#107 School cake
... Vanilla buttermilk sponge, draped in raspberry and lemon icing topped with unicorn sprinkles - YES PLEASE!
Oh gosh, talk about ground hog day, I’m still so tired, and yuck…
it’s been another murky week, nothing monumentally bad, if I gave it a colour, it would probably be pale grey, not full-on dark, steely grey, but a dirty ‘white-wash’ grey, kind of rumbling and slightly ominous.
What an un-catchy opener? I once read an article by a proper writer (not a wannabe – moi) that stressed how important it is to frame things positively when you write. It explained that if you’re too negative, you make your reader feel crap too… and here I am ploughing on with the gloom… and making you guys feel rotten too – I’m a terrible human. Please accept my apology!
Can I turn this around? I’m not sure…
Let’s break the week down…
Dave (the cat) bought Mighty mouse home on Sunday morning. He nonchalantly waltzed into the Kitchen parading his new mate, delicately discarded him on the floor as if to say, ‘thank me later’ and wandered off upstairs proud of his handy work. I’d like to say I handled the situation with grace and composure, I did not. Initially I thought poor ‘Mighty’ hadn’t survived the ordeal, but it became apparent that he was very much still with us when he scuttled around the kitchen plotting an escape route. I get annoyed with myself in situations like this because I really love animals and very much don’t want to see them suffer so rescuing them is my priority, however, I have an annoying reflex response which involves flinching when an alive being runs towards me, I also adopt the dexterity of an uncoordinated octopus whilst trying to tame any such beast.
Thus, attempting to spatula this squirming creature out of a nook in the kitchen and simultaneously capture it under a Tupperware proved more challenging than I’d have liked. I’m relieved to say I was eventually successful (felt like quite the heroine) and managed to release him back into the wild (down the road), where I’m naively hoping he is living happily ever after.
It took a cup of tea and a mouthful of cake to settle my nerves.
I then woke up on Monday AND Tuesday morning under the deeply misplaced assumption that it was Sunday (the Sunday just gone), that I needed to send out my newsletter (which always makes me nervous you know? In case something goes wrong or you all hate what I’ve written, oh and I don’t do that clever ‘scheduling’ thing because I don’t trust technology to do stuff for me, although, it’s probably more reliable than I am, given my propensity to confuse my days), and that it was Italian Grand Prix. It wasn’t, which I found very confusing and fairly disappointing not once but twice.
Talking of the Italian GP, this one is firmly on my bucket list – the atmosphere looks INSANE (+ pizza, pasta, wine, etc etc. SOLD)!! It looked doubly (triply/quadruply…?) thrilling this year as a Ferrari driver won, and in Italy Ferrari is a religion, so there were some very happy Italians (the Tifosi)… and I adore Charles Leclerc, so this briefly made me smiley too. I also furtively followed Jack Draper’s progress in the US open… I can’t openly get too invested because the disappointment when the person I support loses is too much to bear but he did superbly well and is fast becoming a new favourite of mine.
I cried big puddly tears on Monday which made my face red and blotchy… not cute. It was warm outside though, which meant I could rest my achy eyes whilst basking in the sunlight. Why the tears? Same stuff really, and I suppose a layer of disappointment - I’d mustered some courage to contact a few people a couple of weeks ago, sent out some emails, did the scary things - in a sort-of work, sort-of ‘can I ask some questions’ kind of way - and have heard nothing back. It’s not that I expect people to provide answers immediately or engage much (I know people have lives and don’t have the time), but silence really hurts when you’re asking for a bit of advice. It makes you feel invisible.
I’m VERY aware that I often expect too much of people and that I’m probably too sensitive when it comes to things like this. However, when your outlook is a bit gloomy, it can be hard to rationalise this and thus it feels particularly crushing.
On Wednesday I traipsed over to Manchester to see my physio who reorganised my limbs for me. I always appreciate his handy work but my goodness, the whole day shatters me. Just getting up a bit earlier, changing my routine, and then there’s the drive (who am I kidding Mum drove for me, still exhausting though). I also find it really hard to organise my week around simple plans like this… it’s like I have to prepare days in advance and then ‘recover’ for days after…
… hence why I’m writing this in mild panic the day before I’m due to send it out (as you know, I generally like to be much more organised than this).
I made one of my favourite packed lunches though:
Very thinly sliced veg - carrot, pepper, cabbage, mushrooms, courgette, (anything you like) bundled together in a bowl with some cooked quinoa and edamame. Tossed in a dressing of approx. 1/2 tbsp tahini, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp maple syrup, a dash of rice vinegar, a pinch of grated ginger and 1/2 a crushed garlic clove. And layered with an optional handful of leftover cooked chicken at the end - et voila. Good!
Did I tell you that our neighbour, Geoff, grows stunning tomatoes? And that every year he generously delivers an endless supply to us through the summer, along with plums and apples at this time of year… I offer cake in return of course. Anyway, this week we had a LOT of end-of-season tommy’s to get through, so I roasted them down with salt, a splash of oil, and a sprinkle of sugar in a hot oven for about 30 minutes until blistered and wrinkly, before blitzing them up to use in my tomato and mascarpone pasta sauce (pic below - it was SO glossy and richhhh). I stirred it through fresh eggy pasta ribbons on two consecutive evenings this week and it was heavenly.
Baking wise I’ve been a bit hit and miss. A couple of howlers – a ginger cake that tasted distinctly un-gingery and an attempt at improving my emergency sponge cake that absolutely wasn’t an improvement - a stark reminder that one should not mess with a good thing - and a few absolute gems. Why do the bad things always stand out more than the good though? They’re like beacons in the brain, a constant reminder to you of… well, badness!
Having said that, I can’t ignore the fact that I well and truly satisfied my current need for nostalgic comfort in the form of a very, respectable rendition of ‘school cake’; I’m always astonished at how powerful food can be for soothing the soul… this one really hit the comfort spot! You can find the recipe and more chat about that below.
As part of my ‘doom diary*’ entry last week I briefly mentioned my preoccupation with what others think; of me, of a situation, of people I love, and how that impacts my confidence, decision making and ability to interact with others. I can also be quite easily influenced on some things, yet fiercely passionate and resolute on others - as ever, an unhelpful contradiction. I really want to go into this more, but my head has been so foggy this week that I’ve found it impossible to organise my thoughts and in turn get them down on paper… computer paper. Rest assured, I haven’t forgotten, I’ll do my best to resolve this ASAP.
* (have I made this into an actual thing?)
Right, that’s the week summarised. How are you all doing? Please do actually answer this, even if it’s in your head, I’m listening!
As ever, I’m sending so much love to everyone, meet me back here again next week - I’m thinking of bringing brownies and you probs don’t want to miss that!
Steph X X X
School cake with Pink icing and Unicorn Sprinkles
I have a confession to make… I was never really that into ‘school’ cake as a kid - I couldn’t get my head around the appeal of a dry, insipid slab of sponge topped with a thin puddle of overly sweet icing… the sprinkles did sell it, but from memory, it was distinctly ‘style over substance’.
However, given the time of year, and my recent hankering for simplicity and comfort, school cake seemed like a very good idea, and so I set about re-creating the classic with some subtle tweaks… just enough to give it a little face lift, ya know?
The base is a PLUSH vanilla, buttermilk sponge that I think is utter perfection. It’s a riff on a Cupcake Jemma recipe; buttery-rich, humming with vanilla, tender, fluffy, the sweetness is slightly tempered with the addition of buttermilk and it’s a decent thickness - enough for you to really appreciate the cake’s flavour.
Draped on top is a veil of thick not-too-sweet juice infused icing. For the version below, I use the juice from a handful of raspberries with a squeeze of lemon juice stirred through a cloud of icing sugar to create a pink fruity icing, I also suggest adding a dash of glycerine - I can’t remember where I read this, but it seems to make the icing more viscous and prevents a crust from forming which I LOVE.
Then for the final hurrah, I liberally shower the icing with Dr Oetker Unicorn confetti sprinkles - these particular ones are super cute but any sprinkles will do.
Besides the beauty of this cake flavour-wise, it’s also guaranteed to lift your mood, even just for a moment… I mean, how can you not smile at such simple, childhood, magnificence.
Right, let’s make this!
Ingredients
Vanilla Buttermilk sponge
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