jane brocket

book for cook

 

After thinking about it for a long, long time, I finally got round to making a book for Phoebe one afternoon in December. I'd imagined it would take me ages to sort it out which is why I put it off for so long, but in the end I was very pleasantly surprised as it only took a few hours to put together Phoebe's Cakes.

 

As you know, I like to photograph Phoebe's amazing baking creations. She is very patient and knows not to disturb, alter or, heaven forbid, eat anything until the camera has been whipped out. (It pains me when she makes great cakes for friends' birthdays in the evening when it's dark - cakes don't look great with a flash - and then takes them to school the next morning before the sun is up again. We've missed out on quite a few good cake shots this way).

 

I collected photos of her cakes into a file as I went along, and it occurred to me that she should have her own cake book which brings together her 'work', just as an artist has a portfolio to show off their talents. She is extremely modest about her baking skills and I wanted her to have some tangible proof of how good she is. Nevertheless, it took me a shockingly long time to sit down and do it (at least that gave me more to work with) and now I realise it's as easy as pie (cherry with a nice piece of lattice-work pastry on the top, I think).

 

I used Bob Books and even though I did it very close to Christmas, the copies arrived after only three days which I think is amazing. I made a hardback photobook and it was incredibly straightforward, although I now have renewed admiration for book designers who make it look all too easy. I stuck to a very simple design and played with sizes and positioning, but nothing fancier or more sophisticated than that - it really was a matter of 'I've started so I will finish'.

 

Phoebe is delighted with her first book. When she showed it to a group of our friends, they asked in all seriousness how many copies she had sold. I wish. I only made two, but I like to think that this at least gives Phoebe's Cakes a certain cult cachet.

 

 

[Best place for more obtainable but definitely less unique cookery titles: Books for Cooks]

stir-up sunday ii

More fruit, more booze, more Nigel, more stirring, more wishes. Heck, I'm beginning to think we should make a Christmas cake every Sunday.

unorthodox

We made a Christmas cake on 22 November (this year's 'Stir Up Sunday', traditionally the day for making the pudding, but as we don't keep to rules, we made a cake instead).

True to form, however, we have already eaten it. It was good.

a large number

When there is a forest on candles on your birthday cake, you begin to wonder if you are burnt out,

or still burning brightly.

But after spending too much time thinking about the implications of reaching a landmark birthday, I've decided it's 'not all bad' as Jim White says in the best article I've read on the subject. So I'll keep smiling and carry on.

{Jim White used to go to the same parties as me and my friends when we were seventeen. He was an acknowledged heartthrob and we spent a great deal of time discussing him at school. At 50 he doesn't appear to have lost his wit - or his looks.}

{Thanks to Phoebe for making my cake and for unearthing all the candles; I had no idea we had that many in the house.}

positively the last...

...cake photo for a while. Until I change my mind, that is.

Simon bought this cake tin for Phoebe for her birthday so she had to put it to immediate use. Being something of a perfectionist (see post below), she wasn't happy with the first version which was far too small in her opinion. 

She also felt it was a mistake to use chocolate fudge icing for reasons that were visually clear but don't need to be explained (even though it tasted great). So she made a second cake and decorated it with jelly bean candles and wickedly pink icing, and all was well.

And the happy outcome is that we won't be needing much cake for a while.

attention to detail

This is my brilliant assistant, who helps me with recipes and baking for books, getting a cake ready to be photographed. And I wonder why my tweezers are covered in sticky icing.

She doesn't always feel the need to pick off wrongly placed sprinkles but it's a measure of her commitment to earning money that, on this occasion, she did. (And she made the whole thing.)

Of course it's Phoebe.

a large porschen of fun

Peggy Porschen has long been one of our baking idols, but for a long time I wasn't aware that she runs workshops in London. As soon as I did find out, however, I booked birthday treat places for me and Phoebe on Saturday for a day of decorating Hallowe'en cookies. (Phoebe believes she should have been born on 31st October, and that there was a serious mix-up when she arrived a few days before her appointed date).

What I like so much about Peggy's style is the mix of clever designs, beautiful colour, attention to detail, humour, and incredible skill. What's even more amazing is that Peggy manages to teach these skills in a way that makes them seem easy and doable, even for the most untrained icing hands. She reduces years of practice and technical know-how into a few key techniques which allow workshop participants to stop worrying about not having Cordon Bleu qualifications and to start icing.

As ever, Phoebe and I had a great time together with sugar and paste. We couldn't believe we were really watching Peggy Porschen demonstrating with icing bags and colour, and not just looking at the pages of her books. Neither of us would claim to be great icing artists but we were amused by what we produced and inspired to get cracking with more PP ideas. Watch this cookie and cake space.

real and imaginary

 

Phoebe is terrified of spiders. Yet at the weekend she quite happily made a super-huge, creepy-crawly spider when we went together to a one-day cake decorating workshop with Frances McNaughton (who was involved with the amazing TV and press Skoda adverts). We spent six hours decorating a dozen buns each, squeezing, piping, rolling, pressing and cutting. It was great fun and our cakes looked fabulous, especially the scary spider.

It made me laugh the next day, though, when I saw this beautiful web covered in droplets of rain and Phoebe wouldn't come anywhere near it.

I think it's a shame so many people don't like spiders (British spiders are not exactly threatening). Then again,there are also plenty of people who are scared of cakes.

wishful thinking

Weightless, calorie-free marmalade buns with juicy orange icing.

What the heck, I eat them anyway.

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I want to thank all those who have commented on the last few posts and everyone else who visits this blog, especially those who keep coming back regularly. I have been blogging now for four and a half years and that's a long time not only in the world of computers, but also in any individual's life. Needless to say, there have been good times and bad times, and I think I can safely say I am now amply qualified to write or talk about the experience of blogging  - something that is very different to the discussions of the role, nature and contents of blogs and their writers, and that has yet to be discussed in depth anywhere except on blogs themselves. And maybe one day I will. But in the meantime, please know that I love having you here to visit.

cartoon cake © phoebe