Bakehouse Awards 2023

 Introduction

Welcome to 2024. Yes, I know I'm two weeks late, and the first fortnight has been quite questionable.

You know how sometimes you go to a medical institution with something small and then come out with a whole load of other problems? Yeah, that's been my 2024 so far. I won't delve into details, but let's just say the pain has put me off doing just about anything for the first two weeks.

I had intended to have the first blog of the year be an additional review of 2023, pointing out some of my favourite things I've done or been to. Despite the less-than-stellar start to 2024, I've decided to go ahead with that post.

2023 was an exciting year for me and marked the beginning of a new chapter in my foodie life. So, I'm happy to take a look back, even if 2024 hasn't started well.

Before I dive into the "awards" (I'll call them awards regardless of anyone seeing them; they're close enough), I hope you've had a great start to your 2024. Amidst the craziness in the world, our friendly corner of the internet allows us to chat about our favourite foodie things.

Well, we've got another storm on the way, one of many so far this year. I can hear the wind whistling down the chimney and the rain hitting the window outside. But don't worry, I've still got my Christmas lights up indoors to combat the January Blues.

I'm going to sip my coffee and reminisce while eating a slice of hot cross loaf. Who knew that was a thing? And maybe someone should tell Sainsbury's that Easter is in March, not January. Can't complain too much; it's delicious when hot and slathered with butter.

Best Cookbook of 2023

Let's start with books, an essential part of any foodie's collection. I've got loads of them, having collected cookery books since I was very small.

Being the first time that I've done a post like this, arguably I don't just need to pick the best in each category from 2023, but that does feel like cheating going further back.

I do have a favourite cookery book currently, but I feel it's more fitting for next year's awards as I got it in 2024 - "The Swedish Little Kitchen" by Rachel Khoo. I'll do a review soon because it's such a great book.

For cookery books, I'm going to expand slightly. I was going to highlight one, but there’s two books that I’d love to cover. One of them is knew from 2023, but the other one I've had for years, and I still use a lot, so I think it's valid to fit in this category.

The book released this year is ‘The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook’ by Poppy O'Toole. The reason I bought this book is that I got an air fryer this year, and while looking for a cookbook to accompany it, I saw one by the popular and knowledgeable Poppy, so I bought it.

The cool thing about this book is that it includes a lot of recipes I would make regularly, providing timings and temperatures, crucial information for cooking in an air fryer.

Air frying is a different experience compared to normal cooking, almost like when people started using microwaves. It requires a new style of cooking with a whole new set of knowledge. I'm still learning my way around it and adjusting normal recipes, but it's nice to have a few books around where I don't need to do any of that.

I've cooked a few bits from Poppy's book. My favourite recipe so far is the chocolate brownies, which is strange for me because I'm not a sweet treats person. They were so good that I made another batch for Christmas hampers for family and friends. Being Christmas, I even sprayed them in gold paint. Don't worry, it was edible paint.

Poppy, being the queen of potatoes, includes a lot of potato recipes in the book, but that's not a bad thing. It guides you on how to do all your favourites well.

The book isn't just potatoes, There's loads of different things in there. The Croquetas came out well, and I'm never buying prawn toast again. It even tells you how to boil an egg in an air fryer, something I hadn't considered before getting the book.

I've only had the air fryer a few months now, and I've got a lot to learn, but this book is helping me along the journey. If you've got an air fryer, you need this book, no question. I won't provide a numerical scoring system, but if I did, this would score very high.

Just as a special mention, the World of Warcraft cookbook is fantastic. Now, being a Warcraft player and a foodie, it was an obvious purchase anyway, but the recipes are well-formed and consistently perform well.

The output is of such quality every time, and although the recipes are based on food items in the game, you’ll enjoy them even if gaming isn’t your thing. The Frybreads are something that I regularly make in place of a Naan with curry.

As it's not a new thing, and I've had it for years, I won’t dive in too much, but it's fantastic and a worthwhile purchase, especially if you’re into the Warcraft franchise. For the Alliance!!!

Best Course of 2023

Since courses or something that I regularly review on the log, I thought it best to have a best course of 2023.

I knew where the course would be coming from, the Sorted Food YouTube channel. I've done three of their courses this year, and they've all been high quality for a reasonable price.

The standout course, however, must be the Zero to Hero Baking course with Chef Kush. I learned a great deal in this course. I came along with a decent amount of knowledge to start with, but I still picked some up as I went along.

I made all the recipes, but my favourites were the Focaccia and the Cinnamon Buttons. Both were fantastic and something I hadn't made before. I've already made the Focaccia again several times, experimenting with the flavours.

Being an introvert, I didn't know that this would make a difference to me. But one of the best things about the course is that you're separated into small classes, and you can talk to the other people in your class about what you've been baking.

Some choose to share pictures of their creations, and every time I or others have done so, they become littered with positive and friendly comments, creating a sense of community.

Photos that I've taken of my food have made it into the marketing material for the courses, which has been a pleasant boost of encouragement.

If you or a friend are a real foodie and love your baking, this would be a great project for you to undertake. You come out the other end of the course with knowledge, great food, and some new friends.

I won't go into it too heavily as I've already done a review; please feel free to have a read.

Best Gadget of 2023

The best gadget that I’ve acquired this year has to be my air fryer, the Ninja Foodi Flexdrawer.

As with the winning course, I’ve also done a review of the air fryer on this blog; again, please go and check it out.

I use the air fryer almost daily; it's become that useful to me. Nearly anything I would've cooked in the oven is now cooked in the air fryer, and some things have found a new way of being cooked. I’m never cooking sausages in a frying pan again; they come out so well in the air fryer, and you don’t need to turn them. They come out perfectly coloured all around and cooked well.

Chips are another obvious item; I assume these are a common reason for people to buy an air fryer in the first place. I’ve found the frozen chips come out best, particularly McCain and Costco, but homemade still does a good job.

When deciding which fryer to buy, it was difficult weighing up the differences between machines, but in hindsight, I’m glad I purchased the Ninja Flexdrawer because it was the only one that I saw with the prove functionality, and this has been used a lot.

Over my cooking life, one of the most annoying parts of baking has been proving, or more specifically, finding a ‘warm’ spot for the proving to take place and then having to adjust timings because it was too cold. Now I just turn the air fryer on and select prove; it’s so much easier.

Some things that I didn’t imagine cooking in the fryer turned out well too; boiled egg was a surprise, and Lemon drizzle cake has come out well. Another benefit of the Flexdrawer is the ability to put bigger dishes like a loaf tin in the larger drawer.

I was sceptical about air fryers when they were getting hyped, which is weird because I’d had one for about 20 years. No, they aren’t new, upgraded, I grant.

I’d be happy to recommend to anyone, even if not a foodie; the fryer saves on both time and electricity bills.

There are many models out there, for different prices, and with different target markets. I’m recommending Ninja as that’s what I have, but there’s a host of different ones out there; my parents have recently been converted and bought a single drawer Instant air fryer, and that seems to be of decent quality also.

Stay Tuned for Part 2

There are another three categories that I plan on giving an award to. Based on the length of this blog, I think I will do is call it for this week and continue next week. There are three more bakehouse awards to give out; we're going to be looking at the best bakery, YouTube channel, and event from 2023. Have a great week of food, stay safe, and I’ll see you again next Sunday.