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).


Tuesday 6 March 2012

9. Basic All-In-One Sponge Traybake

This bake is another 'let's avoid the difficult one' project; I'm now fast running out of the easy ones for this section! I'm quite frustrated to be strapped for time at the moment, because I'm really looking forward to baking something different again. But I keep thinking that it's at least better to bake something than nothing at all. So here it is, a very basic sponge - baked in a rectangular tray rather than a round one!
I'm discovering that the supermarkets, although quite well-stocked with baking equipment, probably aren't going to meet my needs as I progress through the book. This recipe, for example, required a 12x9" tray; the closest I could get was an 11x9" one. I don't think it really matters, unless OCD kicks in, but Mary seems to be quite set on a particular size of tin, and maybe it was the inch shortage that made the cake domed in the middle.
Anyway, it consisted of a very basic sponge mixture, with no extra flavourings. I've got butter issues: I seldom plan ahead enough to take it out of the fridge well in advance to soften, so I use the method Mary suggests: cubing it up and putting it in lukewarm water for 10 minutes or so, until it's squeezable. The trouble is, it doesn't cream well when mixed with the other ingredients, and I keep ending up with mixtures with little buttery lumps in it. I know they'll melt, but I'm sure it has some sort of effect on the end result. For this cake, I suspect the odd darker circles on the top of it might have been as a result of my butter lumps. All that said, it cooked for 35 minutes (my system of baking for the minimum time recommended seems to be working) and made the house smell lovely (as sponges do). I got myself in a two and eight about whether to turn it out for slicing or do it in the tin (didn't want to scratch it, so I went against MB's suggestion), and also ruined the effect of the dusting of icing sugar with some careless fingerprints. But it sliced well, and made 24 lovely little chunks of cake (some lovelier than others). Very practical for taking to work and sharing, which I did.
Baker's verdict: easy to make; tasty; nice bouncy texture.
Husband rating: 7.5 - really nice and tasty; great flavour and texture; not at all dry, just a bit plain.


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