Making merry with Mary Berry's Fast Cakes book

A book which didn’t make it in there, but which would be in my top 20, is Mary Berry’s Fast Cakes. This landed on my desk at the perfect moment. I was looking for inspiration for a Father’s Day tea. As usual, I was pressed for time.

One flick through the pages of this festival of cakes and I was drawn in. So many recipes required ingredients that I had ready and waiting in my kitchen cupboards and fridge.

One was a malt loaf. THE simplest recipe ever. Five ingredients mixed in a bowl, poured into a loaf tin and baked. The work of minutes. What emerged from the oven was a little underwhelming. A beige, slightly chewy loaf. Once it had cooled, however, a slice smeared with butter beat Soreen’s mass-produced offer hands down. A winner.

The next up was Mary’s recipe for Bourbon biscuits. I’ve been eating them since I was. Since I was able to get my hands on them, I suppose. Who can resist prising them apart and eating the butter cream? A little more work — I got busy with my ruler measuring perfect rectangles — but so worth the effort. They were a million times better than the shop bought version and I was inordinately proud. Something about making your own version of a ‘proper’ biscuit…

 

Mary Berry’s Fast Cakes and I are going to be lifelong friends. I can feel it in my water.