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).


Thursday, 26 January 2012

3. Traditional Parkin


This bake presents the same scenario as the fruit cake; no eating allowed for a week. This is probably just as well, given the amount of cake consumed in recent days! I'm also intending to feed this to one of my Y13 classes, just because it'll cut neatly into little squares and because I'll never manage to bake everything in the book, eat it and stay slim! We will, of course, be having a taste - purely for the purposes of reviewing the success of the bake.
So, parkin. I've made it before but I'm sure I didn't put porridge oats in it, as this recipe demands. I'm not convinced I'm going to like the possibly 'chanky' texture, but we'll see. Anyway, as illustrated above, there is a hefty amount of sugary, fatty stuff in here: 175g of treacle, sugar and about 150g of butter - all melted down into a lovely- smelling goo. There's also cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in this, so it's going to be really spicy.
It was pretty easy to make; I found fiddling with the measuring spoons the most faffy part. The 'how will I know when it's done?' issue reared its head with the (to me) vague instructions to cook it for 'about an hour or until firm to the touch'. I actually cooked it for less because I've a tendency to over-bake. Despite appearances to the contrary (it's a shadow, honest), I reckon it's cooked perfectly.
Baker's verdict: easy, smelt delicious. I didn't really like the texture and I'm not sure whether it's because of the oats, the storage or over-baking. It should have been more gooey inside. Much better when warmed up and served with custard.
Husband rating: 6.5 (7.5 when warm with custard) - a bit on the dry side but the flavour was good.
Students' opinion: some liked the oaty texture; most wished it was less crumbly, but enjoyed the taste.
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