A Baking Day

No, I know it's not Tuesday, and I wasn't Baking with Dorie. Perhaps I'd have been better if I had. A rather mixed result, to say the least, from today's efforts... Let's start on a cheerful note: it was another outing for our friend Fred the Batter Finger. I had promised cakes for my contribution to the catering for a camping trip this weekend, and Fred was eager to help.


We began with probably the most successful cake: a Rich Buttery Vanilla Cake, from a recipe submitted to the (ex) Nigella forum by one of its members. The next cake, also a "rummer recipe", was a Sticky Marmalade Loaf - here, all would have been well had my tin not been a little smaller than the author asked for, so my mixture overflowed a bit as it cooked, and then I managed to make even more mess by being impatient and trying to turn it out before it was quite cold. This one definitely comes into the category of "tastes better than it looks": it's on the left (below) with the vanilla cake on the right.


The gingernuts (Fred took a rest at this point) were OK without being spectacularly good - someone recommended Delia's recipe but I don't have it and couldn't find it online, and the one I chose was nothing special. Still, I expect hungry campers will eat them !


But now we come to the big disaster. Wouldn't you think that Nigella's Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake (from Nigella Feast) should be a triumph ? Well, sadly not. I shouldn't have trusted the instructions where it says to line the tin with cling film and not to panic because it won't melt. Oh no ??? The cling film ended up firmly welded to both tin and cake, and in addition, all the choc chips sank to the bottom, so I have a top layer (about 3/4 of the depth) of plain chocolate cake (with plastic) and a bottom and a squidgy mass of chocolate (and plastic) underneath. And no, there is no photograph - I am too down-hearted about the waste of time, ingredients and fuel. Why oh why didn't I stop when I was ahead instead of going for one more cake ?

However, I'd hate to leave you on a low note, so let's cheer up. I spilt a little flour on the kitchen floor and had to sweep it up. Funky dustpan and brush set, eh ??