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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