Memoirs of an Amateur Cook

Today is Mothering Sunday here in the UK.  Mr MAC and I thought we would do something a bit different this year and bake our Moms’ cakes for a change….we wanted to give them a bit of a tasty treat (well, not poison them at any rate!) to say thank you for all of their love and support.

Mr MAC chose a Nigella Lawson recipe for ‘Coffee and Walnut Layer Cake’ for his Mum (sans walnuts!).  The recipe seemed simple enough so we didn’t think we would have any problems and eagerly prepared the kitchen ready for a baking session.  All seemed to be going well until we took the first layer out of the oven….I suddenly remembered that I am not far off useless at making layer cakes!  I don’t know why but my layers always seem to look rather thin and lacking something.  I use the correct size pan and follow the instructions to the letter but somehow, I never manage to get it quite right.  The first layer wasn’t much of a success and my lovely boyfriend, very kindly, left it to me to get it out of the pan.  I was rather fearful it would crumble before my eyes and we would have to start all over again! but I managed it in the end and our second layer was much better.  I am sure you are wondering why I didn’t bake both layers at once?  A rookie mistake I know….I must make sure to purchase more cake tins!!

The second layer…

Mr MAC cracked on and made the icing which was really tasty and quite simple to make.  The majority of the recipe was done in a food processor so was really easy and kind on the hands and wrists – always a bonus.  The recipe can be found on Nigella’s website here.

Mr MAC’s (slightly wonky) coffee layer cake

Next, we moved on to making my Mom’s cake.  I decided on making an ‘Apple Streusel Cake’ from the wonderful Hummingbird Bakery ‘Cake Days’ cookbook.  For those of you that are regular readers of my blog, you will know that I’m a big fan of this cookbook and would thoroughly recommend purchasing it.  I am slowly working my way through the delicious recipe selections and hoped that this recipe was one my Mom would particularly enjoy.

I would recommend having a look at their website.  Not only can you order their delicious delicacies if you live in the London area, their blog also has lots of news and useful tips such as how to successfully freeze cupcakes and five items every baker should have in their kitchen!

Anyway, back to the cake!  As with a lot of Hummingbird’s recipes, I found it fairly straight forward and not to taking and it came out looking really yummy (in fact, we tried a piece at my Mom and Dad’s and it didn’t disappoint even if I do say so myself!).  It is basically a vanilla sponge with sliced apples on top and a cinnamon crumble finish.  Again, I would have liked the sponge to have been thicker and it did stick to the tin a fair bit despite me thoroughly greasing and flouring it in advance.  I think it is definitely time to purchase those new cake tins!!

Apple streusel cake straight out of the oven

The cakes didn’t turn out quite as well as we’d of hoped but our Moms seemed happy and at the end of the day, that is the most important thing.  I really enjoyed being able to make them a little something just to say thank you for being such wonderful, thoughtful mothers and positive influences in our lives.

Happy Mother’s Day!