!


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## summerflyy (Mar 16, 2015)

@KristaY

Thanks Krista ! My flatmates do love it though I found it not sweet enough so I may want to try using different types of apples instead !


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## Luv2Soap (Mar 16, 2015)

OMG these sound AMAZING!


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## summerflyy (Mar 16, 2015)

@Luv2soap They are !!! And they are sooooo easy to make !


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## IrishLass (Mar 16, 2015)

They look great to me! 


IrishLass


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## biarine (Mar 16, 2015)

Looks delicious to me


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## snappyllama (Mar 16, 2015)

I'd like to offer my services as an appropriate disposal site for all your "ugly" baked goods. 

Seriously, you haven't seen ugly until you've seen my cakes. /shame

Those look yummy!


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## jules92207 (Mar 17, 2015)

Those look delicious!!


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## summerflyy (Mar 17, 2015)

biarine said:


> Looks delicious to me


Thank you ! They taste really delicious too ! (Well, at least that's what everyone says. I am afraid that they are too polite to tell me otherwise)



jules92207 said:


> Those look delicious!!


It's really yummy ! And they smell SOOOOOO good ! 



snappyllama said:


> I'd like to offer my services as an appropriate disposal site for all your "ugly" baked goods.
> 
> Seriously, you haven't seen ugly until you've seen my cakes. /shame
> 
> Those look yummy!


Haha ! I am sure it's not that bad ! You could share some photos of your baked goods as well ! This is really fun ! 



IrishLass said:


> They look great to me!
> 
> 
> IrishLass


They are really nice ! 

In the end, I succumbed to temptation and got myself some tart moulds and they should arrive this week. I am going to make this recipe again with Granny Smith Apples and make some jam tarts for the Sunday Roast as well ! We will see how it goes !  !


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## lenarenee (Mar 17, 2015)

I agree with everyone above!

If you're still concerned about how your baked goods look....a dusting of confectionary (powder, icing...not sure what you'd call in in the UK) sugar
will fix it up.


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## cmzaha (Mar 18, 2015)

I have to agree that they do not look bad at all. I love homemade to look homemade and not professional. Bet they are delicious and thank you for the recipe. I am going to make some this weekend.


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## jules92207 (Mar 18, 2015)

They sure look better than my homemade applesauce and that stuff rocks my world!


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## summerflyy (Mar 18, 2015)

lenarenee said:


> I agree with everyone above!
> 
> If you're still concerned about how your baked goods look....a dusting of confectionary (powder, icing...not sure what you'd call in in the UK) sugar
> will fix it up.



OH. I just have some icing sugar too ! I might try it the next time round ! Thanks for the suggestion ! 



cmzaha said:


> I have to agree that they do not look bad at all. I love homemade to look homemade and not professional. Bet they are delicious and thank you for the recipe. I am going to make some this weekend.



Yay ! Tell me what you think of the recipe ! I would suggest adding a bit more sugar to the apples when you are cooking them ! When I was making this, I did add a little bit more sugar than the recipe called for. 



jules92207 said:


> They sure look better than my homemade applesauce and that stuff rocks my world!



AWW ! Thanks ! Would you mind sharing the recipe ? Of course you don't have to if you don't want to ! I think homemade applesauce would be so much nicer than store bought ones !


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## jules92207 (Mar 19, 2015)

It's so easy - peel and slice 12 apples, I personally prefer 8 gala/fuji apples to 4 granny smith, perfect balance of sweet to tart but you can certainly switch it up to your preference. Put slices in a deep sauce pot, sprinkle with a good helping of cinnamon (maybe 2 tbsp) and let it cook over medium heat (you do not need to add water). Usually takes about 30 minutes to soften everything up. Stir occasionally. Most slices will already reach applesauce consistency but there might be a few larger pieces so I mash with a potato masher for good measure.

I serve it warm with a dollop of whipped cream for a nice dessert.


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## summerflyy (Mar 19, 2015)

jules92207 said:


> It's so easy - peel and slice 12 apples, I personally prefer 8 gala/fuji apples to 4 granny smith, perfect balance of sweet to tart but you can certainly switch it up to your preference. Put slices in a deep sauce pot, sprinkle with a good helping of cinnamon (maybe 2 tbsp) and let it cook over medium heat (you do not need to add water). Usually takes about 30 minutes to soften everything up. Stir occasionally. Most slices will already reach applesauce consistency but there might be a few larger pieces so I mash with a potato masher for good measure.
> 
> I serve it warm with a dollop of whipped cream for a nice dessert.



That sounds delicious ! Sounds like something to try soon ! Thanks ! I think the applesauce would go very nicely with a pork chop or honey roasted pork slices !


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## jules92207 (Mar 19, 2015)

I LOVE applesauce with my pork chops!


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## kchaystack (Mar 19, 2015)

You can also do apple butter.  You follow the same process as jules sets out, but you let it cook for much longer.  It gets very dark, and rich.  Pretty amazing stuff


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## jules92207 (Mar 20, 2015)

Ohhh I didn't realize that apple butter was so easy to make, I love apple butter. I will have to be making that!


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## summerflyy (Mar 20, 2015)

Omg ! That really sounds amazing ! I'm going to try it someday ! Thanks for the tips !


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## Saponista (Mar 29, 2015)

Do these qualify? I'm British, I can't make cookies. These were supposed to be double chocolate chip. They are weird and more like 'cakies' than cookies.


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## biarine (Mar 29, 2015)

Don't worry it's looks delicious


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## IrishLass (Mar 29, 2015)

Saponista said:


> Do these qualify? I'm British, I can't make cookies. These were supposed to be double chocolate chip. They are weird and more like 'cakies' than cookies.
> 
> View attachment 13364


 
Nothing wrong with that! You now have mini-cakes! Besides, they're chocolate, which is able to make up for a multitude of weirdness (if you ask me). :razz:


IrishLass


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## Cactuslily (Mar 29, 2015)

Oh my!...I can just smell the baking apple goodness! Brings me back to my childhood when my mom would make baked apples. Nothing like the smell of home baked treats wafting through the house. Summerflyy, your flatmates are mighty lucky  Saponista, how could you possibly call anything made with chocolate weird? They look yummy! The crispy goodness of a cookie and a chewy cake all in one? What can be bad about that?


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## Sagebrush (Apr 2, 2015)

Saponista said:


> Do these qualify? I'm British, I can't make cookies. These were supposed to be double chocolate chip. They are weird and more like 'cakies' than cookies.
> 
> View attachment 13364




Those look amazingly delicious! My favorite cookie recipe is also kind of cakie...they're a pumpkin cookie with oatmeal and chocolate chips that my mom made and I have to make every year too


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## summerflyy (Apr 2, 2015)

Saponista ! Don't worry about that, you could just say that you meant for that to happen ! 

On a side note, if it's too cake-like, might be something to do with the flour or the amount of sugar ?


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## summerflyy (Apr 2, 2015)

Cactuslily said:


> Oh my!...I can just smell the baking apple goodness! Brings me back to my childhood when my mom would make baked apples. Nothing like the smell of home baked treats wafting through the house. Summerflyy, your flatmates are mighty lucky  Saponista, how could you possibly call anything made with chocolate weird? They look yummy! The crispy goodness of a cookie and a chewy cake all in one? What can be bad about that?




The smell of baking apple is absolutely delicious !!! I love it when my mum makes these ! And if you prefer sweeter tarts, use gala apples and if you prefer tart, use granny smith. I remade the tarts the other day with granny smith and it was a little too sour for my liking.

But my flatmates love it !


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## biarine (Apr 2, 2015)

My drop swirl chiffon cake


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## summerflyy (Apr 3, 2015)

Omg Biarine, that cake looks nice ! I love cakes ! Chiffon cakes are one of my favourites  !


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## Aline (Apr 3, 2015)

I don't think there is such a thing as Ugly Baked Goods. They all look so delicious! Having said that, there are a few disasters on Pinterest Fail: e.g. http://pinterestfail.com/2015/04/03/reanimated-easter-bunny-rolls/


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## biarine (Apr 3, 2015)

summerflyy said:


> Omg Biarine, that cake looks nice ! I love cakes ! Chiffon cakes are one of my favourites  !




Thank you  summerflyy  mine too, I always bake one of my hobby


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## Saponista (Apr 6, 2015)

Thanks everyone.

I think my problem is somewhere in the ingredients summerflyy. I used an American recipe but only had British ingredients, I wasn't sure what all purpose flour was so I used plain flour ( I think it is the same thing but not certain) and there was a discrepancy with the sugar too, but I can't remember what the problem was with that! Oh well as everyone else said, nothing is that bad if it contains chocolate!


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## biarine (Apr 6, 2015)

Saponista said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> I think my problem is somewhere in the ingredients summerflyy. I used an American recipe but only had British ingredients, I wasn't sure what all purpose flour was so I used plain flour ( I think it is the same thing but not certain) and there was a discrepancy with the sugar too, but I can't remember what the problem was with that! Oh well as everyone else said, nothing is that bad if it contains chocolate!




Yes all purpose and plain flour are the same. I used just plain flour here UK and used either white or brown sugar in my baking then raw cocoa powder from beanfreak shop


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## IrishLass (Apr 6, 2015)

Saponista said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> I think my problem is somewhere in the ingredients summerflyy. I used an American recipe but only had British ingredients, I wasn't sure what all purpose flour was so I used plain flour ( I think it is the same thing but not certain) and there was a discrepancy with the sugar too, but I can't remember what the problem was with that! Oh well as everyone else said, nothing is that bad if it contains chocolate!


 
Yep- trying to figure out good subs for different country's flours can sure be a bugger. The flour we call 'all-purpose' here in the US is stronger in protein content than the UK 'plain flour', and so some adjustments may be needed when substituting, depending on what you are baking, which is something I found out in my quest to try to make a good pie crust. For what it's worth, the crust recipe I was following used the classic/standard European ratio of 50% butter to weight of the flour, but with my higher protein US all-purpose flour, I kept having many more 'misses' than 'hits' and I couldn't figure out why. It wasn't until I read the following blog that the sky opened up for me, and now I have a 100% success rate with my all-purpose flour crusts coming out the way I want them: http://www.forloveofthetable.com/2011/10/tender-flakya-tutorial-on-short-crust.html 

The biggest thing I took away from the blog that reversed the crust curse for me was that instead of the classic ratio of using '50% as much butter as per the weight of flour', I learned that I had to make the adjustment of using 75% as much butter as per flour weight whenever using my higher protein content US all-purpose flour. It works like a charm for me.

Anyway, here is a website that suggests that if you are following an American recipe and subbing in 'UK plain flour' for 'American all-purpose', that you should increase the amount of plain flour a 'tidge': http://www.cooksinfo.com/all-purpose-flour And another website with good flour equivalents: http://www.danlepard.com/2013/01/10/coming-on-strong/ .........and one more: http://usingmainlyspoons.com/2011/11/17/10-tips-for-baking-from-american-blogs-in-the-uk/

Alternatively, you can always swap a little of your plain flour amount for some gluten flour or vital wheat gluten in your recipe to increase the protein content to better match the equivalent of US all-purpose flour. Doing so will make things come out less cake-like.


IrishLass


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## Obsidian (Apr 6, 2015)

baked good are never ugly unless they are burned to the point of being inedible. I would even eat the scary hedgie cake.


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## Saponista (Apr 7, 2015)

Thanks irishlass, that's really helpful. I will go and have a read.


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## jules92207 (Apr 7, 2015)

Obsidian said:


> baked good are never ugly unless they are burned to the point of being inedible. I would even eat the scary hedgie cake.



Ha haha! Awesome!


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