I am not the globe-trotting type, I don't have any desire to go backpacking across Asia (frankly they have some big ol spiders there and I have no plans on meeting any of them!). However, I do long to go on a trip around France and around the US to sample as many cakes as possible. French patisserie has to be the epitome of finesse when it comes to sugary creations and Americans mix their multicultural influences with the fact that they just can't help but push the boundaries. I aspire to create American style cakes with the flair of a fine French gateaux. This is not to say that I don't respect our good ol British traditions - I am more fond of lardy cake than is probably healthy for my heart and I came over all flustered when I came across bread pudding in a market in Oxford recently (we don't get either of these delights up here in the North-East).
I love cake. I'm not ashamed to admit this. But more than just loving eating cake, I love to make cake - the process of creaming the butter and sugar, the flour scattered across the kitchen, the alchemy of turning a few basic ingredients into something so incredible that is so much more than the sum of its constituent parts. I especially love the moment when you first bite into a cake and taste all the flavours for the first time and feel the textures of the cakes from the fluffy base to the creamy topping and the crunch of nuts or chewiness of fruit. It is for this that I want to travel the patisseries of France and America - to find more of those moments and explore new tastes and textures. It is the stuff of dreams.
For now, I shall continue my exploration of cakes through the wonders of the t'interweb and by sampling cakes on my travels through our great and glorious Blighty, remaining ever thankful that I have a very understanding partner who puts up with the Sky+ planner being full of baking programmes and having to double stack his dvds to make space for my cookery books.
Miss E xxx
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