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.