81. A Recipe for a Pink Strawberry Cake

for Ianthe & Sophie, whose birthday cakes it was

Dear children, this was your birthday cake

– the pink ones with strawberries on

but I’ll miss those off now I’m afraid

as they really do turn into an ungrateful ooze

unstable, disordered & mankily slimy

so here is what you’ll need

- something particular:

           175 g self-raising flour

               + a little more for prepping the tin

           175 g butter (not hard!

                 - take it out of the fridge

                 ages before you cook

               + a little more for prepping the tin

           175 g caster sugar

           3 medium eggs

           250 g fresh-picked strawberries

           pinch of salt

           couple of tablespoons good apricot jam

           a little lemon juice

           250 g icing sugar

           – not at all heterogeneous & all quite luscious

Now wipe with butter the inside of a cake tin

spoon a little flour into it, coat all the butter

& empty out the rest; then the oven must turn on at mark 5/190º/170º

before taking a big bowl, cream together the caster sugar

with all your butter cut into small pieces, which means

mashing them all together with a fork heroically

until they reach a bright light yellow fluff

like golden mashed potato – next

squash 150g strawberries in a little bowl

– again, mash ‘em up fiercely with a fork

next eggs must be separated, yolk from white

break each in a little shallow bowl

hold back with a fork the yolk &

tip the whites into another bowl (medium-sized, say

then add the yolk to the yellow fluffy, one at a time

beating them in well with your beating fork

next sift your flour with the salt into another medium bowl

& whisk up in their bowl the egg whites

with fork or better a whisk until they rise

like little mountains, the soft becoming stiffish

fold the flour & the strawberry mush into the yellow mix

carefully using a big metal spoon in a, yes, folding sort of action

to mix without any rough or sudden beating – gently! – and

when that’s all one, fold in next the shining white mountains

turn out (that means spoon it out!) your beautiful pink cake mix

into the empty tin & pop it in the oven with care

let it cook for 40 minutes at least – a little more if two

check by putting in a skewer so it comes out clean

without any sticky uncooked dough upon it when ready

take it out of the oven with heavy gloves

& let it cool a little before then

you turn it when you can handle it onto a wire rack

using a palette knife to ease it from the edges first

and let it cool completely, like some marble obelisk

Finally the topping: in a very little saucepan

heat up the jam with a tablespoon of water & the lemon juice

let it just simmer for about five minutes & then

with great care brush this burning hot liquid (not

any apricot pieces!) across the cake’s top to glaze it

- to stop the icing getting caught up with crumbs

let it cool while you make the icing next

first juicily squeeze 100 g strawberries into a jug

mashing them hard in a sieve with a spoon

next get a medium sized bowl & set it in

a larger pan or bowl of quite warm water

sift your icing sugar into this medium bowl

carefully add a little of the beautiful clear red ooze

beat it in using a wooden spoon

and slowly add more in little bits until it’s just right

when the icing coats thickly the back of the spoon

without all running off and shows too a lovely gloss

then spoon it & carefully let it flow as you cover

never mind when it flows down the sides!

leave it for several hours to begin to set

then eat your cake – shared please with all your friends

sharing food is the true origin of all friendship, dear girls

& of all good ways of living

never forget that, but be grateful

[I adapted the recipe from a specialist baking book, Cordon Bleu Baking 1: Breads, Cakes & Biscuits (CBC/B.P.C. Publishing Ltd, 1971), but have used a very simplified & perfectly adequate glacé icing recipe from a sound basic cookery text, Bee Nilsson’s The Penguin Cookery Course (Penguin, 1952). The cake is delightful: not too sweet, with an interesting texture from the crushed strawberry, & the icing tastily sweet. Old cakes are best – and new poems! No one need feel guilty eating it, and though it really isn’t strictly child’s play, a lot can be done by young children with support & care. Let them help to create this feast!]