a recipe for memories


project 365, 08-02-2008

Radio 4 is currently running a light drama series on
Friday afternoons, entitled "Have Your Cake". The series is about a group of friends who meet to bake on Friday afternoons and is developing into an enjoyable listen. You can even try their recipes for yourself, although the **chocolate cake containing mayonaise is perhaps (to the huge relief of the long experimented upon Technical Advisor) a culinary adventure too far.



As I listened to this afternoon's episode, I was in the kitchen, baking. I pretty much always bake on a Friday, the children normally have a home-made after school snack or some fruit every day of the week but something baked is particularly important on a Friday. It somehow signals the weekend and rounds off the working week. Of course it is some years now since I worked in a normal 9-5 weekday environment but I still get that Friday feeling and Fridays remain one of my favourite days of the week.



While listening to the radio today, I thought about how important baking has become to me. My mother didn't bake although I remember one Christmas she made mince pies and I remember those mince pies as being the very nicest I have ever tasted, she never made them again but I still remember them clearly and it is such a good, happy memory.



My Nana did bake, she always brought us an apple pie if she came for dinner on a Sunday and it was such a good apple pie, the right combination of tart and sweet, sugar sprinkled on top. There was always a big ice-cream tub full of little fairy buns, she didn't usually ice but she often added glace cherries or currants and I loved them. It was the 1970's and tupperware parties were only just beginning, my Nana didn't have any tupperware, only empty ice-cream tubs, strangely I don't remember her ever having any ice-cream...? I do have a little memory of being in Nana's kitchen while she baked and "helping" but she died while I was still quite young and my memories are not as many as I would like. Still, I like to think that she is responsible for my baking gene (and the knitting one too actually) and I am glad that I do have those apple pie and fairy bun memories.

**If anyone out there has tried the mayonaise chocolate cake or intends to try the mayonaise chocolate cake recipe then please do tell me about it, I am open to persuasion on most matters of food.

Comments

yvette said…
I've baked chocolate cake with mayonnaise and as far as I remember it was okay. The fact that it was all eaten really doesn't mean much in this house though;0)
I might have to do it again just to record the result better.
My gran made fairy cakes with no icing and I still love the smell the best. She also made the most amazing Clootie dumpling, that I have never made, but love so I intend to try to make one soon.

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