It is ages since I have blogged about baking. This is not because I haven’t baked: I have, it is just I have had so many other things to tell you about, blogging about baking took a back-seat. This is going to change: this year I am facing up to my baking demon – the loaf cake. I am a good baker, I bake great cakes (even if they are not the prettiest things), Si says so, friends and family say so: but I can’t bake loaf cakes. Give me a recipe for a round cake or a square cake, everything is fine. Give me a recipe for a loaf cake and the end result will be nothing short of disastrous. Every loaf cake I have ever baked has collapse into an interesting V shape. Think deep valley here, running down the middle of the cake. I have no idea why: if any of you know why this happens, please, let me know. So this year, right here, right now, I am going to tackle my issues with loaf cakes: and you are coming along with me…
I have the king of baking: Paul Holywood’s How To Bake in support…
I have a picture, so I know exactly what I am aiming for…
And, I AM going to following his instructions to the
letter. No deviations, no thinking well
if I just add this. Are you ready? Good.
9.45 – Start the cake. Gather together all ingredients and weigh them out very very accurately.
9.50 – Everything is ready to go, first job to beat (does he mean cream? sorry no deviating) the sugar and butter together. This can take up to ten minutes. Ten minutes!!
9.53 – Seven minutes of creaming (sorry beating) to go. My arm hurts!
10.03 – Adding in the lemon curd. Yuuuummmmmm lemon curd. Resisting the urge to eat the lemon curd. Is adding one table spoon of lemon curd, really enough? Right, no deviating: stick to the recipe. It’s just I really like lemons; I like my lemons to be so tart that your face hurts when you taste them.
10.10 – Ready for the oven…
10.30 – Half way through cooking. Resisting the temptation to open the oven door. I don’t want it collapsing on me.
10.50 - It should be ready!
10.51 – It is ready. Out of the oven. It looks like the one in Paul’s picture. I have been here before. Normally in the next ten minutes is when the valley shaping starts to happen. Figures-crossed while I make the drizzle.
10.58 – It hasn’t collapsed, yet, so I am going to carefully pour over the drizzle: still hoping for the best. Looking good…
Yep, I think that this is going to be ok…
Here’s to my next adventure into baking loaf cakes…
Happy baking: it is the perfect weekend for it...
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