OH CRUMBS . . .
From classics to creative, these are the Food Weekly team’s thoughts on cake
Hilary Biller, editor: “Baking was not my mother’s forte but the one cake in her repertoire was a simple orange layer cake — a recipe she found in the Progressive Party cookbook. Glued together with home-made orange curd and topped with a light dusting of icing sugar, the beauty of the cake was that one, our mother made it, and two, it wasn’t overly sweet, so we could polish it off in one sitting.”
Sue de Groot, managing editor: “My favourite cake is fish cakes. I don’t much like sweet things, nor am I a huge fish fan, but when you mix some lovely flaked snoek with breadcrumbs, fresh herbs, egg, lemon zest and whatever else you feel like adding, shape it into a fat coaster and fry it in hot oil till it is crisp and greasy and golden . . . now that’s a cake worth eating.”
Shanthini Naidoo, writer: “I love a simple Madeira or chiffon cake, no icing, just soft, spongy, and light. I love it with a dab of butter and a cup of tea. My grandmother does an orange chiffon cake, moistened with syrup. It’s the best after a big meal at her overflowing table.” Gila Wilensky, designer: “It’s got to be my mom’s ginger cake spread thick with butter, mmm . . . it reminds me of childhood, teenage years, adulthood and motherhood.” Alison Hearfield, ‘Alison’s Homegrown’: “My most favourite smell is the spicy sweetness of rich fruit cake baking, and of course licking the bowl afterwards!”
WEDDING CAKE, BECAUSE THERE ARE TIERS OF HAPPINESS
Joanne Gibson, ‘Wine of the
Week’: “Because I prefer the texture to be moist, rather than spongy and dry, it’s always a close call between flourless chocolate cake and baked cheesecake. Today cheesecake wins — Nigella Lawson’s London Cheesecake.”
Shelley Seid, writer: “I’m willing to kill for a proper Jewish cheesecake; baked, heavy, not too sweet — one that sticks to the roof of your mouth.”
Raphaella Frame-Tolmie,
contributing editor: “Every year on my birthday (since I was about 11) I always have the same poppy seed and yoghurt cake with white chocolate icing — it’s not my birthday without it. Last year, my friend Leila made it for me, topped with fresh raspberries . . . It was actually revelatory and I’ll probably have to have it that way forever.”
Nick Mulgrew, ‘On the Hop’: “My favourite cake is lemon meringue pie, specifically the one made at the old Welcome Chair coffee shop at Musgrave Centre circa 1997. I still emulate it when I cook at home: a simple buttery biscuit base topped with tangy, condensed-milk-based lemon curd, and on top of that the thinnest, crispiest layer of spiky, eggshell-coloured meringue. Eat it with a small fork — that way the comfort lasts longer.”
Anton Ferreira, subeditor “Wedding cake, because usually there are tiers of happiness. Although if a jealous ex-boyfriend throws the cake in the bride’s face, she gets tiers in her eyes.”