I write on the occasion of Mr Latte's 45th birthday. We are knee deep in beautiful white snow, and the birthday boy is about to take the children out sledging. In my opinion he ought to have gone first thing this morning rather than wait until three o'clock in the afternoon when the light is fading, and frankly, so are the children, but what do I know?
For the birthday cake, I took a tip from a friend of mine who is relatively new to baking. She said she had it on good authority that the following was a fool-proof method of producing a fabulously impressive cake every time:
Take three duck eggs (which as I'm sure you know are huge) and weigh them. Whatever, they weigh, add the same of flour, sugar & fat, and slap in the largest cake tin you possess for an amazingly well-risen, moist and delicious cake, which cuts easily into two halves and can then be sandwiched back together with a filling of your choice. Now, as a rule, Cathy, I never use this crude 'cutting in half' method, favouring instead the rather more elegant option of baking two separate cakes in sandwich tins, designed for that very purpose, but I thought 'who dares wins'.
My duck eggs weighed seven and a quarter ounces without the shells, so I added the same of self-raising flour/cocoa, sugar and fat (with a teaspoon on baking powder for good luck). The mixture looked a little stiff to me but I popped it in a deep round nine inch tin (the one I use for my christmas cake) and popped it in the oven at gas mark 4. Twenty minutes later I could smell burning. I checked the cake but it was still wobbly in the middle, so I had no choice but to leave it in the oven. When it came out, it was not particularly well-risen and the sides were burned. I cut them off, covered it with chocolate and put it in the pantry.
At lunch time the cake was brought out and I think it's fair to say that every member of the family was under-whelmed. I think it will do as a pudding if we warm it in the microwave and dump some ice-cream on it. Not sure whether to try again as my novice baker friend says she has produced three amazing cakes using this method. Where did I go wrong? Can I blame the oven - again? My friend baked hers in a Rayburn and she said it took an hour and twenty minutes! Perhaps you could try and let me know how you get on.
Much love, Lucy x
PS I have never wilted spinach in my life! I am rather partial to a slice of Spanakopita but I've never made it myself. x
No comments:
Post a Comment