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).


Thursday, 14 February 2013

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.

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