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).


Monday, 28 January 2019

110. Chocolate Chip and Vanilla Marble Cake

This was my choice of cake for my littlest daughter's birthday cake this year, as we've realised that none of us particularly enjoy fondant icing. I thought it'd be nice to try a different type of sponge, to ring the changes. Despite the two different mixtures, it was very easy to make, with the vanilla mixture being the 'base' if you like, and then what was left after dolloping half into the tin was turned chocolatey. I've never made a marble cake before, and quickly saw the error of my ways when dolloping in the chocolate mixture to fill the gaps: my dollops were too large. The end result, therefore, was a 'blob' cake, rather than a marble one! Smaller blobs next time, Sal.
I decided to use this bake as my experiment with the oven temperature, and knocked it down by 10 degrees, also reducing the cooking time by 10 minutes. Peering through the oven door, it looked like it might be ready, so I poked it with a cake tester and found it still a bit moist in the middle. After a further five minutes, I was fairly sure it was done, and took the gamble. I made a stencil for the '2' and once it had called, removed it from the tin so that I could shape it accordingly. That was when I discovered the squidgy bit at the centre - apparently missed by the skewer. It wasn't hideous, but was definitely under-baked in a very small section. Just a few minutes more would've solved that, so I'll try reducing the temperature, but sticking to the time for my next bake.
It was very easy to sculpt and was only just a tiny bit dry at the edges. I improvised with the icing and didn't mess about with bags, just used a spoon to drizzle it all over, Jackson Pollock style, chucking a few white chocolate stars at it for good measure. I thought it looked quite effective, and the kids certainly appreciated it. It tasted nice; the chocolate topping and the chocolate chips in that part of the sponge worked really well, and it was lovely and light. The birthday girl's Grandad certainly enjoyed it!
Husband rating: he really liked it; he's not available for comment at the time of writing!
Baker's verdict: easy to make; tasty; would make it again with smaller dollops.

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