Sunday catch up – two bakes in one post!

One thing about writing this blog is that it is a great way to procrastinate and put off the boring jobs that really need to be done. Conversely it can also be difficult to find the time to write sometimes because of all those jobs – and work, and other life things…

So here is a quick update on two baking projects I’ve done over the last ten days or so.

First I took part in a little lockdown mini bake off via Zoom and WhatsApp with my niece L. (in north London) and not-niece G. (in Paris). We decided to make something not too complicated, but not too straightforward either. A Battenberg cake was a good choice. We all used the same recipe from the BBC website here. I made an orange version, adding the zest of an orange, and a little juice. I coloured one half of the mixture orange. We managed to have a chat, and get the mixture into the oven in the allotted 40 minutes of a free Zoom session! The we carried on via WhatsApp and photos. For some strange reason L.’s cake – which was the most beautiful pink – collapsed as it cooled, and she decided to abandon the marzipan coating altogether. G. and I continued with the trimming of the cakes and covering with marzipan. I stuck my cakes together with a very fine cut marmalade to continue the orange theme. If you are a fan of marzipan then you should definitely try a Battenberg!

Second bake of the week was the following Friday evening. I decided that lemon cake was what I wanted. I was actually googling blondies and found a recipe that was called Lemon Brownies. Now to me that sounds a bit strange, because a brownie is brown because it’s made of chocolate. So how can it be lemon? The recipe looked like a fairly basic lemon sponge, so I thought I can’t really go wrong here. And I was absolutely right! It came out light and fluffy with a lovely lemon flavour. Really great recipe which you can find on this website. It’s very straightforward and the result was dee-lish-us!

And just in case you think that I only make cake – this week I’ve also made some kimchi, and I’m slowly perfecting my favourite dal – makhani dal, which I made in honour of Diwali this weekend.

And – I’m still running. Today I ran 10 miles (16km) between Isleworth and Kingston along the river Thames. The weather wasn’t that great, but who cares? The trees were beautiful, and there was lots to see, including several people going for a swim in the river!

Another week of lockdown is over. Sometimes it doesn’t really feel like a lockdown at all, when there are so many people out and about. A friend sent a photo of a line of people waiting 20 minutes to get out of Richmond Park! Mad.

I hope you are all well, and finding things to do at home, or outside.