Live webchat with Mary Berry - Tues 21 May 10-11am

NfkDumpling

Hi Mary
Sonce he retired my husband has taken over the cooking and is one of your biggest fans. He usually turns to your Complete Cook Book for the times when recipes are needed.

However, most of your savoury dishes seem to contain garlic and I have a garlic intolerance. Is there anything he could use instead? He usually just leaves it out but often it leaves the dish with the feeling of needing just that something extra.

(Oh, and would you consider leading a bring back the bun campaign? These new fangled cup cakes are all puff, wind and mock icing)

Garlic is an ingredient that can be left out. You could add something like shallots, which have a stronger flavour than onions. I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes either but they give a lot of pleasure to children, but I do encourage them not to over decorate them. The proportion of cake mixture to icing should be appropriate.

SwishySwoshy

What do you think of Jamie Oliver's campaign for healthier school dinners? Have you ever considered teaming up and making a real change in schools?

I think it's brilliant and he should get all the backing that he can. He is very respected and he does a very good job on his own.

pamelaJEAN

Hi Mary, How exciting having this chance to "talk" to you, its just a quick question, having lost 2 stone in weight with a well known slimming club, at the group everyone raves about fat free chips, no matter how I make them, they still seem substandard to what I would expect, brown one side and white the other...!!! Nothing like my mums, in the old days, using a chip pan with lard, and any fats from the Sunday Roasts.....!!! Also have you any future plans for producing a fat free/ healthy eating cookery book? Kindest Regards Pam

I'm not an expert in various diets. I've been asked to write fat free, diabetic, coeliac, healthy lifestyle and I leave that to the specialists. I'm just about good family eating.

carbqueen

Please tell me that sometimes you can't be bothered to cook and fall back on a take away. Pleeeeeeease

For me, if I'm not feeling like cooking it's a boiled egg and brown toast, and sometimes I'll nip into Marks and Spencers and buy a complete meal for £10, or perhaps Waitrose. It's good to have a bottle of wine as well.

Banbury

Hi Mary,

I love your floral bomber jacket!

And the Great British Bake-Off is just brilliant telly. Thanks for joining us.

I'm glad you like my jacket. It's by Oasis and I often get them from Marks and Spencers, Jaeger, Phase Eight and Zara.

GeraldineGransnet

Here at Gransnet we feel there's a dearth of older women on screen and as role models generally. Do you think of yourself as being in the vanguard? Do you think communities like Gransnet might help to make older women more visible in time?

I never think about age. I'm thrilled to be so busy at 78. I'm lucky to have a lovely, supportive family and feel well.

Iwasframed

I sometimes need to change the quantities in recipes - to halve or double them. I feel as long as I keep everything in proportion I'm probably going to be OK. But then I never really know what to do about cooking times. Is there a rule of thumb or do you have to guess and hope?

Thanks

You have to adjust the cooking times. A cake will take longer but something like a casserole would be about the same cooking time.

flopsybunny

My sponges sometimes come out of the oven with too dark a crust but not cooked that much all the way through. Do you know where I'm going wrong?!

Thanks

Geraldine

All ovens vary. Try cooking at a lower temperature for longer and you should get a pale golden, evenly cooked Victoria sandwich.

carow48

When I make a Victoria sponge, the cakes rise well, but on the top they have what I can only describe as "blisters", rather than a nice smooth surface - can you help please?

Make sure you're using the correct fat, either softened butter or Stork for baking, and take care not to overbeat. You only need mix until it's beautifully smooth, then straight into the tins.

MaureenM

Hi Mary. I loved watching the GBBO. I wondered if you had ever tried baking with silicone bakeware? I was bought a set and have made a few cakes with it, but I'm not convinced they are the best they could be.

There are various brands of silicon bakeware. Some are very good and some are not so efficient. The cheaper ones are too flexible and haven't got such good non stick properties.

LullyDully

My grandchildren have been turned on to baking by the Bake Off.

Why do you think suddenly it is trendy for men to bake cakes? Do you think there is a change coming even if it is slow? My mum always baked cakes and Dad made bread.

The Great British Bake Off certainly has got everyone baking and that includes men. As we're in recession many more men are at home and are with the children and they all watch the Bake Off and want to have a go themselves, so sometimes it's bread but the young always want to have a go at the cakes.

CariGransnet

The first "grown up" cook book I ever owned (in 1978) was the Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook. I made your chilled lemon flan recipe for my O level practical (I got an A ) and I make it still for guests and it's always a hit. So thank you!

But yesterday while making one (in your honour!) I noticed for the first time that it's supposed to serve 4. I make it in an 8" dish rather than a 7" one so use 1 1/4 x the ingredients but it generally serves at least 12 (very rich). Please tell me it's a typo!

I'm glad you've enjoyed my lemon flan, it's one of our great favourites. I too have been making it for the last forty years. I think I was a bit generous saying 'serves 4'. It certainly could serve 6, it just depends on the size of your appetite.

plinkplonk

Hello Mary - I am so excited about having the chance to 'talk' to you!!! Can I ask you a question about salmon? I recently bought a side (on offer in Tesco!) and wanted to bake it in foil in the oven - but then had a panic about it being raw in the middle so chopped it into fillets and cooked individually

Can you advise me on how long I should cook a side or even a whole salmon in foil in the oven and at what temperature (fan)? And is it really true you can cook salmon in the dishwasher?! Thank you so much - book looks brilliant - off to preorder!

To cook salmon in the oven in foil, wrap it in one layer of foil and put it in your roasting tin. Put it in a preheated oven at 160(fan). The cooking time will vary according to the size of salmon, usually about 30 minutes. Open the foil to check for doneness, lifting the salmon away from the bone along the backbone. When it is flat pink colour, not shiny, it is done. Leave it to cool in the foil, removing the skin while it's still warm.

iMac

Hi Marry. I don't watch cook shows often, but when I do, I'm always amazed when chefs say 'add a pinch of salt' and then just free pour half the contents of the salt mill! And a glug of oil or whatever is always a third of the bottle...

What advice can you give those following recipes at home?

When following recipes at home from a cookery book for the first time, read the recipe a couple of times to check you've got the ingredients, then follow it exactly and the results should be the same as the picture. The second time, make your own amendments if you wish, for example adding more oil, butter, salt.

Hattiehelga

Bake Off is the best cookery programme ever and I love your style of no nonsense good home food and have had great success with your recipes. My fruitcakes (birthdays and Christmas) taste great but have you an idea why they are crumbly even though moist and don't slice cleanly. I look forward to more and more of your tips and recipes.

Most fruit cakes need time to mature. If you cut them within a few days they are crumbly. Make quite sure that you use either butter or a full fat spread such as Stork for Cakes because a low fat spread will make it crumbly. Good luck.

muriel

Hello Mary,
I've been an admirer of yours for many years, the way you juggle your career and family is to be applauded.

My question is do you feel under pressure to constantly re-define yourself given the ever increasing number of 'celebrity' chefs or do you think people like tried and tested classics?

Personally I prefer the classics!

I don't feel I have to reinvent myself. You just get me as I am. I try to be as fair and encouraging on the Bake Off as I can and when I write recipe books I just try to give you more detail in each recipe so that you get success with your home cooking.