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).


Sunday, 9 September 2018

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!
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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!
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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!
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