50. Eccles Cakes

Oh...my...goodness. Never again! What a bloomin' faff these were! There's a reason why someone invented ready-made puff pastry, and that was probably to preserve the sanity of many a hapless baker who tries to make their own. What a technical nightmare! Still, I did it - at least I can say that. Husband and I quite fancied eating these, hence my decision to bake them. He'd had one a few days previously, and once the idea was in my head, I really wanted to make them.
It all seemed quite straightforward from the recipe; there are even pictures of how to make the pastry, and it did present quite a fun challenge. It involved lots of butter, lots of folding, rolling and refrigerating and so on until you can eventually insert the filling. I thought I was following the instructions quite well until I found some parts of the pastry impossible to work with. The butter got too warm and melty; the pastry got too sticky, and then there was no doing anything with it! I decided to make the Eccles Cakes in two batches and put the melty pastry in the freezer to get the butter to harden up quick. It felt like very high-pressure stuff because of how the pastry was behaving, and I rushed the assembly. I didn't think about the thick bit of pastry where I joined the circles once the filling was dolloped in, but we ended up with a lot of stodgy, not very well-cooked pastry once they came out of the oven, so much of what I made was inedible. The whole process just seemed to take so long, and I didn't enjoy the faff of it all. But then I seem to be able to tolerate faff if I feel confident that I'm doing the right thing: in this case I really didn't! It was all very disappointing really. I feel that yes, I made flaky pastry (you could see the layers), and yes, I made Eccles Cakes. They tasted nice, but I didn't execute the bake carefully enough, although they did at least look the part. Lots of lessons learnt here!
Baker's verdict: tasty, but fiddly. Not really worth all the effort making the pastry.
Husband rating: 3/10 - doughy and inedible, but they did have a nice flavour.

 

49. Coffee Victoria Sandwich

This was baked on a whim. I wanted to bake something which wasn't too complicated and this was on the next list, so off I went. I seem to remember it being a mid-week effort: I felt like I wanted to eat cake and I never feel that I can justify buying cake to eat at home when I'm more than capable of knocking up something myself. Unfortunately I do tend to do things in a bit of a rush these days, and I missed a key ingredient: coffee essence. I just didn't have any in the cupboard and had already started the bake before I realised I needed it. So I mixed up some instant coffee with water and used an equivalent measure of that instead. The cake was very easy to make; the usual all-in-one Victoria Sandwich method; the icing was more 'wet' than I imagined though. I always enjoyed my Mum's coffee and walnut cakes and she uses a much thicker buttercream filling and icing: this one was very wishy-washy. I was a bit disappointed by the end result of this cake - the coffee flavour was quite subtle really, which could be seen as a positive if you don't like the flavour to be too strong, but I wished it had a bit more oomph to it. It was also a very pale cake - I'd expected a darker colour. Still, we enjoyed our slices of it, and my colleagues at school were very pleased to be indulging in the leftovers!
Baker's verdict: a bit bland, so I'll probably use my Mum's recipe if I want to do a coffee cake again. I'll be interested to see how this compares with the Coffee and Walnut Traybake in the book.
Husband rating: 6.5/10 - really sweet icing; not particularly memorable.
 

48. Bara Brith

Ok, so I'm now extremely behind with my blog, having baked several things in the last few months without finding (or using) an opportunity to write about them. I'm doing a big catch-up now though, to try and get the whole project back on track. Such is life when it's filled with everything baby-related and trying to manage working as well! I'm lucky to get time to bake really, but I love doing it so I don't want to abandon the project.
Anyway, Bara Brith. Had it when I went to Wales on holiday years ago, but couldn't really remember what it tasted like. It actually turned out to be one of the easiest bakes I've done, and it's also up there with the tastiest. It all began with soaking currants and sultanas in hot tea overnight. Now, I'm not a tea drinker, so I was a bit concerned that it might have a really strong taste of tea, but happily that wasn't the case - the flavour was quite subtle really.
The following day, all that remained to do was mix the soaked fruit with an egg, sugar and flour and pour the mixture into a loaf tin. As with the other loaves I've baked, I divided the mixture into two 1lb tins rather than just using a 2lb one; it's a good way to ensure we don't over-eat, and these loaves freeze really well. I just reduced the baking time a bit; interestingly they did require a long time in the oven: this is a low temperature, slow bake.
Mary recommends serving slices of this buttered, but the cake tasted really lovely without the butter so we didn't bother; we were both pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was actually. One loaf went into the freezer; the remainder of the first loaf was donated to husband's work colleagues, in honour of his impending work trip to the Land of the Leek...
Baker's verdict: so easy to make and so tasty. I'll definitely be making this again.
Husband rating: 9/10 - enjoyed it; like a very nice moist malt loaf.
 

47. Very Best Scones

I made these so long ago but haven't had a minute to update my blog. I'm lucky enough to find the time to bake these days, with a little person to take care of! Anyway, one of the main reasons why I decided to make these my next bake was the fact that after a trip to Devon and Cornwall, I didn't manage to get my cream tea. These were on my list of imminent bakes, so I stocked up on strawberry jam and clotted cream and got baking.
I found the recipe and method quite unusual in that I've made loads of scones in the past, but never this way. I don't think I've ever added sugar to them, and I've certainly never included eggs in the mixture. I was really taken aback by the wetness of the dough, and did find it really hard to work with. Mary advises that having a wet mixture makes for a better rise, so I persevered and got myself into a right old sticky mess! The dough was hard to roll out as a result, and once I'd cut the rounds, they were hard to peel off the work surface as well. So much for them keeping their shape! By the time I'd wrestled with the sticky mess, I'd lost interest in aesthetics; I just wanted to them to bake properly and taste good!
They certainly did rise, and I think they baked evenly and looked tasty. Once they'd cooled, we got out the jam and cream and had ourselves a lovely cream tea (jam first, cream on top). We repeated this the next day, but then I took the remainder to work for a special Monday treat. They went down very well, with someone asking me for the recipe!
Baker's verdict: messy to make; need to be in a patient mood! Very light and tasty though. I'll take more care over the presentation next time.
Husband rating: 7.5/10 - they were nice with the jam and cream.

46. Chocolate Chip American Muffins

Oh dear. Another baking disaster. And I don't know what went wrong, but it most definitely did! I'd volunteered to provide cake for a local baby group meeting, thinking it'd be a great opportunity to crack on with the project. I thought muffins would be perfect as people could just grab one and pick away at it in its case, rather than me having to fiddle about slicing things. I've made lots of batches of muffins in the past so I saw no reason why I'd have any bother with these. How wrong could I be?! Admittedly I made these while looking after the baby, but I'm sure I didn't mess up the quantities or anything. The only thing that might've caused some issues was the additional task of having a phone conversation with the husband just as I was putting the mixture into the cases. I did find that many of the chocolate chips had sunk to the bottom of the mixture, because I couldn't keep stirring it up one-handed. So some of the muffins had lots in, while others not so many. Anyway, the resulting muffins didn't really rise very much at all, and they were very stodgy, dense cakes which were certainly not fit to be shared with people I didn't know very well, to whom I'd previously sold myself as someone who was good at baking! So I palmed a load off on the husband to take to work with my apologies for their flatness, and bunged the remainder in the freezer. And then I swiftly got on with a Victoria Sandwich which went down so well someone even asked me for the recipe and said it was the best they'd ever had!
Baker's verdict: I'd like to say they were easy to make, but the resulting failure suggests something went awry somewhere. I'll attempt them again after researching some other muffin recipes to try to solve the mystery!
Husband rating: 5/10 - tasty but a bit dense. Just a bit plain really although there was a lot of chocolate in them. Maybe too many chocolate chips.

45. English Cherry Cake

I baked this especially for my Dad who happened to mention that he liked fruit cakes with lots of cherries in them. It wasn't really what he or I had in mind, but I only had a week to bake it and all the 'proper' fruit cakes involve leaving them for months on end to absorb all the booze. Anyway, this seemed like a reasonable alternative, and with the addition of some almond extract would have that 'Bakewell' flavour which he loves. It was a very straightforward cake; the only faff being the washing and thorough drying of the glace cherries - supposedly to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake. It didn't.
The rest of the mixture was a basic sponge really and so very easy to make. It was baked in a deep tin and turned out to be quite a chunky cake. My first taste of it suggested it was a bit dry, but actually it was pretty moist. I think it was the amount of dense sponge that foxed me and made it seem less light than the Victoria Sandwiches (of which I have made zillions now). It cut well, but it was a shame about the sinking cherries, as it didn't look quite as aesthetically pleasing as I'd hoped. It went down well with the old man though, but he is fairly easy to please on the cake front!

Baker's verdict: easy to make, albeit a bit fiddly where the cherry prep was concerned. Tasty but not especially 'wowy'!
Husband rating: remember eating it but can't remember what it was like. Think I liked it!
 

44. Glazed Lemon Tart

I asked the husband which bake from my current list I should make for the barbecue we were having with friends and this was what he chose. I have to admit to sighing a bit; it looked fiddly, with lots of processes and opportunities for it to go horribly wrong. But I knew I'd have to bake it one day, and this occasion seemed a good excuse to tackle it. I started the whole thing by reading through the recipe very carefully. Having noticed that the lemon slices for the decoration needed to be soaked in syrup for two hours, I decided to tackle that bit first. Some of these things seem straightforward enough on paper, but I always get nervous when doing things with sugar on the hob, and I didn't quite get this right. I'd thought the sugar had dissolved, so started boiling it, but then noticed some of it hadn't, so took it off the boil and let it simmer for a bit longer before boiling it again. This had me worried that I'd burn it somehow, but it seemed alright, and I knew that if the worst happened, the lemon slices could be picked off!

 It was actually quite tricky slicing the lemons thinly, but I was fairly pleased with my efforts. Taking the pips out made them a bit ragged-looking, but everything can be labelled 'rustic' and got away with! Anyway, they were deposited into the syrup and set aside for two hours. The next hurdle was the pate sucre (sweet pastry), more intimidating because it was given its French label! This included sugar and eggs, and softened butter, so was quite a soft, greasy mixture. It needed 30 minutes in the fridge, but when I took it out, it still didn't feel particularly 'solid' like pastry normally does. I'd not paid attention to the instruction to line the tin, chill it and then make the filling, so I'd already made the filling by the time I rolled the pastry out. Well, what are you supposed to do when you're used to multi-tasking like mad? Anyway, I popped the pastry-filled tin back in the fridge for a little while. The filling was hard work - I had to grate 4 lemons and juice 2 - but was a pleasing texture and smelt lovely. It went into the oven with fingers crossed that it would set properly.

The recipe said to remove it when it was golden, and I wasn't wholly convinced by the colour, although it had started to turn darker at the edges. I was worried about the pastry over-baking, so I made the decision to take it out (not before the suggested time, though). I'd expected it to come out with quite a wobbly texture, but it was definitely firm to the touch, as the recipe dictated. There was no advice to leave it to cool before adding the lemon slices, so I got the apricot jam glaze prepared and then put them on. I was pleased with how the finished tart looked, although the pastry could've been neater. It was hard to work with though, so I did my best.
Baker's verdict: a lot of processes, but well worth the effort. An impressive-looking and very tasty tart which baked really well. I need to employ a bit more finesse next time, but there was certainly nothing amiss taste wise! The skin of the lemons on top was a bit tough though.
Husband rating: 9/10 - the tastiest thing made so far. Lovely, strong sweet and sharp lemon flavour. The lemons on top were pleasant to taste but a bit chewy. Wouldn't want it without them though, just needed to be softer to eat.
"It feels like an honest interpretation of a lemon" - husband after drinking beer for some hours...

43. Bakewell Slices

Father's Day and a visit from my parents could only mean one thing where my bake of choice was concerned: Bakewells. Dad loves them, in any guise, so these slices seemed the perfect thing to make for the occasion. I've made Bakewell Tart before (possibly only with Mum though), so I wasn't phased by this recipe, which is very straightforward. The pastry was made first, but it wasn't the easiest to handle, so I had to do quite a lot of patching up to compensate for the many cracks! It doesn't really matter when it's underneath something else and not under close scrutiny though. The next task was the basic sponge topping, only adapted by the inclusion of almond extract and some milk. 4 tablespoons of raspberry jam were used, but as Mary advises not to 'scrimp' on the jam, I did add an extra one for good measure. The sponge mixture was spread on top, and the whole thing was sprinkled with flaked almonds. It only needed 25 minutes in the oven, after which time it was still quite pale but definitely baked, so I took it out. It lasted all weekend, even with me cutting it into very large slices! Between us we all enjoyed it, but felt more jam was needed and possibly a little more almond extract. Unmistakeably a Bakewell though!

Baker's verdict: easy to make and very tasty. I did feel that the sponge felt a bit dry somehow, possibly because it was so light and fluffy. The contrasting textures of sponge and pastry may have caused it - who knows?
Husband rating: 7.5/10 - nice flavour of almond; looked nice and professional; nice individual layers like a Bakewell should be. Just needs more jam and the sponge was ever so slightly on the dry side. The sponge was nice and fluffy though.

42. Basic White Meringues

Hurrah! I have finally completed my first 'section' of the project. When I started, I decided to bake the first recipe in each chapter; it's taken me all this time to complete those first recipes, with lots of hopping in between! It's not been easy finding an excuse to make these meringues as they're certainly not the sort of thing Joe and I would happily munch through, particularly because neither of us are that fussed about them. But an opportunity presented itself in the form of a birthday party for the daughter of some friends of ours, so I set to work. I established that these were Swiss meringues, made by whisking the egg whites (3) for ages and then adding caster sugar a teaspoon at a time (yes, really). They were then piped into circles on baking trays and baked for an hour. The recipe stated that they could bake for up to 90 minutes, but after an hour we decided they were 'cream in colour' and they did come away from the trays without sticking. I left them in the oven overnight to cool and dry out.

The meringues were very easy to make, and I didn't even fret too much about the piping of them. This was the first time I'd used the piping bag and apart from needing the husband to assemble it for me (!), I found it very easy to use. I drew a line at the top of the baking parchment to measure the diameter and made my first meringue the guide for the rest. I was only left with a little mixture by the time I'd piped the 18 shells. The recipe suggested sandwiching them together with whipped cream, which I did the next day. I added 2 slices of strawberry to each one for a bit of extra colour and flavour, but made the terrible mistake of slicing them on the chopping board we use for the onions! Sure enough, they had a distinct oniony flavour, which didn't permeate the cream or the meringue, but did make the strawberries taste rather odd! Other than that, they were pretty successful really. I'm not a meringue expert, but others who tried them said that they were as meringues should be; nice and crisp on the outside, but fluffy on the inside.
Baker's verdict: a technical hurdle overcome without any difficulty. I'd be willing to make these again now that I've had a go at them.
Husband rating: 7/10 - lovely and fluffy inside; don't normally like meringues but they were very moreish and went well with the cream. Would have got 7.5 if the strawberries hadn't tasted of onion!

41. Very Best Chocolate Fudge Cake

I feel like I'm on a roll now; having visits and visitors is giving me plenty of excuses to bake things, so I finally feel like I'm making progress again. This one was baked especially for my chocolate-loving friend Abbie, and the book states that this will become my favourite chocolate cake recipe. I have to say that it did live up to expectations, and was so much better than the chocolate Victoria Sandwich I made (which barely tasted of chocolate!). The recipe was very straightforward, starting with mixing some cocoa powder (quite a lot actually) with hot water, and then piling the rest of the sponge ingredients in, as per the all-in-one method Mary seems to favour. It was destined to be a very moist cake by the inclusion of the water and some milk. 2 fluid ounces of milk was required, and because it was such a small amount, and I'm used to measuring milk in baby bottles these days, that's just what I used! It seemed especially apt considering the eaters of the cake and the occasion: a meeting of mums and babies!

The cake needed to be baked for the usual 25-30 minutes, and I took it out of the oven thinking I'd rather it was just baked than over-baked. Chocolate cakes have a habit of 'catching' and then tasting unpleasantly bitter around the edges if they're baked for that little bit too long. So, the cake was very straightforward; the icing was a little bit more problematic. Not that it was difficult, just a question of melting some chocolate over a pan, with double cream. It was the waiting for it to cool that was the nuisance, and I ended up putting it in the fridge so I didn't have to wait until midnight to ice the cake. It needed to be almost setting; I almost let it set too much, but a quick stir sorted it out and it was very easy to spread. I'd been good and passed the apricot jam through a sieve before spreading it on the cake; the chocolate icing went on without any crumb or lump issues as a result. I dropped a clanger by icing and assembling it on the cooling rack and then struggled to lift it onto the base of the storage thingy - it was a really heavy cake! I managed to transfer it onto a nice plate the next day, but care is needed.
Baker's verdict: A really easy cake to make, and very tasty. The best, no-fuss chocolate cake I've baked so far. Rich, but not sickly, probably because plain chocolate is used. I also think the apricot jam helps with this.
Husband rating: 10/10 - as good a chocolate cake as you'll ever have. Quite a simple chocolate cake but lovely and moist; rich chocolatey icing; not too sweet and very moreish. I prefer the Brownies, but I'd still give it a 10. A perfectly executed cake.

40. American Chocolate Ripple Cheesecake

I finally feel like I'm back on track with my project, getting around to baking this cheesecake at long last! I'd shelved it while pregnant, because of the issues with soft cheese (even though I'm sure it would've been ok, especially with it being baked for ages) so was really looking forward to making and eating it. It's also one of those 'occasion' bakes - not one that Joe and I could get through by ourselves. We're just too healthy and riddled with guilt if we pig out too much! So, a visit to friends presented a great opportunity to make this, and fortunately it wasn't too challenging. I managed to do most of it while the littl'un sat in her rocker in the kitchen, watching me scuttle about and enjoying the noise of the mixer. I'd bashed the biscuits for the base - plain chocolate digestives -  earlier in the day, and prepared the mixture for the base in advance so that it could set. When I started filling the tin though, I noticed there didn't seem much mixture - barely enough to cover the base in fact. So I did half the mixture again and that was much better.

The filling was straightforward: loads of soft cream cheese, beaten until it was fluffy, with eggs, caster sugar and some vanilla extract added. Meanwhile, the melted chocolate was cooling down. Some of the vanilla mixture was dropped into the tin at intervals, while the rest was mixed with the chocolate. This was then added to the tin, and I was meant to 'swirl' the two mixtures together with a knife. I don't know why, but it didn't quite work, and as you can see, it just looks chocolatey on top! The cheesecake was baked for 1 hour, and then left in the cooling oven. I left it for several hours and then wrapped it up in foil and put it in the fridge. I was disappointed to see that the top had cracked, but I don't fret about how things turn out as much as I used to. If I know I've followed the recipe and baking instructions, then I know it's not my fault it turned out like that! It survived a journey in a warm car and direct sunlight the next morning and was lovely and firm when I came to cut it. Cutting it, however, wasn't an easy task. The base was quite stuck to the tin, although it did come off easily if you ran a knife under it. I think that's just par for the course with chilled bakes like this. I didn't serve many attractive portions, they were all a bit collapsed and crumbly, but the cheesecake did have a lovely texture. It wasn't claggy like some baked cheesecakes, but very rich. We got 8 portions out of it. It needed some fruit with it really, just to cut through the richness a bit.
Baker's verdict: easy to make and very tasty. I feel confident with cheesecakes now!
Husband rating: 8/10 - lovely baked cheesecake; nice and chocolatey. Needed some sharpness from fruit when served and a thicker base.

39. Bath Buns

Desperate to make some progress with my project, I finally got around to baking these. They're on my list of first bakes and I've been intending to make them for months and months - at least I had all the ingredients to hand! I think I'd put them off a bit because they didn't seem like an especially appealing bake. It's much more exciting baking a chocolate cake or something equally delicious to eat; these just seemed a bit, well, boring really. Anyway, they're in the book, so they needed to be baked, and I was actually pleasantly surprised by them. I was also a bit put off initially by the bread-making processes involved. The mixture was really simple, and I love kneading, but it's all a faff waiting for things to prove and then having to repeat the processes before they even go into the oven. Making them did fit quite nicely around doing things with the baby, though, but I wouldn't have made them without Grandma being on hand to tend to the little one while I mothered my buns! You forget how long things take in baking; even straightforward processes.


I didn't have the required nibbed sugar for the topping (nowhere round here sells it), so I had to bash some sugar cubes - a very satisfying task, which yielded good results as an alternative to the missing ingredient. The buns actually only needed 15 minutes in the oven, which surprised me, and came out a lovely golden brown, smelling great. A quick tap on the bottom (difficult when they're red hot!) told me they were baked properly, so then it was just a matter of letting them cool down for eating.
We ate them spread with butter, and they were something like a cross between a scone and a hot cross bun really. I think the bake was good - they had a pleasing texture and certainly tasted nice. The candied peel and sultanas made them very fruity. The recipe made 18 buns, which were quite small. I've frozen loads of them, but would probably make larger buns next time as there really was only a few mouthfuls.


Baker's verdict: easy to make and tasty. Not sure I'd rush to make them again, as there are far more interesting things to bake!
Husband rating: 7/10 - nice, scone-like things, tasty with butter. 

38. Sachertorte

This is my first 'project' bake since I had the baby: I did manage to knock out a quick Victoria Sandwich a few weeks ago, after feeling the urge to bake something to help me experience some normality again! I was really keen to get back to the project though, and a bit of time presented itself with the husband being off work, so I decided to tackle the Sachertorte - one of the bakes I'd been worried about and susequently putting off a bit. As it turned out, it really wasn't anything to be scared of: a quck look at the method simply suggested that it would be a bit faffy but not technically complex.

 What made this cake a bit of a mission was the multiple processes involved. It began with melting some chocolate, then beating butter and sugar together. 5 eggs had to be seperated and everything beaten or folded in gradually. I just had to get myself organised and manage my time well. Folding the whisked egg whites in was a satisfying experience, and I could really feel the mixture lightening up as did it. I knew the cake would be very dense, so I was surprised when I took it out of the oven and it had risen a lot. It quickly sank though, and did end up with a dip in the middle. No matter though; the icing filled it!

I made the cake in the afternoon, but found myself still mucking about with icing late into the evening. This was partly due to having a little one to tend to at various intervals, but also because the cake had to be cooled, the apricot jam covering had to set, the chocolate and double cream icing had to cool...and by the time I'd done all that, I decided to leave the piping until the following day. Husband and I had the delicious treat of mopping up the icing with some fresh strawberries - our very own fondue experience. I was dreading doing the piping but actually it was easy and very satisfying - not perfect but not bad for a first attempt. I used a cone of greaseproof paper to pipe with and just went for it! The cake was served an hour later to visiting relatives who were very appreciative! I followed Mary's advice to make it serve 12 and found it very easy to cut and serve - it did end up being a very dense, and very moist 'dessert' cake and the designated portion was sufficient (if you are inclined to take your cake in moderation!)

Baker's verdict: easier to make than I'd feared and actually very enjoyable to prepare. The process was quite prolonged but well worth it for the end result. Really yummy and I'd definitely make it again. It does need an occasion though, as it's not a cake for 'everyday' consumption.

Husband rating: 8/10 - lovely rich chocolate cake. Not a massive fan of the apricot jam. Lovely chocolate icing on top, nice and creamy.

Cheesy Flapjacks

These are a non-Mary Berry addition, baked on a whim because I fancied flapjack and cheese (both pregnancy staples). I've made these several times over the years, and despite husband's protests that the combination was an unpleasant one, I knew it worked. Very simple to make: recipe below. It came from a supermarket magazine, submitted by a reader, years ago. They're just something different from the usual flapjacks and cheese scones. Taste lovely still warm but are still satisfying when they've cooled down.

Recipe: 85g butter (melt in a pan); 115g grated cheese (I used Red Leicester but Cheddar is fine); 1 large beaten egg, 150ml natural yoghurt, black pepper and 225g rolled oats. I added a tsp of mustard powder as well. Stir it all together and spoon into a greased 7in square tin. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C (I did them at 160 for the fan oven) until golden. Cool in the tin and cut into squares.

Baker's verdict: easy and satisfying. No bells and whistles!
Husband rating: reluctant to try them...feels funny about the idea of them!

37. Dark Indulgent Chocolate and Walnut Brownies

Sometimes there is nothing to do but bake, and subsequently feast on, gooey chocolate things. I could say I felt compelled to make these simply because I had some walnuts which needed clearing up, but the real reason was the overdue baby. Having an excess of walnuts was justification; let's forget about the trip to the supermarket to 'stock up' (on 3 big bars of dark chocolate and 3 bags of chocolate chips). I enjoyed the whole process of making these; it seemed to have a very calming effect on me, not least because I was making them at my leisure rather than against the clock for impending guests.

The first process involved melting an obscene amount of chocolate (350g) with some butter over a pan: a heart attack in a pyrex dish! There is little more satisfying than poking melting chocolate with a wooden spoon to help it on its way. While the mixture cooled, the process of blending everything else could begin - the eggs, sugar, pre-chopped walnuts and small quantity of instant coffee. I was surprised by the comparatively small amount of flour required, but brownies are supposed to be very dense without the usual 'raising' involved with other cakes. Once the chocolate was added, they needed to bake for about 45 minutes.

The smell emanating from the oven was glorious. I always enjoy disappearing upstairs while things are baking and then gradually exposing myself to the delicious aromas as I make my way back to the kitchen. My mum, meanwhile, enjoyed sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by a chocolatey fog! I checked with a skewer after 40 minutes and decided to give them another 2 to firm up the top: in hindsight they should've come out the first time, as they ended up being a little dark around the edges. We waited several hours for husband's return so we could enjoy the first tasting with him - resorting to watching out of the window for him to drive up the road, such was our desperation to get stuck in! They were worth the wait; a beautiful texture and extremely yummy.

Baker's verdict: very easy and satisfying to make; delicious with a lovely texture.

Husband rating: 10/10 - amazing brownies: rich yet light with lovely crunchy bits. Nice bursts of chocolate and nice crispy outside. Lovely. Can't fault it; perfect brownie. The second piece had some slightly burnt edges, so they lose a point for that.

36. Lime Lattice Cookies

Still working my way through the biscuit chapters, I baked these for some friends coming for morning coffee (tea for Rhonda). I thought I'd ring the changes from Fork Biscuits, although these were actually very similar; the addition of lime being the only difference. I grated the rind of two luscious limes, which filled the kitchen with their glorious scent and made our mouths water in anticipation. I did rush the mixture and bung everything in together, rather than creaming the butter and sugar together first, but I really don't stress about such things these days, now that I know what the subsequent processes entail. Something I found odd about this recipe was that there was no instruction to press the cookies down before baking. I had to roll them into walnut-sized balls and then use a skewer to make a lattice pattern on the top. I thought I'd bake 'by the book' and follow the recipe to the letter and see what happened. They were meant to bake for 15-20 minutes, but they were still quite anaemic-looking after 20 so I gave them another 5 minutes just to brown up a bit. We actually ate them still a bit warm (could wait no longer and the drinks were getting cold!) and they were nice and comforting and soft like that. Inevitably, they became more 'shortbready' once they'd cooled down. They need to be eaten within 3 days really - the last ones left were a bit on the stale side.

Baker's verdict: very simple to make; I'll press them down next time so they look better. Lovely tasting - never had lime biscuits before, but the flavours work really well. I always use salted butter; I could detect the salt, so I might see what they're like with unsalted butter another time.

Husband rating: 8/10 - amazing flavour of lime. Slightly bitter which went well with the sweetness. Almost like having lime cheesecake. Strangely, as good as they were, I only wanted one.

35. Mini Cakes

I have to say that this has been one of the most comical bakes I've done, to the extent that making these didn't really seem worth the effort! The most amusing element was husband not realising quite how 'mini' they would be, despite being sent a photo of my handiwork when they came out of the oven. He'd imagined them to be the usual 'bun' size, not the mouthful morsel they actually were, and then felt a bit embarrassed about taking them into work for his colleagues!

The recipe was basically the same as the all-in-one sponge recipe, but using smaller quantities. It was quite fiddly working with the petit-fours cases, manoevering 'scant' teaspoonfuls of the mixture into them. I didn't even attempt to level them off, just plopped the mixture into them in quite a haphazard fashion. I knew they'd spread out and fill the cases properly during the baking process. They didn't need long in the oven; I had to bake them in two batches so both had the benefit of the top shelf.

Decorating them was easier than expected; a simple mixture of icing sugar (lots) and water so that I could just dollop small amounts on each one and spread it out a bit. I decided to use bits of glace cherries rather than the suggested sweets, mainly because that's what I had in the cupboard. I thought they looked like little cakey bakewells when they were finished! I think they're great for children, and would be fab for children's parties; they're not especially satisfying for cake-loving adults though!

Baker's verdict: easy to make, although I'd rather knock up a Victoria Sandwich and get a proper wedge of cake to reward my efforts!

Husband rating: 6.5/10 - too small and too much icing for the size of the cake. Also a bit dry because they were smaller, but they had a nice flavour. The glace cherries worked well and they looked neat and professional.



34. Iced Chocolate Traybake

As being on Maternity Leave gives one the luxury of a bit of time on one's hands, my baking's coming along nicely. The only problem is that I've lost my usual panel of tasters (aka my work colleagues who polish off what Joe and I feel too guilty about stuffing our faces with!) so I have to bake with a different audience in mind. This one was made for my visiting friends, but even my chocolate-loving girls can only manage so much, so the rest was donated to Joe's colleagues. These traybakes are great for serving lots of people - they make 20 pretty big portions, which can be halved for smaller appetites.

They're also very easy to make, following the all-in-one method Mary uses for most of her sponge recipes. I was pleased that, unlike the lemon traybake I made last year, the cake didn't come out of the oven domed in the middle. It was fairly even, which I knew would make icing easier. I baked the sponge the day before I iced it, keeping it covered with tin foil. It needed brushing with warmed apricot jam before applying the icing, and I realised I haven't been passing the jam through a seive as you're meant to. I do feel that maybe life's a bit too short to do such things, especially as it's quite nice to get a little bit of apricot in the midst of a chocolate cake! The icing was very sweet, using lots of icing sugar, but a good consistency to work with. I left it to set before adding the chocolate drops - didn't really think it through - so I had to sort of press them in to get them to stay put. I always find it a challenge to serve cake like this - the cutting into (fairly evenly) sliced pieces was ok, but levering out the first slice is usually a bit of a shambles! It felt quite dry in texture as well, like I'd maybe over-baked it, but actually wasn't too dry in the eating. I think because it's quite a deep tin, you feel like you're getting a big chunk of cake with just a bit of icing on top, which can make it seem a bit on the dry side.

Baker's verdict: easy to make and good for en masse serving. Very light and functional, but not 'mmm' as a chocolate cake should be.

Husband rating: 8/10 - a simple chocolate cake, not as moist as it could be. Tasty, nice and chocolatey with nice icing on top. Just felt like it was missing something, like a bit of cream or something.

The rapidly emptying tin was met with disappointment by the colleagues...

33. Cheese Scone Round

After watching my Mum eat a cheese scone on a lunch outing, I decided instantly that I needed to bake some myself: cheese scones have been my pregnancy allies! I didn't plan to make one big one like this, but in the interests of remaining faithful to my project, I followed Mary's instructions to the letter, planning to adapt it to make smaller scones the next time. However, I did substitute cayenne pepper for mild chilli powder, not having any of the former in our usually well-stocked spice cupboard. I found this a very easy recipe; the only element I had an issue with was the liquid. I had to break the egg into a measuring jug and then 'top up' with milk to make a certain quantity of liquid. My hand wasn't steady enough and I poured a bit too much milk in, so the exact science of baking was disrupted slightly. I didn't use all of the liquid, but I do think the mixture was too wet, despite giving it a good knead in the flour on the work surface. At least I have some notion of the texture it shouldn't be - the 'doughy' nature of the bake only really became apparent once I'd cut into it and found a stodgy bit in the middle. Perhaps I didn't bake it for long enough, but there was definitely a soggy centre. This also turned a rather unappetising shade of grey over the next day or so! That said, it tasted good, and any further baking might've spoilt the outside of it, which was nicely browned when I took it out of the oven.

Baker's verdict: a bit of an experiment, with a few flaws I think I can easily rectify. I didn't get much scone for my effort - part of me thinks buying them in the shop would be just as rewarding, but the taste was great, and of course it was lovely served warm from the oven with lots of butter.

Husband rating: 7.5/10 - very tasty, just a bit doughy in the middle. Lovely and cheesy; don't normally like cheese scones but this was very nice and had a nice tang to it as well.

*UPDATE*

I followed this recipe the other day to make a batch of scones and they turned out really well. I had cayenne pepper this time, which actually made them a bit too spicy, so I'd either omit or put less in next time. I'm definitely coming on as a baker, as I was more careful with the liquid and got a better consistency, without using all of it. I tried not to 'overwerk' as Paul Hollywood would say, and didn't twist the cutter when I cut out the scones - these are little tricks I've picked up over the years. They got a pretty good rise, and apart from being a bit on the hot side, were really tasty. I'm looking forward to making more!

32. Chocolate Chip Cookies

I skipped ahead a few pages to bake these as I wanted to make some biscuits for afternoon tea with friends, accompanied by one of my now classic Victoria Sandwiches. I'm finding biscuits very pleasurable and very easy to make. They can be knocked together quickly, and now I have faith that mixtures will eventually hold together, I feel much more confident about making them. These actually formed quite a wet mixture as opposed to the 'short' biscuits I've made up to this point, probably because of the inclusion of an egg. They were intended to be 'slightly chewy' once baked as well.

They only needed 8-10 minutes in the oven; another reason why biscuit-making is so satisfying, and I took them out just as they were starting to go a bit golden around the edges. I did actually bake them in shifts: I needed to allow room for spreading, and only have 2 baking sheets! Because the recipe said they needed to go on the top shelf, I couldn't really put two trays in at the same time. We don't have a massive oven! Anyway, they smelt lovely and when nibbled warm they definitely had a bit of a chew about them. However, I might have cooked them for a bit longer than needed, as they certainly couldn't be described as 'chewy' once they'd cooled.

Baker's verdict: perfectly good biscuits, but I like gooey cookies, and I'm not convinced it was my execution that made these more biscuit than cookie.

Husband rating: 7/10 - very tasty, very moreish, but the texture was a bit like soft biscuits rather than chewy.