My inner/outer geek loves the lure of back to school. New shoes and sharp pencils, I always want to start something as September approaches. August is just too overripe and overgrown.
What better time to begin blogging again than a new series at of the Great British Bake Off? All the satisfaction of fresh challenge paired with the deep joy of autumn telly schedules.
For the first episode, the family gathered round the set like it was 1983. GBBO is about the only regular programme we all watch together. I knew immediately that I wanted to try a "signature bake" - a variant on a traditional Victoria sponge. I am obsessed with Germanic cakes, heavy with big pieces of fruit and topped with a nutty, crumbly streusel. I just can't get enough of them and imagined the top sponge with a crumble texture and a lovely apple filling through the middle.
I started with a traditional small Victoria sponge batter (three eggs) but replaced a little of the flour with some whizzed up hazlenuts. I made a separate crumble mix of even quantities of Demerara sugar and plain flour with a little less melted butter and scattered it over one of the tins of batter. Then I chucked on a bit more pulverised hazlenut for the sheer hell of it.
I was concerned that the crumble would sink into the sponge as it cooked and a halftime peek into the oven confirmed my suspicions. The only thing left on the surface were the nuts. Nuts. I forged on with filling. With one foxed chicken (poor Bella) and one broody chicken, wasting Sylvia's perfect little eggs on a cake mistake was not an option.
A few Bramley windfalls from the orchard just needed to be heated with a squeeze of honey to make soft pulpy jam. A jar of Confiture de Lait winked at me from the fridge. It seemed like a cheat but the salty caramel was a perfect partner for apple and it was easy to spread on the warm sponge.
The streusel all but disappeared, but the nuttiness of the sponge and the caramel apple filling were delicious. Bread week beckons...
