Eloise Head (AKA Fitwaffle) shares her all-time favourite baking ingredients

What ingredient/s do you enjoy baking with the most?

I love baking with cream cheese, condensed milk, and chocolate because they’re all so versatile and they give you a good base to start. I’ve made a lot of easy recipes from cheesecakes to fudge with less than five ingredients using these as a base.

What is your ultimate comfort food?

I love a BBQ chicken pizza or a takeaway chicken chow mein, especially in the cold weather. You also can’t beat a good hot chocolate!

Which utensil do you use the most?

I love my electric hand mixer. It makes the process so much quicker. I will never go back to whisking double cream with a balloon whisk ever again.

If you could choose your last meal, what would it be?

This is a really tough one because I’m always changing my mind when it comes to my favourite food, but my gran used to make the best homemade chips, with sausages and baked beans and it tasted amazing! I’d probably choose that for the nostalgia, plus a really good slice of banoffee pie for dessert.

What are five essential ingredients you always have on hand?

Flour, sugar, eggs, butter and cream cheese.

What is your most commonly used ingredient?

The boring answer is probably butter because it’s such a commonly-used ingredient in baking, but if we’re talking about fun ingredients that I commonly use, Oreos are definitely up there.

What is your favourite food memory?

I always used to bake with my great auntie and little sister whilst my mum and dad were at work. She’s actually the one who introduced me to baking. We would make jam tarts, fairy cakes, shortbread biscuits etc. and it was always so much fun.

What is the best way to elevate an ordinary meal?

Seasonings and sauces. You can turn any ordinary meat, pasta or rice dish into a delicious meal with the right sauce and seasonings.

What is the one life-changing cooking hack you were taught?

Adding a little extra salt to your bakes such as cookies and brownies can really enhance the flavours of the other ingredients, whilst simultaneously balancing out the sweetness. 

What is the best and the worst cooking advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I ever received is to pay attention to the temperature of your ingredients when baking. The temperature of your ingredients such as eggs and butter can make a big difference to your bake. Also, use a separate oven thermometer to check the temperature of your oven. This will help to prevent an undercooked or over-baked cake.

The worst advice I ever received, is to use cups instead of grams when measuring. Grams are far more accurate and baking requires accuracy for the best results, so I will not be switching to cups any time soon.