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The Mission

My name is Bridie, and I am a 27 year old female who wishes to share with you her life in cakes.

The trouble with cake is that it doesn't last very long, and when you have slaved over a hot stove and turned your kitchen into a bomb site only to have crumbs left as evidence, you start to wonder....if a cake gets eaten in a kitchen, and no one sees it, was it really baked?

From now on, I'm going to make a fuss about my baking, and make every week a tea party. I'm going to prove you can have your cake and eat it. The aim is to bake something different each week and give you a taste of the creations via this blog. Armed with my wooden spoon in one hand and an oven glove in the other, I am embarking on a journey that will take me to the final frontier of sugary delights. From the perils of Baked Alaska, to the glory of a Manchester Tart - who knows where this quest will lead! Join me to find out 'What Bridie Baked'....

Friday, 28 May 2010

Cake 10 - Peach, Yoghurt and Almond Cake



After last week's attempt at emergency scones from my sick bed, I decided that this week I owed it to my loyal followers to make a spectacular comeback on a grand scale. I'm thinking Tony Christie, except with cake.

In case you were wondering about my health, the foot is improving, but I'm not able to walk very far. My ugly orthepedic boot wasn't made for walking, oh no. Therefore I have had another week of 1000 piece jigsaws, reading vampire novels, and pondering the meaning of life. The highlight of today was when Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my door. I was so excited to have company I offered them cake, and we talked at length about the prospect of an apocalypse. Uplifting stuff. Eventually they got bored, and made excuses to leave.

This week the featured cake is Peach, Almond, and Yoghurt Cake. I thought I would struggle to get fresh peaches this early on in the season, but Asda must have heard I was baking up a storm for my famous blog, and flew them all the way from Ghana for me. Good for the cake, bad for the carbon footprint.

The clue for the main ingredients for this cake are in the name. However, the secret ingredient in this recipe is amaretto liqueur. Just a dash of this in the cake mixture adds a hint of richness!

As luck would have it, Amaretto is the only liqueur I have in my cupboard - somewhere between the Strongbow and sweet sherry that expired in 2008. The amaretto was an expensive joke present from Tobey after the Disserano advert had us in stitches every time it was on telly. What really cracked us up was the gormless look on the bartender's face, as the beautiful woman gives him a wistful look as if to say “Oy Luv, Giz a refill of that Amaretto.” In the real world the bartender would not be so easily enchanted, and it would be a binge drinker pointing an acrylic nail in the direction of the WKD. Anyway, who am I to criticize - the ad worked on us, we bought the stuff!

The cake making process went according to plan, and the cake batter was the consistency of whipped cream. After I threw in the roughly chopped peaches, I poured into a lined tin (which took me forever to line) and sprinkled with flaked almonds. It was baked in just over an hour, and I left to cool.




When refrigerated for a few hours, the sponge took on a superb squidgy texture, with a little a bit of peach here and there. The crunch of the flaked almonds finished it off beautifully. For that real peaches and cream experience, I served with vanilla ice cream.

And now for a taste of what's to come. Currently cooling in the kitchen, and coming soon to a blog near you are Mint & Chocolate Muffins. We are about to enter the realms of baking with chocolate!

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