Victoria Sponge Cake for Royal Wedding! The River Cottage Family Cookbook

Buoyed on by my success at baking, I decided to make a Victoria Sponge to celebrate the Royal Wedding (do you need an excuse to bake cakes?).

I followed the recipe faithfully.  The only area I strayed from was instead of creaming the butter and sugar by hand with a wooden spoon (like I was taught in school) I (mistakenly)thought it would be easier to use the electric whisk.  BIG mistake! It all got clogged up in the metal whisks.  Won't be doing that again!

To keep this short - I still can't bake.  My sponges resembled thick biscuits and were not light and spongy.  I do not know what I did wrong.  Not sure if it is the recipe or that I just can't bake!

My daughter ate a slice out of charity.  Needless to say, with the fresh cream, I couldn't keep the cake long enough to eat all by myself - no-one else wanted any :-(

Oh well.  At least I tried. And the finished cake looks good in the photo :-)

No more baking for me for a while - back to main courses...

Rhubarb Cheesecake (Tesco's Booklet)

I really do not bake and I do not have many desserts in my repertoire.  But we had rhubarb given to us and tubs of cream cheese in the fridge (damn those 3 for 2 offers) and spookily the Tesco's booklet had a rhubarb recipe - so I took it as a sign.

Barbecue planned - so for first time ever at a bar-b-q, I decided to make a dessert!




The cheesecake is one of those baked New York types.  Everyone knows that the base is bashed up digestive biscuits and butter.  The cheesey bit I made with a mixture of reduced-fat and full-fat cream cheese, (although the recipe said to use full-fat) and I used ordinary rhubarb instead of "pink" rhubarb.

All I can say is - it was HUGE!

Main comments of the recipe - I don't think the biscuit base was deep enough for the size of the finished cake.  Also not enough gelatine to set the rhubarb, but obviously that didn't affect the taste.  Mixing the cream cheese did not cause any problems.

But I find rhubarb is a bit like marmite - you either love it or hate it.  I am not a big fan but have been swayed owing to eating a fabulous trio of rhubarb desserts made at my favourite restaurant (Incanto in Harrow).  And what do you know, everyone (except the kids) wanted a slice.  Some even had seconds!!!!!!

In fact my rhubarb cheesecake has become a legend!!!  Worth making again and if brave enough, vary the fruit topping.

And sorry, by the time I served it, I forgot to take photographs of the finished product (enjoying myself a bit too much methinks).