If there’s one thing we’re good at in the UK it’s baking and with a plethora of sites to aid your endeavours, there’s no excuses either…
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF
thegreatbritishbakeoff.co.uk
Here it is the site allied to our favourite TV show; everything you need to launch your own competition at home; recipes, party packs (complete with bunting), you can even upload your photos to the latest bakes section. Don’t miss the app for total baking immersion.
BAKING MAD
www.bakingmad.com
You need never buy another baking cookery book once you’ve laid eyes on this search engine. Just type in the kind of recipe you’re after and the site will crawl thousands of suggestions to bring you the perfect match. The ‘But Without’ section is particularly handy for those with allergies, whilst the blog is first rate, with even more recipes, cookery school road trips and much much more.
Now for the retail side of baking, because in this case the tools are essential:
DIVERTIMENTI
www.divertimenti.co.uk
There’s even baking on the homepage, yes Divertimenti are all about top quality elegant cookware, everything you could possibly need with a gargantuan 4500 products available online. There are cookbooks, teas, spices, not to mention Aga, La Cornue and Rangemaster cookware; aspirational items to be swooned over by guests.
LAKELAND
www.lakeland.co.uk
At the slightly more affordable end of the spectrum we’re huge fans of Lakeland, with free Uk delivery on orders over £30 there’s tons of incentive to invest in every single item from the Mary Berry range. There’s also a summer sale with up to 60% off.
Blogs are another area where baking takes first prize. These are the ones we rate:
THE BOY WHO BAKES
theboywhobakes.co.uk
Edd Kimber aka, the boy who bakes is not only the winner of BBC2’s Great British Bake Off, but the author of Say It With Cake, the spin off cookbook from his hugely successful blog. Needless to say it’s full to the brim with excellent advice, top notch recipes and delightful baking trivia.
SUPERGOLDEN BAKES
www.supergoldenbakes.com
Supergoldenbakes has been going for only two years, but in that time founder Lucy has managed to accrue quite the following and it’s all down to an attractive mix of mouth watering imagery (no surprise she’s a book designer by trade), a comprehensive recipe index (the healthier ones are just as arresting) and some great giveaways. Plenty to enjoy.
AMERICAN CUPCAKE LIFE
www.americancupcakeabroad.com
Some may think cupcakes have had their time, but we’re certainly not in agreement. The Americans are old pros and this blog is the perfect example of cupcake fever, replete with interesting features aside from great recipes, such as a London cupcake map, helpful conversion charts and even book reviews.
Cookery Schools specialising in cakes:
CAKE BOY
www.cake-boy.co.uk
Eric Lanlard's school for patisserie, is in our humble opinion one of the top places to go to be schooled in the art of fine cake making, read our review here.
And last but certainly not least bread is a baking achievement in itself.
BREAD MATTERS
www.breadmatters.com
Take a look at Bread matters, the site where you can find a plethora of courses. The creation of Andrew Whitley and Veronica Burke (co-founders of the UK’s Real Bread campaign) the site is full to the brim with the expert skills required to knead a good dough, plus tons more besides; an online shop not to mention the Bread Matters Fungal Network bringing fans together of the Sourdough Starter, brought to the UK by Whiley in 1998.
Read more about this excellent site here.
21 August 2014