Great British Baking: Ginger Cake

  So Bonfire Night is upon us. Being as I am not from the UK (though, am allowed to vote in local elections being part of the commonwealth as a nice gentleman who rang my doorbell informed me this evening) this is all new to me. I didn't realize that there are certain foods that are associated with the festivities of the evening. A ginger cake known as "Parkin" is one such food and when I stumbled upon a recipe for a Bonfire Night ginger cake, though not specifically Parkin, I decided to once again brave the third world baking conditions of my flat's kitchen and attempt to make some for the boyfriend. I had mentioned the other day that I like to bake things for people to thank them and he was upset that he had not yet received any baking, I jokingly responded that I had nothing to thank him for which apparently carried more weight than I had intended as the comment was brought up several times over the next few days. To be fair, I have plenty to thank him for as he's a lovely human being though he would never want anybody to know that.

  As baking in the ghetto does not come without complications I discovered quickly that this place doesn't have a micro plane, nor a cheese grater, or really any sort of grater which was going to prove a challenge for my "grated ginger" that was required. I resorted to a fine chop which took ages and left me with far bigger pieces than I would've liked but needs must. I also realised that I had bought whole cloves instead of ground cloves and was forced to "grind" some by hand. This whole baking expedition was quickly becoming rather labour intensive and this after a day of performance. Minor speed bumps aside the rest of the recipe seemed to go off without a hitch, there was a bit too much batter for the pan, so I ended up making a small leftover cake for myself, which is of course all gone by now.

It's not much to look at. Also my photography needs work.

  The resulting cake was deliciously moist, and full of (chunky) ginger flavour. It's basically what one would imagine gingerbread would taste like as a cake and even though I've never been much of a fan of gingerbread, I actually quite enjoyed it. It will definitely go into the rotation for future bonfire nights. The response from the boyfriend when I bestowed this great gift upon him? "Well it's not my Gran's, but I'll let you know how it measures up." This is why I don't bake for him.

The recipe: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/cake-recipes/11201610/Ginger-cake-recipe.html

Holly

Wherefore art thou, Sconeo?

  A couple of weeks ago I got a hankering for a cinnamon raisin scone. Such cravings are not strange for me, but the thing about my cravings is that they are very specific and the standard for satisfying them is very high. Thus, I spent weeks searching high and low for the perfect cinnamon raisin scone to pacify me. Being in London, I thought I'd have no trouble, but alas, a grocery store scone was not going to cut it, and I couldn't find a bakery that carried them. I even went to afternoon tea at a hotel hoping they would be there, but alas, it was not to be. I soon realized that if I was going to find the scone of my dreams, I was going to have to get over my anxiety of baking in my unfamiliar London kitchen, buy some ingredients and do it myself.

   I didn't have a recipe in mind so I did what all Martha's in the making do and turned to Pinterest. My criteria were simple; fewest number of ingredients I had to purchase, ease of execution. I managed to save a few pounds, and storage space by turning a roasting pan upside down instead of purchasing a baking tray. Necessity is the mother of invention, as is being cheap. I found the one and after enjoying the fruits of my long labour I am convinced that it is, in fact, The One. The results were everything I had hoped for, crumbly, warm, delicious cinnamony goodness. So good, I ate three and had to immediately bag up the rest and pop them in the freezer or else I would've been going back to them every hour on the hour until they were finished!

   You can find the recipe below, I followed it pretty much to the letter with the exception of substituting soy milk for milk (I can only handle so much dairy). I also added an extra 1/4 tsp of cinnamon and skipped the chocolate chips. I'm a big believer in keeping things simple and classic and adding anything to the already delectable combination of cinnamon and raisin seems unnecessary to me, but hey, that's just me, you do you.

The recipe:

http://www.crunchycreamysweet.com/2013/10/08/brown-sugar-cinnamon-raisin-scones-recipe/

-Holly