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).


Monday 28 May 2012

17. Divine Chocolate Birthday Cake

This cake had been on my immediate 'to do' list for ages, and kept being put off by the lack of an appropriate occasion (a familiar tale: did I really think that husband and I would eat so calorifically every week?). Anyway, an occasion presented itself, and was made even more pleasurable by the inclusion of this cake. Despite appearances to the contrary, I was very pleased with how it turned out. This cake is described by Mary as 'dense' and 'fudgy' and contains 6 eggs, most of which were separated and relied upon to work different kinds of chemistry and different stages. (That just means that I whisked and added the whites separately!)

I was a bit worried about scrambling the eggy mixture by pouring the melted chocolate into it, but it didn't appear to create any problems. It was all very satisfying to mix, and pretty straightforward really. I baked it for the required 50 minutes; perhaps I could've braved less and then it wouldn't have cracked - I was just worried about the egg content and wanted to ensure it was cooked through without risking open-oven sinkage. The cracking, and resulting near-disintegration when I released it from the base of the tin was quite alarming, but actually didn't matter a jot once it was iced. The thrill of this cake isn't an aesthetic one; it's all in the eating and the texture. That said, I did fear a large-scale collapse once I'd got to the spreading of the apricot jam and then the icing, but both acted like the required glue to help hold it all together. Of course, once it had set, there was no chance of it falling apart. It was just very difficult to move around, from tin to rack, to cake stand!

Baker's verdict: absolutely divine. I'd be less stressed about the look of the thing next time, because I know it all turns out alright in the end. I'll definitely make it again: this has been my favourite cake to eat so far. We both thought that it was like something you'd buy in a cafe - maybe I should start trading...
Husband rating: 9.5/10. Loved it. Chocolate nice and thick; not the best looking cake but really tasty.
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3 comments:

  1. Self Raising Flower29 May 2012 at 02:27

    Yum, I made this for my birthday at the end of last year and as you say it doesn't look particularly good before icing, but it tastes divine!!

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  2. Hulacowgirl2 December 2014 at 07:21

    Did yours make a air pocket between the fudgy cake and crisp top? The result was like a lovely chocolate macaron and fudgy brownie but not sure if this was the desired outcome??

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sally Jordan12 December 2014 at 12:29

    Yes, I think it did. It was definitely brownie-like!

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