Cakes! Scones! Sponge! Learning to bake like a Brit

If there is one thing we have learned about the residents of this island we live on, it’s that they love baked goods. Cake comes up in conversation even more frequently than the weather. One of the most popular things on TV is the Great British Bake Off, a show which I suspect we’re going to have to start watching if we ever want to truly assimilate.

So it came as no real surprise when, out of the blue, we were invited to a blogger bake off. We were excited to learn some proper British baking skills (you never know what you might find on the Life in the UK test, after all), so we happily popped over to Glasgow for an afternoon in the kitchen. First up was scones. Scones! Such an integral part of life here. Makes sense that we should know how to prepare our own, in case the dozen or so cafes and shops on our block suddenly run out all at the same time. Actually, we’ve already learned to appreciate the vast difference between a good and a less-than-spectacular scone, and knowing how to make the former is sure to come in handy (the secret might be in the flour – we were told 00 is the way to go).

Next (well, after a scone-eating break that involved lots of cream and jam) we made the cake part of cupcakes and Victoria sponge. “Sponge” is a word you hear a lot here when it comes to desserts, and it seems to apply to a vast array of cakes (whereas in the US it is used more narrowly). We used the same recipe for both the cupcakes and the sponge. The batter was much thicker than what I’d normally use to make cupcakes (there are basically only three things that I bake with any regularity: cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin pie), and much simpler. It made for a cake with a bigger crumb – a texture I associate more with cornbread than with cupcakes.

This bake-off day was baking the easy way: the lovely staff of The Cookery School placed all the pre-measured ingredients and equipment at our cooking station. Once we had done our bit, they whisked our creations off to the ovens, only to bring them back perfectly-baked at some point in the near future. Such a treat! It’s the actual time-in-the-oven part where things are most in danger of going wrong at our house, especially now that we have an oven that speaks neither fahrenheit nor celsius, but gas mark. Precision, who needs that?

(Scott’s baking tip: buy yourself an oven thermometer, so you know how hot your oven really is. Even those that communicate in actual temperatures often run a little hot or cold.)

After the sponge we also made some chocolate chip muffins, but they never quite got the attention they deserved, as they were overshadowed by the excitement of assembling and decorating the Victoria sponge and the cupcakes.

For the Victoria sponge, we basically made a big sandwich, with whipped cream and jam as the filling, and then a dusting of powdered sugar over the top. It looked properly beautiful, and we were proud.

When it came to decorating the cupcakes, Scott went for looks (his spider webs got oohs and aahs), whereas I focused on achieving the proper frosting-to-cake ratio (tip: for cupcakes it’s 1:1. Any less and you’re just wasting my time.).

Whew, that was a hard post to get through. I’m now dying for a scone. And then maybe a cupcake for dessert. Thanks so much to Curry’s (and Joe Blogs) for inviting us along to this bake off. We are thrilled with our new British baking skills, and our lovely new Kenwood hand mixer.* (After five different home countries, any appliance that is actually meant for the outlets in our current home is kind of amazing. It’s like a little miracle every time I don’t need an adapter.) Who wants to come over for scones?

* Do you know what else makes me happy? One of the recipes that came with our new hand mixer is for something called “Special Toad in the Hole.” Dying.