GBBO Challenge Week 1: cherry cake

It's back!  Did you watch?  Last Wednesday the Great British Bake Off was back on our screens.  Thankfully the jump to BBC1 seems to be the only thing that has changed; it is the same gentle show it ever was, inviting you to put aside your worries for an hour and indulge.  For a competition, its surprisingly soothing, even as I wait to see how the bakers' showstoppers will turn out.

Never mind the trolls (it's a baking show for goodness sake - more cake less hate people!), I love all the bakers; they are there doing what they love and, with the technical challenge, they're always prepared to have a go.

This year I'm going to try doing the technical challenge from each show (although I reserve the right to pick something else if the technical challenge looks particularly impossible!).  Unlike the bakers, I won't be baking against the clock or having to worry about what Paul and Mary might say.  I fully expect to make mistakes - but hopefully in doing so I'll learn something as well.  And it should be fun...

Cherry cake
The first week's challenge was a cherry cake.  I used a Linda Collister recipe from The Great British Book of Baking.

My understanding from the show was that there were two things which could have a major impact on how good my finished cake was: how I prepared the cherries and the consistency of the cake mix.

Following the recipe, I rinsed the cherries under warm water (to remove their sticky coating), dried them in kitchen paper and mixed them with a little flour, before adding to the (well beaten) mix.

The cake was supposed to be in the oven for one hour, but when I checked it after 40 minutes it was done!

The recipe I was using was for an unadorned cake, but in the spirit of GBBO I decided to decorate mine as they had in the show - with lemon drizzle icing, toasted almonds and cherries.  This was also a good excuse to use a piping bag for the first time.

The icing, while delicious, could have been thicker and my piping skills leave something to be desired, but it was my first time so I'm not going to judge myself on that!

I will allow myself one moment of smugness though - the cherries didn't sink to the bottom!  And, perhaps most importantly, the finished cake is rather yummy (even if I do say so myself!).  This is one I will be making again.


Perhaps not something I would want to present to Mary Berry
but I'm proud of it all the same



Success - the cherries didn't sink!