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).


Tuesday 13 June 2017

Chocolate Mint Cake

Not one from Mary's book, but worth a mention...I baked this after being given a big old handful of mint from a friend's garden and not being sure what to do with so much. I found this recipe online and it looked simple enough (although decadent and fattening), so I gave it a whirl.
The only faff was washing and chopping the mint leaves, and I was worried that there'd be the texture of bits of leaf in the cake. Happily, although you could see the flecks, there was no leafy residue while eating.
I'd make this again; the mint was there but very subtle, so could probably benefit from either having some extra leaves in or the addition of some peppermint oil. It was also best served with some fresh raspberries. It was a very dense cake, so definitely needed something 'fresh' on the side. Cream would probably be nice, but there was so much in the icing that one needs to consider calories and cholesterol!

Recipe:
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/534644/mint-chocolate-cake


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