A few months ago, gripped by baking fever, I purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible. I quickly decided to embark upon a mission to bake everything in the book, and turn myself from an occasional baker into a bit of an expert. My Grandad Ern was a Master Baker by trade; the man responsible for introducing Danish Pastries to England in fact, and I wish it had occurred to me to spend more time learning from him, rather than simply enjoying the fruits of his effortless labours. This project is almost a way of making amends for that; I'd like to follow in his footsteps (if not in my career, at least as a hobby) and continue the proud heritage of baking in my family.
I credit my friend Rachel with the idea to write a blog about my baking exploits, hoping that there will be more successes than failures as I attempt all 213 of the Queen of Baking's recipes.
So as not to bore the husband with a monotonous diet of sponges, followed by weeks of biscuits, I've decided to tackle the recipes by selecting the first bake from each chapter, followed by the second recipe and so on. I'm not going to pick and choose; I'm determined to face my baking demons and learn how to do everything baking-related, even if the consequences are disastrous!
Everything will be photographed, with comment about how I found baking it, and a husband rating (to be taken with a pinch of salt as he has a very selective cake-tooth).


Wednesday, 28 March 2012

11. Iced Lemon Traybake

Because I needed to make a cake as a birthday offering for my colleagues, I naughtily skipped ahead a chapter to make this second traybake. Yes, the 'Divine Chocolate Birthday Cake' would've been great, but only serves 10 and logistics dictated it wouldn't be practical to make it. Traybakes are, as I've discovered, very practical. However, this one did cause me a bit of grief. The cake itself was easy to make; the usual sponge ingredients plus some grated lemon rind. Husband bought XL eggs instead of large ones; in the end I used 1 large and 3 XL. Whether that had any impact on the bake, I don't know. Maybe I counteracted any chemical imbalance when I managed to shunt some of the egg over the side of the bowl with my over-eager whisking. Anyway, I repeated the usual butter fiasco, but I really don't think it has much of an impact; I'll just keep trying to perfect my softening technique. The cake did 'dome' in the middle; I'm sure Mary would be able to tell me why if I could ask her. It smelt lovely; a nice subtle lemon odour wafting out of the oven.
The icing was very easy - freshly-squeezed lemon juice and lots of icing sugar (a special trip to the shop required to stock up - grrr). Applying it to the cake wasn't so easy: it slid down the mountainside, so to speak (a Sharon-related metaphor there) and made a moat around the edges. Some got more of a sugar kick than they bargained for when they had a slice!
I did have a disaster, borne out of me rushing the whole thing and not thinking carefully about what I was doing. I covered the cake in tin foil overnight, only to find the foil had introduced itself to the icing and stuck to it. After much cursing, I cut the spoilt bit out of the middle (cake stripped of its icing) for husband and I to polish off.
Baker's verdict: simple, effective, tasty, but frustrating.
Husband rating: 9/10. Icing not too sweet with a nice sharpness to it which went really well with the cake. Nice lemony flavour throughout.
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