Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Did I say a whole week ago that I was looking forward to getting back to some sort of normality? Who was I kidding? Not sure life is ever really normal round here but even by my standards it's been pretty rubbish.

 

 

Actually that is not entirely true as I had a lovely inspiring day out on Wednesday at a fabulous exhibition followed by a browse around Borough Market and a leisurely a stroll along the south Bank, a perfect day spent with a good friend...  I'll save the details for another post.  And last night I had a lovely evening with my eldest son as we cooked supper together, drank wine and later watched a DVD.... however...

 

The rest of the week has been somwhat overshadowed by a nasty experience to do with work. It would be unprofessional of me to go into details but I have been accused of things that are not true by someone who has not even spoken to me never mind met me, been threatened with possible legal proceedings and ultimately been left feeling like I never want to teach again. I don't think I've heard the last of it either but I'm resisting the urge to send hate mail and I'm trying to stay calm...

 

So I went into the next round of the Cambridge Bake Off yesterday looking forward to a couple of hours of escapism, confident that my Best Ever Chocolate Cake would win over the judges. But alas, it was not to be. The very same cake that scored 9 out of 10 last year on taste with the comment "Fantastic, deep adult taste" managed a pathetic 4 out of 10 this year with the comment "Flavours don't meld, lingering savoury aftertaste". Savoury? What was that all about?

 

I've renamed it my Crap Chocolate cake but fortunately my tasters and judges at home don't agree. They've voted it the best ever and this is all that is left!

 

So to cheer myself up, I've spent the afternoon doing some dress making. All afternoon I've been happily stitching away to find that I've put the lining of my dress in all wrong... I've hours of unpicking ahead... what joy! I might just bin it! I'm not going to tempt fate by hoping this week is better but I do have some good news for you my readers...

 

This week has seen blossom appearing on the trees, daffodils swaying in the breeze and birdsong everywhere, (crikey, that was a bit poetic) so what better time to announce that I have two tickets for the Country Living Spring Fair to give away to one lucky reader. Leave me a comment letting me know if you'd like a chance to win and I'll pick out a winner at the end of this week

 

The Country Living Fair takes place from 19th - 23rd March at the Business Design Centre in Islington. It features carefully selected exhibitors selling jewellery, fashions and items for interiors and gardens. There are talks and workshops as well as plenty of new ideas for your home and garden this Spring. You can read more details on the website:

www.countrylivingfair.com/spring

And if you aren't lucky enough to win the tickets you can get an additional discount if you book in advance on the website and enter the code Blog11... adult tickets for £12 instead of the usual £13 or £16.50 on the door.

 

Go on... leave me a comment... cheer me up!

Since Last Week...

Thank you all kindly for your good wishes and as indeed "all things do pass" there was an improvement as the week went on.

• I managed to finish off several of these embroidered button samples. I hold my hands up and say these are not my own original idea but I have made enough embroidered buttons in the past and have seen enough examples from numerous different people that I felt it would be okay to use them for a class I am teaching at Textiles in Focus in Cottenham on Friday. I would have said hurry up and book your place but fortuantely for me both classes are full. However it is still worth going to this fabulous three day show if you are are within travelling distance so maybe see you there.

• I had a trial run of my next round of the Cambridge Bake Off which is to cook and decorate a chocolate cake of my own choosing in two and half hours in the kitchens of the Cambridge Cookery School. I managed it, just, in my own kitchen and my tasters approved ( I haven't actually tasted it myself) but I was disappointed with certain aspects... like all those darn chocolate ribbons broke! So I do feel I need a couple more trial runs... but I'm not sure I can face it...

• Because after making the cake I came over feeling rather peculiar and then spent the next 48 hours shivering and aching in my bed trying desperately not to panic at the thought of our forthcoming pantomime... no such thing as understudies in AmDram! I was convinced I had flu. Fortunately whatever it was, came as quickly as it went... although it has left me with with no stomach for chocolate!
 
• So although I was still feeling somewhat wobbly yesterday, Gill and I rearranged our trip that we were meant to have last week and we went into London to see the Isabella Blow exhibition which was far better than I had expected and worth seeing for the amazing Philip Treacy hats if nothing else, although being a huge fan of Alexander McQueen I loved the dresses too. I found the exhibition quite a moving tribute to someone who on the surface seemed to be leading a charmed life but in reality was obviously very unhappy

 
• And now the rest of the week which is going to be dominated by our Pantomime with technical and dress rehearsals today and tomorrow and first performance on Thursday. Still feeling a tad wobbly which doesn't bode well for a week spent on these heels... Wish me luck but please don't say "break a leg"

 

I promise more photos later in the week!

I've been on a quest...

to find the perfect carrot cake.

 

 

Most cakes are based on four essential ingredients... eggs and flour to give structure... fat and sugar to give flavour. So even before additional ingredients are added there are many decisions to be made. Caster sugar or muscavado sugar, plain flour or self raising, white or wholemeal, butter or oil.

 

And then come the additions. Do you grate the carrots finely or coarsely, what spices should be added - cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or allspice or perhaps a combination and do you add sultanas or nuts or both and if so, walnuts or pecans or perhaps something else?

So many decisions to be made. And that is before the frosting and decorating takes place.

 

Over the past couple of weeks I have made four different carrot cakes with various ingredients in different combinations including one that seemed to contain about half a bottle of brandy (Very good but not really what I was after!)

 

After my family gallantly took to extensively tasting and giving feedback, (they do suffer for me you know) this is what I ended up with. I decided to keep the decoration simple depite having an urge to create bunnies and carrots. And this is the one that I took into Cambridge this morning as my entry in the first round of the Cambridge Bake Off. Yes, despite my "spongy sponge" experience of last year, I decided to give it another go and was one of 48 contestants selected for this first round to bake a carrot cake.

 

And after the judges had tasted I was delighted to be one of 24 selected to go through to the next round where I will have to bake 'live' in the kitchens of the Cambridge Cookery School. Although I was given good marks for presentation and texture they thought the taste was lacking and did not taste of carrots. Personally I'd rather my cake did not taste of vegetables and that the carrots were there to add moisture and sweetness... but what do I know? And anyway, I'm through to the next round so I don't care! And should you want to try it yourself... the recipe is below.... do let me know if it is carroty enough for you!

GINA'S CARROT CAKE

150g light muscavado sugar                                                            

80g dark muscavado sugar                                                              

3 free-range eggs                                                                              

175g rape seed oil                                                                            
250g self-raising flour (white)                                                                                  
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger

40g plain yoghurt
Zest of 1 satsuma
260g carrots (peeled weight) peeled and finely grated

1 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
100g pecans, toasted and roughly chopped, plus extra to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line the bases of 2 x 18cm sandwich tins.

2. Put the eggs and sugars into a large mixing bowl and whisk well until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and the mixture has almost doubled in volume. This can be done in a free standing mixer. Gradually add the oil, mixing well.

3. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder salt and spices and then fold very gently into the liquid mixture, being careful to knock as little air out as possible. Fold in the yoghurt and the remaining ingredients and divide between the tins. Bake for about 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 mins in the tins and then turn out onto a wire rack.

4. When cool decorate with cream cheese icing and the remaining nuts. I used this recipe for the icing.

A Spongy Sponge

I have failed to get through to the semi finals of the Cambridge Bake Off.

 

 

If I had lost marks because the judges had deemed my cake a gloopy mess I might have taken it on the chin... but no... only 4 out of 10 for texture because my sponge cake was too spongy! My dreams of an alternative career have been dashed.

 

But at least I got a cookbook for my efforts.

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post if you would like to win a print

Decisions

1. Butter or margarine? Not really a decision for me as unsalted butter is all I ever use to bake as I don't think you can beat the flavour, although Mary Berry might disagree

 

 

2. Golden or white caster sugar? After some research I've found that white seems to dissolve into the fat better whereas the golden leaves small crystals that appear on the surface of the cake.

 

3. Plain Flour with added baking powder or self raising? I use self raising because the baking powder is evenly distributed throughout the flour... although I added an extra half teaspoon of baking powder just for good measure!

 

4. To add vanilla or not? I do because I like the flavour.

 

5. Weigh the eggs and add equal amounts of the other ingredients or go for standard weights? I tried both ways and found 4 large eggs with 225g of flour, butter and sugar seem to work best and give a softer mix and less dry cake.

 

However, all these decisions fade into insignificance when faced with the prospect of making the perfect Victoria Sponge, in an unfamiliar kitchen, start to finish in just one hour.  That's right... tins prepared, ingredients weighed, everything mixed (by hand, no electric gadgets allowed), cakes baked, cooled, filled and assembled with both jam and whipped cream in sixty minutes flat.

 

I've had a few trial runs just making the cake and have got the mixing and baking down to 40 - 45 minutes but there is no way the cake will ever be cool enough to fill. I had a proper timed go this morning and as I predicted the filling melted into a gloopy mess.

 

It tasted okay (even though I am not a fan of cream in cakes)...  but this doesn't exactly look like a prize winning cake now does it?

 

I've decided I shall bung my cooling cakes in the fridge and if that's not allowed I will refuse to add the cream!

 

Wish me luck for Saturday!

Chocolate

After a week and a half of baking and tasting different chocolate layer cakes I finally found the perfect recipe.

 

 

It wasn't the pecan fudge cake of my previous post, nor the amaretti cake... not even the Mary Berry cake with white chocolate icing.

 

After my last post Annie suggested that what I might be looking for was her "best ever chocolate cake"... and she was right. It was wonderful.

 

I wouldn't be so arrogant to say I  improved the recipe because a best ever cake can't really get any better but  I made a couple of small changes and tweaks to enhance the flavour, did a second trial run on Thursday and knew I had my cake.

 

The First Bake Off challenge was this morning and along with 100 other entants I delivered my cake to the Cambridge School of Cookery. There were some amazing looking chocolate cakes and they were all so different. After a tense three hour wait we went back to collect the results...

 

and I've got through to the next round! Not only that, my cake was one of the top three with 9 out of 10 for both taste and texture. I think I'm really excited but I'm too tired to tell. All I have done is think chocolate all week... and when I have managed to get some sleep I've dreamt about it too. I know I don't want to make another chocolate cake for a very long time.

 

I can't show you the inside of my cake because I left it to be donated to a shelter for the homeless (we really have had quite enough cake for one week) but this is one I made earlier! And the recipe... (with many thanks to Annie):

 

Best Ever Chocolate Cake

315 g plain (all-purpose) flour
75 g  cocoa powder
2 level teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (not baking powder)

1 level teaspoon espresso coffee powder
½  teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
150 g  golden caster sugar

150g dark muscovado sugar
180 ml grape seed oil (or similar bland tasting oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
180 ml puréed tomatoes (a large can of tomatoes, run through the blender and then sieved will give you more than you need.)
80 ml butter milk

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, coffee powder and salt.
Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until they form stiff peaks.

Beat together the sugars, oil, vanilla extract, tomato purée, and egg yolks.
Fold in the sifted dry ingredients.
Stir in the butter milk and fold in the egg whites until everything is well combined.

Divide between two greased and lined 20 cm round tins and bake at Gas 4/180C/350F for 35 mins.

Fill and decorate as you please (Mine had a white chocolate buttercream filing and a dark chocolate ganache coating topped with chocolate shards)

 

And I promise you... not one person has guessed about the tomatoes!

Rabbits... and Cake

You may think all I have done for the past week is bake chocolate cakes, but I have been knitting too. For the knitters among you I'm sure it will not have escaped your notice that Julie has written up some patterns for her Little Cotton Rabbits... which are available here. And I just couldn't resist!

 

 

I was feeling quite pleased with this first attempt until Julie came along to join us for knitting and brunch on Friday morning and brought along her little rabbits to meet mine... and believe me mine looks like some monstrous half cousin by comparison! My rabbit's head is about twice the size of Julie's... that is Julie's rabbits' heads not Julie's head you understand.

 

I'm not sure my knitting and finishing will ever be up to the standard of Julie's and I was tempted to make another, hopefully smaller bunny head. But then I thought that my great niece who is only two months old will probably love this bunny anyway!

 

She was fun to knit and the pattern was so clearly written and easy to follow that I'm sure I'll be making more. It was also lovely to have Julie join us for knitting too.

 

Oh... and there has been more chocolate cake of course...

 

This one is a chocolate pecan fudge cake which is the most intensly chocolatey and moist cake so far. I think I might have my entry for next week's bake off sorted with just a bit of tweaking and the decoration to sort out!

A Bake Off!

Earlier this year I sent off an application to take part in the 2013 Great British Bake Off. I filled in a 9 page application form and gave details of baking successes and baking disasters. I wrote about signature bakes and recipes passed down the generations and I sent this off together with pictures of buns..

 

 

and cupcakes... and various other baked goods.

But I was unsuccessful. I was a little disappointed not to have even got as far as a first heat but consoled myself in knowing that there were thousands of entries. And to be honest I don't think I would have enjoyed being on TV and having to bake in that tent with those blue eyes scrutinising my soggy bottom. If you've ever seen me trying to roll out pastry without getting floury hands (I hate having floury hands) you will know what a disaster I would have been!

 

But recently I discovered that Cambridge are having their very own Bake Off and before I knew it I'd sent of another entry. Much simpler this time... just one photo and a couple of lines about why I love to bake. I sent the photo of the cake above... and I've got through to the first round... along with 99 other people! In just over a week I've got to make a two layer chocolate cake for the judges.

 

So today I've been practising! We have been told that the judging will be on taste and texture foremost so for now I'm concentrating on finding exactly the right cake... I'll worry about the decoration next week.

I've made a amaretti chocolate cake with chocolate ganache...

 

and a Mary Berry chocolate sponge with a white chocolate icing

 

The amaretti cake wins hands down for taste and texture for me... but I'm waiting for my team of testers to come home and give a second opinion.

 

And if you are in the area next week do call in... there will be tea and chocolate cake on offer all week long until I find that perfect cake!