Becky Bakes…

If you’re still pondering what to make and in a quandary about the sort of cake to take to the picnic, I’ve got an idea to share… How about making the basic Victoria Sandwich mixture and cooking it in a rectangular tin, suitably greased and lined of course……? When it’s cooked and cold, transfer it to a chopping board, spread on a layer of buttercream – Betty Crocker’s is fine for this – and then use sliced strawberries or raspberries to create lines down the centre and across the middle, then from the middle out to the corners. Blueberries next to the red fruits will fill the gaps to create the semblance of a Union Jack. The extra buttercream can be piped into the spaces and “Voila”! you have a very colourful, light cake to share with others, cutting the slices as large or small as you choose. The fruits could also be used to add colour to little cakes, or sprinkled into your Swiss Roll filling. What do you think?

…..rumbles on. The winner of the jubilee pudding competition was a trifle which completely fulfilled the brief and requirements of the judges. Yet there are still comments being bandied around on social media about the winning dish. Those of us of a certain age will remember trifle being made regularly, whether on Sundays or for special occasions. Certainly an iconic pudding. My mother-in-law made a delicious version with sherry soaking into the home made Madeira cake, fruit next, no jelly, then blancmange and cream. My mother always used a commercial jelly, half of the liquid to dissolve it was boiling water and the rest was made up by the juice from the tin of fruit. She then made thick custard before the cream and topped it with chocolate flake. So the winning trifle had lemon posset* on top of the lemon Swiss roll. It’s a favourite of the Queen, served at her wedding reception and apparently often made by Prince Philip – a nod to her past. The gelatin sheets were softened and added to the mandarin juice, while the fruit was pureed to create a coulis. Custard and then amaretti biscuits were next – I’d leave those out to be honest, and then cream on top with chocolate shards. If it was good enough for Mary Berry and the other judges, I’ll go along with that. Eminently copiable, with a few tweaks, to make at home. (*Lemon posset is warmed cream with caster sugar dissolved into it; cooled, then lemon juice and zest added. I’ve done something similar by stirring lemon curd into whipped cream 😉 )

As the Jubilee weekend draws nearer I’m sure some of us are already planning what to make, especially if we’ve been invited to join with others to celebrate. There are a great many cakes – and puddings too – which can be made in advance. Time is precious and we can spread the load by planning ahead and choosing wisely. The best recipes for cakes made a day or two before they are needed are those which have a high fat content, which keeps them moist, also anything with honey or golden syrup. So obviously flapjack is on the list, also brownies and ginger cake which develops its’ flavour if made 2-3 days before needed. The only contribution which really must be made on the day is scones. They have a very low fat content and don’t keep well – I know some people have strategies for “freshening them up” but try this….. measure all the ingredients the day before, rub in the margarine then cover everything. The next day add the flavourings and milk, mix, flatten, cut and bake. All done in no time at all and they will be perfect. How often have you been offered tired, dry, tough scones? Too often sadly 😉 No amount of clotted cream, butter or jam can redeem them !

…..preparations are beginning to take shape in our little seaside town. Stands of red, white and blue merchandise are beginning to appear proudly in shop doorways with flags, bunting and paper napkins aplenty. The cookshop will be displaying their wares soon and I’ve had a sneak preview – little dogs of a particular breed will be prominent in that shop. Even the antique shop has afternoon tea happening in the window. The finalists for the great Jubilee pudding competition have been announced with the inevitable trifle looking like a strong contender. I liked the sound of the lemon swiss roll too, whilst all of them had chosen their ingredients well . We’ll have to wait and see if the winner will figure in our plans. Having hoped for a street party we’ve been thwarted by the fact our road is not a cul-de-sac and can’t be closed, so we may finish up in the biggest front garden, or opening our gate to accomodate all the tables and chairs. Hmm, not sure how we’ll do it, but it will be fun… as long as rain holds off!

If you are a follower of Becky Bakes on Facebook you will have noticed Cake Friday appearing almost every week. Let me explain. About a year ago I had a conversation with a local shop keeper about food. Whilst he was content to eat “ping-dinners” (microwaveable ready meals) he really missed homemade cake. He felt too old and ill-equipped to learn how to bake at his age. Our conversation moved on to other things, but it made me think he might appreciate the occasional cake. When I delivered the first one he was thrilled to bits! It was a lemon drizzle cake, freshly made that day and he was effusive in his thanks. So it began. Each week we have a chat about what he might like next, but it’s almost predictable and often the same – scones, or lemon drizzle. Easter biscuits went down well, as did ginger cake, fork biscuits were good too, but I know what really floats his boat! En route to his shop we pass some of our lovely independent shops and stop off to share some with Sarah and Will, don’t tell him!

Over the years I’ve noticed that the first swathe of colour in our garden each spring is yellow. Then as the daffodils die it becomes blue – grape hyacinths, blue bells, irises… But then if I look hard it’s the turn of the asparagus to take me by surprise and it’s done it again, little spears of purple began to poke through the soil during the week and are visibly taller every day, soon ready to cut. My favourite way to use them is to roast them with olive oil or butter, salt and pepper just for five minutes so the flavour is still fresh and the texture crisp. My mouth is watering – I’ll see how tall they are today…..

From my family to yours, we hope you have an enjoyable time. If you’re able to see family and friends, I’m sure you will share some good times with good food too. It must be a bit more than two years since I first blogged and life has almost returned to normal for most of us, but some of our friends and family are still dealing with Covid and we hope they recover well. xx

Earlier this week I was interviewed by Rob for his show on local radio. He’s quite a foodie and often comes up with a topic he wants to discuss and this time it was Easter. As usual I made notes – fairly scruffy, but a list of facts and details I might need. He caught me slightly off guard when he asked how many videos we have made, so I had to jump up (quietly) and find my sheet of statistics so I could quickly tell him 71. Phew. Then we got to the list…fish on Good Friday, Simnel cake, Easter nests, hot cross buns. I’ll let you into a family secret – they are known as “warm angry bottoms” in our house since we discovered “buns” wasn’t a good word amongst American school friends 😉 Also on my list was Columba, the Italian yeasted cake, like Panettone, but shaped like a dove. It’s more widely available now in this country but was new to us when we moved to Italy. We found a bakery nearby where I saw them being made, right next door to the DiSaronno liqueur factory. The smell was incredible, but the sight of all the cakes hanging upside down to cool so they wouldn’t sink was equally amazing. I’ve bought one again this year as it’s firmly a tradition for us. Do you have something special to eat at Easter?

What a week this has been – we started off in glorious sunshine, so spent the weekend mowing, pruning, weeding etc. but now we are back to winter. We have had hail, sleet and snow with very chilly temperatures. This inspired me to reach down the slow-cooker and make a delicious beef casserole. I don’t use it very often, usually for a beef/brandy/chilli/tomato concoction, but this time it was more conventional and very delicious. The bonus is that the house smells amazing whilst it bubbles away. I struggle to resist lifting the lid and giving it a stir as that can do more harm than good, letting out the warmth and lengthening the cooking time. Do you have a favourite recipe for the slow-cooker, or is it a gadget too far ?

This weekend marks the halfway point in the season of Lent. It’s also when we celebrate Mothering Sunday, never called Mother’s Day by me as that’s quite different and what we enjoyed when living in the USA. I suppose my insistence on the use of what might be considered an archaic name is due to my childhood, when Granny would describe how all the other staff working for the Walker family were given the day off to go home, but as an orphan she had no mother to visit, so stayed where she was, strolling in a park if the weather was good. It seems most of them took flowers to their mothers and if there was cake it was of the boiled-fruit variety, not the extravagant Simnel cake we imagine. That’s now symbolic of Easter, with it’s 11 balls of marzipan on top, representing the disciples, minus Judas. So this weekend will be one of cards and gifts – almost another birthday – not quite the same as it used to be, rather more commercialised sadly!