Disaster averted - Confessions of a cook.

[Mad Cook]

I haven't quite got the hang of the fan oven part of my new (ish) range cooker yet and yesterday I made two fruit cakes for the Help for Heroes bake sale at the weekend. Some of the raisins that were on the top were a bit singed (rest of cake OK). Waste not want not. sliced a thin layer off the top, rolled out marzipan and placed a round on top of cakes and pinched the edges, 11 balls of marzipan for the apostles (minus Judas) and a going over with the whizzy new blow lamp I got for Christmas. Added sugar flowers on top and wide yellow ribbon round the middle and Bob's your uncle - two Simnel cakes. What the buyers don't know won't hurt them.

I know Simnel cake is really a Mothering Sunday thing not an Easter thing but it seems to have slipped in time these days.

Have learned lesson and will cook fruit cakes in non-fan oven in future!

It looks a bit like this

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Brilliant fix!

 

[Steve Kroll]

I have one of those fans in my oven as well and have never quite gotten the hang of when to and when to not use it.

Terrific rescue!

 

[Addie]

Convection ovens provide constant heat surrounding the baking or roasting oven. So it will always finish the food a lot sooner than your directions tell you. Thirty minutes? Start checking at 20 minutes. A convection oven is a great time saver.

 

[Steve Kroll]

They seem to work well for some types of foods, but the problem I've found is that occasionally the outside of some foods ends up well done while the inside is uncooked. This seems to happen more often than not with baked goods.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

MC, that looks so nice your cakes will probably sell faster than had they looked "normal". Nice rescue!

 

[taxlady]

Great save!

 

[Addie]

They seem to work well for some types of foods, but the problem I've found is that occasionally the outside of some foods ends up well done while the inside is uncooked. This seems to happen more often than not with baked goods.

Hmmm. I never had that problem. I sure do miss my convection oven. You do have to be careful when doing meats. They can overcook real quick and become dry. The first chicken I ever roasted in mine was so dry, I was thinking of bringing it down to the cobbler on the corner so he could make me a pair of shoes. Lesson learned.