Well the year has whizzed by once again and arrived back at the annual bake off. I am still not convinced that the birthday person should provide the treats. Ho hum! Reading and maths assessments marked for the evening left me a little time to craft these bad boys. Bon apetit tout le monde (I may have a sliver too).
Same old Vicky sponge with cream and fruit followed by Granny’s chocolate fudge cake.
Another year has zipped by and the staff room tradition pervades. I dutifully created these two offerings so that my work colleagues could celebrate with me. The first is my Grandma Sybil’s chocolate cake recipe in a bundt tin with added orange zest and a few dark chocolate chips.Victoria sponge topped and filled with whipped cream (jam in the middle) and adorned with fresh fruit. Well it was my birthday after all. Both were deliciously moist as I watched the baking time closely and went close to under just to make sure. Nom Nom!
Here’s a funny one. So it’s your birthday. The day that most people look forward to because they get a bit of pampering or special attention or perhaps just a card or a call from a family member or pal.
Somewhere along the way however the ubiquitous cake and chorus ritual takes an unexpected twist. No longer do we wonder in excited anticipation if there will be an igloo or a hedgehog cake waiting for us on the table. Instead we are asked to supply our own offering for the office staff room so that others may celebrate.
To that end, after a day at Uni, I came home today and baked. Nothing too adventurous or time consuming. After all I need some time to chill. I give you a Victoria Sponge (Nigella) topped and filled with vanilla cream and raspberry jam followed by a ‘healthy’ (not really) banana loaf (2 eggs, 3 bananas, 4oz sugar, 4oz butter, 5oz SR flour).
I am posting this on the request of my 13 year old son who lovingly made this for his mother for her birthday. He shopped for the ingredients having decided on the design himself.
The recipe came from Nigella Lawson’s ‘Feast’ and is her Victoria Sponge offering. Oven (fan assisted) heated to 170 deg C
Everything was put into a food processor and pulsed until combined then milk poured in until it reached a nice dropping consistency. Poured into two loose bottomed sandwich tins and baked in the middle of the oven for 20-30 mins till they looked like this.
Then he got creative and filled and dressed the cake with vanilla cream (double cream – icing sugar – vanilla) and soft fruits (strawberries and blackberries).
As you can see we managed to demolish this quite quickly. There were 7 of us. It was so light and airy that we virtually inhaled it. Delicious. Not bad for a first effort at a full sized cake I would say. Proud of you son.
Stew Peas 'n Rice 