Today I tried a recipe that I think I copied from a book belonging to my Grandmother although I am not entirely sure. It was for a 1910 sponge cake.
1910 sponge cake
6 eggs
weight of 5 eggs in sugar
weight of 3 eggs in plain flour
grated rind of half a lemon
break the eggs onto the sugar and beat well for twenty minutes
stir in the flour which has been dried and sifted
butter a square tin, dredge it with flour shaking out any which does not adhere
pour mixture in and bake at once in a moderate oven inclining to coolness rather to heat
This was not a success; it took a very long time to cook and I do not think a sponge cake is supposed to look like half raw pastry when it is cooked. It is possible that the weight of flour and sugar have been mis-copied at some point (maybe by me) I will try it again with less sugar and more flour.
All TV programs, videos and blogs about cooking and baking show beautiful works of art almost too good to eat. I have been cooking and baking since my early teens if not before and this is not my first mis-hap :- there was the time when I fell asleep and baked the Christmas cake for eight hours instead of three; the time when I was too clever to label the jar of salt (you can see where this one is going) and put six ounces of salt into a cake instead of six ounces of sugar - luckily that one never got cooked. I thought a different take on lemon meringue pie might be nice if a chocolate flan case filled with tinned manderine oranges topped with meringue would be nice. I was right it was nice but I broke the cake so badly trying to get it off the tin no one else got to try it.
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| ready to bake |
Even before todays effort got to the oven I was having problems with the eggs so I decided to cheer myself up and make some mincemeat squares with the spare eggs. Just waiting for it to cool down so we can eat it.
I am currently having a baking attack - this is the only way I can describe it. The first symptoms appeared on wednesday evening when I made a batch of sausage rolls and about 100 spiced pork in filo pastry bites. I made the pork bites to freeze, I find it very useful to have a variety of uncooked savouries ready to bake at a moments notice.
Then friday evening I realised there wasn't any bread in the house for toast in the morning. Easy way - go to the garage and buy some, my way - to make the first bread for a year and it wasn't to bad.
Now to saturday, you can see why I have called this an attack, I had promised oat and sultana cookies (this was an attempt to use up some oats), then as I had some tea left in the pot I decided to make my version of a boiled fruitcake recipe using the tea instead of water, and finally I had all the ingredients for making mincemeat so I thought I would get that done as well.
The recipe I use for mincemeat is one I have used over and over. This time I didn't have any blanched or flaked almonds so I decided to blanch my own. Can't be that hard I thought, no it is not that hard but it is fiddly and time consuming - very time consuming - now I know the reason why blanched almonds cost more.
This is where my 'problem' starts to rear it's head, while cooking and looking forward to the eating my mind is thinking of all the other things I could be baking . . . I have had this problem before when it is not enough to bake a cake I want to bake all the cakes NOW!!!! Last time it took inviting lots of people to tea to help resolve the situation. There are not enough people in my house to cope with the amount of baking I want to do during one of these 'attacks'.
Is this just me or do others have this problem as well?
BANANA BREAD
I have had this recipe for nearly thirty years. I have no idea where the recipe came from, the book disappeared long long ago.
It is the only one I have found that has no fat in it.
I have enjoyed eating it for so long. I thought that I would share it with you.
3 bananas (the riper the better)
2 eggs
6 ounces sugar
8 ounces plain flour
1teaspoon salt (I have never put this much in)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 ounces walnuts ( optional)
Crush the bananas to a pulp and gradually work in the eggs, flour, sugar, salt, and bicarbonate of soda.
Stir in the nuts.
Put into a prepared loaf tin
Bake for one hour at gas mark 3 (160 degrees Centigrade)
I hope you enjoy this cake. I have just baked one and will be having a slice shortly,
