Cake Fit For A Queen: Victoria Sponge

It's such a cool and blustery day in our neighbourhood that it's hard to imagine just a few weeks ago we were enjoying a warm summer afternoon in the English countryside. Where we sat in a garden drinking tea and deciding which homemade layer cake to try: Victoria Sponge, Coffee Walnut, or Chocolate Fudge.

They all looked scrumptious, but I finally decided on a slice of Victoria Sponge cake. And, like Queen Victoria herself, I was smitten from the first bite.

 “Just close your eyes—and think of England (and cake).”

 ~ Queen Victoria

The cake was a sponge cake in two layers. Not too sweet, but with a filling of raspberry preserves and, I think, butter cream; it was so satisfying and delicious. For the rest of our trip, I was ever on the look out for Victoria Sponge at the tea shops. Truth be told, none met the mark -- some were too dry, some too sweet and jammy, and others bland in flavour. You'd think I was a judge for The Great British Bake Off.

A google search revealed there are many recipes out there with as many variations. But according to blog author Abigail Young at Picture Britain...

"Victoria sandwiches, or sponges, were soon all the rage, and eventually became the measuring stick by which the home baker was judged. And this is no laughing matter! The Women’s Institute apparently has strict guidelines on the “correct” way to make this cake, and it involves raspberry preserves and caster (not icing) sugar, and no buttercream."

Rats about the buttercream ... to my way of thinking, the layer of buttercream in the piece I ate added a taste and a texture that was quite lovely.

By the way, if you're wondering what castor sugar is: it is actually just a superfine granulated sugar, but not powdery like icing sugar. Apparently bartenders will use castor sugar in some cocktails instead of a simple syrup.

***

Some of the other recipes I looked at use fresh whipped cream and fresh berries for the filling, but then that becomes more of a Victoria Sponge dessert. It would have been a bit of a trick for the Queen to hold her cake plate on her lap and safely maneuver a forkful of cake, cream, and berries into her mouth without something landing on her person. Let's just say, she would not have been amused.

Referring back to Abigail's post, she includes some interesting background info, as well as the recipe and a short video on how to make a Victoria Sponge cake, dessert style. It looks easy enough, but there is a bit of technique. Click HERE for the post and video.

Photo: from Mary Berry's website

 “Cakes are healthy too, you just eat a small slice.”
~ Mary Berry

And, since we already mentioned The Great British Bake Off TV series, I'm also including a link to Mary Berry's website, where you will find her recipe for Victoria Sponge cake. Not to mention lots of other nice recipes to make your mouth water. 

Aside: if you need a recipe using cups and teaspoons rather than measurements in weight, here's one at allrecipes.com.

***

I have yet to try one of these recipes but there are a few September birthdays coming soon, so I'll have the perfect reason to spend a morning trying my hand at it and then sharing the results with family and friends for afternoon tea.

Whether you decide to make a true Victoria Sponge or one of its variations, they all look scrumptious. Why not pick one and try it out?

  

“Mma Ramotswe sighed. 'We are all tempted, Mma. We are all tempted when it comes to cake.'

That is true,' said Mma Potokwane sadly. 'There are many temptations in this life, but cake is probably one of the biggest of them.”

~ Alexander McCall Smith, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

On that note, I'm wishing you a beautiful day. Hopefully there's a little cake in your pantry to sweeten your afternoon tea.

Hugs,

Brenda

xox

A Chill In The Air Means Raisin Spice Cake In The Oven

It's a chilly afternoon and the air has a decided nip to it. Which means it's a great day to bake something warm and comforting like Raisin Spice Cake.

When we think of this simple cake, we immediately think of an old family recipe. My sister now has the handwritten copy from our grandmother’s cookbook, who originally got it from her sister-in-law, Julia. My mom also had the recipe and made it often when we were kids. It came to be known as Aunty Julie’s Cake. If you look closely at the recipe, you'll see Grandma's side note: "It's good." And we all agree, yes, it is good.

Photo: Kathy Hillacre

Now there's a bit of a funny story that goes with this particular recipe. One day when Sis and I were youngsters we decided to surprise our mom with some baking. I might have been about ten or eleven, my sister three years younger. After deciding what to make, we went in search of Mom's recipe, which had been copied down, minus the most needful ingredient, the flour.

The two of us, being new bakers, didn't know that flour is always a key ingredient in any baking venture. Maybe we were denser than some kids, but we took all recipes at face value. We creamed the butter and sugar, we added the milk, spices, and raisins.

It doesn't look the way a batter should look, we mused, peering into the bowl with anxious eyes. We went over the ingredient list again, and yes, we had added everything it said, so, alright then, into the oven it went. Fingers crossed, we hoped for a 'miracle' in there.

Thirty minutes later the pan, now out of the oven, indeed looked strange. There was this hard sugary mess sprinkled with plump burned raisins. We called Grandma -- she would know what went wrong. She asked me to read off the ingredients. "But, you didn't add any flour." We wailed, "But the recipe didn't say."

That's the day we found out that every cake needs flour, whether the recipe says so or not. That incident is now a part of our family folklore and we've had many a good laugh over it. Sister thinks we fed the burned mess to the chickens, and Grandma no doubt enjoyed a good chuckle when she got off the phone that day.

Here is the recipe below, flour amount assuredly included.

Great Aunty Julia's Raisin Spice Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (can be reduced to 1 cup)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 2/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg or allspice

1 cup buttermilk (or milk soured with 1 tsp vinegar)

1 cup raisins

Cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices.

Alternate additions of flour and buttermilk to creamed butter until all is incorporated.

Gently fold in raisins.

Pour into greased and floured 9" x 9" cake pan.

Bake 350F for about 30 minutes.

Cool for 5-7 minutes. Then turn out of pan onto rack to finish cooling.

We sometimes eat it with ice cream and lemon sauce,

or we frost it with either a cream cheese or butter icing.

Also makes about 24 cupcakes using medium size paper liners.

“This is my invariable advice to people:

Learn how to cook -- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes,

be fearless, and above all have fun!”

~ Julia Child, My Life in France 

 

  “...no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.”
~ Julia Child, My Life in France

***

On that note, I'm wishing you a blissful day...

With hugs,

Brenda

xox

 

A Private Tour: Goddards Green Garden In Kent

Goddards Green Garden

The day our small Flora Garden tour group visited a private garden and family home, it turned out to be one of our favourite outings of our trip. Having bounced and woven along narrow country lanes to get there (it's about five minutes from Sissinghurst which we also visited),with a sharp turn into the entrance and there we were ... looking at this ancient, timber-framed house sitting in the midst of a three-acre setting, surrounded by gardens, a meadow and an orchard of apples, plums and cobnuts (a type of hazelnut traditionally grown in Kent).

The setting of the garden is quite rural, looking over fields to woods in the distance. As the brochure says, "The various parts of the garden are in contrasting styles, among them: rural informality around the pond; a traditional long border in front, shading into a meadow and birch grove."

Originally this house, more than 400 years old, belonged to one of the principal clothier families of Cranbrook, Kent. It was sold in the 1920s to the novelist and playwright, Temple Thurston. Later a family called Pearson owned the property for many years; it is believed they planted many of the scented roses which remain in the garden today. The present design of the garden has evolved since John and Linde Wotton bought Goddards Green in 1992.

It was John Wotton who was our amiable host the day our group arrived for a private tour. We were first served tea and cakes, freshly baked, and we sat outside at round garden tables. Although the cakes were delicious (I had a slice of Victoria Sponge) and the tea refreshing, no one lingered as we were all eager to see the gardens. And we were not disappointed.

One small lament:  Why didn't we bring or buy a book on the local flora

so we could have identified these dazzling blossoms?
We won't forget next time we visit.

Through the garden gate up into the grassy fields

which also boasted young fruit and nut trees growing in the midst.

A person could have spent hours wandering along these mowed pathways

listening to the insects and watching the breezes skim across this grassy pastoral view.

Besides the more natural areas,
we walked through that narrow entry at the back of the photo --

up from the house into a lovely laid out water garden and pond

surrounded by large hedges.

Long herbaceous borders at the front of the house

Even the driveway was gorgeous

with old stone buildings and ferny patches.

* * *

It was hard to say goodbye to this beautiful English country garden. So tranquil a place and we saw it in the late afternoon sunshine -- I think I felt its quiet beauty settling on the petals of my own soul and I didn't want to leave and scatter the peace that was enveloping me. But it was time to go.

♥  ♥  ♥

Now, for next time, I've already been working on a post. There are some lovely cakes we met during our visits to various tea shops, and we'd like you to meet them ... the cakes, that is. :) So a post about the English tradition of tea and cakes.

Wishing you a beautiful weekend,

With hugs,

Brenda

xox

Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn, and Judi Dench

Hever Castle & Gardens. Talk about a romantic, fairy tale-like spot to visit. Dating back more than 700 years, Hever Castle used to be a medieval defensive castle, complete with gatehouse, water-filled moat, portcullis, AND drawbridge. See, I told you, it's fairy-tale stuff.

It's located in the village of Hever, Kent, 30 miles south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539 it was the seat of the Boleyn, originally 'Bullen', family. It was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the fated woman who would eventually become King Henry VIII's second wife. Did you all see Wolf Hall, the six-part television drama where 'Thomas Cromwell helps Henry VIII overcome opposition to his fervent desire to marry Anne Boleyn'? If you are interested, that drama will fill you in with all the details.

It didn't take long for Anne once she was Queen to fall into disfavour with the King -- for she failed to provide a male heir. Accused of all manner of crimes, including treason, she was eventually beheaded. There is a prayer book on display inside the castle that is believed to be the one Anne took with her to her execution at the Tower. It bears the following inscription: Remember me when you do pray that hope doth lead from day to day. Anne Boleyn

That part is definitely not romantic; talk about Prince Charming turning into a big Toad!

Hever Castle later passed into the ownership of Anne of Cleves, one of Henry's later wives. The nerve of him! Over the ensuing centuries the castle fell into decline, but in the early 20th century a wealthy American, William Waldorf Astor, bought it and used his fortune to restore the castle and turn it into a lavish family home. Spectacular gardens were designed, and what a person sees today when she comes to visit is the result of his amazing vision. Not to mention the hard work of around 1,800 men over the span of four years to bring the designs and plans into reality. It's said that the garden is only now reaching its full maturity, all these decades later. I'm so glad to have seen it now.

While we were here, taking in the grand gardens and beautiful vistas, I tried imagining Anne Boleyn  running around and playing as a little girl.

It wouldn't be long before she was a pawn used to further her father's ambitions. Can you imagine it, at the tender age of 13, she joined the household of Margaret of Austria in the Netherlands before she became maid-of-honour to King Henry VIII's sister, Mary Tudor. From there she became maid-of-honour to Queen Claude of France, where she lived for nearly seven years until she returned to England to be lady-in-waiting for Queen Catherine.

Henry by now desperate for a male heir, turned his attentions to Anne and visited her often at Hever. She was to have said to him, "Your wife I cannot be, because you have a Queen already. Your mistress I will not be,"  which in turn started the chain of events that is a well known part of English history.

The day Rick and I visited, our tour only included the gardens. I was a little disappointed but there wasn't time for both the gardens and the castle. The gardens were quite spectacular, and in the end, I felt quite satisfied. So many beautiful spots to wistfully dream over.

***

Before we go any further, I want to tell you about a short video I found online where Dame Judi Dench talks about her personal attachment to Hever Castle and how she visits it often. The video was a segment of the Visit Britain television campaign broadcast.

I do encourage you to take 2-3 minutes to watch. The footage gives a wonderful overview and includes some sights I never captured with my own camera -- you'll see for yourself just how spectacular it all is.  You will find the clip HERE.

"There is a place very dear to my family and me

not far from where we live. We come to it in all weathers,

all seasons, and this is where we recharge our batteries: Hever Castle."

~ Dame Judi Dench

And, so it's time for a few photos of the gardens themselves.  The pictures can never do them justice; one only captures tiny glimpses of it all. But I hope you will still enjoy what I did manage to get.

"Nothing is more quintessentially English than a rose garden in full bloom, and the roses at Hever are particularly admired, with more than 4,000 beautifully displayed bushes creating a kaleidoscope of colour and wonderfully perfumed aromas." ~ excerpt from the Hever Castle souvenir guidebook

It's so true. Roses and England do go together like tea and biscuits (also so very English). I could be seen so often bent over the roses stealing yet another whiff. Their fragrance ... well, I hope you can just imagine it because it's not transferable in camera yet.

'

'

This area is called the Loggia and it is at the far end of the Italian Garden. It overlooks the 38-acre lake of which you catch a glimpse in the photos above and below. An interesting tidbit is that it took 800 men two years to dig that lake back in the early 1900's. That's a a lot of men digging a lot of dirt! But, oh! the view now!

Hundreds of trees grow in clusters around the banks,

while ducks and swans swim calmly past.

By the time I got my camera ready,

this one was moving on.

The photo above is from the Sunken Garden -- a walled garden within a garden. I did a small video, and though it's not the best, I hope it gives you an idea of what it looks like. A person could sit in this garden, just relaxing or sharing a little chat with a friend, even reading a book. It's so pretty and peaceful (except when the planes fly overhead). As you watch, you'll catch a glimpse of my hubby chatting with another member of our garden tour by the water lily pond.

***

There ... our visit to Hever Castle. I can see why Judi Dench loves to come here. Wouldn't it be amazing to see it in the autumn, and what about the Spring, when the daffodils are breaking out everywhere. We have to go back!

On that note, I'm off. It's Friday afternoon.Time to go sit out in my own garden and enjoy the beauty of the afternoon breezes and sunshine. It may not look like Hever's but it's my little corner of God's green earth where many good memories happen too.

  Wishing you glimpses of heaven in unexpected places!

Hugs,

Brenda

xox

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Peach Tart On A Warm Summer's Day

Unsplash.com / Ian Baldwin

Such a warm summer day. Hot, but not so blistering as to make your cheeks melt on the sidewalk. There is something in the air that reminds me of being a kid on such a day. The kind of summer afternoon when the hardest decision is whether to have the grape, the orange, or the pink Popsicle, and then slurping it as fast as you can so it won't dribble down your arm. Or, eating huge slices of watermelon, making happy faces with your slice, and then engaging in a seed spitting contest with your siblings. Outside! My mom was known to say, don't let that drip on the floor.

Oh, the sweetness of those carefree, old memories.

On such a day then, it certainly needs a little something special for supper to celebrate the day. Chops on the BBQ, dilled baby potatoes roasted in foil, salad with a cilantro-onion dressing. And, something cool and refreshing for dessert. What about heaps of fresh peaches on a cream cheese base and a graham wafer crust?

Don't tell anyone but we had a little mishap earlier this afternoon while making the dessert. Needing to bake the graham crust in the oven for a few minutes, when I took it from the oven the pie dish slipped out of my hands and dumped out onto the floor. Yikes! We got that hot pile of crumbs cleaned up and then started over; the second time was a success. And, no, we did not consider the five second rule to scoop it back into the pie plate.

Peach Tart

Makes one 8-inch pie

***

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

5 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter, melted

Combine crumbs and melted butter. Press mixture into an 8-inch pan.

Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool.

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream

1/2 cup icing sugar

grated zest of one lemon

In large bowl, whip together cream cheese, heavy cream, icing sugar, and lemon zest.

Spoon into prepared crust. Cover and chill for several hours.

3 or 4 ripe peaches or nectarines

Thinly slice peaches. Layer fruit on top of the chilled cheese filling.
Sprinkle lightly with lemon zest and a hint of cinnamon (optional).

Serve without delay.

♥♥♥  This is a keeper! ♥♥♥

 

I hope you've had a wonderful day. It's dusk as I write this.
Here's wishing you a pleasant summer's eve.
Brenda
xox

( Original recipe from Good, Cheap Eats by Jessica Fisher)