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!]
