Meet Carole Our Resident Cake Maker

Ok…I must confess, she’s my nan. But she’s a blooming good cake baker at that and from now on will be our resident cake maker giving us lots of tips and advice on what cakes are great for the time of year and what she recommends.

As spring has finally sprung we asked Carole what cake is great for the warmer months and what tipple goes great with it.

“Well I make a nice almond slice which is quite cheap to make, although it’s got almonds in it it’s actually almond essence and then you just sprinkle the almonds on top. Very similar to a bakewell tart but you don’t put the icing on top, and that will keep for weeks and weeks in an air tight tin, it’s very light, and you can take it on picnics and it’s lovely for afternoon tea.”

What ingredients do you put into it?

“YOu put a base of shortcrust pastry onto he bottom and cover that with your favourite jam, strawberry or raspberry or whatever jam you like. And then you make a sponge mixture up and you can put fruit and raisins in it if you wish, and then almond essence to give it the almondy taste, spread that over the top of the pastry and the jam and then flaked almonds on top of that and then pop it in the oven and bake until cooked.”

Why do you recommend almond cake for this time of you?

“Because it keeps, and it’s not a creamy cake so it won’t go running and sickly. And all my family love it.”

What other cakes do you suggest for this time of year?

“My chocolate crunch. You used to have it when you were at school with pink custard, but I just make a crunchy brownie mixture and I put chocolate on top on mine which keeps lovely n the fridge. My son was in the army, and my nephew was in the army and whatever country they were in, the chocolate crunch got posted to, they always insisted that I send chocolate crunch. So it’s been all over the world from Cyprus to Ireland, Afghanistan, Germany, Cyprus and Hong Kong.”

What do you think of the current trend of afternoon tea?

“I think it’s wonderful, I think it’s here to stay. It’s a lovely civilised thing to do especially with cream and jam scones.”

And what beverage would you have with it?

“Pimms probably, or Amorreto, or blackcurrent in a nice cool cold glass. In terms or tea I stick with traditional breakfast tea, I’m not one for all those ponsey teas.”