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It has got to be said — and I think this is very sad — that cake has rather fallen out of favour in some quarters. It can be seen as an overindulgent foodstuff without nutritional value. But, with the best home-made cakes, that’s just not fair. While I’m not suggesting that we should all be cramming ourselves with macaroons and Battenberg every day, I think that sweet baked treats have an important part to play in a well-balanced, life-enhancing diet.
While many of us enjoy whipping up a batch of muffins or a chocolate sponge, and many more need little encouragement to sample the results, a lot of cooks are under the misapprehension that they somehow lack the special touch to produce great results.
Pam Corbin is a champion of the art of the possible. All the recipes here are based on the principles that we try to stick to at River Cottage: many focus on seasonal ingredients; several use up leftover s and, of course, make use of local produce, including herbs and fruit that we have growing in our gardens. We believe in allowing a cake’s natural charms to speak for themselves. Who wants to worry about piping and moulding when there’s cake to be eaten?
While it’s lovely to spend an afternoon ensconced in the kitchen, it’s not always possible. Consequently, there are plenty of cakes here that you could have on the table, warm and irresistible, within the hour. This is a comprehensive call for the revival of cake, in all its many glorious guises. It’s a celebration of home baking with good, well-sourced ingredients, an argument for the revival of elevenses and four o’clock tea, an acknowledgment of the simple pleasure of offering a cuppa and a slice of something nice to someone you care about.
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These carefully crafted, inspiring and utterly delicious recipes will bring out the baker in you, I promise.
Recipe taken from Cakes — River Cottage Handbook No 8 by Pam Corbin with introduction by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, published by Bloomsbury on Monday, March 14 at £14.99. It is available for £13.49 at timesbooks.co.uk
Text © Pam Corbin 2011