Week Forty – Mary Berry’s Maple Syrup Cake

Posted on Jun 30, 2013 by kimsideas

What cake can I make for our seventh wedding anniversary? Well, hubby got his way and I set about putting together Mary Berry‘s Maple Syrup Cake! It was one of Mary’s throw all the ingredients in a bowl and mix which is simple enough The cake mix went into the lined tin and into the oven for about one and a half hours.

I set the timer and did the usual Sunday housework etc and soon enough, it was time to check the cake. Yep, it was cooked nicely and I left it to cool for a short while and then took it out of the tin onto a cooling rack.

When it was cold, came the fun part. Mary says, use a long sharp knife and cut the sponge into three equal slices……. well I cut it into three slices, not so sure about the even part though. Mary asks you to then whip up an obscene amount of double cream for the filling and topping. Well Mary, as usual I have substituted the double cream for Emlea double light. Then , add the maple syrup , stir it in and begin to create the towering cake.

I sandwiched together the three layers, and then had to cover the outside with the rest of the cream. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds and was very messy.

Finally Mary asks you to decorate with some orange rind. I had nothing to create the fine wisps she uses, so mine were shorter and stubbier….

Finally the cake was done, and it has to be kept in the fridge because of the cream. After dinner, we had a slice each….I then looked up how many calories each slice would contain and had a huge shock…so I won’t be eating now for at least a day!

So hubby, happy seventh anniversary, hope you enjoyed our anniversary cake and enjoyed the ingredient I forgot to mention…..pecan nuts!

Oh and our anniversary falls on 1st July, which is also Canada Day, so Happy Canada Day to all and sundry with our Canadian themed cake.

Week Thirty Nine – Mary Berry’s Easy Lemon Cheesecake

Posted on Jun 25, 2013 by kimsideas

This week , a pudding was needed for after dinner with my other mum and dad so I happily sat and browsed through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found this easy yet delicious sounding cheesecake. The base of the cheesecake was crushed digestive biscuits with melted butter, pressed into a flan tin and left to set. No problem there.

The filling was the grated rind and juice of three lemons, not an issue but you soon know if you have a cut on your finger- or like me, manage to grate your finger with the rind!, to this, Mary asks for some single cream and condensed milk, well as Mary is very fond of the full fat varieties, I substituted the single cream for Elmlea lighter single cream and the condensed milk for the lighter condensed milk, it just cuts down on the amount of calories a little. You put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until slightly thickened and then pour it onto the base and allow to set for at least four hours or overnight if possible.

I left mine overnight and then looked at what Mary suggests to finish the cheesecake- double cream whipped, and strawberries…….well I made a Kim executive decision and took out the double cream. I then decided that strawberries were not the best company for a lemon cheesecake so I simply decorated mine with some clementine segments.

We all seemed to enjoy the cheesecake after dinner, and as usual, dad had a second helping. There was about a third of the cheesecake left and we divided that in half so that each household had a little more for supper….or so we thought….our half slipped off the plate…and as you can see, the dogs had a cheesecake feast!

Week Thirty Eight – Mary Berry’s Pound Cake

Posted on Jun 16, 2013 by kimsideas

Mary Berry‘s Baking Bible still has an awful lot of recipes that I have yet the pleasure of covering and this week I chose her Pound Cake. I love fruit cakes– my Nan’s speciality and my dad always had a slice or two so what better tribute for Father’s Day than a cake to celebrate his memory.

The recipe was one of Mary’s throw it all in a bowl and mix together so no fussing or faffing to do. I lined the cake tin and poured the mixture in. The recipe states to bake the cake for 2 1/4 hours but to cover the top of the cake with baking parchment after an hour. I needed to go food shopping so hubby was instructed after an hour to place the circle of parchment on top of the cake and set the timer for another 1 1/4 hours.

When I came back from food shopping, he had happily completed his task and soon enough the timer was pinging. I checked the middle of the cake with a skewer and it came out clean so the cake was done. I left it to cool in the cake tin for half an hour as Mary suggests before tipping it onto the cooling rack and removing the parchment from it. It smelt lovely and brought back a host of memories of Nan’s kitchen when I was a little girl.

After it had cooled, I sliced into it- have to quality control the taste testing and it was lovely , light and moist. Dad, you would have loved it, Nan you would be proud.

My other dad got half the cake today for Father’s Day and within minutes, he was on the phone saying how lovely it was. Happy Father’s Day to both of you.

Week Thirty Seven – Mary Berry’s Strawberry Pavlova

Posted on Jun 9, 2013 by kimsideas

I faced the usual dilemma this week, what to choose from the still numerous recipes from Mary Berry‘s Baking Bible that I haven’t yet covered. My decision was made when my other mum and dad invited us to Sunday lunch so I said I would provide the pudding. I had plans to do a lot of gardening on Saturday so I needed something that would be fairly quick as usual and could be put together in parts- the strawberry pavlova fitted the bill nicely.

Mary’s recipe wasn’t too daunting, whip the eggs whites until stiff, add the caster sugar, a little at a time and continue to mix well. The final part of the recipe had me a bit stumped, Mary asks for you to mix a little white wine vinegar and corn flour and whisk in to the meringue– if you have any idea why this is necessary, I would love to hear from you. I then drew a circle on some greaseproof paper and spread the meringue mix until it roughly filled the circle. I added the last of the mix to a disposable icing bag and swirled it around the sides to build them up. It was now ready to go into the pre-heated oven.

An hour later, the timer pinged and I simply turned the oven off and allowed the meringue to cool down inside the oven. Mary recommends this in her recipe to give the meringue a softer middle. The next morning, I retrieved the meringue, chose some Emlea Double Light cream to whisk – I try to cut a few calories where I can! I then sliced some strawberries and added both to the meringue and took it with us for a delicious dinner.

The meringue went down well, especially with my other dad, he politely had his given slice, and then sat there with big puppy dog eyes, waiting to be asked if he would like some more!

Week Thirty Six – Mary Berry’s White Cottage Loaf

Posted on Jun 2, 2013 by kimsideas

It’s been an interesting week and this weekend, in particular. I hadn’t got a lot of time this week for my bake, my dog Bailey has not been too well and seemed to get worse over the weekend so , as I have made plenty of white bread before, I am not ashamed to say that I used my bread maker to cut the physical amount of time I needed to spend in the kitchen.

I added all the ingredients that Mary Berry uses in her recipe and set the machine off to do the mixing and rising that was needed, it even baked it too! I must say that I get the bread machine out from time to time and we love the smell of freshly baked bread in the house, it’s heavenly!

The loaf came out well, the machine did it’s usual sterling job, and don’t fear, there are plenty of other bread recipes in Mary Berry’s Baking Bible that I will go on to make, and hopefully some of them by hand!

As for Bailey, he got to visit the vet, be sedated, have blood tests and x-rays and get discharged back to his very worried owners with various medications. He is extremely dopey and flopping around but we are all glad that he is ok and home with us where he belongs.