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Victoria sponge with homemade blackberry jam
I’m moving into my new house on Friday! Can’t wait, there lots of work to do on it but it has a great garden (I’ve already sketched designs for the veg plot, chicken coup, compost bin, water butt and outdoor eating area) and a reasonably big kitchen which I can’t wait to get my hands on.
In preparation for moving I’m doing the ‘run the fridge down’ exercise where you use up everything in the fridge and freezer before it gets switched off and transported.
It’s been quite fun actually. Pizzas tonight with defrosted pizza sauce made last month, topped with the last of the parmesan, some goats cheese I had, the last few sundried tomatoes and assorted bits and pieces. Then tomorrow homely chicken and sweet potato curry with some spinach thrown in (because it needs eating) made with some left-over curry paste and coconut milk from the freezer.
But the difficult thing has been to get through the mountains of blackberries I picked and froze last month. Felt extremely happy with myself at the time, thinking I am all set up for winter now with this little lot. Now I need to use them all in the space of a week.
Slice of blackberry Victoria sponge
So I used a whole bag for a make-shift jam of sorts, to fill a Victoria sponge. I’ve never made jam before and don’t have any jam making equipment. I just used same weights of sugar to blackberries (250g) a few splashes of water and some lemon peel.
It isn’t completely set like a jam as I didn’t use jam sugar (which has added pectin to make it set) but it’s fine for spreading between sponge cakes with a bit of butter cream. Delicious for afternoon tea, or morning snack break…..or before bed nibble.
For a full-proof Victorian sponge recipe click on the baking category in recipes.
My apricot cake mistake
So you might be thinking, this cake doesn’t look too bad, quite tasty even. But you would be wrong, this cake wasn’t as sweet and fruity as it should have been, and it wasn’t because I used salt instead of sugar.
Weirdly enough it was because the apricots were incredibly sour. It is strange because I ate some raw before putting them in the cake and they were mild and tasty, just as you would expect an apricot to be.
I had received a tub of them in my veg box and couldn’t decide what I was going to do with them. Recently I had great success with a recipe from BBC Good Food Magazine called Bakewell Cake, which was made with ground almonds, fresh raspberries and flaked almonds on top. Will took it to work and it was apparently scoffed in minutes.
So I thought ‘apricots and almond, that works’, so I used the same recipe but instead of raspberries I in put in apricots. It came out of the oven, it smelled delicious, it looked golden and tasty. But strangely the apricots had turned very tart and sour – can anyone explain this? I would love to hear from you if you have any answers.
Raspberry bakewell cake
Anyway don’t let this put you off the original recipe (click on the photo for the link), which is delicious – just make sure you make it with raspberries.
Oh well, you win some you lose some.
I simply cannot convey to you quickly enough just how delicious this cake is. It is rich, smooth, soggy, gooey and moist, yet light and zesty. But it came about in an unusual way.
Delicious chocolate orange cake
I had been having some problems with my stomach and the doctor advised that I try singling out foods in my diet that might be causing the problem. Willing to try anything and having read a lot about stomach problems and gluten intolerance I thought I’d try going a few weeks with wheat or gluten. At first I found it hugely restricting, especially when I realised I couldn’t even have a beer! But after a few days I found it enjoyable in a strange way, because from a keen cook’s point of view it forces you to push the boundaries. You can’t just say I’ll grab a sandwich or a wrap for lunch and you can’t rely on pre-made shop bought soups, sauces, cakes or biscuits so everything needs to be cooked from scratch.
Although I found my few weeks without wheat to have helped stop the bloating in the stomach I concluded it wasn’t the cause of my problems and happily reintroduced it into my diet (how did I live without crusty bread?!) But during the wheat-free weeks me and Will held a barbecue for his work mates (see post below) and I wanted to make a couple of desserts – one of which I would be able to eat despite not allowing myself gluten.
I used a recipe of Nigella’s that I had tried before for a ‘spiced chocolate cake’, which is in her Nigella Christmas book. I tinkered with the recipe to create a more summery chocolate cake, using orange instead of the spices, and it was a delight (Will told me his mates were talking about it for days after and one person has already asked for the recipe!). It also keeps really well and I was enjoying the left-overs for days after!
This is a perfect dessert for both the gluten intolerant but equally as delicious for all their friends. I urge everyone to give it a go.
Makes 10-12 slices
150g dark chocolate (70 percent cocoa solids)
150g soft, unsalted butter
6 large eggs
250g caster sugar
100g almonds
Zest of one large orange
4 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
For the almond topping:
Juice of an half an orange
15g unsalted butter
1tbsp caster sugar
50 flaked almonds
1. Take everything you need out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (gas 4) and butter a 23cm springform cake tin.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter together on a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water and set aside to cool slightly.
4. Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick, pale and moussy. They should have at least doubled in volume or more. Gently fold in the ground almonds, the orange juice and zest, taking care not to lose any of the air in the mix.
5. Finally pour in the slightly cooled chocolate mix and stir in lightly. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, but which time the cake will be firm on top and still a little gooey underneath. It will rise right up in the oven and sink when it cools – don’t worry this should happen.
6.To make the topping put the orange juice, butter and sugar into a small non-stick frying pan and melt everything together. Let it sizzle for a minute or so until it begins to caramelise before adding the almonds. Stir everything together until the nuts start to bronze, tip the pan about every now and then to stop them sticking together. Remove and put on an oiled piece of greaseproof paper and allow to cool and go crispy.
7.Remove the outside of the cake tin, and the bottom of it if you can – I didn’t dare move mine and served it with the cake tin still on the bottom. Allow to coo fully. Scatter with the almonds and more orange zest. Serve with a dollop of whipped double cream.
My first loaf of bread
Hurrah, I have finally done it. I have finally baked my own loaf of bread. Some may be thinking; what self-respecting foodie hasn’t baked a loaf of bread? But I guess I just never got round to it.
I attempted just a simple plain white loaf. I am not going to give you the recipe – you can get bread recipes everywhere. I just want to encourage everyone and anyone to give it a go. Apart from the fact that you can use organic flour and it doesn’t have preservatives and spoonfuls of salt and sugar in it, it is actually really enjoyable to make.
Yes it takes a few hours but most of that time it is sat in a bowl proving or baking in the oven. The kneading is soothing and stress reliving and the hot, doughy smell in the house is worth the effort.
Oh, and it tastes great too. Best eaten fresh, but delicious as toast for several days. I forgot the joy of jam on bread until I ate my loaf. Fresh soft bread, with chewy, hard crusts and a thick layer of proper preserve is a breakfast for a king or queen. Well I hope you inspired to make yourself a loaf this weekend.
This is hardly ground breaking stuff giving you the recipe for a Victoria sponge. But I feel for those who don’t often bake this is the starting point for growing to love a long afternoon in the kitchen baking sweet treats.
I have known this recipe off by heart since the age of about 13 and I intend to pass it on to my children, if I so choose to have any. It is so simple and so effective. I still use the old fashioned method instead of throwing it all into a magi-mix because; number one – where is the fun in that? And two; I truly believe you end up with a lighter cake my way.
Put on a kitsch apron, turn on the radio and get baking:
For the cake
6oz self-raising flour
6oz of soft butter or margarine (surprisingly I find marg works better)
6oz caster sugar
3 medium eggs
Two sandwich tins greased with some butter or margarine.
For the filling
1oz soft butter or margarine (again marg is best)
2oz icing sugar
Good raspberry conserve or jam.
1. Preheat an oven to 180 or the equivalent in gas mark and grease your tins.
2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar with an electric whisk until pale and soft. Add one egg at a time with a tablespoon of the flour to stop it splitting and whisk it into the mixture. Once all the eggs are mixed in give the mixture a good whisk so there is lots of air in it (approx 2-3mins).
3. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold it in gently, but don’t take too long about it. Spoon the mixture equally into the sandwich tins and roughly smooth the mix down.
4. Put it in the oven and bake for around 20 mins (try not to open the oven door too much). The test is if you gently push the top of the cake with your finger it should spring back up. If it just sinks in and leaves a mark it might need a little longer.
5. When you take it out the oven run a knife around the tin to free the edges and leave to cool for 15 mins. Then gently turn out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
6. For the butter icing carefully beat together the icing sugar and butter. Spread a thick layer onto one sandwich and a layer of jam on the other side. Carefully stick them together and dust the top with icing sugar. Sometimes I make double the amount of butter icing and really cram it in the cake so it is full of creamy filling.
If you are serving this at a party and it will be eaten on the day you could fill it with whipped double cream and fresh raspberries or strawberries and then pile some of the fruit on top as well. Or experiment with different jams (apricot, strawberry, blackberry).
Alternatively turn it into a lemon sandwich by adding a little lemon essence of fresh lemon zest into the cake mix. Then sandwich the cake together with some mascarpone cheese and some good quality lemon curd. Or if you want to keep it in a container for a week make a butter icing and add lemon juice and zest. The variations are endless, but the basic recipe is the same. See; you though this recipe was boring and useless but you are salivating just thinking about the different fillings you will try.
One more thing, these should always be enjoyed with a nice cup of tea.
(Drawing by Louise Morgan: www.louisemorgan.co.uk)
