Practice cake

I'm going to be godmother to little baby George at the end of the month, and his mum's asked me to bake the cake too. The pressure! I got Mary Berry's 'Baking Bible' for Christmas....

 

...and in it there is a recipe for a Christening cake...

Rather than just making a normal sponge, I thought it would be worth a try to make this, so it would be extra-special. I thought it best to practice now, before the big day. The method was very different to any I've done before - it's always just been creaming the sugar and butter, add egg, add flour, type of recipe. But this one required me to whisk the sugar and egg over hot water for about 10 minutes, then away from the hot water for a further 5 minutes, then fold in half the flour, half the melted butter poured round the edge of the bowl, then more flour and more butter. It was quite complicated, and I was so nervous before letting my friend try it. Luckily it worked, despite smelling somewhat of scrambled eggs while I was making it. It was incredibly light while still very stable and firm (which it needs to be, for the icing).

It was filled with whipped cream mixed with lemon curd - devine.

I was so pleased with it - it scored thumbs up from everyone, so the Christening cake has been chosen :)