Brian grew up in a household run by his grandmother who had been a doctor’s housekeeper. There was always cake in that house; one on the table for tea, one in the tin and one being prepared. This cake is one he reckons his grandmother would have approved of and has become his best cake recipe.
There is a game that people play in which they confess that they have never actually read a famous book or literary classic. It’s a curious game since it involves an admission of failure, and to win, you must have not read something that everyone else in the room has read. There are many books that I haven’t read, or ones that I have picked up and attempted and then simply abandoned, splayed on a side table, or rediscovered with a bookmark placed a telltale eighth of an inch inside, waiting patiently, as books do, for your return, only to be put on a shelf or recycled to the Oxfam bookshop.
There’s been a lot of discussion on the Mellow Bakers forum about semolina versus durum wheat. Please visit over there if you want to join in with the conversation. I am still unsure as to what exactly Jeffrey Hamelman uses when he talks about durum wheat flour or semolina flour even though I have had a good look over on the KAF site to find out. We need a picture of your flour Jeffrey!
This is one of the not uncommon challenges of baking from a cookbook written by someone not based in your own country. Continue reading
Zeb Bakes 