Rainbow Celebration Cake

A rainbow cake makes a great treat for a loved one, not many people would expect to find a rainbow cake inside the icing, and I found it made a lovely surprise. I am interested in trying various different flavourings, and also possibly making patterns within the cake, and will keep you all posted if I do. Here's how to make the basic one, it does take quite some time, so be prepared.

• Preheat your oven to gas mark 4, and grease two 7 inch cake tins.
• Take 14 oz Stork, or any softened butter, and 14 oz caster sugar. Cream together until smooth and pale.
• In a separate bowl crack 7 large eggs, make sure there are no bits of shell, whisk, and add gradually to the sugar and butter mix, beating in well. 
• Gradually fold in 14 oz. self raising flour. 
• Take a separate bowl and take some of your mix. I don't have a scientifically accurate way of making sure all your individual cakes are the same size, I just took a table spoon, and my wooden spoon and picked up a large dollop of mix, and did this three times for each cake. Of course you can just weigh out the mixture if you want to be more accurate. Add some food colouring and fold in until the whole mix is evenly coloured. Spread this coloured mix into one of the cake tins. Repeat in a separate bowl for your second colour. Put both coloured cakes in the oven for about 15-20 mins.
• I was always taught to get the cake in the oven as soon as possible after adding the eggs so I found it quite unsettling having to leave so much mix waiting while the first few baked, but as I'm sure not many people have six cake tins of the same size, and an oven big enough to bake them all in one go, I didn't have much choice. Cover your mixing bowl of mixture with cling film while you wait for them to cook. 
• Once the first of the cakes are done, leave them to cool, remove them from the tins, and repeat until all the cakes have been baked.
• Once they are all cool, make some buttercream icing by creaming softened butter and icing sugar together.
• To construct the cake, first decide what order you want the colours in. Take the base cake, cover the top with a thin layer of buttercream (I tried to keep the filling quite thin as there are so many layers, I didn't want the overriding taste to be buttercream rather than cake!). On the next cake cover the bottom with raspberry jam and place on top of the bottom layer. Continue until all layers have been added.
• I had to then wrap cling film around the outside of the cake as it was quite a tower so it didn't all slide off before the buttercream set a bit. Even if you have a large enough fridge to put the cake in it's probably worth wrapping it up to ensure it keeps its shape.
• In the meantime, sprinkle some icing sugar on your work surface and roll out your icing. When ready, unwrap the cake, cover the outside with a thin layer of buttercream so the icing sticks. and cover.
  It's up to you how you decorate it. I went for icing flowers (roll out the various colours, cut out the shapes of petals, and construct on the cake), but the options are endless.
  
  Here's a photo of the other side of mine, in case you wanted to do flowers as well and wanted some ideas.

Shining for Cancer Research UK

On Saturday night I took part in a night-time walking marathon organised by Cancer Research UK, and it was quite an experience, so I thought I would share it with you all. It started at the o2 and already there was a huge queue to get in when we arrived. Everyone had decorated themselves with luminous tutus, glow sticks, glow in the dark paint, light-up bunny ears, and many other variations. There was a great atmosphere; everyone seemed really excited and pumped to get going. After we had done our warm-up we headed to the start line. It took quite a while to get going as there were about 10,000 of us taking part!

I found it very moving to be a part of. Many members of my family have battled cancer, some survived, others, sadly, didn’t. As with all Cancer Research events I have taken part in, they give you a back sign on which to write why you are taking part, and it’s very emotional, and motivating to read others’ reasons. Many take part in memory of a loved one, in support of those battling it, or as a survivor. It really hit home just how many people are affected by this one disease, and how many people care enough to go the extra mile to try and beat it.

I was immensely grateful to all the members of public we passed that cheered us on, it gave us the boost we needed to keep going, especially near the end where a lot of people (and I include myself in this) looked about ready to burst into tears from the effort. I know some of those cheering us on felt somewhat disgruntled that we didn’t all wave and cheer back, as we had been at the beginning, but by about mile twenty we were all so exhausted, I managed to muster a smile for them but that was about it. I know a lot of people think it’s ‘only walking’ but it was one of the toughest things I have ever done, and I know a lot of other participants felt the same.

By the time we crossed the finish line we were too exhausted to really enjoy it, and just wanted to sit down. As we sat/lay there waiting for the tube to start running it was lovely seeing many more people crossing the finish line, such a great achievement. I feel quite a bond to all the others who shared the experience, even though I will never see most of them again. It was quite surreal seeing all these people who we’d just marched around London with hobbling around the o2 in pain, or lying wrapping in foil blankets on the floor. A peculiar sight had anyone stumbled upon us I’m sure.

Finally, I just want to say a huge thank you to all the volunteers who were there handing out drinks at the pit stops, cheering us on, and pointing us in the right direction. They must have been tired and bored, but continued in high spirits to help keep us going. You are all wonderful people. Also, to Cancer Research for organising such an event, and for providing for us so well.

It was an amazing experience in so many ways, highly emotional, and unbelievably tough, both physically, and mentally. I’m glad I did it, but, as the stiffness and soreness in all my limbs continues I’m not sure I shall be in such a hurry to repeat the exercise!

'Desperate Romantics: The Private Lives of the Pre-Raphaelites' by Franny Moyle

I became interested in reading this book after the BBC TV series of the same name several years ago (no, I don’t only chose my books by TV and films, however much it may have seemed that way recently). I admit I know very little about art, and was more interested in it for the history perspective. Moyle set herself quite some challenge when she decided to try and write a book that would encompass the lives of so many different people, and sometimes it became quite confused and disjointed because of this. However, I see the value of looking at their lives together because of the impact they had on the course of each other’s lives, and can’t really think of a way to make this work without some flaws in the design. This made for an interesting read, but if you want a more in-depth knowledge of any of the characters I would recommend reading a book specifically about them, and perhaps using this one for some context, or indeed as a starting point to get you interested.

The story itself is complex and passionate, one of those times when reality is more sensational than fiction. The artists and their models led lives of scandal, betrayal, and often, it seems, madness. Reading this sometimes read like reading what’s going to happen in the next few episodes of EastEnders, or similar (though I don’t mean this as any kind of criticism of Moyle’s writing, which was in fact descriptive, informative, and entertaining). Most of the main players in this book had tumultuous lives, often ending in tragedy. The women often seemed to get a rough deal, but that’s not to say they were entirely innocent. Some seemed victims of the bohemian lifestyle, combined with having to live in the more constrained world of Victorian England in general, others come across as almost sly, and cunning; they knew what they wanted, and how to use their situation to the best result. It also became clear that many of the women who feature in the lives of the pre-Raphaelites suffered being ostracised, and became victims of many harmful beliefs in high society. It was not just the women that suffered this, of course, the artists themselves had many ups and downs in their careers due to lifestyle choices, as well as controversial styles of painting.

I learnt not just about their lives, but also about what society was like, what expectations were like. It never ceases to amuse me how different certain career choices were seen, then compared to now. To be a model, or an actress, was seen as almost on the same level as being a prostitute, or at least, the association was there, whereas nowadays these careers are held in such high esteem. A fact which interested me, which I didn’t know before reading this is that in the nineteenth century brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law were not allowed to marry, even if the original spouse had passed away, as this was considered incestuous, despite there being no actual blood relation. Is this still the case I wonder, I assume not but I wouldn’t know. I also felt I learnt a fair amount about art, and symbolism throughout. If you actually know about such things I’m sure it would seem negligible, but to someone with very little knowledge of it I appreciated the highly unpretentious approach to it, and also the references to how pre-Raphaelite work influenced literature of the time.

Chocolate chip muffins, two varieties

I made these simple, yet tasty, cupcakes for a friend's birthday, and they went down very well with everyone so thought I would share them with any readers of this blog. I made them all in one go, and so the instructions will assume you are doing the same, though if you want to make just one type then just don't split the cake mixture.

• Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.
• Take 8 oz. Stork, (or any type of softened butter, but if you can get hold of some Stork I would highly recommend it, I always use it if I can for baking), and cream together with 8 oz. caster sugar. Keep going until the mixture becomes quite pale. The more you do now, the tastier the cakes will be.
• In a separate bowl or jug beat 4 eggs. Add to the mixture, and beat well.
• Add 8 oz. self raising flour and fold in gradually. 
• Add chocolate chips and mix in well. It's up to you how many chocolate chips you add but use enough to make sure you won't get some muffins without any in. 
• Use half of this mixture to fill six muffin cases in a muffin tin.
• Melt some of your chocolate of choice (to do this heat some water in a pan, and place a bowl/jug/mug over the water and stir until melted. Do not put the chocolate straight into the pan, it will burn). Add the chocolate (I used three rows in a large bar of Cadbury's) to the cake mix and stir in until it's no longer streaky. You can also use cocoa powder at this stage if you would rather not melt chocolate.
• Add the remaining mixture to the six empty muffin cases and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning the muffin tray half way through in order to get a more even bake.

You should now have something that looks mildly like this:

To make the icing:

• Cream softened butter, and then add at least twice as much icing sugar (you will want the consistency to be rather stiff to start with as you will be adding liquid). Cream together until combined.
• Split the mixture in half. To one add peppermint flavouring (how much you use is dependent on personal taste, but a small cap full should be plenty). Add a small amount of green food colouring.
• Once the cakes are cooled, spread onto the chocolate cakes (or use an icing bag to pipe it on if you want them to look extra fancy) and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles.
• With the other half of the buttercream icing, mix in some more melted chocolate. Spread onto the white cakes and finish off with some white chocolate drops.
  

'One Day' - The film

I finally got round to seeing the film last week, and actually I rather enjoyed it. I thought from the trailers that it looked good, but you never can tell. I had no problem with the casting as I already knew who was playing the two main characters before reading and so only ever really imagined them. I know that Anne Hathaway got a lot of stick for her attempts at a Yorkshire accents, which to be honest, I find somewhat unfair. Yes it was not there the whole time but it was a perfectly acceptable attempt. It may have been better had it been more consistent, but then again the character did not live in Yorkshire for pretty much any of the twenty year period covered so most likely the accent would not have stuck anyway.

The script was good (am I right in thinking that David Nicholls also wrote this, which would explain a lot!), some sections being almost identical to the book. It’s quite a feat to fit a book that covers twenty years, one day a year, into a film that is comprehensible and not ridiculously long, but I felt it was well done. They skipped over some years, and some events were omitted entirely but overall the important scenes were there, and done in a fashion faithful to the novel.

The complex relationship between the two characters was portrayed well, although some of the details which made Dexter seem less pleasant; his nonchalant treatment of Emma throughout most of the story, his endless string of girlfriends, his problems with drugs and alcohol, were less apparent within the film, but nonetheless present. As is often the case I found parts almost more moving than when reading the book purely because you know what’s coming and want to change it in some way. As with the novel, there were some genuinely humorous scenes, as well as others deeply moving. Overall a faithful adaptation, and one that I think fans of the book are quite safe watching.

Strawberry and raspberry pavlova roulade

One of the many things that I love about summer is the fruit that grows during it. Although the weather has hardly been very summer like the past few weeks (not only have the leaves on the trees started turning shades of red and orange, but I was walking through a park last week which was strewn with leaves, all very autumnal) but my strawberry plants are still producing tasty fruit, and so I was inspired to make this.

Having never made meringue, or a roulade before it was something of an experiment, and took three goes to get right, purely because I had no idea how long, or what temperature at which to bake the meringue. Turns out you bake it on a higher temperature for not so long when making a roulade but on a lower temperature for a long time when making it for other uses.

Anyway, here’s how I made my successful one:

• Take 5 egg whites and whisk until stiff. Do not attempt to do this with a fork as I did last week when making something else, it takes a very long time! A balloon whisk shouldn’t take too long, or an electric whisk if you rather. If you’ve never separated an egg before, it’s not as tricky as people think. Simply crack the egg in half, let the white fall into a bowl, and then move the yolk between the halves of the egg shells so that the rest of the white comes out but the yolk remains in the shell. If this all sounds a bit delicate I did read somewhere you can crack the egg onto a plate, cover the yolk with a cup and then tip it so the white drips out. I’ve never tried this but it’s an alternative.
• Add 250g caster sugar gradually, continuing to whisk until all the sugar is combined and the mixture is stiff. It should look very pure white, and have a lovely sheen to it.
• Line your baking tray with baking paper (no need to grease!) and pour in the mixture, spreading it as evenly as possible. Pop it in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 4 for about 18 minutes, until the top is slightly crisp to the touch.
• Leave to cool completely.
• In the meantime, and if your arm isn’t aching too much from the egg whisking, whip some double cream. It’s up to you how much you use, but I used a 300ml tub and there was just about enough for the filling and top.
• Wash your fruit, and chop the strawberries into reasonably small chunks for the middle, and in halves for the top.
• Once the meringue is completely cool place it top down on another piece of baking paper, and gently peel off the baking paper. Spread some of the whipped cream and scatter the fruit. Use the baking paper to help as you roll it into a roulade.
• It will be tasty and can be left as it is, but if you want to be particularly indulgent then spread the remaining cream on top and cover with more fruit.

Not as complicated as you would imagine, happy eating!

 

'One Day' by David Nicholls

Having bought One Day last year I finally got round to reading it, and finished it last week. Unsurprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The way it is written so that you only get to see one day of each year is interesting, and certainly helped keep me wanting more. Often there would be mention of something important happening the next day, a conversation that as a reader you desperately want to listen in on, and yet you know the outcome of the events will only become apparent in some future chapter.

I enjoyed the younger years more so than the later ones but this may have been more to do with the fact that I could relate more to the situations the characters found themselves in in their twenties. The book is witty and hits the nail on the head in the descriptions of feelings and situations. I found myself somewhat addicted to the book, and yet somewhat depressed by its depiction of growing up.

I certainly felt I could relate to the characters, and was constantly willing Dexter to stop treating Emma as disposable, even though you know that really he cares just as much about her as she does about him.  There were deeply moving passages, especially in the scenes where Dexter was emotionally vulnerable and it was clear he had no idea how to deal with it. I felt more affection toward Emma, although her behaviour was not always ideal. Although it seems you could dislike Dexter the dislike never really materialised.

I found my enjoyment of the novel dwindle nearer the end. The climax of the novel which was clearly meant to be remarkably moving did not move me as much as I was expecting, perhaps because I could see it coming. Saying that I still found my heart beat speed up and had to force myself not to skim over the page to find out if I was right. Perhaps I would have been moved more by it had the characters’ positions been reversed.

All in all a fantastic novel, a real page-turner; in places humourous, in places deeply moving. A realistic and poignant look at the past few decades and what it was like growing up in them. My only problem with it was the incessant will they won’t they got a little frustrating after a while, and yes I’m aware that this is the main premise of the novel. It just felt as though after a while there really was not any need for them not to be together, and that I almost did not think they should be. This did not stop me feeling the hurt of the characters every time something got in their way, especially in the earlier sections of the novel. I thoroughly look forward to seeing the film, and have high hopes for it.