A while ago I tried to surprise Mrs Blog with a birthday cake for her fortieth birthday. The "surprise" was that I was going to bake it while she was away visiting relatives one weekend, whilst I looked after son and daughter-blog.
Having never baked a cake before and faced with an Aga rather than a normal cooker it was no easy task. In fact it was so difficult a task that I spent all weekend baking. It involved three trips to the shops to buy extra ingredients, sixteen separate Victoria sponges (none of them edible) and no small amount of trooper-style language. The first batch was raw in the middle and burned to charcoal on the outside, then next just as bad. I rang a friend who has an Aga and asked for help (the equivalent of me stopping to ask for directions when driving). Friend-blog advised that I should use the "cooling shelf" to prevent the oven getting too hot. After several more failed attempts I rang back to find out that the cooling shelf should go above the cake not below it.
Finally I cracked it late on Sunday afternoon, with a swing-bin full of eggs, raw sponge, blackened sponge, butter wrappers, empty sugar and flour bags, I turned out two usable (if not perfect) sponges. I placed them on the, hitherto unused, rack to cool. I returned and applied butter icing and put candles on the top.
No-one had told me to turn the sponges over when they cool so that you have a flat surface when sponge meets sponge in the classic Victoria Sponge recipe. So...when I went back in to the kitchen I witnessed the effect of this oversight in the form of the top sponge having fallen on the floor having slid down through the icing like a skier on a hill.
One more trip to the shops and I bought a bloody cake.
This year though, I have progressed as a baker and can turn out decent scones, bread,croissants, focaccia... So, emboldened I tried again to make Mrs Blog a birthday cake.
Here it is...
First time as well - no mistakes, no burned bits, light and fluffy and cooked through. I ensured that I put the flat sides up and finished with coffee butter icing, champagne bottle-shaped candles, chocolate sprinkles and piped icing saying "Happy Birthday!" All done in an hour and a bit. Success!!!
To say I was chuffed was an understatement. how could Mrs Blog fail to be impressed??
Then she got home from her job in the local cafe which is owned by one Ruth Hinks. Known to me now as the "Evil Ruth Hinks". Ruth , you see is a patisserie chef, worse an award-winning patisserie chef, worse still the winner of the award for "Confectioner of the year 2011" in the UK. She gave Mrs Blog a birthday cake as well, here it is...
Having never baked a cake before and faced with an Aga rather than a normal cooker it was no easy task. In fact it was so difficult a task that I spent all weekend baking. It involved three trips to the shops to buy extra ingredients, sixteen separate Victoria sponges (none of them edible) and no small amount of trooper-style language. The first batch was raw in the middle and burned to charcoal on the outside, then next just as bad. I rang a friend who has an Aga and asked for help (the equivalent of me stopping to ask for directions when driving). Friend-blog advised that I should use the "cooling shelf" to prevent the oven getting too hot. After several more failed attempts I rang back to find out that the cooling shelf should go above the cake not below it.
Finally I cracked it late on Sunday afternoon, with a swing-bin full of eggs, raw sponge, blackened sponge, butter wrappers, empty sugar and flour bags, I turned out two usable (if not perfect) sponges. I placed them on the, hitherto unused, rack to cool. I returned and applied butter icing and put candles on the top.
No-one had told me to turn the sponges over when they cool so that you have a flat surface when sponge meets sponge in the classic Victoria Sponge recipe. So...when I went back in to the kitchen I witnessed the effect of this oversight in the form of the top sponge having fallen on the floor having slid down through the icing like a skier on a hill.
One more trip to the shops and I bought a bloody cake.
This year though, I have progressed as a baker and can turn out decent scones, bread,croissants, focaccia... So, emboldened I tried again to make Mrs Blog a birthday cake.
Here it is...
To say I was chuffed was an understatement. how could Mrs Blog fail to be impressed??
Then she got home from her job in the local cafe which is owned by one Ruth Hinks. Known to me now as the "Evil Ruth Hinks". Ruth , you see is a patisserie chef, worse an award-winning patisserie chef, worse still the winner of the award for "Confectioner of the year 2011" in the UK. She gave Mrs Blog a birthday cake as well, here it is...
Some times you cannot win.
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