calm after the storm (& golden syrup cake)

hello lovely blog readers! apologies for my recent absence, things have been a little crazy over here: firstly there was a rather wild weekend spread between london and exeter (in particular i'm looking at emma and emily's shots suggestion), which meant my immune system took a battering and so followed one of the nastiest cold's i've had the displeasure of experiencing. having battled through to the other side of that, i came to the end of my time at cauliflower cards (sad face) and set about returning to the job hunt. but i am now pleased to announce that i will be gainfully employed come january - so everything is now a little calmer!

which gives me a much overdue chance to return to my blog and share with you a bake i've been meaning to write up for weeks.

baking w/ golden syrup: orange, ginger & dark chocolate cookies plus sticky golden syrup cake http://t.co/al5C0o2mh6 pic.twitter.com/aoOpKGX3Fc
— Ruby Tandoh (@rubytandoh) October 25, 2014

this bake followed on from a tweet from ruby tandoh (who it top value on twitter, a fabulous and refreshing mix of baking and feminism) - when i saw golden syrup in the title i knew i had to take a gander.

so what follows is my attempt at ruby's sticky golden syrup cake. (a quick note, i did not have the required soft dark brown sugar, mine was light so the cake is not quite as dark as you would expect)

 beginning with the most important ingredient, look at that glossy, sticky goodness! 

golden syrup is a notoriously difficult ingredient to work with, especially when it comes to weighing it out! my tip is to place the tin on a scale, note the weight and then work out what it needs to go down to. further advice - position this as close to the intended location of the syrup as physically possible, as it will go everywhere! as you can see from the above pictures (which i could not get to go the correct way round for the life of me) i was only 2g off the 125g aim (little victories...!)

then follows the really fun part, mixing together the butter, sugar and syrup over a low heat so that they all melt together into a small heart attack.

(aforementioned light brown sugar) 

 

attempted action shot so you can see below the butter on the surface

the dry ingredients are then mixed together in preparation for the big coming together

 this recipe is wonderfully simple to follow

 

 i finished the batter off with a whisk in order to achieve a smooth consistency - and then in to the oven it goes

 

 

ruby's tip of a tin foil hat (rather poorly executed by myself) to keep the moisture in as it cools

does that not make you want to dive in?!

and so to the finished result: unfortunately i kept my cake in fractionally longer than was required (getting used to a new oven) so it was not quite as moist as i had hoped but that was entirely my own fault. this is definitely one of those cakes to serve warm with a generous helping of custard (much like one of my winter pleasures, jamaican ginger cake, mmm....) i took this one in to the office with me, it was still lovely cold but if you have the chance go for the custard! 

 

what are your favourite winter warmers? have you started thinking about what to bake for this festive season? i would love to see your baking efforts and hear about your favourites!

finally, i would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to my manager, Jo, who gave me two wonderful tea cups and saucers as a leaving present. it was so thoughtful and brought a little lump to my throat!

until next time bakers...

love,

nen

x

workplace treats - rhubard and white chocolate tray bake

working in an office all day, answering the same queries can be a bit draining. therefore baked goods are a perfect way to keep morale up. last week i presented the chocolate and lime tart; this week the chocolate and fruit theme continues with a rhubarb and white chocolate tray bake. once again a john whaite recipe!

tray bakes are just fantastic, so simple to make and put together, great for transport and guaranteed to feed many.

the reaction in the office has been very appreciative - they said the sponge is light and moist (just how i like it). they've all promised they'll be queuing at the door when i open my bakery!

here are photos from the making of the cake:

chopping up the rhubarb

 

 creaming together the butter, sugar and thyme

 mixing up the batter - i did find that when i added the eggs to the butter/sugar mix, it did split a bit, however all was fine once the dry ingredients were added

adding the rhubard and chocolate chips (with a few accidentally falling in my mouth...)

 a lovely gooey, chunky batter ready for the oven

 

 fresh from the oven

this is a really moreish cake - it's so hard not to gobble three slices in one go! i love cake with fruit in, it adds a lovely contrast to the sponge and a fantastic burst of flavour. i'm not convinced of the impact of the thyme, we certainly couldn't pick it out in the office - but i'm sure it's one of those instances where you would notice a difference if it wasn't there! so overall a very successful bake, and definitely one i'll be making again.

coming up next time: another john whaite recipe (i'll branch out soon, promise... maybe...) - this time bread!

love,

nen

x