The Technical Bake

Opposite the page with the recipe for the hazlenut and chocolate cake is the recipe for Rhubarb and Custard cupcakes. To me this is a combination I love and, encouraged by my Mam, I decided at the start of the week that I might attempt to make them. 


When I read through the recipe though I was put off...it looked complicated. Not only were there 4 different components to these cupcakes, they were four quite complicated components. Rhubarb compote (which I could not find so decided to make), custard (from scratch - I've only ever made it from custard powder before!), the sponge (the easier part?) and the buttercream (which included, in this instance, a sugar syrup brought to boil at 115 degrees and then combined into an egg white base before finally adding the butter). When I found out that my Mam had a sugar thermometer I had no choice but to go for it!


The sponge was a straighforward and quick all-in-one method and made a really nice light and moist cake. Whilst these were baking I made the custard. Again this was less difficult than I first imagined it would be and I may well attempt making it from scratch more regularly. All there is to it really is egg yoke, sugar, cornflour, milk +/- cream and vanilla. Mmmm! So I set that aside to cool and turned my attention to the buttercream. To be honest I was quite scared about this part. Mainly about ruining one of my Mam's saucepans by burning the syrup to it! 


I set it to melt (a combination of sugar and water) with the confectionary thermometer in the mixture. Meanwhile I started to whisk up some egg whites until they held soft peaks. Next came the tricky part. Continuing to whisk whilst adding the boiling hot syrup. I thought this would potentially be a disaster, especially because we have no free-standing mixer....So, I called my Mam to come and help. Finally we whisked in the butter (and a lot of it), bit by bit until a light sugary cream was formed. It tasted  yummy! Like melted marshmallows perhaps?

In the end it came together nicely. Another winner for me, but definitely not one I'll be making regularly cos it does require quite a lot of effort!
 ....I wonder whether there will ever be a recipe I don't like in this book?




***p.s. 106ers I miss you and I will bake again for you soon. Much love Xxx

The slowing-down syndrome

Symptoms: rhinorrhoea (runny nose), lethargy, sternutation (the action of sneezing), headaches, polydipsia (with a particular predisposition for tea)

Signs: periorbital shading, grey hairs, dry skin, contact dermatitis

Diagnosis: Leave sickness

Treatment: there is no cure, but the effects can be palliated with more tea and a slice of freshly baked cake and the syndrome will pass with time, just in time to return to work.

I have now completed the last 12 day run of my medical rotation and I have only two days left of Diabetes and Endocrinology before I move to Trauma and Orthopaedics. The last week was tiring with long days and few of the team around. Having finally stopped I am now experiencing the well known phenomenon explained above, and feeling well justified in feeling sorry for myself!

So I set myself to baking! Yesterday I made what I think should be called a praline cake. Chocolate and Hazelnut goodness. Enlisting the help of a willing volunteer, my brother, we set about attempting this more challenging recipe. There is little flour in the recipe itself and most of the rise is created by whisked egg whites and careful folding of the ingredients together. It's not something you can bash out quickly but the effort is worth it, the result being a light, textured cake with luxuriously rich flavours permeating through.

Continuing the theme from my last post, I've been thinking more about how life is a mixture of very good and not-so good. I am all too easily tempted to be dragged into an introspective cycle at looking at the things that I wish I could change about my life. The 'if only...' this or that. And time to time I am kicked out of this by something wonderful; an evening in with my housemates, time at home, dinner cooked by a good friend, the list goes on and on. Sometimes it is the attitude of my friends that puts things into perspective. When I see others who are going through such difficult situations with a smile, I realise that my self pity over a little cold and a week of long days at work is totally ridiculous.

So why are we stuck in the in-between of what is so good and so difficult?

We were made as the pinnacle of God's creation, make in his very likeness. This is where our identity and purpose comes from and it gives us worth that we can't begin to fully comprehend, because we are precious to God. But because of the pattern of Adam at the fall, we as humankind have chosen to go our own way. God's image in our lives is blurred and ruined and through this we have brought into the world pain, injustice, evil, suffering...and there is no way we can get ourselves out of this pattern.

But in God's great mercy a second pattern was given to us by God. His only Son Jesus, who although fully human did not follow Adam's way. Instead, equally fully God, he lived a perfect life in obedience to his father. He made a new way for God to again see us as we should be, reflecting his perfection and beauty.

As long as we live on this earth we will be in this ongoing tension between who we are (in Adam) and who we should be (reflecting God). We are made new, in Jesus, and God sees in us his likeness (from Jesus). We don't experience the fulness of this now, but we await Jesus' return when we will see Jesus properly and then be made to be like him. It's this hope that keeps us going!

Who ate all the cake?

I'll tell you who ate all of the cake, Earl did. Earl Grey.




It's pretty ridiculous, to be honest, that this is the first opportunity I have had to update you on my most recent baking times. It was actually the Sunday before last that I made the Earl Grey cupcakes. My attention was drawn to this recipe because it just sounds plain weird. Tea-cake is one thing, but Earl Grey? Really?


I have to own up that despite my first skepticism, these are absolutely out of this world. FACT.


Made with Earl Grey infused milk and topped with a delicate lemon butter icing (and yes actually this time I did remember to leave the butter out!) made for a wonderful taste explosion as the soft sponge and creamy topping hit the palate. 


It's great when you experience something great...but it just leaves you wanting more.

'Maybe we've been living with our eyes half open. Maybe we're bumped and broken. We were meant to live for so much more, have we lost ourselves? We want more than this world's got to offer...everything inside screams for second life' Switchfoot

Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes

So to begin the new year I spent Sunday afternoon baking. What would make for a better start to the year?


I began with this wonderful recipe, a take on the classic cupcake but jazzed up with raspberry jam, ground almond and lemon frosting....Yum! My first lesson was in handling butter. I needed it to be soft for the recipe but forgot to leave it out. Dilemma - do I put it in the microwave on defrost or pop the bowl in a bigger bowl of warm water? I did the latter, on the advice of a trusted (unicorn) friend and Mary Berry herself. It did help to soften the edges but I got an added biceps workout with the wooden spoon. Note to self: baking is all about planning ahead so in future remember to get the butter out early!


The cake batter is nice to work with and easily divided equally into the cases. The decoration was fun with this one because you have to take out a core to fill with the raspberry jam before adding the frosting. It required some skill to avoid jam staining the white frosting but after a few I worked out a strategy to minimize this. All of the work was definitely worth it, a truly scrumptious recipe. Most of them have now been devoured by myself and my wonderful housemates.


There is quite a bit of waiting involved with baking. Waiting for the cake to cook, and then for it to cool and of course waiting for the frosting to set so we can finally eat them! This all ties in with something I heard this evening in Church. This life is temporary and we're waiting for something much greater than what we have now (...even better than a cupcake!)... but what kind of waiting should it be?  Considering the parable of the talents (Matthew 25vv14-39) the waiting we have to do now should most definitely not be passive, Jesus Christ wants us to be living fruitful lives now. And the great thing is that he has entrusted to us so much to do this with, according to who we are. So what then is the maximum I can be doing with what God has given to me?


Do you know what the most exciting thing is though? It doesn't rest on our abilities. Let's face it, even with everything we've been given, all of our attempts are pretty weak. But Jesus Christ has accomplished everything! If we, through faith in Jesus, have relationship with God then He will delight in all we do. What liberation to live outrageously maximally risk-taking lives for God!

The Medic takes on Mary

Happy New Year and welcome to the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Bakery (OHCB) where I will endeavour to take on Mary Berry in a baking challenge. I guess it would be polite for me to introduce myself and explain the idea behind this whole thing...


I'm a junior doctor and a keen baker. In my spare time I enjoy experimenting and improvising with new recipes. Inspired by the 'Great British Bake Off' and Mary and Paul's recipes I plan to work my way through their book and try out some familiar and not-so-familiar recipes, sharing my experiences as I go. The challenge is to attempt all of the recipes in the book this year (more than 120!) and so that means fitting in at least two a week. 


I would be delighted for you to join me in this...let the challenge begin!