I have always used the method of weighing my ingredients in ounces aka oz. This is because I was taught by my Nanny how to bake using "MerryBerry" cook books from the age of three or four, now we are being swayed into using grams but I find the old fashioned way better.
I always end up baking at other peoples houses and not having my cake tins or equipment or even recipe books so I figured out the relatively fail safe way of making cakes with no recipe and the way of modifying recipes by using the all-in-one recipe of sponge where you use equal measures of ingredients and then eggs. Once I heard Mary Berry weighed her eggs too then I was sold and this is how I now do everything and I always invent recipes by starting from this point and then perfecting the bake again and again. It always works for me. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it works but it could be better!
To use up a glut of peaches or nectarines, I made this tray bake at a friends house. (You can alternatively use a tin of peach halves.)
10 oz recipe to fit into the large foil tray, half every ingredient to fit into a standard baking tray.
Writing the recipe:
10oz Self Raising flour
10oz Golden Caster Sugar
10oz Butter
2tsp Baking Powder
Weigh your eggs to 10oz, just pop them in a bowl on your scales (in their shell!) this will probably be 3, 4 or 5 depending on size.
Now, I wrote the above recipe and then I thought "right, well I want to add an Almond flavour so I replaced 3oz of Self Raising Flour with Ground Almonds, this is because you don't need both. The Ground Almonds will lighten the texture and absorb some moisture from the peaches. I also weighed 5oz of Sliced Almonds to sprinkle on top.
The Ingredients:
7oz Self Raising flour
3oz Ground Almonds
10oz Golden Caster Sugar
10oz Butter (You can use margarine or baking fat but I prefer the taste of butter.)
2tsp Baking Powder
5oz Sliced Almonds
4 Peaches or Nectarines, cut in half
Eggs | Weigh your eggs to 10oz, just pop them in a bowl on your scales (in their shell!) this will probably be 3,4 or 5 depending on size.
Get the ingredients to room temperature about 30 minutes before baking.
Cream together the Sugar and the Butter with a wooden spoon or mixer until it becomes paler.
(I use a hand mixer as I prefer to feel the thickness and the "feel" of the mixture. I also feel I am in more control.)
Then sift in the flour and baking powder, add the eggs, ground almonds.
Mix gently until combined, the longer you mix the heavier the sponge when cooked.
Pour the mixture into a greased and lined foil tray.
Sprinkle on the Almond Slices
Squidge in the halves of fruit evenly.
The mixture will start to cover the peaches but don't worry, this will taste nice by creating texture, plus it will look nice. The peaches will draw the Sliced Almonds into the cake mixture, I like this because you get groups of almonds around the peaches as well as a few on top resulting in bursts of flavour among the cake in different bites.
Bake the cake on a middle shelf on Gas Mark 4 for 30 minutes.
Do not open the oven until 20 minutes have passed AT LEAST because the cake will sink.
Stab the cake in the centre with a skewer (avoid the peaches because skewering a moist peach won't be accurate test).
If the metal implement comes out clean the cake is ready to come out the oven, if not, bake for another 5 minutes at a time.
Sprinkle a little sugar on top of the cake.
Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
NB: I am new to this blogging malarkey, in future I will take more photos, ones of the cake sliced and served etc… I bet you can't wait.
