So here are the stripes. I couldn't take a photo that didn't look dark and unimpressive. Not even of the reading chair that now sits at the heart of the home and where we all spend some portion of our day! We love the stripes.Really couldn't say the same of tonight's first attempt to make a real sponge cake. Oh my. We had even invited very good friends for tea and the cake. Flat as omelettes and tasted as eggy. Cranks cookbook said to use 4 eggs and vanilla essence and only one ounce each of sugar and flour. Can this be right? I didn't think my whisking was effective though. Salvaged by making mini sandwiches with cream inside and jam on top. Politely eaten. Comestible as Nedboy would say!
Took refuge in Erasmus. Only because Prince Charming has driven down into the slow marshes of academia for his latest Local Preachers unit. "Have you heard of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Mags?" he foolishly asked from the reading chair last night. I am still living with the consequences of my proud and patronising response!
8 comments:
Well, I have NEVER made a sponge. I am sure your sponge tasted wonderful and next time . . . perfection!
Stripes are fantastic!
Dont think much of Cranks recipe!
I use 4oz of flour, sugar,margarine and 2 eggs. You need self raising flour and a spoonful of baking powder too.
I think what you made is known as a 'whisking sponge'.
My Dad taught me about Erasmus "Erasmus laid the egg and Luther hatched it"
Not sure if that meant Luther ate roast chicken before he went to on to the Diet Of Worms [a sort of early Weightwatchers]
Whatever they ate, I think Elizabethd is right regarding sponge cakes - I have had scant success with 'whisking sponges' - I thought your creative sandwich idea was a brilliant way to rescue the situation.
Oh, here's another great Erasmus quote - "I use my money to buy books, and if any is left I buy food and clothes."
It is a cold wet Sunday - shall I spend my afternoon reading theology books or cookery books??
.....I think Jamie Oliver is winning!
The recipe sounds a bit cranky to me - for a fatless sponge I use the same quantity of flour, sugar and egg, i.e. 3 oz flour, 3 oz sugar, and 3 eggs, in whatever multiples you like, and it turns out fine.
But your carpet is lovely - Sherlock Holmes would have had it in his study, defying Victorian society with the showiness of the occasional white stripes. And I never had much patience with Erasmus.
The mini sponge sandwiches look very fine and I'm glad you didn't have to toss the cake to the chickens. I'm not much of a sponge eater and neither are my folks so I don't make them. I prefer pound or devils -- weightier cakes.
Love the stripes!
Jody
Love, love your carpet! We have the same one in shades of brown on the staird. Supposedly to show less footmarkd. We have the same taste!!!
Thanks to all for kind comments and wise advice- i may feel courageous enough to try again at the weekend. Lorraine- are you who I think you are?? Have you joined the ranks of the bloggistes?!
I tried to leave a comment on this last weekend, but for some reason it didn't stick. And I said something very clever, too. About the jam on the stripes making me nervous. But it was funny, the way I said it last week. Not so much now.Sigh.
xofrances
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