Victoria Sandwich, Coffee Sandwich and Chocolate Sandwich Cakes

Three cakes, same method, different flavours – Right Charlie which one do you want to do? – “ALL OF THEM” Thankfully this week is half term and I don’t have to go looking for tins as this recipe calls for two 8-inch tins that I have.  Mary very kindly puts in the alternate measurements for different sized tins so if you have 6-inch or 7-inch tins that’s not a problem – thanks Mary.

Victoria Sandwich plain

 Plain Victoria Sandwich

 Saturday, Our baking adventure continued with the first Victoria Sandwich.  The recipe is an All in one, which basically means you put everything in one bowl and beat it at the same time.  This causes me problems, having attempted the Madeira cake this way; I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.  Now, forgive me Mary, I know you have billions of years experience and I can’t believe that after one cake we are doing this, but I'm going to change your method.    We creamed the butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy then added the eggs and beat until mousey and really light.  We then sifted the flour and baking powder and mixed well.  The batter was really light and dropped easily of the spoon - apparently this is a good sign; again don’t ask me why, it just is.

Charlie drew round the tins and cut the circles of baking paper to put inside the greased tins.  She divided the mixture into two and baked for 20 mins – the recipe called for 25 mins baking, but was perfect after 20.  It was sandwiched together using raspberry jam.  My husband didn’t believe that we actually made this; it was so incredibly light – could all the cakes be like this? 

 Coffee Sandwich Cake

upside down trying to even them out

The Coffee Sandwich was done using the same creaming method (Really sorry Mary) I had a little panic as I didn’t have any coffee essence or instant coffee granules however, I found some decaffeinated granules at the back of the cupboard (goodness knows how long they have been there!), oh well, they will just have to do.   Charlotte really didn’t enjoy making this cake and at one point was holding her nose whilst mixing to stop herself from gagging at the coffee smell – she’s such a drama queen. This cake sank in the middle, so we turned it upside down on the cooling rack and hoped it would even out – Come on Mary, lets see if your tip works.  Blimey, it did!

It is sandwiched together using a coffee butter cream with a couple of walnuts on the top – I think it looks pretty fantastic! 

Coffee Victoria Sandwich

Coffee is not a favourite in this house so we decided that a lovely neighbour might enjoy it – so off we went to Harry’s.  Harry is a great man, who has taken my girls under his wing since we moved to Holland.  He is like another grandfather, and if ever I'm in need of help, I know Harry won’t mind.  Bless him, he even built my Chicken koop, helped me get the chickens and keeps them alive and healthy – He is probably the nicest Dutch man I know.   He was delighted to see us, but having never sampled an English style cake he wasn’t sure what to make of it, but was very happy to accept it.  Two days later, he appeared at my door and placed an order with Charlotte to bake a cake for his brother’s birthday – all his family including the grandchildren really enjoyed it, Needless to say, she has her first order and is over the moon!

Chocolate Sandwich Cake



Chocolate Victoria Sandwich

Thankfully Sunday has arrived and, hoorah its school tomorrow.  Its also baking day and our last Victoria Sandwich – We saved the Chocolate Victoria till Sunday as Charlie is going to take this one into school tomorrow to share with her friends and save my waist line.  Again, apologies to Mary, but we creamed the butter and sugar first – we like this method, the batter is really light and it rises wonderfully and pretty evenly too.  Charlie has become a little over confident since Harry’s visit, and it showed – she wanted very little help from me and rushed everything.  My patience was a little lacking and I snapped at her a couple of times for rushing and splattering my kitchen with butter, flour and cocoa powder – I think the problem was that one of us is a little grumpy and tired -  but I think Charlie forgave me.  She sandwiched it together with the butter cream and grated plain chocolate on the top. I think she's going to be very popular at school tomorrow.

Ive put pictures of all three cakes on here so you can see just how big they are, I was delighted that the first cake wasn’t a fluke and the others rose just as well. 

I’ve got to say, I think she is taking to baking like a duck to water and soon I'm going to be out of a job!  There are a couple of things I must remember for the future, firstly.. make sure Charlie brushes her hair before we take the photos, secondly, make sure she's not wearing the same clothes - scruffy little oink! and lastly don't try to do too much in one week - we all end up a little tired and emotional.

Next week its Swiss Roll – oh lordie!

Chapter 1, Recipe 1 – Madeira Cake

 

Hands are washed and we are ready to go.

This is a really simple recipe; everything gets put into a bowl and beaten together at the same time – what could possibly go wrong?……………I am really hoping this proves to be a fun way to spend time with my daughter.  I don’t want it to turn into some sort of comedy of errors – although entertaining for the reader, frustrating and heartbreaking for Charlie and me.  If it goes wrong however, I will tell you and if I loose my temper, I will tell you – this is real life baking with an uncoordinated 10 year old and a impatient control freak mother – lord help us!

Apparently, when you are doing an all in one recipe like this, it is essential that the butter is a creamy spreading consistency before mixing (don’t know why, just is)  I don’t have a food mixer or processor and have always mixed by hand or used one of those stick mixers – the only problem with this is that when you put everything in the bowl at the same time, its stiff and hard to beat.  My stick mixer didn’t cope and as a result I don’t think it was mixed enough.  I should explain, I have a slight touch of tennis elbow and Charlotte is a novice beater so it really wasn’t mixed enough.  I think we are going to have to invest in a Food Mixer/Kitchen Aid – a little Internet research in order for this week for me.

The mix was mixed and ready to pour into Charlotte’s new shiny new tin. We transferred it to the oven and waited the allotted time, adding the lemon half way thru.  We took it out 10 mins early as we thought it looked cooked and tested with a skewer and was clean.  It smelt lovely. 

Mary’s tip for this cake is:
 
“ if a fruit or Madeira cake has a slight dip in the center when it comes out of the oven, turn on to the baking parchment on the cooling rack upside down.  The action of gravity and the weight of the cake will level the top while it cools”


Now that tip is all very well if you have a “dint” in your cake, but what if you have a hill – unusual for Holland I know, but we had a little hill in our cake.  Now was it because the mix was not even in the tin or just not mixed enough? Anyway, turning it upside down on the cooling rack didn’t solve our “hump” problem.  Nevertheless, Charlotte was so proud, this is her very first cake completed totally by herself without any major hickups or loss of patience, and do you know what ….. It tastes pretty good too – hump or not! 

Now bring on the Victoria Sandwich....

I'm delighted to report that Mary Berry’s Baking Bible arrived, however, not as delighted as my daughter Charlie.  She has been checking the post box on a daily basis for the last week, wondering, waiting and ever so slightly whining - and finally it arrived on Friday.

The book gives a detailed forward which I made Charlotte read before we began – she poured over it and has been quoting snippets at me all day…Yikes what am I creating?   Needless to say, she now knows the tips and hints backwards – shame her 8 times table didn’t go in quite as easily.    We talked about how we wanted to tackle the book – should we just begin at the beginning or should we begin each chapter, do the first recipe in each and then rotate?  The latter seemed a little complicated so, even though we might get a little bored just doing cakes then just doing something else we will get more practice this way. The book is just lovely, its separated into 19 categories including Tray bakes and Flapjacks, Tarts and Pastries, Soufflés and Meringues and of course Classic Cakes which is the first Category and where we are going to begin

Here we go, chapter 1 Classic Cakes and the first recipe Madeira Cake. ”Oh No!” moans Charlotte we don’t have a 7-inch round deep cake tin! – Not to worry I say, lets use either my 6-inch or 8-inch tin.  Obviously this is not a reasonable solution in my 10-year-old eyes, Mary says it must be a 7-inch tin, so nothing else will do! We need a little shopping trip.

 I think I should explain about baking supplies in Holland – they range between difficult to source to down right impossible.  Little things like Baking Powder or Bicarb are just not readily available and if you are looking for ground almonds, then you will really have a hunt on your hands.  I am lucky enough to have access to a Horcea Handle, which is a catering wholesaler.  They do stock catering sized Icing Sugar, Baking Powder and if you look in the Asian section, you can find Bicarb.  I think the reason for this absence of baking supplies is purely the lack of demand – The Netherlanders just don’t “do” baking and if they do, it is generally in a packet mix.  They don’t eat cake the way the British or Americans do, they like flat tarts or lattice topped pies – delicious but just not the same.

 However, never say never, I need a 7-inch tin and I'm going to find one.  We set off and a couple of hours later, we found ourselves in a converted watermill in a small village that sells a range of pet supplies, gold fish, and unbelievably baking paraphernalia.  Charlotte spotted the baking tins and we managed to find a lovely, deep, spring release 7-inch tin, 2 fluted scone cutters, baking beans and the most fabulous cupcake carrier – my good friend would describe this as baking porn, and I have to say, I know where she’s coming from.  I have a feeling the smiling lady in the windmill will be seeing a lot more of us over the coming weeks and months - now home to bake!

Our first Blog

Well, here I am, my first blog… now, where to begin? 

I decided that I would begin a blog as I begin my baking journey as a way of seeing how I progress. So, I can’t bake but have always loved to have a go, with some very mixed results.   My theory is that I will progress as I practice and hopefully get better, but also I want to teach my 10 year old daughter how to bake and I hope this is a way that we can learn together – you never know, maybe even share this with her daughter when that time comes.

I guess a little background information might be required at this stage so you understand how and why I’m doing this.  Did you ever see the film or read the book Julie & Julia?  It’s a great story of one woman’s journey thru Julia Childs French cookbook.  Julie Powell set herself the target of cooking every one of Julia’s recipes and then wrote a blog about it.  Great Blog, great film, great idea!  I don’t want to be a great chef, I just want to learn how to bake well and spend some fun time teaching my daughter which will hopefully stay with her forever.

Now, there are some fantastic cookbooks out there and some even line my bookshelves, but I need my own Julia Childs type book that will inspire and teach us the basics. For my birthday, my lovely girls bought me both Great British Bake off Books – both I might add are fab but not really what I need for this project.  Mary Berry is truly an inspiration and has produced a Baking Bible which I think might be just what I’m looking for.  250 recipes, which cover everything from cakes and biscuits to scones, bread, and pies – that should do the trick.  So I’m off to Amazon to order it today so we can plan our first adventure into baking.  So excited, and I have one very happy junior baker waiting with washed hands and apron fixed….. Now I just need the book – then I’ll be back.