Sponge Cake I was pretty easy and Greg and I enjoyed making it – I’m trying to get him baking, but there is some resistance. Simply whisk together 3 ounces of caster sugar and eggs until they are all whipped up and pale in colour; this takes a while even using an electric mixer. While you’re waiting sieve 3 ounces of plain flour along with a pinch of salt, and fold it into the eggy mixture carefully using a metal spoon. (Apparently the friction of the wooden spoon pops the bubbles). Divide the mixture between two 7 inch sandwich tins that have been greased and sugared and bake for – 12 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Keep an eye on it if you’ve got a fan oven like me though, it does keep the oven dry (I shall use the water in the bottom of the oven trick next time). Turn them onto a wire rack, sprinkle with sugar, and allow to cool. Fill with whipped cream and raspberry jam.
The ginger cake was easy too. It’s one of those dense treacly ones that sink in the centre and weigh a ton – at least in comparison to the sponge cake. Start by creaming 4 ounces of butter, then add 4 ounces of Demerara sugar and beat that in too. Next, mix in 2 eggs and 10 ounces of black treacle (it sounds like a lot of treacle, and it is!). Sieve together 8 ounces of flour and a generous teaspoon of ground ginger and mix into the butter and treacle. Then, weigh out 2 ounces each of sultanas and chopped preserved stem ginger and mix them in too. Finally warm ½ a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and 2 tbs of milk in the microwave and stir them in. Pour the mixture into a 7or 8 inch cake tin that has been lined with greaseproof paper and bake for an hour and a quarter or more depending on the size of the tin at 160 degrees Celsius. Grigson reckons it gets better if you leave it. We shall see…
FYI: ginger is both a stimulant and a muscle relaxant due to it's antispasmodic properties. It also does you wonders if you've got the shits. Plus, it is an essential seasoning for whale meat, according to Larousse Gastromonique!
#52 Sponge Cake I – 6/10. A nice sponge cake, but I’m used to a Victoria sponge with butter in it, and I’m not used to this super-spongy, like actual sponge, texture. This may be down to my new oven of course drying the bugger out. However any cake is nice by me, especially when it’s filled with cream and jam. We shall have to see what sponge cake II is like!!
#53 Ginger Cake – 7/10. I preferred this cake, although it was more of a treacle cake, than a ginger one. It reminds me of a stickier version of Yorkshire parkin, which is usually dry and crumbly. It’s definitely a wintertime heavy stodge cake, rather than a summery light teatime cake. The addition of the ginger pieces and sultanas made it very moreish. I reckon I would be nice warmed up and served with vanilla or ginger ice cream.
4 comments:
First of all, thank you sir for having us over for yummy tea and cake. Now that my sugar levels have returned to normal it's time for the reviews:
(#52) Sponge Cake I: I can't believe it's not (got) butter (in)! Actually I could a bit, because it was a little drier than normal sponge cake. It was still thoroughly yummy though, especially the jam and cream. Unless there's a special reason why you can't have the butter (in which case surely no cream either) then I'd stick to a more traditional recipe. 7/10.
(#53) Ginger Cake: Mmm, yummy! I preferred this one, even though it was very very rich. I especially liked the slightly chewier edges, and the sugary coating. The bits of ginger and sultanas were also rather wonderful. I do think a dollop of vanilla ice cream wouldn't have gone a miss though. My only complaint was the ginger was a little overpowering at first, and did leave a bit of a lingering taste. Nothing a good cup of tea couldn't sort out though! 8/10
Oh, and you get bonus points for those yummy sugar thins.
Cheers Thom - there will hopefully be many more to come. Did you have some ginger cake later? I finished off the rest last night and it was even nicer; it must've matured or something like a Xmas cake does
Sponge cake: I helped make this one ergo it was perfection in a cake tin. Seriously, I liked it cos it was much less crummy than other sponge cakes so you could eat it whilst walking around! Ideal for me. 7/10
Ginger cake: This was very intense in flavour and in density, much more of a winter cake really, it would be SO good with hot custard by an open fire, very professional standard of baking I thought Neil, and somehow very British too. 8/10
Flattery will gwt you everywhere, Gregory! I think I might do another Grigson tonight, perhaps a pud?
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