No. 7 Victoria sponge

I wasn't really brought up with my family making these classic English cakes. Mainly because of having an Irish Mammy and a Swiss Daddy and the fact that our home was Switzerland and mostly traditional Swiss dishes would have been made. Even  when we moved  to The Uk as a small child,  I was still very much brought up in an traditional Irish way of living especially, as far as cooking and baking were concerned.  The other food influence was of course from my Swiss family. Thanks to mum we travelled back over to Switzerland a lot. From my early years all the way up to my late teens . She really wanted to keep up the contact with my Swiss roots even though Dad had passed away in the same year I was born her passion was there to make this happen. 

I loved watching  my grandmother cook on our visits over.   Like most families every thing was from cooked from scratch and most things she cooked came out of the very big vegetable batch. In my mind the strawberries my grandparents grew where the best. The jams she made where amazing. I can't boast of making my own jam for this Victoria sponge but it's early days. My Swiss Aunt and Swiss Cousin have been making them for years so when the time comes I know where to go for advice 💕💕

The longer we lived in the UK the more English puddings where bought into our way of life.  Trifle being the one that sticks out the most. I really do remember always having Victoria sponge. It was a favourite when we would have visitors over for a cup of tea. Mum always used to say  you would never offer a cuppa without a slice of cake too. It just wasn't done. You'd be the talk of the town. 

So here I am paying homage to the the Victoria sponge.

I am still having problems with getting my oven temperature right. It  doesn't help when most of the numbers have disappeared off the temperature dials on the cooker.  However with a 200 & 180 still showing and with practise I'm guessing the temperature better. 

Even with a slightly browned Victoria sponge I had no complaints in the Fisher house hold.  I hope to get to the stage where I do a challenge and then post it right away but I'm not quite there yet. I'm not going to lie I have done Victoria sponge  before. Who hasn't? It would be criminal though to not put this in my 50 challenge. 

No. 8 Battenburg

Just loved making this. I had bought the tin many months ago but had problems with the pink food colouring. I have since been to Cake boy in Battersea (one of my guilty pleasures). They have put me straight in what food colouring to buy. This is like a whole new world for me. As a young woman  I used to hear my family talk about their bakes and I used to think 'what's all the fuss about.' Cakes  are for just eating.  I just wasn't interested in how they where baked. Now however I  would love to go back in time and have that moment with them. That's is the way it is with most of us so I'm not going to be too hard on myself about that regret. 

The Batteburg mixture it self was easy to make but there was a lot of measuring. The sponge didn't stick to the tin and after a lot of care and a bit of trimming, 8 pieces of sponge where cooled and ready to be wrapped in marzipan with a lining of apricot on the inside of the marzipan. 

This was a big hit with my husband and sister in law who where at home when the final product was complete. I even braved it and took one of them to work as I made two. Family are kind and know bettter than to critise a bake but work well that's a different thing. If that cake was not up to scratch trust me when I say I would have been told.  

No. 9 Summer fruit drizzle cake

Why I had a nightmare making this cake is beyond me. It is of course like a lemon drizzle but you just scatter some fresh fruit in the middle of the batter as you pour  it into the baking tin.

I put the disaster down  to baking it on a Friday night after a long week at work. I think also the pressure of knowing I was bringing it to a family tea party the next day just added to the panic.  

After  an unsure mix and a scatter of fruit It went in the oven . After  leaving it in a bit longer than said one summer fruit sponge was made. I was really unhappy with the way it was  baking. It seemed to take forever to get the skewer to come out clean. Being really disappointed with my bake once I thought I couldn't leave it in any longer . I decided to take it out of the oven & just leave it on the rack to cool and went to bed. 

Much to my shock I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic as I remembered I forget to put the drizzle on.whilst it was hot !!! I did manage to go back to sleep but when it was time to get up I decided I couldn't bring this cake and watch polite faces smile as they cut into a slice  it stayed at home.

The back up plan was then made. Good old lemon drizzle. I can't make it my no 9 as this has become a common bake when I just want to bake a quick treat for the boys . The bake went well  and  It did however go down well at the family party. In turn it did also help me to getover my no 8.  Muck up. Yes it does look good in the picture but it was really dry.

The recipe for the summer fruit drizzle: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/node/96610/bbcgf_pdf

No. 10 Salted caramel butterscotch cheesecake

Loved making this. From making the salted pop corn which I mixed in with the biscuit base to the butterscotch sauce and salt that when in the cheese cake mix. The butterscotch sauce took a little bit of skill but  with correct measuring and  a bit of patience it turned out well. 

I plucked up  up courage to take this to another family gathering that weekend. The cheese mixture had set and the salt and butter scotch sauce flavour came through good so I was happy. 

Very calorific but it had Fisher thumbs up. One to make again another time. 

Ok so I'm all caught up now as far as the puddings are concerned. I think I'm ready to do a make a carrot cake very soon and hopefully be able to get on with practicing my press ups.   

Thank you to all of you for all the recipes so far it's much appreciated. Happy Bank holiday!