Every year I think he can’t possibly top himself, and then he does! This, of course, is the Typewriter Cake from the Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book. He experimented with two new recipes for this one: Golden Vanilla Cake and Ermine Icing. It’s STUNNING.
And I think we can all agree: plus 100 Husband Points for the deployment of the Pride and Prejudice quote! š©·
How it started:
Carving:
The end result:
Kitchen’s a wreck though. š Still worth it!
Not really a summer dish, but very tasty! Roddās best loaf of bread yetā¦
Itās time for another recipe from 1965! Continuing our vintage cooking experiment, this time I chose the recipe from January 31 – Bachelor’s Pudding – and happily, I think it was a big success! Here’s the recipe:
There’s quite a lot crammed into only six lines…
1 egg, the weight of an egg in butter, sugar and flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, a little grated lemon rind, 1 tablespoon jam, short pastry. Line a shallow dish with the pastry, spread the jam on the bottom, beat butter and sugar to a cream, add egg, lemon rind, flour and baking powder. Pour this over the jam, bake for half an hour. Dust with sugar. Serve with custard.
First up, what even is “bachelor’s pudding”? Of course, “pudding” is used here in the British sense, meaning simply “dessert.” If you search for “bachelor’s pudding” online, you’ll find lots of old recipes that have currants and breadcrumbs in them… and this recipe has neither. I liked this explanation the best: “Nobody knows for sure how Bachelorās Pudding got its name but it is suggested that the frugal ingredients lend themselves to single men on minimal means.”
I wasn’t sure whether a CWA wife in 1965 would be making her own short pastry or not. The recipe just seems to assume that you have some. I decided to keep things simple and go with a sheet of frozen shortcrust. I also went with a carton of custard. For the jam, I went with good ol’ Cottee’s apricot, which I figured would have been easily available at the time.
I started by cracking my egg and weighing it, and it ended up around 55g. So I put that much butter and sugar in my mixing bowl and creamed them together.
Then I added the egg, lemon rind, flour, and baking powder. It came together into a creamy batter.
Rodd and I debated on what an appropriate “shallow dish” would be and decided to go with a simple small metal pie plate. I buttered it (not in the recipe but I figured it couldn’t hurt) and then lined it with my thawed sheet of shortcrust, sealing the cracks as best I could. Then I spooned in some apricot jam (probably a little more than the recipe called for) and spread it around.
The batter certainly wasn’t pourable, so instead I spooned it on and then smoothed out as best I could. I’m glad I didn’t go with a bigger dish, as it didn’t even come close to filling it.
The recipe doesn’t give any guidance as to baking temperature, so I figured I’d go with 180C / 350F and just keep an eye on it.
It actually worked really well! The batter puffed up a bit and the pastry shrank, so I think the proportions actually worked. By 30 minutes it was nice and golden so I pulled it out to cool.
I sprinkled it with some sifted powdered sugar and then cut it into pieces. It came out cleanly, and the bottom wasn’t too soggy despite the lack of blind baking. You can clearly see the jam layer. I was quite impressed!
And here it is, served with custard for afternoon tea! It was quite tasty – sweet but not overly so. I think I could’ve gone with more lemon zest as it got lost a bit.
We debated on how you’d modernise this. Obviously you could make your own pastry and custard, which would certainly zhush it up. I think you could also experiment with the jam layer and try a few different things in there. (Kaya pudding?!) But overall this one was pretty good as is, even with the shortcuts I took and the vagueness of the recipe. Big thumbs up! š
The Snook had several egg whites left over from our tiramisu last week, and he was determinedĀ not to make a meringue with them. Instead today he baked a large financier, a French cake using almond flour and brown butter, and covered it with fresh cherries. Yum. ā¤ļø
Him: āWhich cake do you want for your birthday this year?ā
Me: āTHE WITCH!ā š§
Truly one of his best ever. š
It was the birthday pork pie of my dreams. ā¤ļø (In terms of foods from classic childrenās literature that entranced Little Kristy, cold meat pie trumps Turkish Delight by, like, a million points.)
The zucchini bread Rodd baked last night, and my face when I remembered it this morning. ā¤ļøš²
The Snook made me a beautiful homemade birthday dinner – pan pizza and a pomegranate cake. Heās the best. ā¤ļøšš°
Swedish-style cinnamon rolls, homemade by the Snook! ā¤ļø
My 44th birthday has come and gone. š Normally we like to go out to a fancy restaurant, but with everything still closed due to Covid, that wasnāt happening. Instead the Snook ordered us a four-course takeaway meal from Mural Restaurant, a local Michelin-starred place, which he then assembled according to the instructions.
We also had lovely matching wines which came in cute little numbered bottles…
The first course was spinach ravioli with cauliflower puree and tarragon oil, paired with 2019 Scheuermann Grauburgunder. Also sourdough bread with beetroot butter (which was quite sweet!).
Second course: steak (cooked in butter, garlic, herbs) served with parsnip puree and braised onion, along with a 2017 BlaufrƤnkisch Kirchholz. The steak had been cooked sous vide, so all he had to do was brown off the exterior in some herb butter and slice it up.
Then it was time for dessert! A little slice of buckwheat cake with white chocolate ganache and citrus compote, paired with a 2019 Riesling Rƶttgen Kabinett.
The very final course was cheese! A spread of a fewĀ special Swiss cheeses and chutney, served with a 2012 GewĆ¼rztraminer Goldert Grand Cru. The chutney was very savoury – almost like an onion jam.
On my actual birthday, the Snook said he was going to bake me a cake. As you know, heās really good at this. Iāve had the epic swimming pool cake, the potato-chip beaked duck cake, an over-the-top ābĆ»che de NoĆ«l,ā and many more. A few days before, he asked me what sort of design I wanted. āSomething Moomin-ish,ā I said. And what flavour of cake? āFunfetti. You know, sprinkles.ā With that as the brief, he went to the supermarket for supplies…
He baked the cake (from scratch, of course!) in a giant sheet, and he also made German buttercream for the icing.
Then he cut the cake into six pieces and stacked them with layers of icing in between before starting to sculpt. āThe trick,ā he said, āis to cut away everything thatĀ isnāt Little My.ā Everything he cut off, he stuck back on to help build out the shape.
Then it was time for more icing and decoration! Her eyes were made with āOblatenā (edible German baking wafers that you use to make Christmas cookies), her hair was strawberry gummy strings, and her face details were done with licorice string. She had a few Smarties as buttons down her back, and a red bow to complete the look.
HOW GREAT IS THIS? IāM LITTLE MY, AND I LIKE TO BITE THINGS.
Heās very talent, and I am a very lucky girl!
