Not-so-apricot Swiss Cakes

I am new to this whole twitter business and am definitely yet to really get the hang of it but I am very curious about it and the projects it inspires. Last week I came across @WeeklyBakeOff which is a blog and twitter project set up by a woman who is baking her way through Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes and Bakes book and each week she invites others on twitter to join her in baking one of the recipes and sharing the evidence (in picture form as I don’t think humankind has yet advanced to virtual cake...one day...).


I have two large Mary Berry cook books but due to my aversion to following recipes I have actually baked very little from them so I figured that taking part in this week’s bake off would make me bake something that I hadn’t tried before. This week’s bake off was Apricot Swiss Cakes which I had never even heard of (I thought they only had the rolls) so I was curious.


The recipe called for butter (no eggs, which was a shame as we have about two dozen!), self-raising flour, icing sugar, corn flour and apricot jam. The first three ingredients are rarely absent from my cupboards but I realised as I was softening the butter that I had no corn flour. A quick nip over the road found that I could buy a 5kg bag of corn meal (which, by the way, does not constitute a meal) but no corn flour. So deviating from the recipe (as usual) I used more self-raising flour than was called for and sieved in just a little of the cornmeal. Once mixed I piped the thick mixture into the cake cases and baked whilst I skyped my future business partner to discuss cafe ideas and the merits of Cadbury Crunchie.

I had piped the mixture in circles round the outside edge of the cupcake cases so once baked there was a dip in the middle which I filled with jam. Since these were supposed to be apricot swiss cakes I was supposed to use apricot jam but I don’t like apricot and I don’t believe in baking things that I don’t like (although perhaps that would help me with my resolutions – see previous post...) so I used raspberry jam. The cakes had an unusual texture; dense yet melt in the mouth - my housemate and I both commented that they were almost like scones (and I should know – I have eaten plenty!) They needed the jam and if I made them again I would slice them in half and spread the jam in the middle. Overall these little cakes actually pleasantly suprised me and I think I'll bake them again with a few adaptations.

In other news, I am now the very proud owner of a cupcake courier which holds 36 cupcakes. I have convinced myself that this luxury is an investment, and though I am slightly concerned that a twenty-not-much should not get quite so excited about cake storage it has become my pride and joy.


Next up I have the daunting task of creating some not so tasteful (but very tasty) Hen Party Cupcakes – you’re gonna love it.....