Unsurprisingly, the arrival of the hens more than two years ago resulted in a significant increase in egg availability. Having convinced myself that it is in fact ok to eat eggs every day (not that we actually do), I was faced with deciding how best to use them. Clearly they can be scrambled, fried, poached and boiled and we do have them for lunch in one of these forms on many days, but they are also a brilliant ingredient and good source of protein in a meal… as omelette or Spanish tortilla and occasionally quiche. But one of the things that I do more now than ever before in my life is baking.
Brooklyn Blackout Cake – too fiddly to make every day!
Mr Snail-of-happiness has a very sweet tooth and is delighted to have cakes and cookies available most days. In a fit of exuberance ( and bibliophily) I bought several new books on baking, including two of the Hummingbird Bakery books, and set about testing out a variety of recipes. Somehow I got caught up in the moment and for several months made lots of cup cakes* and other fancy creations. Whilst these are enjoyable to make, they don’t necessarily deliver in terms of using up eggs – just one egg for ten cup cakes. So, recently I have returned to the cake recipe I learned as a small child and which never lets me down. It’s easy to remember because you use equal weights of margarine, sugar, egg and self-raising flour (approximately 50g of each ingredient per egg). You don’t even need scales to measure the ingredients – just a crude balance, with the eggs on one side and the flour, margarine and sugar in turn on the other. I once made such a cake with a whole load of students on a botany field trip to the Burren in Ireland… they were fascinated by the simplicity of the recipe and by the fact that we were able to build our own balance with two bowls, a plank and a log. On reflection, I think I taught them more about cooking on that field trip than about botany, although we did combine the two by learning the names of the various plant families in relation to each of the vegetables and fruits we were cooking!
Anyway, I digress… the cake is very versatile – add some cocoa powder and it’s a chocolate cake, or make it more interesting with lemon zest, orange, caramel flavour… whatever you fancy. You can fill it with whipped cream and jam for a decadent Victoria sponge, lemon curd or butter cream to recreate childhood teatimes! Mr S-o-h’s favourites are chocolate peppermint sponge or chocolate orange sponge (in both cases chocolate cake, a chocolate topping and chocolate-butter cream with either peppermint oil or orange essence added).I, on the other hand, am particularly fond of the lemon option… with lemon curd and lemon butter cream and topped off with a sprinkling of icing sugar!
So, whilst I will continue to try out occasional recipes from my fancy books… the old standard will still be wheeled out and enjoyed on a regular basis.
-oOOo-
* My sister provided me with a good explanation of the difference between a cup cake and a fairy cake: a fairy cake has lots of cake and a little butter cream, whilst a cup cake has lots of butter cream with just a little cake.
The Snail of Happiness 
Amiguruthi
/ August 23, 2012I’m so hungry now – may have to go buy chocolate cake (I would make, but I’m not good in the kitchen!)
I like your sisters cup cake vs fairy cake explanation too 🙂
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ August 23, 2012I was in Canada many years ago and asked by a French Canadian if I could explain what a fairy cake was… I wish I’d had the definition then, as it was I was lost for words!
LikeLike
metan
/ August 24, 2012I love the sound of that cake recipe, we are planning to get chooks at the end of the year and one of the things I am contemplating is managing the supply of eggs. That cake sounds like a good excuse to use some up, and to keep our little sweet tooths happy 🙂
LikeLike
Pamela
/ April 22, 2013I agree that simple cakes are best. Whilst growing up in Canada, my Scottish mother made us 1-2-3-4 cakes, the recipe always the same with the icing and filling telling you whose birthday or which holiday. Preheat oven to 350F, butter and flour round cake pans. 1c. butter, 1c.milk, 1tsp vanilla, 2c. sugar, 3c. sifted all purpose flour, 3tsp. baking soda, and 4 eggs. Cream butter, sugar & vanilla together, adding eggs one at a time, add baking soda & flour & bake for an hour (or until the toothpick comes out clean). The icing was confectioners sugar, butter & milk (proportions to be determined by it looking & tasting right) whipped to a frenzy and placed between the layers & around the whole cake, with middle filling (or not) and flavouring/colouring in the icing to the honouree’s preference. If you like heavier cake leave out the baking soda. Now I’m homesick. Is it still called homesick if it’s for a time rather than a place, I wonder?
LikeLike
Pamela
/ April 22, 2013Ah, no… that would be nostalgia, eh?
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ April 23, 2013Bit of both, I think!
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ April 23, 2013Thanks for the recipe – I will try it.
They say home is where your heart it, so if your heart is in the past, you can be homesick for it, I guess! But cheer yourself up and bake that cake!
LikeLike
Pamela
/ April 23, 2013I really hope you enjoy it. I’ve heard that some people add a pinch of salt to the batter when they sift together the baking soda and flour. Let me know what you think! BTW, I purchased Mr. SoH’s book today (both parts) and am reading voraciously!
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ April 23, 2013I’m going to try making it tomorrow… chickens are laying well so we have plenty of eggs!
LikeLike
Pamela
/ April 24, 2013Can’t wait to hear what you think! BTW, that vanilla could just as well be lemon! 😉
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ April 25, 2013Made the cake yesterday – roaring success! Blog post when I can find time x
LikeLike
Pamela
/ April 26, 2013Yay! #8-D One of the best things about it is that it’s so versatile. Your favourite flavouring instead of vanilla, or a little cocoa in the icing, maybe frosting &raspberry jam between the layers — imagination really is the limit. I’m so pleased you liked it!
LikeLike
The Snail of Happiness
/ May 10, 2013Just posted about your cake!
LikeLike