4 October 2011 Last updated at 21:35 ET

7 questions on baking

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Baking quiz

Got the baking bug? UK sales of cake tins and cookie cutters are up since the start of the BBC's Great British Bake Off, which crowned the nation's best amateur baker on Tuesday. But do you know your muffins from your macaroons, and your self-raising flour from your spatula?

1.) Multiple Choice Question

Baking fashions come and go. Which is a macaroon, the new cupcake?

1. Shell-shaped
   
2. Coloured stack
   
3. Cream-filled
   
4. Little wings
   

Info

The cupcake craze arguably started with the TV series Sex and the City, and tourists in New York continue to queue at Carrie and co's favourite bakery.

2.) Multiple Choice Question

Baking is an exact science, less forgiving of imprecise measurements and incorrect techniques than, say, a pasta sauce. If a recipe calls for 100g butter, 100g sugar and 100g flour, what's that in ounces?

1. About 2oz of each
   
2. About 4oz of each
   
3. About 5oz of each
   

3.) Missing Word Question

Switching * on will save you from kitchen disasters

1. a timer
   
2. the oven
   
3. a set of scales
   

4.) Multiple Choice Question

With *only* 80 sleeps until Christmas, mince pies are already in supermarkets. Traditionally, these were always made with meat as well as dried fruit and spices. True or false?

1. True
   
2. False
   

5.) Multiple Choice Question

What does the term "blind baking" refer to?

1. Cooking a pastry case before adding filling
   
2. Boiling, then baking bagels to form distinctive crust
   
3. Method for Baked Alaska - meringue-coated ice cream cooked in hot oven
   

6.) Multiple Choice Question

Devon wants its version of cream tea to have protected geographical status, the same legal protection granted to Cornish pasties and Parma ham. But what IS a Devon cream tea?

1. Scone with jam, topped with dollop of clotted cream
   
2. Scone smeared with clotted cream, topped with jam
   

7.) Multiple Choice Question

While on the topic of baked goods with protected geographical status, which ONE of these indicates a genuine Cornish pasty?

1. Carrots in the filling
   
2. Crimping on top
   
3. Crimping on side
   

Answers

1. Picture 2 depicts macaroons, a French delicacy made with egg whites and almonds. Picture 1 shows madeleines, 3 is of whoopie pies - soft biscuits sandwiched together with creamy filling - and 4 shows butterfly cakes, a favourite at children's parties.
2. 100g = 4oz. This is a sponge cake recipe, which uses equal measures of butter, sugar and flour, plus two eggs - which weigh about 100g. Hence its old nickname of "weight of two eggs cake".
3. It's timer - "Getting into the habit of switching a timer on will, I promise, save you from any number of kitchen disasters," says the kitchen guru. She has, by the way, little truck with electronic scales, whose batteries run out at inopportune moments.
4. False - it's something of a myth, says baking expert Dan Lepard in the BBC Food blog. Hannah Glasse's 1784 recipe had it as an optional variation, but many households didn't have meat to spare.
5. Blind baking refers to partially cooking a pastry base before adding the filling. The pie crust is generally lined with baking paper or tin foil, then filled with dried beans, rice or ceramic baking beans to help the base keep its shape during cooking.
6. In Devon, the jam goes on top of the clotted cream; in Cornwall, the cream goes on top of the jam.
7. It must be crimped on the side - never on top - to be legally called a Cornish pasty. And must also be made in Cornwall, with a filling made from uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef, swede, potato and onion. No carrots.

Your Score

0 - 3 : Out in the rain

4 - 4 : But someone left the cake

5 - 7 : I took so long to bake it

For past quizzes including our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, expand the grey drop-down below - also available on the Magazine page (and scroll down).

Find out more about baking techniques and recipes with BBC Food, or test your own cooking skills with recipes from the Bake Off series.