Getting the Tea and Cake in Order ~~~

Gentle Reader ~~~ The weather in The Shire, in fact across much of the British Isles, today is appalling, so it is a day for taking my mind off the winds that howl around the cottage in their most unseasonal manner, accompanied by heavy rains of the same ilk ~~~ To the kitchen I go for a spot of comfort and distraction by baking cakes for the freezer.  Before I go, shall I reflect for a moment upon that most British traditional supplementary repast ~~~ Tea and Cake?

A gardener, or a crafter, or anyone who simply appreciates Elevenses as that most sacred of mid~morning rituals of refreshment, must get their priorities in order ~~~ ensuring a proper and constant supply of tea and cake.

To this end, last week, it was with shock and horror I realised that my tea chest was starting to resemble the cupboard of Old Mother Hubbard ~~~ looking rather bare ~~~

~~~ so I hastily put in an order to Twinings for more supplies, which thankfully arrived quickly ~~~

and now all is well, the tea chest is full to overflowing once more, with plenty of boxes in store {but I am sure they will not last that long, are you?} There are plenty of my favourites, Gingerbread Green Tea, Apple and Cinnamon Black Tea, as well as a new flavour, Cherry Bakewell ~~~ I'll let you know!

There, doesn't this look better?

In celebration of approaching Autumn, I treated myself to a new 'Autumn' mug {I buy one every year} in the Emma Bridgewater Summer Sale ~~~ the Sunflower half pint; Oh! My! while I was shopping, a Rose and Bee teacup somehow slipped into my cart as well ~~~ but I think it is just the perfect shape for hot chocolate in the cooler months ahead, don't you?

To the Most Important Matter of Cake ~~~ some considerable time ago, I came across a Delia Smith recipe that I wished to try, but could not find one of the key ingredients, Coconut Milk Powder. I then espied it on a well known online retail shop {I refuse to speak the name out loud} at an exorbitant price for a rather absurdly large quantity of a kilogram, when all I needed was three tablespoons! Well, that was no good so the wait was on.  I put on my Patience Hat.  Then, one day, as if by magic, the ingredient drifted on to my computer screen while I was looking for something else ~~~ a reasonable quantity at an acceptable price, so I snapped it up!  Cake baking ~~~ here we come!

So, today I can make the Fresh Lime and Coconut Cake ~~~ courtesy of Delia Smith's recipe here.  Off to the kitchen I go ~~~ Emily is ready to help ~~~

~~~ time passes ~~~~

The result is that it made an oddly shallow sponge which did not rise at all. Comparing it to the image in the book, Delia's Cakes, {below} Delia's didn't rise either ~~~ so I think it is how it is meant to be ~~~

Anyway, here it is ~~~

As you can see, I ran out of limes, and frankly it did not appeal to me to have raw lime zest, or wedges of pure, unsweetened limes decorating the cake ~~~ bit too tart, I think, so if I bake this again I will devise something more acceptable to my palette for decoration ~~~ I also made the icing slightly thicker as I did not want it running off the cake as Delias does ~~~

If I make it again, I will be making some serious tweaks to the recipe, not least increasing the eggs, flour, sugar, and butter to give a fatter sponge!

Even though it's a bit too fresh to cut, I could not resist temptation, so I took a small slice to test it ~ someone has to do it!  Frankly, it is disappointingly bland considering there are three fresh limes therein! Maybe it will improve after a day or two, so I'll let you know next time how it tastes.

Until next time,
Sincerely yours,
Deborah