Every episode I think I like Mary just a little bit more. She is what I would imagine my British grandmother would be like. She is very sassy and always sure to speak her mind, but she does it in such a polite and posh way you almost don't notice the insult until she's moved onto something else. We have really enjoyed many of the show's elements, but something really nice is how clean it is. They play lovely music while working on challenges, the contestants help each other and seem to genuinely care about others. It is so refreshing compared the all of the other shows on TV lately.
As we've been watching these seasons, I've been more and more excited to try to bake some of the recipes. I think we hadn't even finished the first episode when I impulsively went on Amazon and ordered her cookbook. Now, to be fair, I had been saving birthday money since the beginning of June, but that's how much I love this show!
This week, I was reading through the Baking Bible (yes reading, it's the international version so there's lots to learn) and I thought about the movie Julie and Julia. I know I'm recommending lots of things to watch, but this movie is so good if you haven't seen it. Anyways, I decided I would like to bake my way through Mary Berry's Baking Bible. Ambitious. I know. I am not setting some crazy time limit on myself though. Hopefully I will accomplish this task before I'm 30 like Julie did. Who knows.
With that being said, this week I baked my first recipe and the first in the book. The beginning section is classic cakes. I made a lime Madeira cake. Several observations:
- When they baked these on the show they talked about how it needed a crack in the center, that was the signature look. In the cookbook, there's no mention of that. Mine didn't crack and I was very sad about that.
- Also the cakes on the show were much fluffier than mine was in the end. So I might have done something wrong with the preparation - I didn't have Paul and Marry here to tell me.
- Candying lime peel isn't as easy as you'd think. It's a labor of love for sure (took 2+ hours). Also don't leave your heat on high once you get it to simmer - let's just say it won't end well.
- Overall, the cake was ok. It isn't a new favorite of mine. It was rather dense and close textured I thought. Also, like I mentioned it didn't rise like I thought it would. The flavor was scrummy (my new favorite word thanks to lovely Mary) though and it would be a nice accompaniment to a glass of coffee or tea (we drank milk with it and it was good).
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