{"id":186,"date":"2011-07-30T10:12:33","date_gmt":"2011-07-30T10:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suppersfromscratch.wordpress.com\/?p=186"},"modified":"2013-04-21T20:57:36","modified_gmt":"2013-04-21T20:57:36","slug":"i-love-cake-like-a-fat-kid-loves-cake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suppersfromscratch.com\/?p=186","title":{"rendered":"I love cake like a fat kid loves cake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the whole experience so far, from bread to chocolate, jam to pasta, there has been one glaring omission from my From Scratch story. Those of you who know me can probably guess, and for those of you who don\u2019t you can also probably guess!<\/span><\/p>\n

What else could it be but the master of all food loveliness – CAKE!<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to cake I am like a sugar starved child with a constant image of what could be if only I had a slice of\u00a0 mouth watering chocolate, lemon, carrot, banana (you name it, I love it \u2026 except coffee, but nobody likes coffee) cake.<\/span><\/p>\n

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So before I disappear into the spongy goodness forever, let’s talk cake.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given this love of cake you won\u2019t be surprised to hear that my lack of cake blogs aren\u2019t a result of an absence of cake, I\u2019ve made loads, probably about 1 a week. It’s just I have always made cakes, so it doesn\u2019t feel special or original in any way, in short not really worth blogging about.\u00a0\u00a0 But after a weekend in which I made 3 cakes and a set of macaroons, I felt the need to share my adoration for cakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

A little more background before we start: I have always baked a mean cake, for which I have to thank my mother for her patience with me and my sister in the kitchen from a young age. However presentation is another matter, in fact it\u2019s always been a bit of a bug bear for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

So last month for my friends 30th<\/sup> Birthday, I wanted to not only make cake that sizzled the taste buds, but simultaneously bewildered the eyes. A veritable feast for the senses.<\/span><\/p>\n

The gauntlet was thrown down. I set myself a challenge: 2 cakes, 1 day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Black Forest Gateau and classic Victoria Sponge. And because I love a good bake, I decided to whip up a loaf of bread, a banana cake, and some macaroons on the side. Nothing wrong with ambition!<\/span><\/p>\n

An epic day of flour, butter, sugar, and rose petals; from hence forth known only as ‘Baking Saturday’. The sort of title that bodes a great moment in the history books \u2013 an era defining day that changed the lives of everyone, everywhere, forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

With this in mind I will try and keep this to a gripping journalistic take on the experience rather than a ancient never ending tome.<\/span><\/p>\n

So Saturday 12pm:<\/span><\/p>\n

The first revelation of the day was the cake decorating shop<\/a> I discovered. A supermarket is no longer good enough. The experience of the cake decorating shop was invigorating. It’s like being in a sweet shop, except instead of being surrounded by jars of humbugs and liquorice you are surrounded by sugared flowers, food colouring, edible glitter, icing, cake stands, boxes, ribbons and so much more!\u00a0 Heaven!<\/span><\/p>\n

This is when it hit me, a little more prep and some specialist shops could change by presentation woes forever.<\/span><\/p>\n

So back to the baking. Saturday 1pm<\/span><\/p>\n

The real work starts..<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting at 1pm finishing at 7pm meant it was a whole day experience.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if I would have made it in the Great British Bake Off, but\u00a0 in my head I did… and won. But before I start handing myself undeserved accolades (‘The Best Cake Baker on Planet Earth’) you might have a different interpretation, \u00a0so here is how it went.<\/span><\/p>\n

I started with the sponge , the simple and well practiced classic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Classic Victoria sponge<\/strong>\u00a0 ( this recipe is for a 3 level cake \u2013 if you want an ordinary sandwich I would decrease down to 6oz and 3eggs or 4oz and 2eggs)<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Cake:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n