Baking

Today I made some delicious rock buns with my little cousin Noah. Looking after a two year old for the day and cooking up some tasty treats are not things I would have automatically put together but it worked brilliantly. He was a wonderful little helper and never short of enthusiasm! The main reason I think it was possible was due to the Thermomix in the house, a mean machine that does pretty much anything you could imagine cooking wise (apart from the actual baking of buns, an oven is still essential for that). Whole meals can be made in there, and with all the attachments and extras, can be stored and kept hot/cold for hours. So far, some of my favourites have been buttery mashed potato, mango sorbet, tuna and vegetable pasta, apricot chicken risotto, apple and beetroot salad, and porridge. Along with the product comes a recipe book, and having one pot that can weigh, chop, mix, heat and cool really reduces washing up later on!

For my rock buns, I exchanged regular self-raising flour for wholemeal self-raising flour, sugar for brown sugar, and currants for dried cranberries. This was unintentional; the substitutes were what I could find in the cupboard and with a two year old and no transport, shopping for the originals was out of the question! In fact, I prefer the brown sugar as you can see and taste the granules more when the buns are baked. And the cranberries provide a slightly different flavour to that of currants or raisins, often found in buns.

The photos I managed to get of my creations are not the best as they were taken on my not-all-that-great-quality phone. Again, with a toddler assistant who is fairly keen on doing as many things as possible, as fast as possible and running in between, getting a good camera out and some more impressive snaps was not a priority! 

I'm sure there are plenty of cooking and baking purists out there who think this is a ghastly sign of technology and convenience taking over our lives when we should be trying to live more simply, taking time over tasks such as preparing meals; this is an argument I sympathise and in some ways agree completely with. However, this machine makes it so much more manageable for people who are time-poor for good reasons i.e. looking after children, to make fresh, tasty meals with good quality ingredients easily and quickly. I'm a big fan.