Friday, September 2, 2011

A Fun Baking Day




Tom and Hairy!  What a couple of adorable kitties!  They, along with their mummies, invited me to dinner, and so I baked them a cake to welcome them. 


The Porter Cake was from my never-fail BBC cake book. Like every other cake I have made from this book, it was très yummy, and très time consuming to make.  I can’t believe the time estimates they give for preparing these cakes.  This one said twenty minutes to prep time, and it took me an hour and a half.  Rebecca says that it is because I am so inefficient.  Maybe so, but I can’t imagine anyone doing it in 20 minutes.  She says I waste time fiddling around, and my pantry is so poorly arranged that I can’t find anything.  I informed her that this is not the problem, as I recently, in my post-mouse cleanup frenzy, rearranged it.  I know right where everything is.  Sometimes.  Perhaps if I had a servant to prepare the cake pan (lined with parchment paper and buttered,) assemble and measure all the ingredients, chop the fruit, and then clean up afterwards, so that all I had to do was toss it into a bowl and stir ……..   Well then, maybe.  I think it took me the full twenty minutes to find the right cake pan.   Take a look at the ingredients spread out on the table.
  

This is not even all of them, because I usually put things away as I go.  You will notice that there are no eggs, no flour, no butter – the cake essentials.  And then have a look at the ensuant mess!    But it doesn’t matter – as long as one doesn’t really expect the prep time estimation to be remotely accurate -  because a twenty minute cake would not be much fun.  I had a lovely morning among my dried fruits and spices, chopping, measuring, mixing, sipping the other half of the Guinness – which I used instead of Porter - and looking forward to meeting Tomasina and Hairy.




5 comments:

FuguesStateKnits said...

Indeed, cake baking is far more delightful with intermittent sips of Guinness - and have some more for me - I'm a teetotaler these days:(

Samos said...

Cute pictures Joanna! Especially your table. :-)

Lorette said...

Yum! That's what my kitchen looks like after I'm done cooking.

Laura said...

I've always wondered if it was just me when it came to not getting even close to the prep time estimates!

Marta said...

I get the feeling that you love cats.

Cake looks wonderful and worth the extra trouble.