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).


Friday 23 January 2015

69. Iced Apricot Fruit Loaf

This is another bake from the list I'm supposed to be working my way through, although my system is going to go to pot now that I've decided to abandon bread-making for the time being. I think I'll just bake whatever I fancy (and try really hard not to leave all the difficult ones until last)! Anyway, as Mary's introduction to this recipe states, this one was very easy to make. Apart from the customary faff of rinsing and drying the glace cherries and some chopping of apricots, it was really quick and straightforward to prepare. I still have worries about our oven, so am generally setting the temperature a bit lower, or the timer a bit shorter, and just keeping a very close eye on things. This seemed to bake ok and smelt delicious. I went a bit off piste with the icing, as I didn't fancy covering the whole top in a big blob of it, so had a go at some artistic 'dribbling' and thought it looked rather good! W.I. here I come!
Baker's verdict: easy to make and very tasty. Thought it might be dry when I cut it, but it was actually moist and very tasty.
Husband rating: can't really remember, but did like the smaller amount of icing.
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