Happy Mother's Day & Madeira Cake

One of my favourite treats as a child was being handed the wooden spoon after my mam had mixed up a cake and licking off the delicious batter that refused to shift and plop into the baking tin.  Once the spoon had been licked clean the bowl would be offered forward and the remnants diligently scraped and shovelled into my little mouth.  More often than not it was the dregs of a Madeira cake batter, thick, creamy and sweet, almost nicer than the baked cake.  It is such a versatile cake and I'm sure it appeared in many guises throughout the baking year but all that I remember are those delicious moments stood in the kitchen licking the spoon clean until my tongue felt like it would fall off its hinges. 

I made a Madeira cake yesterday for my husband to give to his mam for Mother's Day.  Without thinking when I had filled the cake tins I licked the spoon.  It was an involuntary action and one I am sure I do every time I make a cake but it stopped me in my tracks for a moment.  It tasted exactly the same.  Had I closed my eyes I could have been standing in our old scullery kitchen again 5, 6 or 7 years of age.  I have tried many times to recreate some recipes so that they taste exactly as they did when my mam made them.  I don't think I have ever managed it so perfectly as with this simple cake.  Without even consciously trying it always tastes exactly as it did then.  I love that food has that power over us, like a time machine it can transport us in an instant to a perfect moment forever etched on our minds and in our hearts.  Some of the happiest memories in my life have food at their centre.  Yes it nourishes our body, but more than that it nourishes our soul.  A life without food would be a sad and empty journey.  Next time you fancy a little time travel forget all of that quantum physics nonsense, just grab a spoon and close your eyes.  Bon voyage!

To all of the yummy mummy's out there I hope that you are enjoying a lovely day.  Sit down, put your feet up and leave all of the hard work to someone else for a change.  If you are really lucky maybe someone will make you a nice Madeira cake.  Either way, enjoy your day, you deserve it.

x

Madeira Cake

175g Unsalted Butter, softened and diced
175g Caster Sugar
3 Large Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
225g Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
2tbsp Whole Milk

1.  Preheat the oven to 170C/F/Gas Mark .  Grease an 8" spring for cake tin with butter and line the base with parchment paper, alternatively grease 2 x 8" sandwich tins and line the bases with parchment paper.

2.  Place the butter into the bowl of an electric mixer and cream, alternatively place in a bowl and cream using a hand held electric whisk.
3.  Add the caster sugar and mix until combined and fluffy.
4.  Add the eggs one at a time while continuing to mix.

5.  Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine.
6.  Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix to combine but do not overwork the mixture.
7.  Finally, add in the milk and mix until incorporated.
8.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking tin or divided evenly between the 2 prepared sandwich tins.

9.  Place into the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour if baking 1 cake or half an hour if baking 2 to sandwich together.  I clean skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean when baked.
10.Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins before turning out.

Buttercream Icing

180g Unsalted Butter, softened and diced
500g Icing Sugar
3tbsp Milk
1tsp Vanilla Extract
Food colouring of your choice

1.  Sift the icing sugar into the bowl of and electric mixer and add the butter.  Alternatively sift the sugar into a bowl and add the butter and use a hand held electric whisk.
2.  Mix on a medium speed until smooth and creamy.
3.  Add the milk, vanilla extract and food colouring and mix on high speed for five minutes.
4.  Place a layer between the two cakes and then smooth over the top and down the sides.

Chester Slice(Gur Cake)

I have never been a particularly sporty person.  As I child I would much rather be curled up reading a book than outside running around.  Today, I would much rather be curled up with a good book than outside running around. See?!  I have always loved swimming though.  Since I was a little girl, well littler girl I have loved splashing about in a pool.

Every Saturday morning my sister and I would go to our local swimming baths.  We both learned to swim there.  I still remember my lovely orange arm bands with the navy blue writing on them.  I would kick my little legs furiously in an effort to propell myself from one side of the pool to the other, completely knackered from my efforts once I had reached my destination. 

When we arrived the overpowering stench of chlorine would greet us at the door accompanied by the giddy screams of children already splashing about.  We would hand over our money at the hatch in return for a monster plastic crate to fill with our belongings.  Under the weight of enormous said crate we would stagger to the freezing cold changing rooms to don are no doubt fabulous swim suit, arm band, rubber hat ensmble.  Suitably attired we did the 4 minute mile back to the hatch on our tippy toes(seriously, this place used to be fu reezin), to hand over our now full and heavier crates in exchange for a blue rubber wrist band.  Now the only thing between us and the pool was the dreaded wall of ice cold water.  It didn't matter how small you tried to make yourself in an attempt to squeeze through the gaps, it ALWAYS drenched you.

Drenched and colder still there was nothing left but to plunge into the pool in an attempt to regain a smidgen of lost heat.  And there we would stay, a blissful hour submerged until the siren heralded the end of our fun and we two little prunes sploshed back to retrace our steps.  Cold, shrivelled and with dripping hair we would emerge from the echoey confines for the 5 minute walk home.  A little stop of at the shop on the way to spend the few pence we had been gifted before leaving home would yield a bar of chocolate for me and a chester slice for my sister.  Every week the same routine. 

With 10p she would become the proud owner of a thick, fragrant hunk of ebony cake, carefully ensconced within a brown paper bag, protected by a small square of plastic wrap.  I can't remember what she bought with her change because I was always fascinated by the cake.  I have never been a fan of dried fruit so wouldn't taste it but I remember how good it smelled.  Warm spices giving a little nod to winter and Christmas even on a warm summers day.  I remember it with a very thin layer of dark chocolate on top but she disagrees with me and says it was merely the dark contents within staining the outer pastry layer to give the illusion of such luxuries.

Fast forward 20 years or so and I recounted this story to my husband, and he maintains he did exactly the same thing with his sister.  I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or some sort of Irish childhood ritual, maybe you lovely people can shed some light on this one for me.  He also fondly remembers weekly trips to his local swimming pool and on the way home he would stop with his sister for a chester slice from Mannings bakery.  He agrees with me about the chocolate topping because he says it is the only reason he bought them.  Did you have chester slice cakes when you were little?  Did they have chocolate or is my memory playing tricks on me?  I'd love to know so leave me a little comment. Go on.

Chester Slice(Gur Cake)

Having done a little investimagating it would seem that a Chester Slice and Gur Cake are one and the same.  I think someone somewhere along the way must have renamed it in an attempt to make it sound more appealing.  You see a Gur Cake is essentially a poor mans cake, the scraps of bread in a bakery mixed up with some dried fruit and sandwiched between 2 sheets of pastry.  In our house going on Gur would mean to do without, the only luxury being a piece of Gur Cake.  If you were on Gur you really didn't have much going for you, either the  cupboards were bare or maybe you were out of favour with your loved one and wouldn't receive much in the line of sustinence or other *cough*.  I would love to know the meaning of the word Gur for others though, so again, please leave me a lovely little comment. 

This is my version of a Chester Slice or Gur Cake.  It is really open to being tinkered with as the recipe would change from day to day in the bakery depending on what scraps were available so please feel free to adapt the recipe to your own taste.

2 Sheets Ready Roll Short Crust Pastry
110g/4oz Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
1tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 a stale Madeira Cake, crumbled (I used half a 1lb madeira loaf)
2 generous handfuls of Mixed Dried Fruit
60g/2oz Granulated Sugar
6tbsp Treacle
1 Egg Beaten
2tbsp Milk
100g Plain Chocolate

1.  Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. 
2.  Line the bottom of a brownie pan with 1 sheet of pastry and trim the excess
3.  Sieve the flour, baking powder and ground ginger into a bowl.
4.  Add the cake crumbs, mixed fruit, sugar and treacle and mix.  It will be quite a stiff, dense mixture.

5.  Spread this evenly over the pastry sheet in the pan.

6.  Lay the second pastry sheet over the top and trim the excess.
7.  Brush with the beaten egg mixed with the milk. 
8.  Mark out squares with a sharp knife and place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

9.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 
10.Once cool cut into the marked squares.
11.Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water.
12.Dip the top of each square into the melted chocolate to coat evenly and allow to set.

Happy Birthday E (7)

A certain little someone I know is turning 7 tomorrow.  I decided to bake her a pretty little pink cake today to kick start celebrations for her birthday weekend.  She is a standard 7 year old who loves all things pretty, princess and pink so I decided to bake her a pink sponge cake with pink frosting and lashings of sparkles and prettiness.  All went well barring the colour of the sponge which remained decidedly un-pink really(after adding 6 drops of red colouring following the milk at stage 6 of the recipe I decided to call it quits and rely on pink frosting to provide a suitable princess themed cake).  It would seem sponge cake requires rather a lot more colouring than frosting and icing so next time I will lace it with the stuff.  It was a rather pretty little cake none the less and the sight of her little eyes lighting up when she saw it was approval enough for me.  Happy birthday E, have a fabulous princess day.

Madeira Cake with Pink Frosting

for the cake

175g/6oz Unsalted Butter (softened)
175g/6oz Sugar
3 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
225g/8oz Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
2tbsp Milk

for the frosting

80g Butter (softened)
250g Icing Sugar
1-2drops Vanilla Extract
25ml Milk
approx 4 drops of Red Food Colouring (I used liquid colouring in this recipe)

1.  Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3.
2.  Line the bottom of an 8" round cake tin with grease proof paper and grease the sides with butter.
3.  Place the butter in a bowl and cream using a hand held electric whisk.
4.  Add the sugar and beat for a minute.
5.  Add the eggs individually while continuing to beat, and then add the vanilla.
6.  Fold in the sieved flour and baking powder, and then add the milk. (red food colouring was added to the mix at this stage but did not make a difference to the colour after 6 drops so was abandoned)
7.  Transfer the mixture into the prepared tin and place in the preheated oven.  Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
9.  While waiting for the cake to cool make the frosting.
10. Place the icing sugar and butter in a bowl and beat with a hand held electric whisk until well combined.
11. In a seperate bowl combine the milk and vanilla extract and then add to the butter mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time.
12. When all of the milk has been incorporated add in 4 drops of food colouring and then turn the whisk up to full speed and beat for at least 5 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.  (if you would like a deeper colour frosting add in more food colouring 1 drop at a time and incorporate fully before adding more)*
13. Once the cake has cooled spread the frosting all over using a spatula or palette knife and decorate to your liking.

* you can use any food colouring of your choice to adapt the cake to be suitable for a boy or an adult.  I have used liquid food colouring as it is what I had available to me but you could use paste, powder or gel colourants and adjust quantities as necessary.

A little pinktastic I know, but for a 7 yr old it was frosted perfection!

I've got an ouwie!

So my poor daddy was in town last week, getting some grocery shopping and feeding his DVD addiction with yet another purchase.  He was on his way home and spotted a bus ready to leave so he did what any 71 year old would do.  No, he didn't curse his bad timing and decide to let the bus go and wait 15 minutes or so for the next one to come along.  Instead he decided with hands full with bags of shopping that he would run for said bus.  And so he broke into  a mild jog and set about his mission happy in the knowledge he would be sitting on the bus in a flash and home in a matter of minutes.

So there he was striding along, an adveritsement for clean living, years of eating oily fish and doing daily sit ups paying off in his twilight years.  Then, oops, what the ...?  He was sailing through the air, watching as the pavement grew closer and closer to his face, shopping bags gone akimbo.  You see my lovely little daddy had become a victim of badly maintained public walkways in Dublins fair city and his foot unfortunately found a sunken paving stone which menacingly tripped him and brought him crashing to the ground.

Now my daddy is a very independent little fecker and sometimes forgets that he is no longer 21 and so up he got and brushed himself down, retrieved his shopping thanks to the help of a friendly passer by, and toddled on home without a word to anyone.  Had I been the poor unfortunate I would have immediatley got on the blower to my husband, then my sister, my dad and then the national papers to ensure everyone was aware of my tumble and much sympathy was dispatched in my direction post haste, but not my daddy.  He sat at home in quite a bit of pain and uttered not a word until his phone rang and then he relayed the story to my sister who of course wanted to go straight down to check on him as did my other sister and as did I when we heard.  We were under strict instructions not to go down as he was fine and only had a bit of bruising.

Two days later at a previously scheduled doctors appointment he was informed he had a cracked rib and a sprained wrist but still banned all visits, this time conceding he would not be up to much as it was quite painful for him to move about.  We all agreed we would not bother him but I secretly planned to drop down and check on him and stock up his fridge to ensure he could remain house bound for the week without the risk of scurvy or starvation.  He got wind of my evil plan and insisted I did not come down which I had to agree to, fingers crossed behind my back naturally.  So I popped in against his wishes and lasted all of two minutes(just enough time to fill the fridge and the fruit bowl) before I was sent packing.

So if you, like my daddy, have had any little accidents lately I prescribe a large slice of Lemon Posset Cake.  It is guaranteed to put a smile on even the most bruised and battered face and heal all ouwies, well maybe not heal but it will make you forget about them for a little while at least.  If you haven't had an accident, sure have a slice anyway and pretend you need the vitamins to keep you healthy.  Everyones a winner with this little lovely.

Lemon Posset Cake

for the lemon posset:

300ml Double Cream
75g Caster Sugar
Juice of 1-2 Lemons

1.  Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the sugar.
2.  Slowly bring to the boil ensuring to stir constantly to dissolve the sugar.
3.  Once it comes to the boil allow it to bubble for a further 3 minutes while continuing to stir.
4.  After the 3 minutes remove from the heat and pour in the juice of 1 lemon while stirring.  The mixture will thicken once the juice is added.  Taste and add more lemon juice if it is not tart enough (the posset should have a sweet, tangy, creamy flavour).
5.  Leave to cool for approximately 5 minutes before transferring to a bowl.  Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate over night. (if you are short on time 3 hrs chilling should be sufficient)

for the cake:

175g/6oz Unsalted Butter (softened, plus a little extra to grease the tin)
175g/6oz Sugar
3 Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
225g/8oz Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Powder
2tbsp Milk
2 lemons
100g/3&1/2oz Caster Sugar

1.  Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3.  Line the bottom of a 18cm/7" cake tin with grease proof paper and grease the sides with butter.
2.  In a bowl cream the butter with the grated zest of 2 lemons.
3.  Add the sugar and beat for 1 minute.
4.  Add the eggs one at a time while continuing to beat, then add the vanilla.
5.  Fold in the sieved flour and baking powder, then add the milk.
6.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and smooth the top.
7.  Bake in the preheated oven for 55-65 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

8.  While the cake is baking pour the juice of 2 lemons over the caster sugar and mix to dissolve.

9.  Once the cake is removed from the oven and while it is still hot pierce all over with a skewer and pour over the caster sugar mixture.  Set the cake aside to cool.

10. Serve with generous dollops of lemon possett. Yum!

* lemon posset also makes a deliciously light dessert served in individual tall shot glasses with some almond biscuits, the above recipe will serve four. Transfer from the saucepan to the shot glasses and chill. *