Where Did All The Cakes Go?

I took some time off. For me. For my family. 

We had the best Christmas. A fun and early New Years Eve. We revised our household budget and made a plan for our savings. We organized the garden and prepared for spring. 

Refocusing my time and energy on my family and home allowed me the opportunity to spend more time AT home doing what I love most - baking. Which was a nice reminder of why I started The Flour Garden in the first place.

With my sleeves rolled up, my apron firmly tied and my kitchen sparkling clean I began thinking, wondering, measuring, mixing, whisking, baking, tasting, perfecting.

Baking to perfection is crucial.

Baking, developing new recipes, test baking and sampling has been a busy and satisfying job. Consequently, I have an entirely new arsenal of cakes, pastries and breads to offer, from whole grain artisan bread to homemade croissants to glamorous wedding cakes.

This is a Good thing. It is a part of the Good Life I intend to embrace more as I become settled in my new home.

Cakes, pastries and breads you ask? 

That's right! The Flour Garden is offering exactly what it offered when I first started it two years ago: cakes, pastries and breads. The difference? The selection! The options are nearly endless and they will all be offered at given times throughout the year unless specially ordered.


Please take a look at our products page and stay tuned to the monthly posts. And, when you're ready, give me a call and let me know what You want to order Next!

Love Cake?

Sometimes when I get a cake order....scerrriiiittttttsskkkk..... scratch that. Every time I get a cake order, especially for one that's a bit different than the norm, I always have aspirations to make an extra for our family. That being said, soon enough into the mere thought my brain comes to a screeching halt and gives me a look from within as if to say "what are you, nuts?! If you had a cake for yourself every time you made one to sell, you'd be 250 pounds and growing"! 







Needless to say, I still mull over the idea. Most of the time I am pleased enough knowing it's delicious and beautiful and exactly what the customer wanted. However, there are those special cakes which make me proud and I wish at that point that I had actually made an extra for us. Partly because I know it would be tantalizingly delicious and partly because I think it would be intensely beautiful when sliced into. This is one of those cakes. 

A luxurious golden, melt-in-your-mouth 
butter cake, layered with lightly sweetened fresh blueberry filling and covered in a delicately honey-sweetened, silky buttercream. Hand crystallized violas gently settle into the buttercream as if to say they found their favorite nesting place and purple and violet ribbons wrap it all together. 


That one would have been a nice one to take on a picnic, to a summer garden party, or just settle in with a nice cup of tea during the evening when the sun is down and the air is still warm. Blueberries and Honey. Purple and Lavendar. Flowers and Sugar. Sigh!

At least I know I've crystallized enough violas to make several others should the mood strike me. 

Or, maybe they'll find their way onto another cake, for someone else, some other time. 


After all, what is a cake if not a sculpture asking to be eaten?

A have your cake and eat it too summer

This past weekend we saw temperatures reach nearly 90 degrees Fahrenheit (30C) and it was all we could do to contain ourselves from over doing it outside. Cleaning gutters, cutting back ivy and wisteria, trimming  back the forsythia, cleaning the ponds, watering the garden, watering the garden and watering the garden some more, we spent nearly every waking moment outdoors. On top of this I was able to wash every scrap of dirty laundry in the house, sweep, vacuum and mop, dust and even pop a cake in the oven for dinner on Sunday! Aside of all of the work we accomplished, we also managed to spend a lot of time walking along some of the many footpaths surrounding our home, picking flowers for every room in the house and Justin even completed his newest song. Relaxing in the evenings with a lager shandy or a pint of Hoegaarden (a delicious Belgian white beer and one of my all-time favorites) with our homemade turkey burgers and vegetables grilling over the charcoal, we'd sip our drinks and throw a few darts. It was one of the best weekends we've had in a very long time. One of those rare weekends when everything goes your way. In a manner of speaking we got to have our cake and eat it too!

Hot weather isn't always conducive to having a kitchen oven on, nor does it make me want to eat any particularly heavy food. Ergo, the desire to cook out on the barbecue and eat fresh green salads. Baking a cake is not exactly what you think of when it's 90 degrees outside... or, is it? 


This delightful, quick to prepare and quick to bake cake cools fast and is perfect with fresh berries and creme fresh or vanilla scented whipped cream. My favorite way to eat this is with loads of fresh blueberries!

The recipe? Four egg yolks mixed with 2/3 cup buttermilk and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla; 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt; 8 tablespoons softened unsalted butter.


The preparation? Easy peasy, just mix it all together, pour it in a 9" cake pan, bake for about 20-30 minutes in a 350F oven and let it cool in the pan until the cake begins to shrink away from the sides. Then, just flip it onto a cooling rack, allow to cool another 10-15 minutes before transferring it to your favorite cake plate. Adorn with creme fresh or vanilla scented whipped cream and loads of blueberries (or any berry will do!).

Bon appetit!

A Piece of Cake

Several weeks ago I had an order for a Victoria Sponge for 80 people. I had never made a Victoria Sponge before and knew that a lot of people would be paying attention if it wasn't made well enough to their liking. After all, this is a classic British cake - one that is beloved by the entire nation - and I couldn't - wouldn't - disappoint.

I decided to make the cake how I would want it, by using a blend of fresh raspberries and strawberries mixed together with a blend of raspberry and strawberry jam and topped with a stabilized whipped cream, rather than just strawberry jam and a buttercream frosting. The result? To die for! Word on the street was that it was the best Victoria Sponge they had ever had!
It's so easy, a child could make it... and one did! The next day I decided to make good on a promise to a very good friend of mine to bake him a Victoria Sponge. While I was at it, I thought it would be nice to have one in our house as well. At the sound of mixing bowls clanking, my eight year-old stepson rushed to the kitchen to find out what was happening. Was there anything he could help me make? Of course there was! He loves to cook and I love to teach so it was a perfect match in the kitchen. He did everything on his own, including separating the eggs! All I did was get the ingredients out and prepared the pans. Again, the verdict was over the top with enthusiasm. It was a success!

So here you go, the recipe for one fantastic Victoria Sponge. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Victoria Sponge(grease, line with parchment and grease again two 9”x1.5” round cake pans)
Yellow Cake
6 large egg yolks
1 liquid cup milk at room temperature
2 ¼ teaspoons vanilla
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter – softened

Filling
2 cups chopped fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries or a combination)
1 ½ cups jam (strawberry, raspberry or a blend of the two)

Whipped Cream
1 liquid cup whipping cream (or double cream)
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch (corn flour)
½ teaspoon vanilla
1. Wisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until blended.
2. Lightly mix egg yolks with 1/3 of the milk and the vanilla.
3. Add butter and remaining milk to dry ingredients and mix on low until incorporated.
4. Add 1/3 of the egg yolk and milk mixture and mix on low until incorporated. Turn mixer on medium-high speed and mix for 20 seconds. Repeat this process two more times with the remaining egg yolk and milk mixture.
5. Divide cake batter evenly between the two pans.
6. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean. When cake is done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pans and allow to cool completely.
7. Chop the berries and add 1 cup of the jam. Mix well.
8. Spread the berry mixture on the top of one of the cakes.
9. Warm 3 tablespoons of the cream with the cornstarch until dissolved and cool to room temperature.
10. Add the cornstarch and cream mixture with the remaining cream and whip until soft peaks form.
11. Add the sugar and vanilla and whip until stiff peaks form, being careful not to turn the cream to butter.
12. Spread ½ of the whipped cream over the top of the berries and cover with the second cake.
13. Spread the remaining 1/2 cup jam mixture over the top layer and spread that with the remaining ½ whipped cream.

Serve at room temperature to experience the intensity of the fruits’ flavors.

Don't let the wheat get you down

What are you giving up for lent?
I was chatting with my mother the other day, updating her on all the happenings of my life in the UK when she suddenly did a complete redirect and changed the topic of conversation to gluten. Now, for those of you who know or have ever met my mother, you know she's cute. Like, adorably cute.

My mother is what we like to call (and forgive me if I offend anyone) a "reformed Catholic".  As she puts it, "we go to church once a year whether we need it or not"; like it's a shower or something. I guess in a way it is if all that prayer and fasting cleanses the soul and inner body. Besides her annual trip to church (or as we called it when I was a child, our "weekly candy bar" - after church we would make a beeline for the general store to pick out our favorite candy bar*), she observes lent and swears that angels do exist.

There's more, but the point is it's Lent. And, because it's lent, it's that time of year when so many of us start thinking about giving up something. It's sort of a second chance for those of you who botched the new year's resolution. You don't have to have any religious affiliation any longer to be a part of the trend. You can just do it on your own. As a friend of mine points out in her 7-day quit challenge, quitters are winners. If you give up something long enough, chances are you won't want to go back to it. At least that's the theory.

Somewhere during the conversation, I jumped on the bandwagon. And so for lent, my mother and I are giving up gluten.

Do you know what gluten is? 
In it's most simplest definition, gluten is the protein found in some grass-related grains, predominantly wheat, rye and barley. It is the gluten in flour that helps retain the gas bubbles produced by a leavening agent which in turn assists the product in rising. High gluten (protein) flours produce excellent breads and low gluten flours (cake flours) are softer, lending themselves better for producing light, tender cakes.

The thing about gluten is, there are many people who are either intolerant or allergic to it (or the wheat from which it is derived) or who have celiac disease. Celiac (coeliac) disease effects at least 1% of the population in the US and UK. It is a condition of the small intestine that causes it to react to gluten - preventing food to be effectively digested and the nutrients in food to be readily absorbed. It can be quite serious.

Can you survive on a gluten -free diet?**
Albeit, difficult to manage in some ways, surviving on a gluten-free diet is possible. It used to be that a gluten-free diet meant a loss in the quality of life through the denial of many delicious foods. What, no cake?! Turning away the bread basket?! Tired of saying no to Spaghetti Wednesday? What about all of those ketchup brands using gluten as a thickening agent (what happened to using tomato paste)? Or ice creams that use gluten as a stabilizing agent? I imagine the first time ice cream was made with gluten marked the beginning of a global breakdown in our food quality. Not that gluten is bad. Being the happy baker that I am, I happen to love gluten - when baking bread. When making ice cream, not so much.

Although reading food labels is a requirement for so many of us, whether we have coeliac disease or are observing lent, the good news is, as long as we have our reading glasses, we can! Just don't judge the product by its label. Neither the US nor the UK require foods to include gluten as an ingredient in all products. The Food and Drug Administration considers gluten to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS) and in the UK only cereals are required to be labeled, all other products are voluntary. Oh, and if you are preparing food on your own premise in the UK, you receive guidance from the Food Standards Agency and so are not required to meet any labeling requirements. This can be frustrating and down right scary depending on how your body reacts to gluten.

Let us eat cake!
The good news is, there are many alternative options to flours and foods containing gluten. Whether you are craving a thick slice of freshly baked bread or are dreaming of a summer fruit tart, there is a flour that can be substituted for all of those wheat flours on which we have become so dependent. The fact of the matter is, you don't have to deny yourself. I for one have never believed in denial anyway. Some of these flour alternatives include, but are not limited to:

• Amaranth
• Arrowroot
• Buckwheat (not a wheat at all, this plant is related to rhubarb)
• Gram (chickpea or garbanzo bean)
• Corn
• Potato
• Quinoa
• Rice (brown and white)
• Soya
• Tapioca

Here's the deal. 
Find a flour that works for you. It might be a blend of gluten free flours. Blends are good because they can mimic the result of a good wheat flour fairly well. When making something for someone who is on a gluten-free diet, consider these points.

• Be careful. If you know of someone who truly has celiac disease, you must be aware that oat flour is questionable and other flours produced in the same facility that process wheat, may become contaminated with gluten. It doesn't take much.
• Don't take a chance. Make certain your cooking/baking equipment is free of any gluten. This is not something to be worried about, but if you are making something for someone who cannot have wheat or gluten, it's not worth taking a chance. Right?
• Know your product. What are you making? Do you have the right substitute flour? If you're baking bread, chances are you need an alternative flour that has a higher protein content. If you're baking a pastry or cake, choose a flour that is lower in protein. Dove's Farm produces a variety of amazing gluten-free flours appropriate for breads, pastries and cakes.

Remember, all things made with gluten can be made just as delicious without gluten. You can do it. And if you can't, you can find someone else who does. The Flour Garden produces some pretty amazing cakes made with Dove's gluten-free flour (if I may say so myself!).

In addition to enjoying gluten-free cakes and pastries, we also bake bread, eat pasta and enjoy a delicious, gluten-free diet every day. Starting today. And ending after 40 days.


*by the way, my favorite candy bar was and still is Snickers! ;)
** I apologize for my amateurish attempts at humor and understand that they are likely to disturb, offend, or worse, disappoint some of my readers. For this, I humbly request your forgiveness.