Bake Off
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- Posted date:
- 19-12-2018
Bake Off! AGA Cake Baking
"Bake Off" has played a massive role in refreshing the British public's appetite for high quality, homemade desserts. AGA cake baking offers you an advantage over other oven users. Be it gourmet cakes, biscuits, pancakes or puddings, millions of people have been inspired by the show to break out their mixing jugs and try to emulate the professionals. Of course, the best recipes in the world may not quite come up to scratch without a suitably high-quality cooker, and this is where AGA's can truly come into their own.
The key advantage of an AGA over a typical convection oven is that it uses radiant instead of dry heat. This helps to slowly cook ingredients without losing any of that precious moisture which is so important in many desserts. Take sponge cakes and flans as a pair of perfect examples. How often have you seen the toppings gobbled up but the actual base left? Plenty we'd wager- and that's because it can dry out and become far too stodgy. Baked in an AGA, however, and that light and fluffy base will take on an appeal of its own.
AGAs are superb for dessert baking because they also maintain a constant temperature that can be easily adjusted depending on the requirements of the recipe. Even better, they can be used to keep the likes of Apple Pie or other heated desserts perfectly warm without the risk of overcooking. Such sweet treats can be left for hours on end without drying out or becoming scolded- making them perfect when hosting family gatherings over the course of a day and night.
~30 minutes
Serves 12
Ingredients
Cake
6 free range eggs
175g (6 oz) caster sugar
175g (6 oz) plain flour
Grated rind of 1 orange
75g (3 oz) caster sugar
200ml water
Curl of orange peel
2 tsp orange flower water
Decoration
500g tub of Mascarpone cheese
350g (12 oz) strawberries or other fruit of your choice
Orange & Mascarpone Cake
This is a surprisingly quick and easy cake that really shows off the various qualities that an AGA has for home baking.
Mix together the eggs and sugar, then carefully fold in with the flour and orange rind. Mix until thick and creamy then pour into a roasting tin. Place in the AGA roasting oven at 200°C for around twenty minutes. Keep an eye out for any unwanted browning - if it cooks too quickly transfer to a lower part of the oven.
Meanwhile, prepare the orange syrup by combining sugar and water over a medium heat into a syrup with steady whisking. When blended add the orange peel and flower water, remove from the heat and allow to cool for around half an hour.
Take the cake base out of the oven and allow to cool. When the glaze has set, slowly pour over the top of the cake. Decorate with plenty of hulled strawberries and about 500g of mascarpone cheese. You should be left with a delicious fluffy cake that shows off how great the AGA is for making a gorgeous cake in under an hour. 
Whittingham Buttons
These British classics are another recipe that can be cobbled together in no time at all. Once again, the AGA does all the hard work by ensuring that they come out of the oven nice and moist without any of the unpleasant brittleness that haunts convection ovens.
Simply combine butter and sugar thoroughly until very light. Mix in with the flour and custard power - again knead them thoroughly! When totally mixed together, simply break off pieces around the size of a golf ball, roll them in the palms of your hand and then flatten out to taste (they will rise).
Poke a hole in the middle (the button) and bake for around 15 minutes in the baking oven (set to 180C) These can be a fantastic base for adding further toppings if you wish, and are a superb 'first bake' recipe for kids. Enjoy!
~20 minutes
24 Biscuits
Ingredients
175g high-quality soft butter
85g icing sugar
175g plain flour
55g custard powder