21 | Sep | 2014 | Lewis & Kim

Week ninety five here already and after the excitement of last week, I browsed through Mary Berry’s Baking Bible looking for some more savoury recipes after the richness of last week’s recipes and I was wiped out by a migraine which set all my usual housework jobs back by a day. I settle on Mary’s crown loaf and griddle scones.

I began the dough this morning , mixing all the ingredients together for the crown loaf and then spending five minutes kneading it before setting it into an oiled bowl to prove for 1 1/2 hours. After this time, the dough was nicely risen and I had to then knock it back and knead again, divide into 12 balls and set these inside a springfold tin and cover with clingfilm and leave to prove for another half an hour.

Finally , once the last prove is done, bake in a hot over for 25 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack. The crown loaf looked lovely and the smell of freshly baked bread is a winner in our house.

The second recipe was Mary’s griddle scones, these are thicker than drop scones and I followed Mary’s recipe carefully to make the dough, I then rolled it into a circle and cut into segments. I heated a heavy based pan and cooked the segments for about five minutes each side and left them to cool on a rack.

Mary suggests eating them fresh with butter but we ate some of the crown loaf first for lunch and look forward to these for supper. Sorry chief tasters, no sharing with you guys this week- but I am guessing that you are still wading through your dobaz torte from Thursday.

The Great British Bake Off is coming up to quarter finals now and the three contestants I initially named are still in it so far- lets see how they do this week and if Mary has any more recipes I have yet to do?

Countdown now reaches 78.

Week ninety four and my bake was done in two parts this week. I delved with glee into Mary Berry’s Baking Bible and found the chocolate swiss roll which I made at the weekend and then the Great British Bake Off inspired me to try May’s dobaz torte….

Firstly the chocolate swiss roll, I used my new all singing all dancing stand mixer to take up the strain of the mix and the only effort I had was to melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water! I lined a swiss roll tin and poured the mix in. Into the oven it went and I set the timer, put the kettle on, made a cup of tea and put out a sheet of grease proof paper sprinkle with caster sugar ready for the baked sponge. Meanwhile, I read the next steps and whipped the cream ready for the next step. The timer pinged and I got the sponge out, tipped it carefully out onto the sugar coated paper and carefully peeled the lining paper off. Finally I rolled the sponge into a roll with the grease proof paper rolled up with it and left this to cool.

Mary Berry's Chocolate Swiss Roll

Finally I was able to warm thejam through- Mary suggests blackcurrant jam but I found a lovely conserve by Bonne Maman – berries and cherries conserve which was so nice with the chocolate sponge and cream. I unrolled the sponge, spread the jam and cream in it, rolled it back up and cut it in half so that the chief tasters would get their part.

The second bake I made midweek on a day off, while having a new carpet laid in the lounge. It all sounded so easy, go to shop, order carpet, ensure room is empty…hold on, where do we put all the furniture-borrow groundsheets from chief taster, move most furniture into the garage and place on groundsheets, take up old carpet and underlay and notice that the paintwork and walls all need wiping. Spend the baking day wiping paintwork down and waiting for the call from the fitters. I read Mary’s recipe which says to mark circles on grease proof paper, make the cake mix and spread onto the circles and bake in batches.

This was not too difficult and I soon had 6 weirdly flat sponge circles done. Carpet fitters arrived. Next step, make butter cream- use stand mixer to soften and mix butter. Meanwhile over a pan of hot water mix the eggs and sugar with an electric hand whisk while the carpet fitters go back to the warehouse to get the right underlay! Keep whisking the mix while walking to the lounge window to ensure the fitters aren’t back yet as the mixers are noisy and I can’t hear the door bell. Finally add this mix to the butter and melt chocolate over the pan of hot water and add to the butter cream. Mix again.

Carpet fitters arrive- ( They make me feel really old!) and I read Mary’s instructions about making the caramel. I add the water and the sugar together in a pan and heat gently then allow to boil. When it changed colour, I poured some over one of the sponge layers and the rest on a sheet of grease proof paper. Carpet fitters seem to lay underlay and carpet super quick and I leave the cake to put together later. Vacuum lounge and begin to put room back together again- fail dismally and end up with the essentials for the night- TV and sofa!

Take a few hours off work the next day, put the cake together- sandwich the 5 sponge layers with butter cream, spread butter cream around the sides and roll in the caramel that you are supposed to crush with a rolling pin from the day before- slight problem, caramel too sticky, won’t crush. Hubby makes a batch, sets well but tastes burnt so plan C- grated chocolate. Sides suitably covered, decorate the top of the cake with the caramel covered sponge cut into slices. finish with a swirl of butter cream and give to the chief tasters for their 49th wedding anniversary! PHEW….

The dobaz torte was a fiddly cake to make and probably not one that I would re-visit but another one ticked off the list…and the countdown now stands at 80 recipes left to bake.