Vintage Fizz (2024)

25/10/2023

I’m ashamed to say I severely neglected Flo 🫣(my starter…). I didn’t feed her for nearly 3 weeks and tbh, I was a little over it 🫠 Then someone posted on a local Facebook group that they were looking for some sourdough starter… Was the universe was sending me a sign?! 😂

I quickly revived Flo, donated a batch and decided it was time to have another crack at a loaf. I’m so glad I did 😊 My first one didn’t really rise as I knocked too much air out of it whilst shaping (still trying to work this bit out), but my second loaf was way better… and dare I say, my best yet 😄

Call it divine intervention (or pure coincidence!), whatever it was, I’m relieved that Flo was saved from the brink 😅

I’m still very much learning with each bake, and although my loaf is far from perfect (possibly a little over proofed and I need to work on that slash!), I am one proud sourdough mumma! 😌

04/08/2023

A rather large birthday pavlova I made for myself a while ago…! 🍓🫐

The unattractive plastic tray was the only thing big enough to put it on, but as it was for me, it was very much a go big or go home situation 😋🤍

18/07/2023

Thank you so much for all your lovely messages following my last post 💖 I was really touched and I’m truly grateful 💕 A holiday and a bit of time out has done me the world of good and I’m looking forward to sharing more of my bakes on here 🤗🍰

I’ve got a small backlog of bakes that I didn’t get the chance to post, so thought I’d start with the birthday cake I made for my OH 🎂😁

I handed him a recipe book and he chose a no fuss lemon, lime and ginger loaf cake… I had other ideas though, it is a celebration cake after all 🤷‍♀️🥳

I pimped it up with some blueberry compote and ginger mascarpone buttercream 🫐🫚Unfortunately it didn’t quite adapt as well as I hoped! Being a loaf cake recipe with ground almonds, the sponge was pretty dense. The flavour was good, but the main issue was the texture of the stem ginger in the sponge combined with the blueberry compote. It was an overload of soft juicy bits which didn’t work so well together! 🥴 Perhaps ground ginger would have been better 🤔

I possibly should have stuck to the no fuss loaf, but I enjoyed experimenting and the ginger mascarpone buttercream was delish! 🫚🎂 If like me you find pure buttercream a bit much, a touch of mascarpone is so good. It really lifts it and makes the buttercream super silky 😋

16/06/2023

It’s been such a long time since I’ve been on here! Life took quite a different turn, and for a number of personal reasons as well as a crazy year of renovations and getting a part-time job, I had to abandon my baking course 😔 However, thankfully I had completed all my practical assessments beforehand and I officially passed my course this week 😅👩‍🎓

With everything that’s going on, I have decided not to return to my business, and unfortunately I won’t be pursuing my baking yet either. I loved what I built up with Vintage Fizz but running a small business is challenging and all consuming, so sadly it’s not the right time for me. I wouldn’t be happy if I couldn’t give my customers 100%.

I will still be practising everything I’ve learnt at home with the intention of starting something eventually, so I hope to continue to share my bakes 🍰 You might see a fair bit of choux and tarts around here! 😏

If you’re still with me, a big thanks for sticking around! 😍And a big thank you to my lovely customers who made it worthwhile, and continued to support both my business and baking journey. It really has meant the world 💞

In the meantime, here’s a picture of a Bakewell Tart, my last bake at college and one of my favourites. Always good to end on a high note! 😋

I’ll be back again soon 🥰

Love,
Bo 💛

26/03/2023

Presenting my first ever sourdough! 🤗 It’s far from perfect and the crumb is on the dense side, but it tasted good so I’m happy 😊

I’ve never had an inclination to make sourdough before. I’ve glanced at recipes but the long instructions and commitment involved always put me off 🥴 It’s time consuming enough to feed a husband and two kids, let alone a sourdough starter 🤨 However, going through the process at college was a big help and I was surprised how much I got into the swing of it. I’m now determined to keep ‘Flo the sourdough’ alive 😬

She wasn’t quite bubbly enough for this bake but I’ll be giving it another go and hopefully I’ll see some improvement next time!🤞🥖

24/03/2023

Tempering has definitely improved this week….! Posting these cute little tartan chocs on their own because I think they deserve it 😍

Milk chocolate filled with raspberry ganache 🤎

Sourdough to come! 🥖

18/03/2023

One for the chocoholics this week 😍🍫 We made a selection of ganache truffles and an Easter egg. I flavoured my truffles with strawberry and rhubarb, although I was a little heavy handed with the strawberry so the rhubarb was somewhat ‘subtle’ 🤦‍♀️ We had to coat them in compound chocolate so no tempering required, but it also meant they didn’t have that beautiful shiny coating, and most importantly, it’s nowhere near as tasty as couverture. In case like me you didn’t know, couverture is the top quality stuff which contains cocoa butter, whereas compound chocolate contains vegetable fats so it’s not as nice. Every day’s a school day! 👩‍🏫

We did use couverture to mould the Easter egg. Tempering chocolate really is a skill. Safe to say, I’ll not be pursuing a career in it! It’s tricky, very messy and it doesn’t take much to go pear shaped 😵‍💫 Respect to chocolatiers 🫡

I didn’t realise we had to decorate our eggs so the butterflies were a last minute panic with a quick rummage through the cutter box, and well, they look more like bats 🦇😆 Plus they’re too chunky 🫤We’ll be making more chocolate over the next few weeks but I’ll be ditching the Easter bats…. 🥴

11/03/2023

This week’s bakes were particularly enjoyable 😍 We made pork pies and baguettes and oh my, they were super taaaasty 🥖🥮😋

It’s surprisingly easy to make hot water paste. There’s not much to it and it’s far less technical than other pastries. We had to use mince so it wasn’t the same texture as a traditional pork pie, but great for a quick/easy version and no jelly required.

Baguettes are something I’d happily bake everyday if I had the time. The dough is pure joy 🤩 It’s pillowy soft and incredible to work with. There’s no kneading involved, just folding and time. The process is as enjoyable as the result! 🥰 I need to improve the slashes and cut the dough deeper, but overall I’m happy with my first attempts ☺️

We also developed a sourdough starter so currently nurturing her and hoping to share my first ever sourdough soon….. 🤞

02/03/2023

Bit late posting (yet again 😵‍💫) but last week was a wonderful puff pastry trip down memory lane 😊

Oh how I loved the vol au vent and its vast array of fillings! 😍 Nestled between the Bird’s trifle and cheese and pineapple cocktail sticks, it was a staple for the ultimate 80’s buffet… dead fancy👌😄 Sadly there was no prawn cocktail so I used what I could scrabble from the college fridge and filled them with sun dried tomatoes, mascarpone, chives and lemon zest. It tasted much better than it looks! 😋

The cream horn is such a classic and I had forgotten just how good they are 🤤 I didn’t have a plan for decorating them (as you can clearly see 🥴), and although we had a crack at making spun sugar nests and caramel curls earlier in the week, it felt like too much of a faff for something that would be inhaled in seconds 🤷‍♀️😂

I certainly enjoyed these nostalgic bakes and I strongly believe a revival is in order! 🤩

16/02/2023

I meant to post this at the weekend but building my little boy’s bunk bed took a lot longer than we expected… and I may have got the instructions completely wrong 🥴

When I started my course nearly 2 years ago, I really didn’t enjoy the process of lamination and decided I’d happily stick to shop bought puff pastry 😑 Finally, through sheer repetition and some very useful tips, I almost enjoy it now 😀 Not enough to stop me buying ready made puff mind, there aren’t enough hours in the day for that every time I want some flaky goodness!

We made palmiers and apple turnovers and they were incredible 😋 So puffy and crisp, definitely my best yet 😅 We also had our gateau assessments and I made a strawberry and cream Genoese sponge cake and a non-dairy roasted plum compote and cherry chocolate torte 🍓🍰🍒

I don’t love my decoration of the cakes, but they were being sold in the college restaurant and each portion had to be the same. I did enjoy tempering chocolate for the first time though and making a ton of white chocolate curls (which look more like pencil shavings!). Hugely satisfying 😁

03/02/2023

Not much to show this week as we’ve been prepping puff pastry and sponges for next week’s assessments, so I’m posting a couple of recent bakes at home instead ☺️

I made a carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting and some more Japonaise biscuits (addicted!) 😋 I also made some choux craquelin for the first time but only managed to take an oven shot 🤷‍♀️ You’ll be seeing lots more of these though as it’s the bake I’m keen to perfect for when I eventually open up shop again!😍

Keeping my fingers crossed I can share some decent puffed up puff pastry next week…. 🤞😬🤞

Happy weekend folks! 💛

21/01/2023

The meringue gods may have been on my side last week but there was certainly no divine intervention this week! 🫣

Soufflé is my nemesis. It started off well and my first one was a nicely puffed up pudding. I even took an (out of focus) picture because I knew chances of a repeat success were very slim… Sadly I was l right 😮‍💨 I managed one more decent soufflé but it rapidly deflated into oblivion 🫠

As for the bavarois, I pretty much lost the plot after three failed attempts 🤯 My creme anglaise was not playing ball, and with a number of rookie errors involving over whipped cream and under whipped meringue, things were not going my way 😤 But you really do learn from your mistakes in baking (apart from soufflé where in my case, it’s completely pot luck) and I got there in the end 😅 I even managed to make a supersized brandy snap cigar to garnish! ✊

14/01/2023

Back to college this week and we kicked started the new term with meringue 🤍

Meringues are pretty simple to make, but it’s also very easy to end up with a less than perfect result if you haven’t done everything correctly! 🫠 Thankfully the meringue gods were on my side 😅😇

We made Italian meringue, Japonaise biscuits and vacherin (similar to a pavlova). I had never heard of Japonaise biscuits before, but if you’re ever making meringue, I’d highly recommend increasing the volume and taking a bit of the mix to bake these beauties! 😋

Once the meringue mix forms stiff peaks, fold in ground almonds and flour, pipe them onto greaseproof paper and pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes until they start to colour. They’re beautifully crunchy on the outside and deliciously chewy in the middle 👌 A little chocolate coating and you’ll be wishing you made more! 😍

08/01/2023

I may have missed the cut off to say Happy New Year, but Happy New Year anyway! 🎉

It’s been quite some time since I posted but after 10 months of renovations, we finally moved back into our house 6 days before Christmas 😵‍💫 Needless to say it’s been chaotic!

The house was still very much a building site and our first day back involved dancing around an army of tradesmen 🤪 but I finally have my dream kitchen and here it is! Thank you 🤩

I also got my dream present - this pink beauty of a stand mixer 💖 My OH did very well indeed 😍🙌

In between the relentless unpacking and cleaning, I did manage to make a festive meringue wreath and my gorgeous girl’s birthday cake 😍🎂🐝💛 It’s been a mad old time but I’m excited to share lots more bakes with you in 2023 😁

02/12/2022

We’ve been working in pairs this week to serve desserts for the college restaurant so were given Caramelised White Chocolate, Ginger and Macadamia tartlettes to make. They were quite sweet so the caramelised white chocolate bavarois was changed to raspberry, which IMHO was a shame as it tasted like Caramac! 😋

It was challenging to say the least, particularly as we were very much left to our own devices and I had never made bavarois before 😵‍💫 A lack of pastry cases, moulds and time did not help the situation, but despite the hurdles, we managed to pull it off… 😅

My biggest triumph however, was that I didn’t end my days locked in the walk-in freezer 🥶🫣😅 *Note to self, leave the door wide open and the ‘glow in the dark’ door k**b is there for a reason! 🥴

20/11/2022

Never choux much 😍 We made more fabulous choux this week in the form of crunchy caramel and pistachio topped profiteroles filled with creme diplomat, and chocolate fondant creme mousseline eclairs. Both were ridiculously good 👌😋

My plating was not the best this week and the photo is terrible! 😬 I burnt myself several times with what felt like molten lava, during my attempt to make a caramel basket decoration 😩 They kept shattering but I couldn’t face any more pain (or blisters) hence my ‘deconstructed’ version! 😵‍💫 I did succeed in making a caramel twirl, which looks a little lame on the eclair, but I was determined to feature the fruits of my labour somehow!

Despite my injuries, it was a successful week and I feel at one with choux 🧘‍♀️ However, caramel decorations are very much my frenemy and I will be taking a long break from them 🥴

11/11/2022

Choux la la! Paris Brest has to be one of my favourite things to bake… and eat 😍 I’ve mentioned a few times on here about my love for choux so it’ll definitely be a part of my offerings when I’m back up and running 😊

These choux rings are filled with a beautifully light creme diplomat and a rich nutty praline. The flavours are simple, but the crisp fluffy pastry combined with the delicately sweet cream make them ridiculously easy to inhale 😋

We also made Gruyère beignets this week, which is basically deep fried choux. I could feel my arteries squirming as I ate them, but they’re pretty darn tasty and it was a nice change to be let loose on the deep fat fryer!

04/11/2022

Here’s a very chargrilled selection of my bakes from this week 😂 My sultana roulade, croissants and brioche all suffered the same fate 🥴 The ovens kept getting too hot and I may have accidentally stopped my timer by placing a tray on it 🫣

This has definitely been my toughest week of baking yet. Lamination is challenging, especially when it’s done by hand, and it doesn’t help when you haven’t got long enough to prove your dough 😵‍💫

However, I was relieved to get a decent rise with my croissants and I feel content knowing that had time and temperature not been against me, it might have been a pretty good result! 🥐

This week beauty was definitely more on the inside 😂

28/10/2022

It’s been pastry galore this week! 🥧 We made strawberry barquettes, Bakewell tartlettes and a goats cheese & leek tart.

It’s pretty full on making several different things within 4 hours, especially when you’re sharing a workbench and scrambling for space in the kitchen 😵‍💫 Unfortunately I didn’t have time to make my barquette look extra fancy, or indeed take good pictures, but I finished on time and passed my assessment so I’ll take that! 😅

I feel confident making pastry now and it’s a great feeling to be able to finally say that. The most important things I’ve learnt is to not overwork the dough and always let it chill and rest… much like myself really! 🤣

14/10/2022

It feels like only yesterday when I posted my mousse/fool photos and here we are again! My friend told me they looked like Angel Delight which I take as the biggest compliment 🙌 😂

So this week I made chocolate roulade, savarin and baba. I always get the fear when I make a roulade as so many things can go wrong, but thankfully I got a decent swirl and no cracks 😅 I also felt braver and went for a ‘more is more’ approach with the decoration, although I really should have left off the chocolate leaves 🥴 They look more like little rib cages and the front one is bugging me as it’s pointing the wrong way! 🙄

The baba is filled with creme diplomat and blueberries. It was all a bit rushed so I didn’t have time to make an apricot glaze which is a shame as it’d look nicer with a shine, and I also didn’t have time to take a picture of my savarin. It’s basically a doughnut shaped version of the baba so you get the gist 😉😁

07/10/2022

This week’s task was cold desserts so we made chocolate mousse and fruit fool. We’ve done them before, but this year we’re expected to take it up a notch with our presentation 🥴

Plating is definitely a skill, and one that does not come naturally to me! I’m more accustomed to shovelling food on a plate at lightning speed before dashing out the door to taxi my kids somewhere 🚕 So I figured it was best to go with a ‘less is more’ approach 😬 We’re being assessed now too so the stress of a last minute rookie error would have been too much to bear….! 🫣

(Excuse the terrible photography. It’s so hard to get a decent pic in the college kitchens 📸 🥴)

30/09/2022

So this particular Danish pastry is called a ‘deconstructed windmill’…….🥴 Okaaay, I fess up, my sails came apart… figuratively and literally! 🫠

Surprisingly it started off well and my pastry dough was the best I’ve ever made (or so I thought it was…) but when I put my pastries in the proving oven, all the butter leaked out and my windmills couldn’t hold their shape 🫣 My tutor thinks the butter shattered, much like my expectations!

Lamination is my nemesis and I have always struggled with it 😵‍💫 They were tasty but I can’t deny I was disappointed. I have so much respect for anyone who does viennoiserie 🤩 It’s incredibly hard and I think it’ll be a long while before I get to grips with this one! 😮‍💨

23/09/2022

These stubby little eclairs may not look the part, but goddamn they were heavenly 🤤 My piping was all over the place so I struggled to get them uniform, but I was more relieved that they puffed up 😅

I’m a big fan of caramel and praline so seized the opportunity to combine them in eclair form 😋 Whilst salted caramel seems to be the more popular choice these days, I love straight up caramel so chose it for the glaze. I made a praline creme diplomat (mix of creme patissiere and whipped cream) for the filling which was beautifully silky and insanely good 😍

Once our house renovation is finished I will definitely be doing these again… and in the interest of my practising my piping, I’d better make LOTS of them…. 🤗😏

16/09/2022

🥧 PASTRY WEEK 🥧
Apart from my nemesis, puff, pastry is one of my favourite things to make… and eat! 😋

We had to make short, sweet and choux paste. I’ve always wanted to make lemon meringue pie so I was excited to give it a go. I was really pleased how it turned out, even if my piping and blow torching does need some refining! It didn’t help that I accidentally squeezed my piping bag so my first dollop of meringue wasn’t where I wanted it to be, and the rest was consequently very random 🥴 Nevertheless, the pastry was perfectly crisp and the whole thing was DELISH! Even my non-lemon loving daughter wolfed it 🍋 😄

I also made a chicken, leek & mushroom pie and profiteroles. Definitely feeling more confident this term and ready to push myself with more challenging bakes ☺️

04/09/2022

It’s been a while since I posted on the grid, but I’m back in the college kitchen now and very excited for another year of baking! 👩‍🍳

We’re spending the first few weeks going over what we’ve learnt, starting with glorious bread 🍞 I made focaccia and milk rolls so it was a total carbfest when I got home, but I’m more than happy to oblige when it comes to freshly baked bread 😋😍

Big thanks for sticking around and I look forward to sharing the next level of bakes with you! 💛

Vintage Fizz