Baking Mad

It has been a fresh cakes all day kind of day. The oven’s been on for most of it, so the window’s been a little open and my kitchen aid has gotta be feeling the burn. Which I am also, thanks to my small but scary workout.

Today I’ve baked some red velvet, victoria sponge, chocoLOTe cake and gluten free cupcakes (a special and very welcome request). When I’m baking the house just smells like heaven … I’ve learnt to take on the ‘half the taste is in the smell’ attitude. Otherwise, I could just eat those cakes until there’s not a crumb in sight!

Victoria sponge will always be my favourite. My victoria is a Mary Berry recipe which I’ve tweaked a little to make my own. She is airy and buttery and perfectly gold inside … the victoria sponge that is, not Mary B! My ingredients all go into a bowl at once, the magic happens whilst it’s mixing … on low for a minute and then high speed for 3 minutes, or until the cake mix goes more white than yellow in colour. She never disappoints me, she is a perfect bake.

But 'not quite perfect' is okay when it comes to home baking. Sometimes cakes are made more wonderful by their imperfections. Like my mum’s fruit cake … she would make this unusually light, scrummy fruit cake and all the fruit would sink to the bottom. When I was little I didn’t like the fruit bit, and my sister did. I thought mum made her fruit sink to the bottom on purpose, so me and Megan could both have it the way we liked it. And that we did! It was perfect to us.

I’m going to a friend’s this evening, so I’ll take some mini cupcakes along with me … because that’s just what I do now. Here’s my recipe for a perfect batch of 12 vanilla baby cakes:

2 oz self raising flour

2 oz caster sugar

2 oz sunflower spread (I find this lighter than butter for the little cupcakes)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

No vanilla extract needed, these taste best au naturel and baked at 180 degrees for 13 minutes (yes I’m precise). I’m going to pipe a little blob of strawberry jam into each mini, before piping a pretty blob of buttercream. A slice of fresh strawberry on top and a drizzle of melted leftover lindt bunny and these babies are done.

There’s a dusting of flour … everywhere, it's time to clear up. At least those cakes in front of me look good. And I love it when a sponge splits ever so slightly at the top. It’s like it's risen so much, and so airy inside that it it has an actual peak on top. They. Look. Good.

Come back soon!

Bridie x