The 76th Bake: Paul’s Blackcurrant & Licorice Swiss Roll

A sunny afternoon, I had just done some exercise, so thought I would start this recipe, then go for a shower and finish the cake in a leisurely fashion during the afternoon.  Didn’t happen.  Once I had started the sponge I kind of had to finish it, so it was a quick bake, needless to say I didn’t wait for the sponge to finish cooling down before I rolled it and wammo, not a good idea.  It flopped and folded instead of rolled. Oh well, still tasted good and went down a treat.  In fact, it was a public holiday so we had lunch in the sun with pancakes and fruit made by my daughter and that was delicious.  The sun was bright, and it got me thinking about light, how important it is to us.  It’s got so many functions, heat, illumination, guidance, protection, symbolism, spirituality, you name it.  The moon was bright last night and as I looked at the stars I thought how everyone has their thing, their little bit of light that they want to shine into the world.  Stars remind us of what we are reaching for: something bright to put into the world, but they also remind us of how far away our dreams are, how big they are, and that they are worth striving for.  Now that’s deep!  Onto the bake. (more…)

The 55th Bake: Mary’s Princesstarta

I was looking for a good cake to bake for a parrrtttyyy!!  My samba teacher Gabi was inspired by my baking and decided to hold a Samba Passion Cultural food day at her house.  In addition she needed a cake to celebrate one of the teams 30th birthdays, so that was me done for the day…Baking on!!!  I liked the look of this Princesstarta as it has several layers, vanilla custard and cream, not to mention the home made marzipan icing!!  Wow, flash. (more…)