This weekend I had the house all to myself ... Hubby went off to Devon surfing and left me to my own devices. I had a nice relaxing weekend (aside from a bit of essential housework) and cooked nothing.
However, I did watch the entire series of "The Great British Bake Off" which has been airing on BBC2 and the final was on telly last Tuesday evening. If you're quick you might still catch it on the iPlayer.
Aside from being droolsome viewing, it was also a bit educational. I learnt more about baked goods than I ever knew there was to know. For example, everyone knows that the Earl of Sandwich invented the sarnie so that he didn't have to leave the gambling table, but did you know that the pre-packed sandwich started off in covent garden when a struggling baker started making ham sandwiches to sell hungry theatre goers after watching their shows? Did you also know that biscuits were invented during the industrial revolution as a portable snack for travellers on the newly invented steam engine? Well, I didn't but now I do.
One of the finalists has a blog called The Pink Whisk too which I'm going to invesitgate ... and I have a real urge to bake cherry scones.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Nanny G's Victoria Sponge
As I probably already mentioned, Nanny G used to recite the recipe for a basic Victoria Sponge over the Sunday lunch table, much to my dismay at the time. To her credit, I can still remember the ingredients, quantities and process of baking this classic cake by heart. It is only fitting that the first recipe I add to my notebook is this ... not that I'll ever forget it!
Ingredients:
80z Butter
8oz Sugar
8oz Self Raising Flour
4 Eggs
You will also need a bowl, a wooden spoon, two 9" greased and lined cake tins and an oven preheated to 180 (160 for a fan oven).
Cream together the butter and sugar until pale - you can't do this too much!
Add the eggs one at a time and combine thoroughly and vigourously - sometimes it looks like the eggs will never mix in but they will.
Sift the flour into the bowl and and fold it in gently until just combined - if you mix it too much you will knock all the air out of it and stretch the gluten in the flour so it will never rise.
Share the mixture between the two tins and spread it out right to the edges - to get the cakes to rise into a lovely flat cake rather than have a dome in the middle I spread the mixture a little thinner in the middle.
Bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven) until they are just golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave the cakes to cool in the tin, then turn out on to a board or wire rack ... choose the prettiest one to be the top!
Sandwich together with a filling of your choice. The traditional one would be raspberry jam and whipped cream but I like to add fresh raspberries too, to sneak in one of my five a day and ease some of the cake guilt! I sometimes substitute strawberry jam and fresh strawberries for fussy people who don't like raspberries. Lemon curd is equally lovely ... ditto chocolate spread.
Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar and serve.
Feeds 6 - 8 people quite generously, but if there are only 4 - 5 of you don't expect there to be any left for later!
Ingredients:
80z Butter
8oz Sugar
8oz Self Raising Flour
4 Eggs
You will also need a bowl, a wooden spoon, two 9" greased and lined cake tins and an oven preheated to 180 (160 for a fan oven).
Cream together the butter and sugar until pale - you can't do this too much!
Add the eggs one at a time and combine thoroughly and vigourously - sometimes it looks like the eggs will never mix in but they will.
Sift the flour into the bowl and and fold it in gently until just combined - if you mix it too much you will knock all the air out of it and stretch the gluten in the flour so it will never rise.
Share the mixture between the two tins and spread it out right to the edges - to get the cakes to rise into a lovely flat cake rather than have a dome in the middle I spread the mixture a little thinner in the middle.
Bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven) until they are just golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave the cakes to cool in the tin, then turn out on to a board or wire rack ... choose the prettiest one to be the top!
Sandwich together with a filling of your choice. The traditional one would be raspberry jam and whipped cream but I like to add fresh raspberries too, to sneak in one of my five a day and ease some of the cake guilt! I sometimes substitute strawberry jam and fresh strawberries for fussy people who don't like raspberries. Lemon curd is equally lovely ... ditto chocolate spread.
Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar and serve.
Feeds 6 - 8 people quite generously, but if there are only 4 - 5 of you don't expect there to be any left for later!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)