Flower Power Cake

Not from Mary's book, but I did adapt her Madeira Cake recipe to create something of my own, so thought it had its place here. This was my entry into the annual family cake-off, with a theme this year of flowers. I toyed with the lavender, rose or violet flavourings, but in the end decided to make a cakey homage to the 70s, the decade in which I was born. Because most of the photos I have from that time seem predominantly orange, I took that as my baking inspiration.
So, instead of lemon zest, my cake contains orange zest. I also added some orange gel food colouring, and sandwiched it together with rindless marmalade. We tested the trimmings with some of the marmalade before I committed and it really worked! Normal buttercream made the second filling. I then brushed the outside of the cake with warmed marmalade and covered it in fondant icing. Cue an hour or two cutting out orange and yellow flowers and the ultimate 'Flower Power' creation emerged.
Taste-wise it was very nice, but it was a bit dry. I should've made a normal sponge rather than the very dense madeira one, for a lighter cake. It didn't reach the rostrum in the cake-off, but my Dad said it was the best-looking one, and I'd certainly use the design again. It was certainly eye-catching!
Baker's verdict: I definitely like the flavours here; will use marmalade again as a filler, I think. The orange flavour in the sponge itself could be stronger, I think. All-in-all, pretty chuffed with my invention!

107. Old-fashioned Seed Cake

Ok, so this was a weird one. Mary says in her introduction to the recipe that 'You either love or loathe seed cake', and I have to say that I didn't love it, but actually I didn't hate it either. The same can't be said for husband though, who definitely had a 'marmite' experience!
I'd never heard of seed cake before, so was fascinated to see what it would be like. As it turns out, it's just a basic sponge cake, but with candied peel and caraway seeds included. One of the issues we had with the caraway seeds is that we're used to using them to flavour very savoury dishes like stews and shepherd's pie, so it's a bit difficult to adjust the mind to accept them as an inclusion in a cake. More so for husband, who also prefers cinnamon in savoury food. Anyway, it was an easy cake to make, but I did over-bake it and it was pretty dry by the next day. I didn't mind the flavour, but I didn't manage to convince the rest of the family to help me eat it, so some of it ended up in the bin, regrettably.
Baker's verdict: interesting, but not one I'm bothered about making again.
Husband rating: he didn't like it at all!

106. Hot Cross Buns

Once again, I'm woefully behind on my blog. Unfortunately the same can be said for my baking project too. I do bake, but have got stuck in a rut filled with drop scones and flapjacks; the tried and tested and quick to make. And now I'm declaring a cake-eating amnesty on myself, so unless I tackle all the bread recipes, things are going to move very slowly in the biblical baking endeavour.

But nevermind, here's something to tickle those tastebuds, and it's a baking tale with a happy ending: my first attempt at Hot Cross Buns. Inevitably, I can remember very little about making these, but I do recall that there was very little stress involved, and, as always, I enjoyed the process of making and tending the dough. I was intrigued by the method of making the cross - simply making a small quantity of shortcrust pastry - as I always thought it was just incorporated somehow into the dough. Having only ever eaten commercially-made ones, it wasn't what I was expecting. 

The buns smelt lovely as they baked, and once the glaze was on, I was delighted with how authentic they looked. My parents were over, so we all had one straight out of the oven and thoroughly enjoyed it. They were good for a few days; perfectly lovely toasted when they started to become a bit stale.

Baker's verdict: straightforward and pleasurable to make; tasted superb. Will definitely make baking these an Easter tradition.

Husband rating: he liked them. No point asking him for a contribution any more detailed than that!

105. Rock Cakes

Scouring the pages for something to bake with what I had in the fridge/cupboard, I came upon these. The only ingredient I had to 'adapt' was the sugar. We're running out of granulated sugar, so I used golden caster sugar instead. Only 50g was needed, so I couldn't see it making that much difference on the whole. I also didn't have any demerera to sprinkle over the top before baking for that nice extra crunch, but I wasn't far off what was intended! What was nice about this bake, is that it was the first time in a long time that Elizabeth's helped me from start to finish. I felt less rushed and therefore more patient, and she participated in nearly every step, from measuring, to rubbing the butter into the flour, then getting all sticky once the egg and milk was added. She enjoyed squidging the mixture through her fingers, and stirring all the ingredients in. No need to be perfectionists with this one, we dolloped the cakes onto the trays in some sort of 'mound' and didn't need to wait long (about 12 minutes) before they were done.
As soon as they were cool enough to eat, both girls and I got stuck in, and I was very impressed that for once (and this is a big deal), Elizabeth ate something with dried fruit in. Yes, she ate raisins, and currants! Baby was equally impressed, so these were a success all round. The only issue is that some of the fruit catches in the oven, so you sometimes get a bitter taste from a burnt sultana. My mum makes these without the fruit but with a dollop of lemon curd in the middle, so we'll do that next time (or add chocolate chips). It feels like a good basic recipe with multiple possible adaptations.
Baker's verdict: easy and quick to make and enjoyable to eat. Will definitely bake these again.
Husband rating: 8/10 - very nice little cakes.

Baby's First Birthday Cake

As I posted about Elizabeth's first birthday cake, I thought I should do the same for our littlest's too. So here it is, and this is what happens when you have more than one child and thus less time to do fancy things with icing. This is just a classic Victoria Sandwich, with lemon curd and buttercream, plus a load of white chocolate biscuit fingers and a bucketload of sprinkles. Total sugar overload, and we ended up chucking some of the biscuits, which are my new favourite baking friends as they make any sponge look a bit more fancy, by covering up all the cake which isn't iced!
Baby (who is turning into a bit of a cake fiend) enjoyed it anyway. Maybe she'll get some fondant icing next year...

104. Chocolate and Vanilla Pinwheel Biscuits

I baked these way back in October (what a surprise, I'm behind on my blog again), and I recall rushing them, hence their rather 'crude' appearance. I seem to remember enlisting my daughter's help, as it says in the book that 'young children can easily make these'. However, I also recall it all getting a bit sticky and messy and me telling Elizabeth that it would probably be best if I just did them myself. It was all a bit fiddly, with the making and chilling of two different mixtures, and then I got myself in a bit of a muddle rolling the two doughs together; accidentally placing the chocolate one on top.
I didn't cut them very well, so they came out as ovals rather than circles, and like Mary's version in negative. They didn't look very appetising, and didn't taste anything special either. Quite bland in actual fact!
Baker's verdict: not as easy to make as Mary suggests, due to the moistness of the mixture. I'd probably give them another shot when I wasn't so rushed though. Could do with having a bit more flavour.
Husband rating: not even going to bother asking for one as he won't remember, and then I'll just feel even more fed-up that I don't have time to bake or blog.