Hollywood or Bust!

I know there's a few home bakers on here so I thought I'd start a thread to swap recipes, hints and tips, and ask questions etc.

So - first up - does anyone have any experience with the silicon "tins"?  I've seen them used on TV but I have no idea if they're any good for a) bread and b) cake.  What are people's experiences?

good for cake, never tried them for bread though

as we're baking  ,  i've just made a belgian chocolate cheesecake, with a buttery biscuit base

Same as fraggle - great for baking, no need to grease or line though I generally stand them on a firm baking sheet to prevent cracking as you move them, but have never used them for loaves as I just have 1lb and 2lb tins which I use with liners.

That sounds lovely fraggle. I made Orkney Fudge Cheesecake for the first time last weekend with gf ginger biscuit base. Need guests though as too much to eat otherwise!

I was very happy to discover an easy to do, great result gf stollen recipe this week.

Are they the silicon liners Miss H?  I think I saw them at the shops today

Any recommendations to try first from the Paul Hollywood book?

I've never used silicon tins, but that's because they didn't exist when I first bought my baking equipment.

I rarely get a problem with things sticking.  The trick is to grease and line the tins properly, but if I was buying tins again I would give silicon a go as the worst part of baking is lining tins

And I apprecaite the thought you are putting into my Secret Santa, Bear.  Very subtle way of getting info out of me

Chocolate and beetroot muffins.  I'll hunt out the recipe.  You can't taste the beetroot and they make the muffins very moist

I'm guessing you mean metal tins Emmy!

Chocolate and Beetroot Muffins

75g Cocoa powder
180g plain flour
2 tsps baking powder
250g caster sugar
250g cooked beetroot (a pack of 4)
3 eggs
200ml oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1.  Preheat oven to 180C/ Gas 4.  Arrange 12 muffin cases into tins

2. Sift the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder into a bowl.  Add the sugar and set aside

3. Puree the beetroot in a food processor, add the eggs one at a time, then the oil and vanilla estract

4.Make a well in the middle of the dry ingrediants, add the beetroot mixture and lightly fold in.  Spoon into the muffin cases

5.  Cook for 30 min or until the top is firm when pressed with a finger.  Cool on a wire rack

M&S have a good muffin recipie book for £3 which has some lovely looking combinations.  I have treated myself to it.

Oooh - sounds good SCaz, that might be the first thing I try . 

I think I'll pay M&S a visit too tomorrow and pick up that book TP, sounds excellent.

A mixed verdict so far on silicon tins, any other opinions?

I think I might try and set up some sort of online resource for these recipes so that if this thread grows to hundreds of pages they're easier to find.  Perhaps a blog with pages for bread, muffins etc

I've not gone down the silicon route for my tins as I have a good set of metal ones and I can't see the point in replacing them.  The conductivity of the metal tins is proven and I don't find the lining a problem with a bit of practice and some good baking paper ... but I don't bake very often these days.   Come the gap year all that will change

I regularly make the chocolate and beetroot cakes - they originate from the BBC food website, I believe.

Important to make sure you get cooked beetroot, not pickled.

A vote against silicon cake trays from me. Give me metal every time.

Chocolate and beetroot?? Seriously??? What's wrong with chocolate and chocolate?!!

I got the recipe from my veg box people Muttley, but they might have got it from the BBC.  I've been making them for about 6 years and never had a dodgy batch, except when I forgot to put one of the ingredients in, and even they were edible.  They are very popular with my running club, who I don't tell about the beetroot.

I also make good Guinness cake and Ginger cake.  Bear has munched his way through a lot of my ginger cake

I love the idea of this thread

Chocolate and beetroot cakes are amazing

Silicone bakeware, in my experience, is ok. But I prefer metal any day. I still use the silicone (I did a batch of muffins in one today), but the bendiness can be a bit off-putting. Transferring the filled 'tin' from worktop to oven requires good support - I'll sometimes stand it onto a metal tray to stop it dipping in the middle. 

One of my favourite cupcake/muffin recipe books is Special Cupcakes by Wendy Sweetser