67. Oat Rounds

I didn't intend to bake these this weekend. I was going to bake bread, but I got as far as the second proving and had a disaster (which I'll relate in my post about the bread) which resulted in said bread ending up in the bin. Desperate to bake something, and not go out to the shops for ingredients, I thumbed through the book and found these. I thought I had all the ingredients, but forgot I used up the last of my caster sugar for some charity buns last week. Fortunately I had some golden caster sugar kicking about, so I used that instead. These were super easy to make, but annoying. The biscuits call for softened butter, beaten together with sugar. Oats and flour are then added and once you've formed a dough, you're supposed to roll it out and cut rounds from it. However, softened butter and warm hands does not make for a pliable dough which can be rolled out. It simply stuck to the rolling pin! I resorted to beating it out with my hand and cutting some very uneven 'rounds' which I had to wriggle off the surface. Needless to say, I didn't find my baking pleasurable today. It felt like everything went wrong. I even put the wrong amount of sugar into my first mix so had to start again. Anyway, I eventually got them in the oven, at a lower temperature to compensate for the weirdness of our oven, and just kept an eye on them. They turned out alright in the end.
Baker's verdict: easy but irritating to make; a lovely texture and very buttery taste.
Husband rating: 7.5/10 - very nice and very well-baked, but Mary Berry's rich recipes are a bit too rich for me.

66. Petits Fours aux Amandes

I've been trying to bake these for about four weeks and just not got my act together. One of the reasons was because the recipe required egg whites and not yolks and I wasn't sure what to do with the yolks to avoid throwing them away. In the end, I decided to have a quick flick through the book, thinking to make some rich pastry for the freezer or something, but discovered that the Melting Moments I've already made actually required two egg yolks. So I ended up making a batch of those as well! Good to know. So these petit fours were always going to be a bit daft; I'm not a massive fan of tiny cakes as it seems a whole lot of effort for a tiny mouthful. However, they were very easy to make, with very few ingredients and a simple bit of piping to do. They only took 10 minutes in our crazy oven and did look very sweet.
 The only grumble I have is that they stuck to the baking parchment I'd had to line the trays with, so some of them came off with a bit of paper attached to the bottom. I might try baking them directly on the tray next time. Anyway, they're tasty little things, which my little girl certainly enjoyed sampling!
Baker's verdict: easy to make, very tasty with the lovely almond flavour. The addition of the glace cherry on top made them a bit chewy.
Husband rating: 6.5/10 - okay, just feel like you're eating sweets rather than a baked product. Got stuck in my teeth a bit, but nice almond flavour and baked well.

65. French Apple Tart

So, my Mum turned up with a bag of cooking apples donated by a friend and it just seemed appropriate to make an apple pie with them. I let them fester for a few weeks until doing something with them became an urgency, and happily found another recipe in Mary's book. This recipe also turned out to be a bit of a labour of love. We'd made plans to go out once I'd made it, but it took much longer than I though it would.
The pastry was easy to make; a rich shortcrust which needed refrigerating. It was hard to roll out and get into the tin, so there was a bit of patching going on. When I'd blind-baked it and taken the beans out, I was quite concerned to see several large cracks in the base, especially as I was making the filling and it was very sloppy. In the end I braced myself for a soggy bottom, but something that would at least taste nice.
The apples took some preparing. Once they'd been cored (not peeled) and chopped, they had to bubble away on the hob for some time with some sugar and apricot jam, until they became mushy. A dessert apple was sliced for the topping. I thought it looked very pretty as I put it into the oven, and apart from some of the apples browning a bit, the end result (glazed with more jam) looked very appetising. Joe and I had some (forgot the ice cream) and I really liked it. The pastry was thin, and the apples were lovely. They'd got lemon juice in, so the flavour was quite tart, but I thought it worked well. I ended up freezing some of it, and it did freeze very well.
Baker's verdict: a bit fiddly but not complicated. Lovely, sharp apple flavour and a nice texture. Would be even better with some cream or ice cream!
Husband rating: 6.5/10 - the apple filling was nice with a nice balance of sweetness and tartness; not enough pastry and too much apple though.

 

64. Victorian Christmas Cake

This was baked a little out of season, but I knew I probably wouldn't make this for our actual Christmas cake. I prefer the dark, brandy-soaked ones you have to make months in advance! This cake was nothing like that: a bake it and eat it straight away cake. I'd forgotten when I started preparing all the ingredients just how labour-intensive making fruit cakes is. It took me ages to chop all the fruit and nuts (a vast quantity, as you can see), but hardly any time at all to make the actual cake mixture. It was a real labour of love! I do like to see all the fruit mixed together though, and the smell always reminds me of Christmas, so it started to make me feel a little festive.
Anyway, the cake took several hours to bake on quite a low temperature. I covered it in foil to prevent it going too dark on top, but was a too late to stop it catching on one side. I blame my lack of familiarity with a new oven, which is always burning things! After leaving it to cool in the tin for a while, the cake was easy to turn out, and had its first tasting during a family outing the following day. It was lovely and moist, absolutely crammed with fruit. I think the addition of pineapple is a really nice touch, and although I never fully dry it out (or the washed glace cherries), it doesn't seem to make to cake soggy. There was so much fruit in it, I didn't even notice if the cherries had sunk to the bottom (as they do if not dried enough). The cake was then divided into sections for my Dad, me and Joe, and Joe's colleagues. He took a big tin full to work (it was a hefty cake) and all of it was eaten. He said I'd managed to convert several people to the joys of fruit cake! It's a funny thing: lots of people have an aversion to fruit cake, but these lighter ones seem to be much more appealing.
Baker's verdict: time-consuming but easy to make and very tasty. I'd definitely make it again.
Husband rating: 8/10 - it was nice and moist; a good fruit cake for someone who doesn't really like fruit cake.

 

63. Iced Gingebread with Stem Ginger

Hurrah! I'm now up to date. I actually only made these a week ago, and was just waiting for our internet to get back up and running before I could blog. We moved in, I found myself with a nice big worktop: I baked. I decided to tackle the next one on the list, which was this, and just got on with it while Elizabeth toddled about around me. It was very easy, although very sticky (curse the treacle and golden syrup!). My electronic scales were out of action, so I possibly wasn't totally accurate with the measurements, but it was as near as dammit, so good enough. When I went shopping for ingredients, I couldn't find 'ginger syrup', but I did find stem ginger in syrup, so could only assume that's what it was. I'm intrigued to know if I was right - the icing was ridiculously sweet as a result of adding what was essentially liquid sugar!
Anyway, easy to prepare; I did overbake them though. New oven and all that, but they did seem to catch a bit round the edges which was disappointing. Lovely flavour though, and the middle was fine. The cake did have a dip in the middle (I remember this issue from the Parkin recipe - too much treacle?!) It meant that the icing pooled in the middle; I shouldn't just iced it upside down, but the thought always disturbs me! I'd make them again, but probably not bother with the icing, as it really did make them far too sweet and gingerbread is just as tasty left alone.
Baker's verdict: simple to make, I'd just need to keep a closer eye to make sure they didn't go over.
Husband rating: 6.5/10. Didn't really like it with the icing, and they were a bit dry, but tasted nice without the icing and once I'd been eating them for a bit.
 

Novelty Cupcakes

I made these especially for my Y13 A Level English Language class. It was our last lesson and I promised them some homemade cake. They're just basic cupcakes (with some chocolate chips added), complete with icing and then fondant 'wugs'. We'd been studing Child Language Acquisition, which covers an experiment whereby the fictional creature, 'a wug' is discussed. Apparently this is what they look like. It seemed apt! I think my piping is improving; the icing looked quite respectable (I used a big nozzle for the typical cupcake effect). The comical thing was faffing about at 9.30 at night cutting little blue creatures out! The things you do in the name of baking, eh? Anyway, they went down very well, although the icing always makes everything really sweet, and I can remember husband saying so! I enjoyed the novelty element though, and it proved you don't have to be brilliant at decorating cakes for them to look effective! You just need humour...

62. Sultana and Orange Traybake

To my shame, I totally forgot to photograph this one, so I'll need to bake it again to provide evidence! I do remember making it just for the fun of it, and for something to take into work, and I also remember it being really easy and really tasty. The combination of flavours works really well, and I know my colleagues enjoyed it. I'll definitely make it again!
Baker's verdict: easy, tasty, more to follow...
Husband rating: again, too long ago...

Elizabeth's Christening Cake

Obviously, I had to make this myself. I just can't bring myself to buy cake anymore, and certainly couldn't have anyone else bake such a special cake, nervous as I was about doing it. In the end, I kept it very simple. Because we had quite a few guests, I simply decided to make a larger Victoria Sandwich, but used my traybake tins instead of sandwich tins. So I made a 6 egg mixture (I think) and then sandwiched the two sponges together with lemon curd and buttercream. I put lemon curd around the edges of the cake and once again did battle with the icing (getting easier now). It didn't roll on perfectly, so my Mum assisted with some decorations in the form of ribbon and silk flowers (from my 18th birthday cake!) and I used my new icing cutters to dot the cake with some pretty flowers. I will get better at this decorating lark; that's a project for another day!
Baker's verdict: not a problem making this very simple cake on a bigger scale - as usual very light and tasty.
Husband rating: I made this in May; it's nearly September. He won't remember.

61. Fast Flapjacks

I love flapjacks. Making them brings back happy childhood memories of baking them with my Grandma (Grandad Ern's wife). I baked these particular ones more or less as soon as I purchased Mary's book, but hadn't decided to write the blog then. Anyway, I've now made them another two times and here are the results. Rather comically, I misread the cooking instructions the first time round. I put them in at the conventional oven temperature rather then the required fan temperature, and ended up with rather brown, rather tough flapjacks! I still offered them, rather sheepishly, to my colleagues, who said they enjoyed them, chewy or not. Perhaps they were just being kind though. Anyway, it troubled me that I made a pig's ear of something so simple, so I made another batch and put some chocolate chips in, for my A Level students. They were much better, as you can see from the contrasting photos! I do struggle a bit with my patience where the adding of the chocolate chips is concerned: I never leave the mixture to cool down enough, so they tend to melt as soon as I stir them in. But then, wouldn't they do that in the oven anyway? Either way, the end result is the same: chocolate-flavoured flapjacks. It's a good recipe; very simple and if you're in your right mind when dealing with the oven, you can't really go wrong. You do just need to keep an eye on the colour and don't be hesitant about taking them out just because they're still soft and bubbling. They do set!
Baker's verdict: a good staple; easy to make and lovely and buttery.
Husband rating: again, I made these so long ago, he won't remember...
 

60. Cherry and Almond Traybake

I baked this so long ago, in a bid to keep going with my project, that I can remember very little about doing it! We have finally moved into a new home, in a new county, so have spent the last six months doing all the onerous stuff one has to do when moving home, while looking after a toddler. Hence, very little baking has been accomplished, and, as you'll have noted, no blogging whatsoever. But now we're settled (still waiting to start my new job), I'm determined to make room for both aspects of my project and really get cracking on it again. I've missed baking so much!
Anyway, I do remember baking this because I wanted to make some final cakes for my colleagues before I left for pastures new, and traybakes are very colleague-friendly, being easy to portion and serve. I do recall this being easy to make, but drying the rinsed cherries is always a faff. I understand why you need to do it (to stop them sinking to the bottom), I just don't seem to do it very well! The cake, I recall, went down well, and was very moist and tasty. It had the ever-appealing flavour of a Bakewell; cherries and almonds are so lovely together.
Baker's verdict: easy to make and very light and tasty.
Husband rating: not even going to ask - it was too long ago!

59. Mississippi Mud Pie

This bake is on my current list; another one which required some kind of occasion, on the basis that me and Joe couldn't possibly get through this unaided, nor could I really take the leftovers into work. So, some visiting friends were treated to this heart attack on a plate, and very nice it was too. I'd never had 'proper' Mississippi Mud Pie before, so was curious to see what it would be like. I'm seldom disappointed by anything chocolate-related, so was fairly sure it'd be a winner. It started well, with a digestive biscuit base, and certainly did turn out to be a bit cheescakey, without the cheese. The filling was basically oodles of dark chocolate, butter, cream and 5 whole eggs. There will have been more, but that's sufficient to demonstrate how rich and calorific this bake is! It was really easy to make; a surprise ingredient of some instant coffee made the flavour quite interesting and not to everyone's taste, I'd imagine. I found it diminished after the first mouthful.
The pie really slumped once removed from the oven, and actually looked quite a deflated, sorry mess until I put the cream on top. I over-whipped the cream, so it still didn't look aesthetically appealing until I chucked some chocolate flakes at it. Only then did it really look passable as an appetising dessert. I kept it chilled in the fridge until serving, and it was very easy to slice and lovely and firm. It would probably be tastier if it was out of the fridge for a spell though.
Baker's verdict: easy to make and very tasty. I'd try it without the coffee next time, though.
Husband rating: 8/10 - first mouthful was a bit too coffee-ish, but then as it went on you didn't really notice the coffee, and it was a lovely, indulgent, rich chocolatey thing.
 

Elizabeth's First Birthday Cake

Just had to post this as it was my first attempt at doing a 'proper' iced birthday cake. I wanted to be a brilliant mummy and make my daughter's cake myself, even though I have very little experience of decorating cakes (that's my next project once this one's completed!). I used Mary's Victoria Sandwich recipe, filling the cake with buttercream and lemon curd, and then wrestled with the ready-made fondant icing. I'd bought the stuff you needed to mix with water, and spent ages with my Mum trying to roll it out without it sticking to the surface. After failing miserably at this, we resorted to using the ready-to-roll stuff, which looked like it was going to go the same sticky way. However, with a bit of help from husband wielding a spatula, I managed to get it onto the cake. I'd also bought some coloured icing and a cutter kit, so got all polka dot-tastic and made a lovely spotty cake for the special little lady. She was a bit bemused by the whole thing, and didn't eat much of it, but the rest of us enjoyed it, ultra sugary, ultra sweet icing and all (which husband duly peeled off). I now need to buy one of those smoothing things to get a less bobbly finish...

58. Pecan Pie

I can't recall why I decided to make this: it wasn't next on my list in the pie section. I do know I wanted to bake something which we could share with the family when we visited though, and I'd never made, or even eaten, one of these before. It looked as though it would present moderate challenge, and I was looking forward to tasting it.
To begin, I made a sweet pastry, which included an egg yolk and icing sugar. Once made, it needed to be refrigerated for about half an hour, so I got on and made the filling while I waited for the pastry to chill. The key ingredient, aside from the pecans, is maple syrup. I had no idea how expensive this stuff is! It took me ages to even find it in the supermarket, and when I did, I was faced with the choice of buying the expensive 'good' stuff, or a cheaper version, which wasn't actually pure maple syrup. I had to opt for the proper stuff, of course, and I'm sure it makes all the difference. Don't think I'll be making too many of these though!
The filling was pretty easy to make, and very runny. Once the pastry had been baked blind, I poured the mixture in on top of the pecan nuts which I had fairly carefully arranged on the pastry. I put a baking tray underneath the flan case, as I felt sure some of the mixture would leak out, and I was right. It only needed to be baked for just over half an hour, and certainly smelt good when I removed it from the oven.
The pie was tasty, but because we'd never had it before, we didn't really know what to expect from the texture. We sampled a piece warm from the oven and found it very 'eggy' and soft. It reminded me of a custard tart, texture-wise. I'm not a fan of those. I was worried I'd not cooked it for long enough, but a bit of research reassured my that it was meant to be like that. It was lovely with vanilla ice cream, and also went down well with the family, who had it cold.
Baker's verdict: fairly straightforward to make; tasty apart from the slightly eggy flavour. The texture of the filling was a bit off-putting.
Husband rating: 7.5/10 - a bit eggy, but lovely taste of maple syrup and the pecans were very nice in it.
 

57. Cupcakes

These were baked for my A Level students and were meant to be Valentines' Day chocolate cupcakes, complete with fondant love hearts. Unfortunately my cutters didn't arrive on time, and when I started baking, I realised I didn't have enough cocoa powder to make them chocolatey! So they turned into vanilla cupcakes with chocolate butter icing instead.
They were very simple to make, following the all-in-one method again. They got a reasonable rise, but these are a bit denser than fairy cakes, although not quite as dense as muffins. I need to get myself an ice cream scoop for even portions, as invariably I end up with buns which are all different sizes. It was harder to divide the mixture because I'd made double the quantity as well, but they didn't turn out too bad really.
Icing the cakes was very time-consuming. I was trying to go for a decent finish, but cake decorating isn't my forte so it took ages. I also found that despite plenty of mixing, there were still lumps of icing sugar flecking the mixture. Schoolboy error: I forgot to sift it first! You couldn't really tell once I'd smoothed the icing, but it was annoying all the same.
Baker's verdict: easy to make, classic tasty cupcakes. The students enjoyed them!
Husband rating: can't remember what they were like; it was too long ago!
 

56. Butterfly Buns

These were an impromptu bake after promising cake to a friend who was visiting with her baby. With a short timescale and small window of opportunity in which to bake something, I at first thought of knocking up a Victoria Sandwich, but really wanted to do something else from the book. Happily I stumbled across these and knew they'd be pretty straightforward.
The first part was easy; following the all-in-one method, they were all mixed and in the oven within half an hour. Once cooled, I set to work on the icing. Husband had stolen one, so I reduced the amount of icing, but even then there seemed like an enormous amount for a dozen small buns! I used 300g of icing sugar (and made a right dusty mess of the kitchen, I can tell you)! The icing needed to be piped onto the buns once their tops had been sliced off and halved to make butterfly wings. 

Husband requested I added some jam to some of the buns, which I thought was a rather splendid idea. I did try to pipe generously, but was still left with lots of buttercream in the piping bag. Nothing for it but to squeeze it into my own cake-hole and worry about what effect the sugar might have on me just before bed! I decided to omit the dusting of icing sugar over the top; aesthetically a lovely idea, but one really can have too much sweetness.
Baker's verdict: easy to make; very tasty. Went down well with everyone who tried them. Especially the ones with jam added.
Husband rating: 7/10 - nice sponge bun cake thing; bit too much buttercream for me but other than that, quite enjoyable.

 

55. Mini Jammy Cakes

So, I asked husband to choose something from my list of impending bakes. He chose badly and then got cross with me for saying so, so I ended up making these! Unfortunately several of the bakes really do require an occasion, or act more as desserts than bakes which are easy to portion up and palm off on colleagues! Anyway, these looked really straightforward and it would be another one ticked off the list, so that was the decision made.
I feel like I've done nothing but rub flour and butter together for the last two months. I've made over 100 mince pies, several batches of cheese straws for the baby and a Homity Pie: I'm becoming a dab-hand at making pastry now! I didn't really expect to be doing it for a cake, but these are 
far-removed from anything resembling a sponge. These required a bit of mixed spice added to self-raising flour before the butter was rubbed in, and then caster sugar added at the end. I've had a bit of a eureka moment this weekend, brought to light by this recipe. Mary suggests a particular amount of liquid but advises that you might not need it all, and it's a measure of my familiarity with textures and pastry dough that I understand how 'wet' a mixture needs to be. I remember when I first made biscuits and couldn't imagine how the bowl of crumbs would ever resemble a ball of dough without any liquid being added. So I have more confidence these days that the mixture will eventually come together, and that's just what happened with this bake. I've also got my new 'dough-hook' hand motion, which I discovered while making my final mince pies of the season and used here too. It's a great way to bring the dough together quickly.
Anyway, once the dough was formed, I had to divide the mixture into 24 pieces and roll each piece into a ball before poking it with the end of a wooden spoon to create a hole. Blackcurrant jam was then dolloped into the hole and they were baked for just 10 minutes. Mary recommends eating warm, so I gobbled two down (well, they are mini) as soon as I'd eaten my sandwich. They were very nice fresh from the oven, but equally tasty cold the next day and they went down very well with my teaching colleagues, who are getting into the habit of sampling my wares of a Monday!
Baker's verdict: very easy to make and very tasty. Just a nice little treat.
Husband rating: 7.5/10 - nice little cakes. Mixed spice isn't to my taste though, however I liked the jam in it and they seemed to be well-baked.

54. Special Shortbread Biscuits

My first bake of 2014 and some very straightforward biscuits. I can't remember if I've said this before, but I really enjoy making biscuits because they seem relatively effortless and foolproof, especially now I know that the crumbs in the bowl do eventually come together to form something you can work with! Anyway, I've had to skip ahead a few bakes: I still have a bread and butter pudding and a pavlova to make, but these require occasions really.
The process for making these was the same as the other shortbread biscuits, only light muscovado sugar was used instead of caster sugar. This made them a bit toffee-like in odour as they were baking. The mixture was very short and took some patient kneading to get it to hold. Even when I was rolling it out, it was breaking up, but I persevered and used the weight of the rolling pin to help it to stick back together. It took several rollings to get the dough used up, but it was very easy to cut out the biscuits, with no sticking to the surface. I ended up with over thirty very attractive little biscuits.
The suggested baking time was 20-25 minutes. As usual, I went for the shorter time first, but when I checked them they were still very pale, so I let them have the remaining 5 minutes. They were quite 'golden' by that time, but I wonder if that was down to the sugar as much as the baking time! I could only just fit them onto the cooling rack, and actually sampled one warm. It was delicious. I can see why these are considered 'special' because they have a lovely, rich buttery taste and look like a lot of effort has gone into the making of them. They certainly went down well with my colleagues!
Baker's verdict: simple to make and very tasty. They had a nice 'snap'.
Husband rating: 7/10 - nice shortbread but too sweet for my taste really.

53. Banoffee Pie

This was a bit of an unexpected bake which began life as something else! I'd finally got to the bottom of my second list with just a cheesecake to go, but unfortunately this particular one contains gelatine. Being a strict veggie makes me very reluctant to bake anything containing animal bits, so I bought a vegetarian equivalent and attempted to make it using that. What followed was a disaster: I had to discard the entire filling because when everything was combined, everything just kind of separated. There was no way we were eating that! I'm now faced with a dilemma: do I avoid the cheesecake altogether, or make it with gelatine and not try it? I feel like being militant and going for the first option.
Anyway, I had a lovely biscuit base to do something with, so a flash of inspiration took me to the Banoffee Pie page. I've made these before, and they're really easy, so it was a good last-minute substitute for the dessert promised to our visiting friends. Husband thought I should cheat and buy the ready-made caramel, but I'm not compromising the integrity of the project, so I used normal condensed milk and made my own. It was a bit nerve-wracking (is it done? is it over-done?) but it turned out ok and was nice and thick. I was a bit disappointed by the amount of biscuit: the last cheesecake I made had the same issue (I think I doubled the mixture for that one). In my opinion, the base is the best bit!
Desserts like this are like heart attacks on a plate and this wasn't an exception. I gave our friends enormous portions (which they soon gobbled down); me and husband could barely finish ours. The sickly factor soon kicked in and we actually gave them the leftovers to take home!
Baker's verdict: tasty and simple to make, but soooo sweet and sickly.
Husband rating: 8/10 - rich, lovely caramel, but 6/10 for the queasy after-effects.
 

52. Rich Fruit Cake

So this was the Christmas cake for 2013. I'm saving all the 'rich' fruit cakes for the Festive Season, so this was Christmas cake number two. I made it during the October half-term holiday so it had plenty of time to mature ready for Christmas. Sadly I forgot to feed it as often as I should've; it only got one (albeit generous) dousing with brandy a few weeks before serving. I found the cake very straightforward to make. You can't go wrong with a fruit cake really. It's just a bit time-consuming weighing out all the ingredients and chopping cherries (in fact, lining the tin is the biggest faff). I love soaking the fruit overnight; it creates such lovely boozy aromas to inhale at whim. I recalled how last year, when pregnant, that was the closest I came to enjoying alcohol - having a good old sniff of the brandy-soaked fruit! Anyway, the making of the cake was all very straightforward on day 2; just a bit of elbow grease needed to make sure everything was thoroughly mixed. Then followed several hours in the oven where the lovely scent started to fill the kitchen and indeed the whole house. I had the same issue with the baking parchment as last year: my 'loose cover' ended up sticking to the top of the cake and ruining the appearance of the carefully arranged almonds and cherries slightly. It didn't matter last year, because the cake was iced, but this year it was laid bare for all to see. Not that anyone cared: once you cut into a cake like this, the appearance doesn't really matter: it all just crumbles and becomes a fruity avalanche of cake!
Baker's verdict: a really lovely, moist and very rich cake. You don't need a very big slice!
Husband rating: 9/10 - not normally a Christmas cake lover, however I did really enjoy this. Very moist, very rich, lots of flavour. Liked the nuts in it too.

 

51. Lemon Drizzle Traybake

My goodness. I am soooo behind on my blog! I baked this ages ago and had even forgotten that I had until I checked my folders of baking photos. Sadly this particular folder is empty at the moment: I made this for my A Level students one evening and then forgot to take any photos in my rush to pack it up and then take it into school the next day. I'll have to bake it again (which I would, willingly) in order to properly illustrate my blog.
Not much to say about this bake other than it was very easy to make and very pleasant to eat. The sugary/lemony topping was a bit of a disappointment, but only aesthetically. I felt a bit embarrassed to be offering my students a cake which looked really plain (the topping is translucent)! However, it was beautifully moist and very lemony, so in this case, it didn't really matter what it looked like.
Baker's verdict: something I will definitely bake again. Love a good lemon drizzle and these traybakes are very practical. Easy to portion and plenty to be had!
Husband rating: 9/10 - really lemony, a bit crunchy on top with the sugar. Really moist, a nice strong lemon flavour.