Introducing a combination cake, Christmas and Easter all in one.
In the great kitchen clear out of January I discovered a Mary Berry Christmas cake kit lurking in the back of a cupboard. The package was about the size of a kettle and took up a large volume of space in my tiny kitchen. The best before date was Feb 2012, but with each passing year I could never bring myself to throw it out. Instead I hid it behind the cereal packets hoping it would miraculously disappear.
It surfaced again recently and I had a dilemma. Should I fling it, feed some of the contents to the birds or add eggs and bake? Mary’s smiling face shone out from the packaging, yet seemed to berate me for my folly and neglect. How could I throw Mary – queen of The Great British Bake Off – in the bin? I had no option but to obey her commands. There was the brandy soaked fruit to consider too and the promise of a rich cake covered in marzipan and royal icing. Anyone would have done the same – wouldn’t they?
"Should I fling it, feed some of the contents to the birds or add eggs and bake"?
Introducing the Chreaster Cake
With Easter looming I thought, well why not. I’d call it a Chreaster cake and let the Easter bunny and Santa sort it out between them. All I had to do was add orange and lemon zest, eggs and butter to the pre-bagged cake ingredients, plus lemon juice and egg white for the royal icing.
The cake mix had always been stored in a cool dark place and each ingredient sealed in its own bag. The risks were low: sugar has a long shelf life; the fruit had been soaked in brandy and I would be adding fresh ingredients before baking. It was only the blanched almonds that worried me slightly. I inspected them thoroughly for mould and then tried a handful. They tasted fine and were not rancid. With no ill effects I took a chance.
But why hadn’t I made the cake before? Why had I left the cake mix to kick around the kitchen for three years? The truth is I never made the time. Now I wish I’d made it sooner. It was easy and quick, and has inspired me to make a Mary Berry Christmas cake from scratch this coming Christmas.
We will be eating the Chreaster cake tomorrow, but I have already had a sneaky taste and it was delicious. You wouldn’t expect anything less from Mary Berry. In the interests of public health I need to tell you that I was a willing participant in this experiment and would not recommend that anyone should follow me in taking such a terrible risk.
Happy Easter and spring time joy to all.