Nah, I'm just messing with you. I am definitely not the authority on cakes. But, I can take you on my wild ride to make a the cake shown below.
We recently went to Worcester to celebrate B and his mum's birthday, and as we all know, every birthday needs a cake. And seeing as I needed to make a cake for the 30 recipe challenge, guess who was volunteered...
I've already managed to mess up my recipe order. But the cake needed to be made and I'm not able to make the chicken until later in the week. But we all like cake more anyway, right?
Here is the link to the recipe I used. I chose this recipe because it didn't mention an electric whisk or anything expensive like that... and because I liked the pictures.
Now can I just start by saying - you need so much stuff to bake a cake! I trotted off to my local Tesco to buy the ingredients and happened to notice a whisk and thought, I need one of those! And here began my descent into bakery madness. Firstly, I realised I had no cake tins, and the recipe specified 8" tins. Now obviously, all the tins available were in cm, and I apparently have no mental skills when it comes to converting measurements, so out came the trusty mobile phone. I have now checked the recipe and seen that it said '8" (20cm)', but stressed Jen crouching in the aisles of Tesco like a madwoman did not read that far.
Second point, if you're going to buy a load of baking and cooking utensils (I saw that the potato masher was on sale and I've wanted one for ages...), for the love of sanity, get a trolley! I had a basket precariously balanced with cleverly all the vegetables for the stir fry B was making that evening at the bottom, and the nice square things, like the flour and the icing sugar, sliding around on top.
Let's skip ahead to after my clever brain decides it's a good idea to get some discounted J20 spritz bottles and a pineapple (it was a hot day in my defence, and hot days need pineapple!). The basket is weighing a ton, and the cake tins are precariously balanced as I wobble my way to the till. Twice they fall out, crashing embarrassingly loudly, but I finally make it to the till, any shred of pride or self-esteem destroyed.
For some unknown reason, I chose to bake this cake on a day where I decided it would be fun to have a family trip to the beach after work. Firstly, it was a lot of fun, but starting a cake a 8pm while you still have sand in your pants and wet hair piled on your head is maybe not the best idea. But it did mean I had a little helper in the shape of my 2 year old niece F, who I maybe shouldn't have left to pour the flour in hindsight...
I successfully mixed the batter, and definitely enjoyed it. But then the first issue came when we checked the cakes. My brother is a good cook so came over to be helpful (read nosy) and we decided we had to swap their position in the oven because one side was hotter. Cue a tin falling off the back of the shelf. It wasn't broken thankfully, but it did have a slight slant to it...
But here are the fabulous cakes fresh from the oven!
Per the recipe, I was to let them cool and use that time to make the buttercream. Now this did not go as smoothly... firstly, if a recipe specifies 'softened' butter, make sure it's softened. I ended up with a solid lump of butter surrounded by a pool of icing sugar. Eventually I beat it into submission, but it took a lot of mixing, and I am now the proud owner of one very strong arm.
The recipe then said to put it in the fridge to cool for 15-20 minutes. An hour later I remembered and rushed to take it out of the fridge.
Time for solid lump v Jen round 2.
I am pleased to announce that I once again defeated the solid lump. The buttercream was smooth enough to spread on the cake, and after a quick session comparing the sizes of walnut halves, I would like to present, a coffee and walnut cake.
*Cue confetti cannons and trumpet fanfare*
*Clutching my imaginary Oscar*
I would like to thank my siblings, and B for their support during this difficult journey. It was a tough ride, and there were times when I didn't think we'd make it, but despite all of the trials and tribulations, we triumphed, and made the MIL a birthday cake (I really hope she doesn't read this and realise the many mishaps that occurred to her cake...).
On a serious note, I hope you enjoyed this post.
Tune in next Sunday for my adventures with Stuffed Chicken wrapped in Bacon.
Hwyl am nawr,
J x
Comentários