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 7 April 2019

114. Sticky Apricot Pudding

I needed to bake a proper 'pudding' for Sunday dinner pudding, which would meet the dessert needs of my parents, husband, kids and me. Unfortunately, not many of the puds in Mary's book meet the stringent criteria of a family with members who between them don't like cream, cinnamon, raisins...ad infinitum until all you've got left is chocolate cake. However, this was one which seemed a pretty safe bet, although I knew my eldest offspring would only eat the accompanying ice cream.
It was a very straightforward bake; the batter was quite minimal, so I was a bit worried about it baking too quickly when spread out across the dish. I enjoyed plopping the apricot halves on top, but was amazed at the sheer quantity of demerara sugar required for the topping: a whopping 175g! I got sugar guilt as I was sprinkling, so didn't use it all in the end. It seemed pretty excessive for me, even though the batter didn't have much sugar in it.
It soon puffed up in the oven, and the apricots emitted a gorgeous aroma, but to my great annoyance, I didn't keep my eye on it in the final stages and the top caught a bit too much. Sadly, it came out looking rather charred, and I was a bit gutted about that. There's 'caramelised' and there's 'cremated': this was somewhere in between. Nevertheless, it still tasted really good and got the thumbs up from everyone who sampled it (all except ice-cream fiend daughter). The apricots tasted beautiful, and the texture of the pudding was lovely, especially with its crunchy topping. It didn't taste too burnt; I'll look forward to making it again and being a little more wary about it catching.
Baker's verdict: easy to make and delicious. I'll definitely make it again for a comforting pud.
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