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Hello, it's me again.
Hello from NL 47; this is Bake Sense—a somewhat ordered record of ramblings concerning the world of baking. Along the way, you’ll find recipes and insights from life in and out of the professional bakery and plenty of fruitful chat.
I’ve felt the unease and discomfort of the bakery in a state of disarray. The rise in blood pressure, the subconscious clenching of fingers, gripping, holding on tight until we resettle.
The move in progress. Not far, just meters down the way, but there’s a greater shift that outsizes the mere distance from Unit 33 to Unit 38. A shift in perspective, outlook and energy, internal and intangible. The kind that swells against the backdrop of a new year.
Promises, resolutions, realisations, the cusp of before and after. The pull to put pen to paper or finger to key has increased with every transient day of flux. So I’m applying the balm, sipping a tincture of letters and words, arranging and rearranging to create and feel some order.
Only now do I realise that writing, like baking, is about the process—the making and unmaking of things, cakes, commas, clean downs and craft.
Setting myself the task of writing each week can happen regardless of sending out a newsletter. I could keep the draft, the notes, the ideas and plans and show no one. But the formality of pressing ‘send’ forces me to make peace with the work as it is at that moment. Over scrutiny and copious redrafting is a practice aimed at perfection that gets in the way of the messier, unmeasured and unrefined act of meeting yourself where you are in that moment.
A metaphor for life, cycles and circles. As sure as the rise and fall of the starter. The opening and closing checks. The counter complete, and the cupboard bare.
For preoccupied minds and restless hands, here’s a recipe for a cake to make with your eyes closed, a guaranteed sensory hit that fills your home with the familial scent of butter, comfort first felt, then inhaled and finally tasted. Reassuringly constant when nothing else is.
A Wholewheat Victoria
Replacing a proportion of butter with oil in the classic butter-based Victoria sponge creates a soft and tender crumb when using wholemeal flour. Softer and bouncier than using all butter, the oil acts as an emollient to counteract the drying nature of thirsty bran. A soft wholewheat flour with a not-too-coarse bran is best suited.
*If the wholemeal flour you’re using is especially thirsty, then adding 1-2 tablespoons of whole milk will help even out the hydration of the batter.
Ingredients
For the cake
125g unsalted butter (room temp)
50g olive oil (mild)
150g golden caster sugar
1/4tsp fine sea salt
Extract or citrus zest, e.g. 1 tsp vanilla extract and/or zest of 1 lemon or lime
150g whole egg (approx 3 eggs)
175g wholewheat flour (preferably a soft wheat with finer bran)
8g baking powder
*+ 1-2 tbsp whole milk (if required)
To fill
175g double cream, whipped to soft peaks
5-6 tbsp jam
Icing sugar to dust
Method
Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan.
Heat the oven to 165 degrees C (fan).
Beat the butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until soft and creamy.
Add the sugar and briefly beat to incorporate. Begin to drizzle in the oil whilst mixing on low; when all the oil is incorporated, increase the speed and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
This step is essential to achieve a great texture in the final cake; scrape the bowl and paddle attachment down at least three times to ensure the mixture is thoroughly creamed.
Add the sea salt, vanilla extract and lemon zest.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition.
Combine the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed ingredients in 2-3 additions, mixing to combine until no dry patches remain.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan and spoon to level. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes, rotate and bake for another 5-10 minutes until evenly golden and lightly firm to the touch.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the tin.
When the cake is completely cool, slice it in half crosswise to form two layers.
Top one layer with whipped cream, followed by the jam, top with the second layer and dust with icing sugar before serving.
I’m playing around with olive oil a lot at the moment - love the idea of using some in a Victoria Sponge Cake!
Good luck with the move!