Baking adventures - Cookies galore, trying some local GIANT macarons. Sheldon gets a new work surface! 5 bakes: Queens Pudding, Jam donuts, chocolate tea cakes, Fraisier cake, and fondant fancies Couple ongoing themes: using the "Bain Marie water bath cooking seems to be a recurring theme. Caster sugar also seems to be used an awful lot - I mean it's the "same" but will it impact regular bakes? Queens pudding key lessons: Make sure you pan fits in the Bain Marie bath before you butter it. When adding hot milk mix to eggs - just add a splash to temper the egg temp or you might cook them. When making jam - use equal weights fruits and sugar. Caster sugar for meringue. Use FRESH eggs and never a plastic bowl with making meringue. Jam donut lessons: add more yeast than breads - enriched dough. Kneading speed helps prevent sticking. Using a mixer with dough hooks could create overworking of dough. For an enriched dough knead with flour not oil. Cool completely before filling. Chocolate tea cakes lessons: Tricky chocolate work. Using a mold - let chocolate cool a bit before spreading around mold or else it will run down the sides. Let chocolate harden up in the room - NOT the fridge - otherwise it will oxidize and lose its shine. Put a bit of melted chocolate on meringue so biscuit adheres better. Faisier cake lessons: Using self rising flour makes it easier - it is AP but with some salt and leaving in it. Side bar: SO many flours - the key difference is often the protein content. The danger zone on this cake is in mixing in butter - don't do it too much or you can lose the air - and when pouring batter into mold pour in close to bottom of mold so you don't knock out air. Mary uses corn "flour" in creme pat. Most recipes show corn starch - these are different things technically so a bit confusing. Whisk corn flour with sugar first - coats it and prevents clumping. Fondant fancies lessons: A basic sponge where all of the ingredients are the same weight. To keep cake as flat as possible, Mary pushes batter to corners creating a "dent" in the middle that will fill in and even out. On genoise especially do NOT open the oven door or it's toast. Mary puts buttercream on the sides of the cake so fondant doesn't pick up crumbs. if after chilling it doesn't smooth well - heat knife in hot water. Use hot water with fondant to smooth it out until dippable.