#82 Have my physical cake and eat it (complete)

So it's back to the cooking resolutions as tonight I baked my actual physical cake - and ate it! 

I promise I will get to the more exciting resolutions at some point. It's just that baking, cooking and film watching are more achievable when you're still penniless from university.

I based the recipe on Sophie Dahl's Orange Victoria Sponge, which I had the good fortune of seeing earlier in the morning on BBC 2's new alphabetic cooking programme.Weekend daytime television in the UK is packed with a worrying amount of cooking programmes. I even clocked in an episode of the Taste which I think I may now love. I'm not sure exactly how but I suspect the British population are somehow being controlled en masse when they're at their most vulnerable. I mean the weekend is when our work frazzled brains will accept any television fodder - so what's with all the cooking lessons? What happened to Phil and Kirsty, or for that matter T4?

Anyway, the actual baking was less painful than usual which was a nice surprise. I was ecstatic when I heard chef Dahl exclaim "I used to hate baking". Yes! Me too! I hate how when a cake is ruined it's ruined and you can't simply mask it in icing...This puts a lot of pressure on me but at the same time I'm highly aware that it is simply a cake and that is all. Consequently, this strange mixture of nonchalance and neurosis equates to either a complete disaster or an acceptable attempt. This was definatly the latter so perhaps as Dahl also noted "practice makes perfect".

Here is the finished cake. Bit more homely than beautiful but hey.

I have to say I liked the orange and raspberry mix, and the finish with the orange zest. The only thing I would change would be the quantity of sugar. It was a bit too sickly. Ah well. Oh and also do not use organic self raising flour UNLESS you add baking powder or your cake won't rise (see above. I hate baking)

So... life changing. No. Life lesson, well, yes, sort of. I am now aware that I like Sophie Dahl and will probably use her recipes again. 

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