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).


Tuesday, 26 August 2014

60. Cherry and Almond Traybake

I baked this so long ago, in a bid to keep going with my project, that I can remember very little about doing it! We have finally moved into a new home, in a new county, so have spent the last six months doing all the onerous stuff one has to do when moving home, while looking after a toddler. Hence, very little baking has been accomplished, and, as you'll have noted, no blogging whatsoever. But now we're settled (still waiting to start my new job), I'm determined to make room for both aspects of my project and really get cracking on it again. I've missed baking so much!
Anyway, I do remember baking this because I wanted to make some final cakes for my colleagues before I left for pastures new, and traybakes are very colleague-friendly, being easy to portion and serve. I do recall this being easy to make, but drying the rinsed cherries is always a faff. I understand why you need to do it (to stop them sinking to the bottom), I just don't seem to do it very well! The cake, I recall, went down well, and was very moist and tasty. It had the ever-appealing flavour of a Bakewell; cherries and almonds are so lovely together.
Baker's verdict: easy to make and very light and tasty.
Husband rating: not even going to ask - it was too long ago!
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