Still stuck in lockdown so we decided to see if we can make sponge cake in the ridge monkey. Turns out you can but it didn’t go quite according to plan.
Thank you for being willing to show that things aren't always perfect in the world of UA-cam! I have been really encouraged and inspired by your videos.
Measure and mix your dry ingredients at home and store them in a click and seal bag- much easier and cleaner when you're in your campervan. Thank you for all your easy to make meals -esp using one gas ring. Can we have some more please!!😊
The bread and madera cake mixes from Aldi work really well in the Omnia, just make sure you grease the pan well with butter before use and I always use a heat defuser under it to even out the flames
Some you win, some you lose but a good dollop of Strawberry jam improves a lot of things. I think it's probably the same ethos as smother it with Tomato sauce 🤔 😉. On the other hand it may be a little like pancakes, the first one is always a bit iffy 🤣 Brilliant team effort. 👍
It looked delicious! You could cut the burned or overly done bits off, a delicious topping covers a multitude of sins!! Thanks for sharing and it is always good to hear from you both, this way we know you’re ok! Mary
I grease my pan and then coat it with flour . To give even heat I use a heat diffuser and I don’t flip. Low / medium even heat for 45 or so minutes works for me. Enjoying the cooking videos. Keep up the good work
Great seeing the ridge monkey experiments, we're getting some good ideas. I like the idea of having something to raise the ridge monkey higher above the heat, this would help with slow cooking or warming pastries etc.
We will try this soon :-) The ridge monkey is the best thing by far we ever bought for our camper kitchen. And nearly every time we use it we think of you, because it was in one of your videos we saw it for the first time. Omnia is nice to have sometimes, ridge monkey is a must-have every day.
Nice to see real life x Most would have thrown these clips on the cutting room floor lol But it turn out ok lol A grand effort As you say with tips it will work. thanks for sharing. Stay Safe Stay Sane Keep on Monkeying around xx ATB to you both Stephen XXXX..
Thanks for showing us that. Very interesting and I fancy having a go on my RM at home but I’ll take advantage of your tips. Like the trivet idea - is there a purchase link for that - I’d like to buy one. Glad your continuing to find things to share with us all. Regards to you both and keep posting.
Thanks for watching Alexandra. Sorry I can’t remember where we bought that trivet. It was a long time ago in an independent cookshop. It is quite heavy and I remember thinking it was expensive at the time. All you need is something that will raise the RM above the flame of your cooker 🙂
Great experiment, looked delicious. Betty Crocker stuff works well. BUT by the time you take all the ingredients; you might as well take one baked at home.Regards AJ
It was fun to try and see if it was possible to make a cake in the RidgeMonkey. In reality we probably wouldn’t have all those ingredients with us and certainly not a set of scales! 😊
Have you tried Banana Bead because if you're like me they always go black before we get around to eating them. Well done for giving the sponge a go. A bit of jam with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut on top and it would be gorgeous.
I may be hungry, as i saw the finished item and thought, that would make a fantastic trifle with really thick home made custard properly thick whipped cream and too strong jelly. My favourite thing to heat in my small hinged pan is chicken tikka pasty slices, they turn out marvellously. Ed
I personally would just go to a good baker shop. Funny how we refer to it as a "RidgeMonkey" and they are just a brand selling lots of camping gear. I suppose it's like the "Hoover" vacuum scenario. 👍
We recently purchased the Ridge monkey and just used it for the first time today. I wanted to ask you if you found it gave off a rather unpleasant taste and smell to the food. It was thoroughly washed and dried and not sure if after a few uses it will improve. What was your experience?
@@LifeistooshortCK we have decided that the utensils and holder were the smelly bits and therefore infused that into the ridge monkey. Will air it all out and wash again thoroughly. Hope it improves
Useful. As in the video. 1 Oil the monkey and be patient. I tried this with a ready mix adding fruit. It helps to have a stiff batter. Also keep the monkey closed for a long time. Yes turn over after at least 10 mins but do not open. I used charcoal so would also remove fro the heat for 2 or 3 mins many times to prevent burning. The mixture expands on cooking so about 3/4 full is good as the expansion then fills the monkey. Loads of other stove/top or frying pan cakes which should all work well a la Monkey. In many ways the Monkey should be better due to its "oven effect"
@@LifeistooshortCK for a first attempt it was not bad at all! Wish you could have seen me cooking in the Omnia oven …. Terrible invention 😂 I now have high expectations with the Ridgemonky 😉
A good tip for a sponge is weigh your eggs, then use exactly the same weight for the flour, sugar and butter. Your cake looked delicious. Have you tried the Omnia oven? I’m thinking of getting one.
Thanks for that fantastic tip, it makes great sense. We will have to try that next time 👍 We looked at getting an Omnia oven but decided it would take up too much space in a small campervan and went for the RidgeMonkey compact XL instead.
Pre COVID, because I travelled frequently, I would transform my favorite recipes into a just add water mix and use my waffle maker. All the ingredients above are available in powder form
We started following you at the beginning of this year, binge watching during lockdown and now look forward to a notification to say you’ve uploaded a vlog. We’ve recently purchased a ridge monkey so we can do a couple of your meals but ours looks much smaller than yours. We’ve purchased the connect compact sandwich toaster XL. Is yours the same? Can’t wait for your next trip in your little red camper xx
Thanks for watching Sally. Yes, ours is the connect compact XL with detachable handles and utensils set. It does look small but easily cooks a pie big enough for two. Hope you enjoy our latest video 🙂👍
May not look good, but if it tastes good, then it's OK for a first try! You could also try to make naan/ chapati in the RM. I use a covered pan to do it & turn the bread when it's browned enough. Instead of turning the bread, you can turn the RM. I know that you buy your own wraps, but it's fun to experiment! 😉 Hope you guys are doing well. The UK lockdown is working - your numbers are going down. Unfortunately, we've detected the UK strain in my country - from workers in the UK who came home for Christmas. (sigh). We're all in this together. Cheers & greets! Stay safe & sane. 😊🍺👍🇵🇭
We did have a go at making Peshwari naan in our Lockdown 10 episode. It worked well and we would definitely do it again. We are doing our best to stay motivated in lockdown. It is lovely to read everyone’s comments and we enjoy replying to them. Hope you are staying safe in the Philippines. Take care 👍🙂
@@LifeistooshortCKCheers! I haven't watched your lockdown series - I'll have to check on them. Other things I made during lockdown last year were banana, zucchini, carrot, squash & yoghurt breads, using a rice cooker (I don't have an oven). Maybe you could try those using the RM? I modified the recipe from YT channel "Life of Pang" (I used less sugar) & used half of ingredients, since my cooker is small. Take care & stay safe! 😊 👍🎂
@@LifeistooshortCK Cheers! Life of Pang has many good recipes & she bakes using her rice cooker. I'm pretty sure the RM will work well. I substitute a small amount of flour with oats to add fiber. (instead of 1 cup flour, I use 3/4 cup flour + 1/4 cup oats). Will look forward to your experiment. :)
Thank you for being willing to show that things aren't always perfect in the world of UA-cam! I have been really encouraged and inspired by your videos.
Thanks for watching. We like to show how things are in real life 😊👍
Measure and mix your dry ingredients at home and store them in a click and seal bag- much easier and cleaner when you're in your campervan. Thank you for all your easy to make meals -esp using one gas ring. Can we have some more please!!😊
Thanks for the tip 🙂👍
Thanks for the tips. Especially the ridge monkey just bought one for camping.
The RidgeMonkey is a great bit of kit, ideal for camping 👍
The bread and madera cake mixes from Aldi work really well in the Omnia, just make sure you grease the pan well with butter before use and I always use a heat defuser under it to even out the flames
Thanks Caroline we will have to check out those mixes 👍🙂
Some you win, some you lose but a good dollop of Strawberry jam improves a lot of things. I think it's probably the same ethos as smother it with Tomato sauce 🤔 😉. On the other hand it may be a little like pancakes, the first one is always a bit iffy 🤣 Brilliant team effort. 👍
Many pearls of wisdom there Nigel 🙂 We found it went down well with butter and strawberry jam accompanied by a nice mug of tea 😋
For a first try that's a very nice looking cake. Cheers 🍷🍺
It didn’t look too pretty but it was delicious. We will definitely be making it again 🙂
Nice Vlog Ken and Carol. Practice makes purfect looked good enough to eat anyway go nicely with some custard.
Yes, we will definitely be making this again to perfect the recipe 😊😋
I've found it very hard to keep flame low enough when cooking in the RM. Thanks for the trivet spacer idea, I'll have a go at that!!.🚙🚎📽📷👍👍👍
Yes we find it hard to keep the flame low enough. Hope the trivet spacer works for you 🙂👍
A box cake mix would certainly save time and space!
I think a cake mix would definitely be a better idea for making this in a small van 😀👍
It looked delicious! You could cut the burned or overly done bits off, a delicious topping covers a multitude of sins!! Thanks for sharing and it is always good to hear from you both, this way we know you’re ok! Mary
Thanks Mary, it was delicious. We even ate the overdone bits, they were nice and crunchy 😊😋👍
I grease my pan and then coat it with flour . To give even heat I use a heat diffuser and I don’t flip. Low / medium even heat for 45 or so minutes works for me. Enjoying the cooking videos. Keep up the good work
Thanks for all the tips Norma. Will have a look at getting a heat diffuser, that sounds good 🙂👍
Looked very tasty. Will have to give it a try.
Thanks Jenny 🙂👍
Great seeing the ridge monkey experiments, we're getting some good ideas. I like the idea of having something to raise the ridge monkey higher above the heat, this would help with slow cooking or warming pastries etc.
Thanks for watching. The trivet does make a big difference and prevents burning the bottom 👍😊
We will try this soon :-) The ridge monkey is the best thing by far we ever bought for our camper kitchen. And nearly every time we use it we think of you, because it was in one of your videos we saw it for the first time. Omnia is nice to have sometimes, ridge monkey is a must-have every day.
Awww thanks Comatours 😊 Glad you are enjoying your RidgeMonkey 👍🙂
Nice to see real life x Most would have thrown these clips on the cutting room floor lol But it turn out ok lol A grand effort As you say with tips it will work. thanks for sharing. Stay Safe Stay Sane Keep on Monkeying around xx ATB to you both Stephen XXXX..
Thanks Stephen. It was a good experiment and we’re looking forward to giving it another go soon to get it right. All the best to you 👍🙂
Thanks for showing us that. Very interesting and I fancy having a go on my RM at home but I’ll take advantage of your tips. Like the trivet idea - is there a purchase link for that - I’d like to buy one. Glad your continuing to find things to share with us all. Regards to you both and keep posting.
Thanks for watching Alexandra. Sorry I can’t remember where we bought that trivet. It was a long time ago in an independent cookshop. It is quite heavy and I remember thinking it was expensive at the time. All you need is something that will raise the RM above the flame of your cooker 🙂
@@LifeistooshortCK it looks good quality. Thanks for your reply. Alex
Great experiment, looked delicious. Betty Crocker stuff works well. BUT by the time you take all the ingredients; you might as well take one baked at home.Regards AJ
It was fun to try and see if it was possible to make a cake in the RidgeMonkey. In reality we probably wouldn’t have all those ingredients with us and certainly not a set of scales! 😊
Nice to see you trying and don’t worry about the mistake. Next time we try this recept we will put some oil in the ridgemonkey. Stay save.
Thanks Hans. We’re looking forward to trying this again soon with the learnings from our mistakes 😊👍
I oiled and lined both sides first. Placed a flat tin underneath to distribute heat, turned 2/3 times once risen- worked a treat
Good tip 👍
Have you tried Banana Bead because if you're like me they always go black before we get around to eating them. Well done for giving the sponge a go. A bit of jam with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut on top and it would be gorgeous.
Thanks for the tips Eleanor. Banana bread sounds like a good one to try next 🙂👍
I may be hungry, as i saw the finished item and thought, that would make a fantastic trifle with really thick home made custard properly thick whipped cream and too strong jelly.
My favourite thing to heat in my small hinged pan is chicken tikka pasty slices, they turn out marvellously. Ed
Now that’s a great idea Ed. Jelly, fruit and cream to be added to the shopping list 👍😀
@@LifeistooshortCK but only if its not your turn to do the van washing up! 😛
An interesting experiment but "Life is too short" to make cakes in a camper. 😉
😁😁😁
Making mistakes is what life is all about. Learning from them is devine.
Too true Larry and very appropriate where making cake is concerned 😋😁
I personally would just go to a good baker shop. Funny how we refer to it as a "RidgeMonkey" and they are just a brand selling lots of camping gear. I suppose it's like the "Hoover" vacuum scenario. 👍
You can’t beat the flavour of homemade cake though and this recipe is just put it all in a bowl and whisk! Good point about the brand name 😀👍
Homemade cake is great, but I do tend to over indulge, so I am now banned from eating cake 🍰. Lol 😆
@@irishrover63 Naughty but nice 😁😁😁
We recently purchased the Ridge monkey and just used it for the first time today. I wanted to ask you if you found it gave off a rather unpleasant taste and smell to the food. It was thoroughly washed and dried and not sure if after a few uses it will improve. What was your experience?
We haven’t noticed any unpleasant smell or taste when using our RidgeMonkey.
@@LifeistooshortCK we have decided that the utensils and holder were the smelly bits and therefore infused that into the ridge monkey. Will air it all out and wash again thoroughly. Hope it improves
I will try that this afternoon - fills the time and hopefully a reward 👍
Great idea Kevin. Enjoy 😋👍
Useful. As in the video.
1 Oil the monkey and be patient.
I tried this with a ready mix adding fruit.
It helps to have a stiff batter.
Also keep the monkey closed for a long time.
Yes turn over after at least 10 mins but do not open.
I used charcoal so would also remove fro the heat for 2 or 3 mins many times to prevent burning.
The mixture expands on cooking so about 3/4 full is good as the expansion then fills the monkey.
Loads of other stove/top or frying pan cakes which should all work well a la Monkey.
In many ways the Monkey should be better due to its "oven effect"
Thanks for the useful tips Phil. We will definitely need them for the next time we make a cake in the RidgeMonkey 🙂👍
I will definitely give that a try. Some god tips from other viewers as well. Thank you
We will definitely try it again when we are away in the campervan 🙂👍
Looks good to me thanks for sharing :)
Cheers Shaun. Thanks for watching 😊👍
Thanks guys that was a brave effort 👍
Hi could you use silicone molds in a ridgemonkey? I've seen some ball shaped ones to make lollypop cupcakes.
Probably but not a lot of room in there.
Looks delicious 😋
Thanks, it certainly was 😋👍
It might be a bit of a fail but looking at a lot of your videos made us order a ridgemonkey too 😃
We just needed more practice ☺️👍
@@LifeistooshortCK for a first attempt it was not bad at all! Wish you could have seen me cooking in the Omnia oven …. Terrible invention 😂 I now have high expectations with the Ridgemonky 😉
A good tip for a sponge is weigh your eggs, then use exactly the same weight for the flour, sugar and butter. Your cake looked delicious. Have you tried the Omnia oven? I’m thinking of getting one.
Thanks for that fantastic tip, it makes great sense. We will have to try that next time 👍 We looked at getting an Omnia oven but decided it would take up too much space in a small campervan and went for the RidgeMonkey compact XL instead.
Pre COVID, because I travelled frequently, I would transform my favorite recipes into a just add water mix and use my waffle maker. All the ingredients above are available in powder form
That would definitely be the way to go if we wanted to make this in the van on a trip. Great idea Marie 👍🙂
Oooo fill it with cream or custard and jam with lashings of sweet sherry
Mmmmm. That sounds delicious 🤤
Looked rather tasty!
Thanks David, it was!
We started following you at the beginning of this year, binge watching during lockdown and now look forward to a notification to say you’ve uploaded a vlog. We’ve recently purchased a ridge monkey so we can do a couple of your meals but ours looks much smaller than yours. We’ve purchased the connect compact sandwich toaster XL. Is yours the same? Can’t wait for your next trip in your little red camper xx
Thanks for watching Sally. Yes, ours is the connect compact XL with detachable handles and utensils set. It does look small but easily cooks a pie big enough for two. Hope you enjoy our latest video 🙂👍
May not look good, but if it tastes good, then it's OK for a first try! You could also try to make naan/ chapati in the RM. I use a covered pan to do it & turn the bread when it's browned enough. Instead of turning the bread, you can turn the RM. I know that you buy your own wraps, but it's fun to experiment! 😉 Hope you guys are doing well. The UK lockdown is working - your numbers are going down. Unfortunately, we've detected the UK strain in my country - from workers in the UK who came home for Christmas. (sigh). We're all in this together. Cheers & greets! Stay safe & sane. 😊🍺👍🇵🇭
We did have a go at making Peshwari naan in our Lockdown 10 episode. It worked well and we would definitely do it again. We are doing our best to stay motivated in lockdown. It is lovely to read everyone’s comments and we enjoy replying to them. Hope you are staying safe in the Philippines. Take care 👍🙂
@@LifeistooshortCKCheers! I haven't watched your lockdown series - I'll have to check on them. Other things I made during lockdown last year were banana, zucchini, carrot, squash & yoghurt breads, using a rice cooker (I don't have an oven). Maybe you could try those using the RM? I modified the recipe from YT channel "Life of Pang" (I used less sugar) & used half of ingredients, since my cooker is small. Take care & stay safe! 😊 👍🎂
@@kitty_s23456 Thanks for the ideas. We will check out Life of Pang, looks good 🙂👍
@@LifeistooshortCK Cheers! Life of Pang has many good recipes & she bakes using her rice cooker. I'm pretty sure the RM will work well. I substitute a small amount of flour with oats to add fiber. (instead of 1 cup flour, I use 3/4 cup flour + 1/4 cup oats). Will look forward to your experiment. :)
Maybe try this product for baking in your riidge monkey... oil and flour spray. Not used it me but told it’s good.
We have not heard of an oil and flour spray so will definitely have to look into that. Thanks for the tip 👍😀
It's all gone wrong but I'd still eat it yummy
It didn’t take us long to eat the lot 👍😋
I bet it was still yummy!
It certainly was Anne 😋🙂
Good attempt
Thanks Jean 😊👍
Will be alright with a cup of tea 😀
Too right and topped with strawberry jam 😋
Practice makes perfect, so the saying goes, we’ll be trying this as soon as we’re allowed to travel again...👍👍
Very true Mike. We are going to try this again in the next few days 🙂👍
maybe next time use golden syrup tp stop it sticking and a different taste
That would be good 👍
Looks good to me :-)
It tasted great which is all that matters 😊👍
@@LifeistooshortCK Yes!
Could have been worse.
I'm sure it tasted OK.
It tasted great 👍 😋
I baked a cake in my car camper using a ridgemonkey x
ua-cam.com/video/0g_R1bx8Zvs/v-deo.htmlsi=2QFDeyzKX5wZC-Ko