Over the summer last year I found myself becoming more engrossed each week by a telly programme, The Great British Bake Off presented by Mel & Sue. I'm not a great one for cooking shows (or cooking generally) but I like Sue Perkins so I tuned in to see what the programme was about and fell under its spell. Then last week there was a celeb version of the show for Sports Relief. That was it, it tipped me over the brink into wanting to try baking myself.
Today I went out to buy some cooking scales and a load of ingredients and then started making cakes. I'd picked the easiest recipe I could find in the Be-Ro cookbook online and this was for Butterfly cakes baked with a straight forward Victoria sponge recipe. Butter, caster sugar, eggs and flour, carefully mixed in the right order, spooned into 16 paper cake cases and then baked for 15 minutes. I was astonished to see them change colour and rise as I watched them in the oven - the magic was working!
Then I made the buttercream icing with butter, icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla essence. Cut the top off the cakes, spoon on some icing and then put back the cake top cut in half to make wings. I used the plain icing for most of them and then added red stuff to the icing so the last few were more colourful. I need more practice, obviously, but an hour after I started and I was eating my own cakes.
I know it's not the most amazing thing in the world, to bake some simple (but yummy) Butterfly cakes, but I'm quietly proud of myself. There's now a messy kitchen to clean up but that's nothing compared to the glow of pride and the yum in my tum!
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