& DRINK Putting Mary’s cook recipes to the test
INGREDIENTS:
(Serves 6-8) For the sponge: 225g baking spread, straight from the fridge, plus extra for greasing
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour 1tsp baking powder 4 large eggs, beaten 2 eating apples, peeled, cored and grated
Icing sugar, for dusting For the lemon filling: 150ml double cream 3 tbsp lemon curd
METHOD:
You will need two 20cm round, loosebottomed sandwich tins. Preheat the oven to 180 c/160 c Fan/Gas 4, then grease each tin and line the base with a disc of baking paper.
Measure all the sponge ingredients except the apple and icing sugar into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until combined. Fold the grated apple into the mixture, then divide between the tins and level the tops.
Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until golden, well risen and coming away from the sides of the tins. Allow to cool in the tins.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Whip the cream into soft peaks, then lightly swirl in the lemon curd.
Invert the tins to remove the cakes and then peel away the paper. Sit one cake upside down on a serving plate. Spread the lemon cream to the edge of the sponge, place the other cake gently on top to sandwich the cakes together.
Dust the top with icing sugar to ser ve.
WHEN it comes to staple, familyfriendly recipes that can be relied upon every single time, Mary Berry is queen. The former Great British Bake Off judge and recipe writer extraordinaire is a legend of the cookbook world, and at 83, a culinary authority.
However, the presenter’s latest book, Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking, sees her take a different direction, and delve into the world of speedy suppers, 15minute dinners and rapid puds.
Can Mary’s methodical, traditional style of food work in moments of haste? We put some of her new dishes to the test.
STIR-FRY
IT sounds like a student classic, with some added sophistication thanks to raw prawns and oyster mushrooms, and who doesn’t like a stir-fr y?
I was sceptical about the 10-minute prep time. Unless you have knife skills like Jamie Oliver and can de-vein two packs of prawns by magic, it’s likely to take much more (25 minutes for me, by the time I’d chopped, weighed and measured).
The cooking time of eight minutes was more realistic, but I found the order of the recipe a bit strange. Mary says to put the prawns in near the beginning, and add the broccoli florets later.
The result was a tasty dish (black bean sauce, soy sauce and lemon is such a quick, simple and effective combination) but my prawns were slightly over and my broccoli a bit hard.
However, for something that took a mere eight minutes to cook, it was full of flavour and a recipe I’ll definitely follow again when I want something fresh, healthy and quick – just ever so slightly tweaked.
PASTA
I HAD to make a couple of slight adjustments to the recipe due to food intolerances (spring onions) and widespread shop shortages (basil!). And I swapped penne for rigatoni, as it’s what I had in the cupboard.
I need not have worried. This really is a very simple recipe that packs a real punch – even without a couple of ingredients.
The instructions were true to form and it only took about 10 minutes to prep. It is pretty much a case of chucking everything in a frying pan, waiting for the Parma ham to sizzle and the creme fraiche to bubble.
Once ser ved it’s a really salty and creamy, with just enough fresh parsley sprinkled on top to give it a bit of bite.
When I make it again, I’ll add a few more peppers ; they felt a little lost amongst the other flavours.
CAKE
THE combination is classic and the recipe looked speedy, plus I really just wanted an excuse to bake a cake.
The recipe is as easy as Mary suggests – all you need to do is beat the ingredients together, fold through grated apple and then pop in two tins in the oven.
The cake itself was definitely tasty – the lemon curd and cream mixture sandwiching the cake together gives it a much-needed zing. However, what I would say is, you couldn’t taste any apple in the cake, and the sponge could have been much lighter and fluffier. If you’re new to baking, this is a good recipe to tr y as it is speedy and hard to mess up.
Although, I’m not sure I’ll be returning to it – maybe my expectations for the queen of baking doing her thing at pace were just too high.