Talk: Steve Jobs Made a Difference To My Family

My youngest brother has muscular dystrophy and is now quadriplegic, with just about enough movement to steer his electric wheelchair. A few years ago my mom found that someone had put together a bluetooth computer controller allowing the user to control the computer using the wheelchair joystick. The family clubbed together a bought him an iMac with a plan to give him back some of his independence. It all connected wonderfully, the mouse moved, some keyboard software and we were set.. we thought. The only problem was that the mouse move juddered, pausing then racing across the screen to catch up with the movement, rendering the whole set up useless. A lot of testing later, showed that it worked perfectly on a Windows PC, just failed on the iMac.

My mom spent a lot of very frustrating time talking to Apple support here in the UK, who essentially said that it was an unapproved bluetooth device and tough luck we were on our own. Out of sheer frustration my mom wrote an e-mail to Steve Jobs venting her frustration at what was happening, never expecting a reply. The surprise was a remarkably prompt, somewhat curt (as he was prone to) reply from him. He had assigned a group of technicians and programmers to resolve the problem. They carefully researched the problem and discovered that it was due to a very slight error in the implementation of the Bluetooth stack in OSX that was almost unnoticeable. They then built my brother a bespoke update to OSX to solve the problem. An update which appeared a couple of updates later in the routine updates for everyone else.

This brief interaction with Steve Jobs resulted in an effect that changed my brothers life and had a huge, wonderful effect on my family. We never thought a CEO of a corporate would care. He did, he didn’t have to, but he diverted resources to make a difference to just one person, the difference between dependence and independence in a number of important ways. Thank you never seemed enough for what was done and for all he did in the corporate world and all of the incredible things he introduced to the world it is for this one act of human kindness he will forever be in the heart of me and my family.

Make: Bakeday Sunday – Nutella Marble Cake

Marble cake made its appearance in the last quarter of the 19^th Century when Victorian American women were looking for new ways to impress.  Up until that point rather plain square cakes were the order of the day.

Essentially marble cake is a light and a dark cake batter lightly swirled together.  In the early incarnations of the cake the dark colour was achieved by the addition of molasses, spices (such as cloves, cinnamon, allspice, mace and nutmeg) or even currants and raisins.

In the early 20^th century the chocolate made its appearance as the colour of the dark part, but the spice endured for some time after.  These days the most common mixture is chocolate and vanilla, but of course you can put together almost any combination provided the colours are distinct.  This recipe is a version that takes inspiration from Nutella, a delicious blend of chocolate and hazelnuts.  I have used almond flavouring instead of hazelnut as it far easier to get.

Cake
4 medium eggs
Weigh the eggs and then weigh out the same weight of
Sugar
Butter
Self Raising Flour (remove 1 tbsp of flour after weighing)
1 tsp almond extract
50g cocoa powder.
Milk
A little extra butter and plain flour

Icing
50g butter
100g Nutella
100g icing sugar

Equipment
1 large bowl
1 medium bowl
1 wooden spoon
1 x 8in / 20cm deep round cake tins
Cake rack
Plate larger than 8in / 20cm across
Kitchen scales
Tablespoon
Skewer
Cocktail stick

Preheat your oven to 180°C/ 350°F.

Using the little extra butter grease your baking tin well.  Using the extra flour lightly cover the butter.  I do this even with non stick pans to guarantee the cakes turn out easily.  Some people like to line the cake tin with greaseproof paper, I have never bothered. When I cook this, I use a fluted tin brioche tin (7in /17.5cm diameter), so that when turned out it has a pleasing domed shaped.  Note that if you do this you will need to only use a 3 egg mixture and reduce the amount of cocoa slightly.

Make sure your butter for the cake is at room temperature and add to a bowl along with the sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed and sort of moussey.  I confess I use a food processor (beater, not with blades) or hand held electric beater, it is much quicker and easier.  I find this step to be essential as the air you beat into here is a major contributor to how light your cake with turn out.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of the flour after each one.  If using a food processor, leave the motor running and add the eggs as above.

Split the batter in two and mix the almond extract into one bowl of batter and the cocoa powder into the other.

The mixture should have a soft consistency which drops off the spoon.  If not, add in a little milk to achieve the right consistency.

Drop alternate tablespoons of the white and the chocolate mixture into the prepared cake tin.  When you have finished, gently swirl the batter with a skewer, but note to much or you will not get a marble effects as the cake will be too mixed together.

Bake for 45 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven.

Avoid opening the oven before the last minutes of the cooking time or your cake will collapse.  At the end of the cooking time check the cake is done by giving it a gentle press, if it bounces back it is done.  Some people prefer to use a thin skewer or cocktail stick which should come out clean when inserted into the cake.

Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes which will help it firm up slightly.  Turn it out onto a cake rack and leave until completely cool.

This sort of cake does not really need icing.  It is delicious, just cut and enjoyed with a cup of tea.  For this version as it was a treat for the children, I whipped some Nutella icing.  Beat together the butter and the Nutella, then beat in the icing sugar until smooth.  Spread over the top of the cake.  It is quite a soft icing, but deliciously sticky, so expect to need serviettes when you tuck in.

Enjoy!

Cake Variations

• Substitute vanilla extract for the almond to have a traditional chocolate vanilla.
• Substitute orange extract for the almond to have chocolate orange.
• Substitute peppermint extract for the almond to have chocolate mint.
• Add a teaspoon of cloves, a teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of allspice to create the dark part of the cake.  You can flavour the pale part of the cake with vanilla, but I like to use a teaspoon of lemon extract and the finely chopped zest of a lemon.
• Use 2 tsp of lavender flowers crushed with a little sugar before adding to the pale part of the cake for chocolate lavender cake.
• For something deliciously different and a little gastronomically challenging add 1 finely chopped red chilli or 1 tbsp chilli oil to the pale part for chocolate chilli cake (add more chilli if you are more spicey)
• Try using coffee instead of chocolate by dissolving 1tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water.
• Add 100g melted white chocolate to the pale part and the coffee as the dark part for a “cappuccino” marble cake.
• Equally use the white chocolate part with a raspberry part made by stirring in 100g raspberries and a little red food colouring into the other half.
• White chocolate also team wonderfully with lime.  Use the finely shredded zest of 3 limes and 1 tbsp lime juice in the other half with a little green food colouring.
• Of course you can just stick to a flavour you like and colour each of the two half any colours you like and swirl them together.

Make: Bakeday Sunday – Lemon Curd Layer Cake

Lemon Drizzle Cake is a popular family favourite a combination of sweet cake and zesty lemon icing and syrup.  This cake is really just a dressy version of this, perfect for making a fantastic impression for very little extra work.

The origin of the lemon is rather mysterious and is presumed to have originated in India and/or China.  It was originally used as an antiseptic and antidote for poison, making its way to Ancient Rome around the first century, before moving to Persia, Egypt and Iraq by 700AD, though its use was largely ornamental.  By 1100 AD trade in lemons through the Mediterranean and Arab worlds was widespread.  Certainly by the 13^th century lemon juice, mixed with a lot of sugar was being regularly consumed.

Widespread cultivation of lemons in Europe began in the 15^th century, the same period when lemons crossed the Atlantic to the Americas.  At this time it was almost entirely used as medicine or ornamentally in Europe, but it was making its way into cooking.  It was not until the late 18^th century / early 19^th century that the lemon made its appearance in cooking and flavouring.  From this the wide variety of lemon items which we know were created.  Dressings, cakes, curds, sweets, soft drinks, marmalades, marinades and more.

The joy of the lemon is it’s acidity, which in cakes and puddings provides balance against the sweetness.  It also enhances the flavours of a number of other fruits like strawberries, guava, papaya and avocado.

Lemon Curd Layer Cake

Cake
5 medium eggs
Weigh the eggs and then weigh out the same weight of
Sugar
Butter
Self Raising Flour
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
½ tsp lemon extract (or zest of 1 additional lemon)
Milk
A little extra butter and plain flour

Syrup
100g sugar
juice of 2 lemons

Filling
250ml double cream
3tbsp lemon curd

Icing
300g icing sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Equipment
1 large bowl
1 medium bowl
1 small bowl
1 wooden spoon
1 small saucepan
2 x 8in / 20cm round cake tins
Cake rack
Plate larger than 8in / 20cm across
Knife
Kitchen scales
Tablespoon
Teaspoon
Whisk
Zester (or a really sharp knife)
Cocktail stick

Preheat your oven to 180°C/ 350°F.

Using the little extra butter grease your baking tins well.  Using the extra flour lightly cover the butter.  I do this even with non stick pans to guarantee the cakes turn out easily.  Some people like to line the cake tin with greaseproof paper, I have never bothered.

Make sure your butter for the cake is at room temperature and add to a large bowl along with the sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed and sort of moussey.  I confess I use a food processor (beater, not with blades) or hand held electric beater, it is much quicker and easier.  I find this step to be essential as the air you beat into here is a major contributor to how light your cake with turn out.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of the flour after each one, then add the vanilla.  If using a food processor, leave the motor running and add the eggs as above.

Fold in the remaining flour and lemon zest and lemon extract.  If using a food processor turn the speed down as you add the flour to avoid over beating.

The mixture should have a soft consistency which drops off the spoon.  If not, add in a little milk to achieve the right consistency.

Divide the mixture between the two baking tins, making sure you evenly spread the mixture out.  Make a small dip in the middle part of each to reduce any peaking in the middle.

Bake for 25 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven.

Avoid opening the oven before the last minutes of the cooking time or your cake will collapse.  At the end of the cooking time check the cake is done by giving it a gentle press, if it bounces back it is done.  Some people prefer to use a thin skewer or tooth pick which should come out clean when inserted into the cake.

A few minutes before the cake is due out of the oven, put the syrup ingredients into a saucepan and heat until the sugar has all dissolved.

Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes which will help them firm up slightly.  Turn them out onto a cake rack and stab all over with a cocktail stick.  Split the syrup, pouring half the lemon syrup all over each cake.  Make sure you pour it all over the surface, not just in one place.  The warm cake will absorb the syrup, making the cake deliciously moist.  Leave until completely cool.

Beat the double cream in the medium bowl until just forming a soft peak.  Add the lemon curd and beat a little more until smooth.  Make sure you do not over beat as the mixture will curdle or turn to butter.  If your bowl and the cream are cold before you start it will whip up faster.

If the cake has slightly domed in the middle trim the peak with a bread knife.  Put a little cream on the plate you are putting the cake on, it helps to stop the cake sliding off the plate when you move it.  Place one cake upside down on the plate.  Spread the cream mixture over the cake before placing the second cake on top of it.  You can alternatively not mix the cream and lemon curd together.  Instead beat the cream to a firm peak, spread the cake with the lemon curd, then top with the cream.

Take the lemon for the icing and zest, creating long thin slivers of zest.  You can do this with a zester along the whole length of the lemon, or using a sharp knife slice the zest off the lemon, then cut into long, thin strips.  In the small bowl mix the icing sugar and lemon juice to make smooth icing.  Drizzle the icing over the top of the cake, allowing a little to dribble down the side.  Sprinkle the zest over the top and leave to set.

I like my drizzle to be thicker, creating a snowy white top, so I add more icing sugar.  Equally you can use slightly less icing sugar and have it a little more like a glaze.

Enjoy!

Cake Variations

• For the filling just use the lemon curd with no cream.
• Stir 150g of blueberries into the lemon cream for the filling (you could equally use raspberries or other berries).
• Stir 200g – 300g blueberries into the cake mix before baking (you could equally use raspberries or other berries).
• Stir 200g sultanas into the cake mix before baking.
• Stir 45g poppy seeds into the cake mix before baking.
• Use a lemon and cream cheese topping as icing.
• Use an orange butter cream with the lemon cake for a “St Clements” version.
• An unusual, but very nice addition is 1 tbsp lavender flowers into the cake mix before baking.
• Add a tsp of ground ginger to the cake mix before baking.  Add about 1tbsp ginger syrup (from stem ginger in syrup) and decorate with chopped stem ginger.

Make: Bakeday Sunday – Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake is one of those things that is evocative to almost everyone.  There is something wonderfully decadent about that first bite into a rich, unctuous, deeply flavoured chocolate cake.  It is a taste like no other, save that of chocolate itself.  There are times though when I feel that chocolate cake surpasses even chocolate.

Chocolate, or more correctly products from cacao (Theobroma cacao), have been around 1100BC.  For the early part of the history of its usage it was not used to make the sweet confections we know today.  In its earliest history shows its use in alcoholic drinks and then in Mayan culture it was used to create a bitter, frothy drink often flavoured with vanilla or chilli.  Cacao beans were considered an important luxury and the beans were at times used as currency.

The Spanish conquest of the Aztec resulted in chocolate arriving into Europe, initially still as a bitter drink.  Initially expensive it was confined to those with money, notably royals and the well connected.  In 1847 Joseph Fry and Sons created the first chocolate bar in a form we would recognise today, but it was not until the Industrial Revolution when chocolate became widely available and affordable.

Once the conching process had been developed in 1879 by Rodolphe Lindt it became much easier to bake with chocolate.  The concept of chocolate cake became more widespread after 1900 and the first chocolate cake mixes became available in the 1930s.

Since then a wide variety of chocolate cakes have appeared on the scene, from the simple to the complex, from the almost plain to the defiantly rich.  Types include traditional Chocolate Cake, Red Velvet Cake, Chocolate Fudge Cake, German Chocolate Cake, Devil’s Food Cake, Black Forest Cake, Sachertorte and many more.  It has become part of the everyday life of most people.  Everyone has their own favourites and there are many variations.

Personally I tend to think of chocolate cake in two groups.  The first is simple, everyday cake, the type I knock up with relatively few ingredients and simple technique.  These include loaf cakes, tray bakes and traditional chocolate cake.  The other is the more complex, richer cakes which are rather more of a treat like Sachertorte, Fudge Cake, Black Forest and the like.

This recipe is my most basic chocolate cake recipe.  I can produce it pretty quickly and it is a nice little treat when we have guests drop in, or when the kids come to visit.  It is just the ticket on an autumn day with a pot of tea and a book.

Cake
5 medium eggs
Weigh the eggs and then weigh out the same weight of
Sugar
Butter
Self Raising Flour (remove 1 tbsp of flour after weighing)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cacao powder
Milk
A little extra butter and plain flour

Filling/Topping
240g butter
480g icing sugar
100g dark chocolate
1 tbsp cacao powder

Equipment
1 large bowl
1 medium bowl
1 small bowl
1 wooden spoon
2 x 8in / 20cm round cake tins
Cake rack
Plate larger than 8in / 20cm across
Knife
Kitchen scales
Tablespoon
Teaspoon

Preheat your oven to 180°C/ 350°F.

Using the little extra butter grease your baking tins well.  Using the extra flour lightly cover the butter.  I do this even with non stick pans to guarantee the cakes turn out easily.  Some people like to line the cake tin with greaseproof paper, I have never bothered.

Make sure your butter for the cake is at room temperature and add to a bowl along with the sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed and sort of moussey.  I confess I use a food processor (beater, not with blades) or hand held electric beater, it is much quicker and easier.  I find this step to be essential as the air you beat into here is a major contributor to how light your cake with turn out.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of the flour after each one, then add the vanilla.  If using a food processor, leave the motor running and add the eggs as above.

Fold in the remaining flour and the cacao powder.  If using a food processor turn the speed down as you add the flour to avoid over beating.

The mixture should have a soft consistency which drops off the spoon.  If not, add in a little milk to achieve the right consistency.Divide the mixture between the two baking tins, making sure you evenly spread the mixture out.  Make a small dip in the middle part of each to reduce any peaking in the middle.

Bake for 25 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven.

Avoid opening the oven before the last minutes of the cooking time or your cake will collapse.  At the end of the cooking time check the cake is done by giving it a gentle press, if it bounces back it is done.  Some people prefer to use a thin skewer or tooth pick which should come out clean when inserted into the cake.

Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes which will help them firm up slightly.  Turn them out onto a cake rack and leave to cool completely.

Break the chocolate into pieces into the small bowl.  This needs to be melted.  The traditional way to do this is to set the bowl of a pot of simmering water, making sure that the bowl does not touch the water in the pan.  The rising steam then gently melts the chocolate.  Personally I find that rather time consuming for day to day baking.  Instead I place it in the microwave and heat it around 20 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted.  This does need to be done with caution (this is also true of heating it over water, but less so) as chocolate does burn very easily and if it does it quickly turns granular and unworkable.  It is then totally unusable (and frankly inedible).  Leave the chocolate to cool slightly (but not so much that it resets.

Make sure that the butter for the filling is at room temperature, add to a medium size bowl and beat until fluffy.  Beat in the icing sugar to make a smooth icing.  Slowly pour in the melted chocolate beating all the time, then beat in the cacao powder.  Add a little milk if it is too thick to spread.

If the cake has slightly domed in the middle trim the peak with a bread knife.  Put a little icing on the plate you are putting the cake on, it helps to stop the cake sliding off the plate when you move it.  Place one cake upside down on the plate.

Spread just under half of the icing over the cake.  Place the other cake upside down on top of the icing.  The reason for this is to give the cake a flat top.  Then spread the rest of the icing over the top of the cake.  If you want to completely cover the cake with icing, use only a third of the icing in the middle, a third on the top and the remaining third around the sides.

Enjoy!

Cake Variations
Chocolate Orange: Add a teaspoon of orange essence to the cake batter.  Beat 200 ml of double cream into soft peaks and stir in 200g mandarin segments.  Use this as the filling in the middle of the cake.
Chocolate Peppermint: Cover the bottom of one of the hot cakes with After Eight mints.  Add a teaspoon of peppermint essence to the chocolate icing and ice as normal. after the melted After Eights have set again.
Chocolate Caramel: Use half a can of Nestle Carnation Caramel as filling
Chocolate Cherry: Optionally sprinkle each cake layer with Kirsch.  Use half a can of black cherry pie filling as the cake filling.
Chocolate Strawberry:  Instead of icing whip 450ml double cream to soft peaks and then stir in 200g cooled, melted chocolate.  Chop up 300g strawberries and mix with a third of the chocolate cream and use as the filling.  Use the rest of the cream to ice the rest of the cake.

Tip
For the fat in the cake I always use butter.  Although some bakers substitute margarine/spread I find the results to be variable and often not completely successful.

Eat: Zero Degrees, Bristol

Sorry no pictures with this one, it was a work dinner.

Zero Degrees is a small microbrewery chain that also has a restaurant.  They claim to use locally sourced ingredients and the beer is made on the premises.

The Bristol branch of the chain is located on Colston Street and occupies an expansive space redeveloped out of an older site alongside Christmas Steps.  The interior is like a modern warehouse, open plan and industrial with exposed steel beams.  Steel pipework and vats enhance the feel. A mezzanine floor provides more restaurant seating and there are several outdoor areas on both levels.  The elevated position and large windows offer excellent views over Bristol.

As you enter you will see the large beer vats in rooms with glass walls.  In the centre is a long bar with some seating including a selection of rather worse for wear mock leather and steel sofas (not the slouching type).  The far end of the space is occupied by the restaurant area which includes an open plan kitchen, the pizza oven taking pride of place in the centre.  The open plan nature of the location makes it very noisy, even on a week night and it is made far worse by the “background” music which was being played at an intrusively high volume.

We arrived separately and TB had arranged for drinks to be billed to our table.  The biggest problem being that the staff would not confess the table number so when I and later TB colleague arrived we had to go though a somewhat frustrating renegotiation to with staff to get them to add the new drinks to the existing bill.  They would insist on us giving a table number and we would have to point out they had not given us one (and continued not to).  Kind of guess the table number.

Talking to TB it turns out that although we made a reservation and confirmed it they could not find it.  Making him wait they decided to search their system for it and finally found it on a completely different day the following week.  Some negotiation led to it being move to the correct day and time.

Being a microbrewery you would expect the beer to be good, and in this regard Zero Degrees does not disappoint.  The beers are flavourful, hand crafted drinks that are attractively priced at £2.90 a pint.  Normally they have a core four beers on offer, Black Lager, Pale Ale, Pilsner and Wheat Ale.  They also periodically do seasonal or special beers.  We sampled both the Pale Ale and the Wheat Ale and enjoyed them both, though the Wheat Ale was rather cloudier than expected.  You can also take the beers home in 5 and 50 litre kegs at relatively moderate prices.

When Zero Degrees first opened I ate there relatively frequently due to its convenient proximity to work, but it had been some years since I had been and was interested to see what had changed.  Sadly, it did not appear to have improved in a good way.

The menu is expansive, probably a little too much so, leaving me wondering how they could do such a range well.  The core of the menu is the pizza with more than 20 to choose from.  These range from the standard (pepperoni, seafood, American) to the exotic (Peking Duck, Teriyaki Chicken, Caramelised Pear & Gorgonzola and Thai Green Chicken.  Other items on the menu include a range of 9 pasta dishes, 5 flavours of mussel pot, salads and a weekly sausage selection.  Around 10 appetizers are also listed.  The cooking style is eclectic, although based in Italian style the flavours and concepts hop wildly around the world.

To start we ordered Dough Balls (served with garlic butter and chilli oil), Crispy Fried Calamari (with chilli oil) and Gamberi Prawns (king prawns in garlic, tomato and chilli served with garlic bread).  The 8 or so dough balls were small almost to the point of meaness, hard and slightly charred.  The small amount of overly soft garlic butter and chilli oil were served in tiny paper cups of the type you get in fast food restaurants to fill with ketchup.  I have more of an expectation of pillowy, soft dough balls.

The calamari was very flavourful and well cooked, though not in any way crispy.  A slightly sparse portion made to look bigger by being put in a bowl atop a selection of chopped leaves.  The Gamberi Prawns were reasonably cooked, but what could have been a great dish was let down by far too much chilli that killed the flavour of the prawns.  It was even too hot for TB who is reasonably tolerant of these things.

TB had asked for a glass of water before the starters arrived which only arrived after the main course.  This was thematic of the service, the staff were pleasant but not at all attentive and service in general was on the slow side.

For main courses TB and I had the Peking Duck pizza and TB colleague has the Porcini Mushroom Pizza.  On the positive the pizzas are large and the bases are crispy and well cooked.  Toppings are rather more mixed story.  On the Peking Duck pizza the Hoi Sin sauce was spread reasonably to the edge of the pizza, the rest of the toppings were clustered in the middle stopping a good inch from the edge of the sauce all around.  The crispy tortillas were piled in the middle and were crisp and Tasty.  The duck was very overcooked and dry.  The Porcini Mushroom pizza was similar, with the mushrooms in clumps over the pizza which TB colleague rearranged for a more even spread.

There was then a substantial pause while we waited for the table to be cleared, dessert menus to arrive, then to order dessert and finally to have it arrive.  TB also ordered hot chocolate and TB colleague a coffee.  The desert menu is not particularly creative or inspiring, rather a come down from the dessert menu I remember from previous visits.  When the desserts arrived our expectations were not high, but we were pleasantly surprised.  The baked cheesecake was very light and fluffy, but definitely baked (not gelatine set) which gave good depth of flavour.  Served with chopped strawberries, vanilla ice cream and a berry coulis it was the highlight of the evening.  The Caramelised Apple Tart Tatin (I always thought Tart Tatin was normally made with caramelised apples, so why specify?), was also very nice. The apples were flavourful and caramelly without being mushy and the pasty was still reasonably crisp.  The vanilla ice cream contrasted well with the warm tart.  A good effort.

We asked for the bill and some 20 minutes later it arrived.  At this point the hot chocolate and coffee had still not arrived and we were no longer prepared to wait, so paid and left.  We were offered the coffee and hot chocolate for free as we went to leave, but it was rather ate by then and we all had work the next day.  We arrived at 7pm, sat down to eat at 7:30 and didn’t manage to leave until 10:40.  Slow!  We thought the food was a little pricey for what we got, but a discount voucher brought the price down to what was a reasonable price for the meal.

The other thing they do, which is a pet peeve of mine is to automatically add a 10% service charge on every bill.  It is easily overlooked which means I am sure a number of people end up tipping twice.

I would probably go back for a beer, but given the selection of other great dining locations in Bristol I am unlikely to eat there again any time soon.

ZERODEGREES Bristol
53 Colston Street
Bristol
BS1 5BA
T: 0117 925 2706
E: bristol@zerodegrees.co.uk

Food: 5
Décor: 7
Service: 4

Cost: £25 per head (3 courses and a beer) / £20 per head with discount

Date: 7 July 2011

Make: Bakeday Sunday – Victoria Sponge

Victoria sponge is one of the all time classics in the baking world.  From a history point of view, the Victoria Sponge is named after the long reigning British queen Victoria.  After her husband Albert, to whom she was devoted, died in 1861 Victoria withdrew from society spending much of her time at her home on the Isle of Wight, Osborne House. with some time spent at Windsor Castle and Balmoral.  Although she continued to perform her royal duties she was rarely seen in public. Indeed she only ever wore black from then onwards.

Those around her encouraged her to host tea parties to try and get her back into society.  It was at these parties that the cake that became known as Victoria sponge had its debut.  It quickly became fashionable throughout Victorian society and since then has been the cake that shows the skill of any cake baker.

A Victoria sponge is technically not a sponge cake at all.  A sponge cake is a mixture of sugar and eggs beaten until light and creamy into which is folded the flour.  Often there is no other raising agent other than the air that has been beaten into the mixture expanding as it bakes.  There is definitely no fat in it, an important addition in the Victoria sponge.  A proper sponge cake is incredibly light and the basic recipe is used for Swiss rolls, madeleines and other traditional tea time delicacies.  It also goes stale rather fast.  These days these are more commonly referred to as fat free sponges.

Victoria sponge is a fat enriched sponge cake which is traditionally filled with raspberry jam and whipped cream and does not have any topping.  These days people use a variety of different kinds of jam or lemon curd and may use fresh berries along with or instead of the jam.  Instead of cream, substitutions of buttercream or chantilly cream are used.  I have had Victoria sponge where the cream is omitted, but that is a jam sponge, not a Victoria sponge.

I use this basic recipe in many ways, including fairy cakes (or butterfly cakes), puddings and with the addition of different flavours I make chocolate, lemon, coffee and other basic cakes.

The cake itself is widely considered to be a good test of both an oven and a baker as it is rather sensitive to temperature, timing and balance of ingredients.  Don’t worry too much though, so long as you oven temperature gauge is accurate this recipe should turn out well and look impressive.

Cake
5 medium eggs
Weigh the eggs and then weigh out the same weight of
Sugar
Butter
Self Raising Flour
1 tsp vanilla
Milk
A little extra butter and plain flour

Filling
120g butter
240g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6 tbsp raspberry jam
Milk
A little extra icing sugar

Equipment
1 large bowl
1 medium bowl
1 wooden spoon
2 x 8in / 20cm round cake tins
Cake rack
Plate larger than 8in / 20cm across
Knife
Kitchen scales
Tablespoon
Teaspoon

Preheat your oven to 180°C/ 350°F.

Using the little extra butter grease your baking tins well.  Using the extra flour lightly cover the butter.  I do this even with non stick pans to guarantee the cakes turn out easily.  Some people like to line the cake tin with greaseproof paper, I have never bothered.

Make sure your butter for the cake is at room temperature and add to a bowl along with the sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed and sort of moussey.  I confess I use a food processor (beater, not with blades) or hand held electric beater, it is much quicker and easier.  I find this step to be essential as the air you beat into here is a major contributor to how light your cake with turn out.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of the flour after each one, then add the vanilla.  If using a food processor, leave the motor running and add the eggs as above.

Fold in the flour.  If using a food processor turn the speed down as you add the flour to avoid over beating.

The mixture should have a soft consistency which drops off the spoon.  If not, add in a little milk to achieve the right consistency.

Divide the mixture between the two baking tins, making sure you evenly spread the mixture out.  Make a small dip in the middle part of each to reduce any peaking in the middle.

Bake for 25 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven.

Avoid opening the oven before the last minutes of the cooking time or your cake will collapse.  At the end of the cooking time check the cake is done by giving it a gentle press, if it bounces back it is done.  Some people prefer to use a thin skewer or tooth pick which should come out clean when inserted into the cake.

Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes which will help them firm up slightly.  Turn them out onto a cake rack and leave to cool completely.

If the cake has slightly domed in the middle trim the peak with a bread knife.  Put a little jam on the plate you are putting the cake on, it helps to stop the cake sliding off the plate when you move it.  Place one cake upside down on the plate.

Spread the jam over the cake.  Feel free to add more jam if you like more.

Make sure that the butter for the filling is at room temperature, add to a medium size bowl and beat until fluffy.  Beat in the icing sugar and vanilla to make a smooth icing, adding a little milk if it is too thick to spread.

Spread the buttercream over the jam, then place the other cake upside down on top of the buttercream.  The reason for this is to give the cake a flat top. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Cake Variations

• Chocolate: Add two tablespoons cocoa powder to the cake batter and remove 1 tablespoon of flour
• Lemon: Add the zest of one lemon to the cake batter (also works with lime and orange)
• Coffee: Dilute a tablespoon of instant coffee in a dessertspoon full of boiling water to the cake batter
• Cherry: Quarter 250g of glace cherries and toss in 100g ground almonds and stir into the cake batter.
• Try using flavoured sugar, for example vanilla, lemon, rose or lavender for a subtle flavour to the cake.

Filling variations

• Try strawberry, damson, apricot or blackcurrant jam.
• Try thin cut orange or lemon-lime marmalade.
• Try lemon curd or ginger curd.
• Warm 150g strawberry jam and mix in 150g strawberries (or use raspberry).
• Instead of buttercream beat 300ml double cream into soft peaks.
• For a richer blend beat 150ml double cream and 150g marscarpone into soft peaks.
• Add lemon zest to the cream or buttercream.

Tip
For the fat in the cake I always use butter.  Although some bakers substitute margarine/spread I find the results to be variable and often not completely successful.

Eat: TGI Fridays, Cribbs Causeway

The boss is leaving so the gang headed out for dinner and to wish her best wishes as she heads to pastures new.  The popular choice was TGI Fridays so we all trekked our way out of the centre of Bristol to the trading estate that is Cribbs Causeway, or more precisely the segment containing the cinema, bowling alley and a selection of dining establishments collectively known as The Venue.

My first experience with TGI Fridays was more than 20 years ago on my second trip to the USA on a failed romance.  We had several meals at TGIs over that time and maybe it was the love in the air but I have fond memories.  As a university student TGIs was a special treat when we went as a gang for a day out, a movie and TGIs.  It was aspirational as a broke student and a chance for us all to have something a cut above fast food and made even better by being complimented by one (or several) of the cocktails they are known for.  As I grew older, wiser and in possession of a reasonable income I realised that without the cocktails it was little more than better dressed fast food.  Against this backdrop I approached this visit cautiously despite the occasion.

So a dozen of us headed out for a party, but no too much, it was after all a school night.  While it is technically possible to get there by public transport, as it is in an out of town shopping centre a car is really your best option.  The first thing that struck me when we arrived was being belted by a wall of sound.  The place was busy, a lot of parties like ours and a fair number of kids parties providing a relentless din overlayed by an inoffensive soundtrack of “background” popular music.

We were seated at a long table, which is less than ideal for a large group as it is practically impossible to have a conversation with anyone not adjacent to you without yelling, especially with all the other noise.  The décor of dark woods with red and white accessories alongside staff bedecked in red and white shirts and braces with badges has not changed (apparently they are about to celebrate 25 years).

Cocktails were the kick off.  The cocktail menu is a lot glossier and “designery” (probably not a word, but you know what I mean). Somewhat slimmer than I recall and missing a few of the cocktails I remember, but overwhelming never the less.  Some dithering later most of us were armed with cocktails (many of which come in a regular or large version).  Barnamint Baileys, Strawberry Shortcake and Silver Mercedes were amongst those selected and while we all enjoyed them the common consensus was that they were all rather light in alcohol, which is probably how they have moderate prices despite using in their words “premium spirits”.

They do get credit though for having sodas (coke, etc) as “bottomless” in the American style, even if getting the attention of a server to get a refill is a little challenging.

The menu is what I would call American/Tex-Mex, think steak, ribs, burgers, fajitas and the like, pretty much all accompanied by fries.  The menu is by no means small and perfectly formed, it is rather a tome at 16 pages.  A lot of this is because each of the basic items come in a wide variety of permutations.  For example you can’t just choose a burger, you have to choose from classic (three types), loaded (3 types), double stacked (3 types) or Prime Choice (5 types).  Jack Daniels glazes and sauces are applied to many menu items, billed as sweet and smoky though most of us that tasted them felt they were just sweet.

Fortunately there was a salvation for those of us feeling rather overwhelmed by the choice in the Monday to Thursday special where you can have two courses (starter and main or main and dessert) for £9.99 or three courses for £12.99.  For an additional £3.49 you can upgrade your main course.  This special menu is mercifully a lot shorter and represents a very good price when compared against the full price for each of the individual components.

Most of us selected from this menu, with a few souls braving the a la carte selection.  We had ordered our drinks from the bar which was just as well because it took around 35 minutes for someone to come and take our order.  This was rather the theme of the night.

I had stuffed potato skins for starter.  The generous portion of potato had a filling of bacon and cheese (mushroom can be substituted for the bacon) and was served with a small pot of sour cream topped with chopped spring onions (a garnish really although billed in the menu).  The potato was not bad and the bacon crispy, the filling was uneven with some fuller than others, though all had cheese notably on the sparse side.  Other starters round the table included Mushrooms Alfredo (tasty button mushrooms swimming in a vast amount of garlic and cheese gloop) and Mozzarella Dippers (crispy breaded mozzarella with a tomato and basil marinara sauce – not gooey as promised, more rubbery sort of crisp and chewy).   The Bruschetta was 4 chunks of grilled ciabatta with a largish blob of tomato, garlic and basil plonked in the middle, not really bruschetta but the portion was almost a meal in itself.

The starter portions were all on the large side but unremarkable in both flavour and preparation and attention does need to be paid to consistency and making sure dishes are properly cooked/heated through.

There followed a 25 minute wait for the main course with an uncleared table.  Fortunately we were having fun and the lengthy waits gave too much time for high jinks.  I had a full rack of ribs with a piquant beer BBQ glaze (more a sauce really) served with more BBQ sauce, fries and onion rings.  The rack was large, but very well cooked with the meat falling off the bone, moist but not at all greasy.  The accompanying sauce was taste with a hint of spiciness being a good complement.  The fries were on the cool side and limp, like they had been sitting around for a while before hitting the plate.  The onion rings seemed to be all batter and no onion.

The other popular main was “Sizzling Chicken Fajitas” which were edible, but definitely not sizzling.  The onion had no colour to it which does not match with what I would expect from them being sautéed.  The chicken looked like it had been precooked in a commercial kitchen, then heated through and sliced before being dumped on top of the onions and peppers.  Definitely lacking in flavour.  The accompaniments of guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, Colby cheese and chopped lettuce and tomato came in small portions all in the same bowl.  Missable.

Another wait before getting to dessert.  My first choice of Chocolate Brownie Temptation, but credit must be given for immediately being offered the Chocolate Fudge Fixation as an alternative at no additional charge even though it was not on the special menu.  Unfortunately it was forgotten when the desserts were delivered, though our server did notice before I had to say anything and got it sorted out.  For me this was the highlight of the meal, but I am a sucker for gooey chocolatiness.  A warm, soft, moist, rich chocolate cake in three layers with a gooey fudge filling served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.  Yummy!

The Apple Waffle Crunch was judged delicious, a warm waffle topped with a cinnamon apple compote topped with oatmeal crumble, vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce .  The only observation was there was rather too much apple and it would probably have been better to have that much apple and crumble served as its own dessert.

The Tennessee Toffee Pie was somewhat of a brick on the plate.  Billed as soft, smooth and creamy frozen toffee mousse on a biscuit base with chocolate and caramel sauces and honeycomb pieces.  Those that had it found it a challenge to get through as it was thoroughly frozen (thus not soft) and incredibly sweet.

While we all had a lot of fun, that was very much about the event, and the zest with which the servers sang a goodbye to our boss, much to her embarrassment, not the location.  While not overtly bad Bristol really has so many great mid priced restaurants it doesn’t seem worth braving the noise levels for mediocre food.  I think I shall retain my memories of youth and avoid returning.

The Venue
Lysander Road
Cribbs Causeway
Bristol
BS10 7UB

0844 692 0275

cribbs@tgifridays.co.uk

Food: 5
Décor: 7
Service: 5

Cost: £20 per head (3 courses and a soft drink)

Date: 30 June 2011

Eat: Tart

This is the review I wanted to write about Tart on a previous visit (see Tart after Dark), but I couldn’t.  Happily now I can.  Those that know me will tell you I am picky and can be quite critical.  This I am afraid to say is true.  I am willing to try almost anything food wise, but when I eat out I tend to have high expectations.  Some of this is attributable to my grandmother whom I loved and feared in equal measure.  She was a formidable woman, devoutly Roman Catholic a leader in the Woman’s Institute movement and a professional pâtisserie chef.  Members of the Institute knew that when they had baking competitions, even though they were good-natured, if my grandmother entered they stood practically no chance.  She could turn out the lightest cakes, the crispest shortbread and near miraculous celebration cakes.

When my parents divorced we were shipped off and lived with her for several years.  It was then at the age of 8 I started to gain an appreciation of exquisite pastry that she turned out almost effortlessly.  It was also the start of my apprenticeship in the fine art of baking, with my grandmother insisting I learn technique not recipes.  It is against this backdrop I judge what I produce and what I eat.  Yes, I have high standards, but wouldn’t you when you had grown up with some of the finest?

This means I am not prone to gushing commentary about locations I dine in and am a constant source of embarrassment to TB as my South African upbringing makes me comfortable with complaining.  In the case of Tart however, I will happily say that it is by far my favourite place to have afternoon tea and the one against which I measure others.

Tart is not a place where you will get incredibly dainty little sandwiches or utterly perfect bites of cake that look like works of art.  Tart is not a place packed with elderly ladies and the well-heeled sipping tea and gossiping in reverential whispers over the gentle chink of china.  Tart is home.

Walking into Tart for me is like wrapping myself in a warm comfort blanket.  The duck egg blue paint, the dresser groaning with wonderful local treats, the marble tables and the warm welcome make me feel like a boy again.  I love taking that first smell of warm baked goods and tea as I walk through the door.  I love the informality, the fact that people of all ages come here, the fact that it could be my grandmother’s kitchen.

Tart Main Counter

Tart Dresser

On Saturday TB and I took Girl 1 for afternoon tea, like we take so many of our visitors.  TB and I at the risk of being boring once again order the Tart Tea Time Plate with Pinhead Gunpowder tea for TB and Ceylon Adawatte Pekoe for me.  Girl 3, not a great fan of tea opted for Bakewell Tart and wild elderflower bubbly from Luscombe.

The Tart Tea Time Plate is a wonderful creation of a plate with a selection of the cakes available that day.  One of the joys of Tart is that the cakes on offer change daily, so you never quite know what will be on offer, though there is a core set which you will see more often if you visit regularly.  Having a little bit of a number of things appeals to the nosy (and the critic) in me.

The selection for this visit was a Peanut butter and chocolate slice, Bakewell Tart, Morello Cherry and Chocolate Tart, Moroccan (I think) Orange Cake and Baked Cheesecake.

Tart Tea Time Plate: From 12 o'clock - Morello Cherry and Chocolate Tart, Moroccan Orange Cake, Baked Cheesecake, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Slice, Bakewell Tart

Initially sceptical, having had my senses offended by American candy with the same flavour combination, I approached the Peanut butter and Chocolate slice.  I was surprised, very pleasantly.  It had none of the cloying sweetness and fatty mouth feel I expected.  The peanut butter base was thick and biscuity with crunchy peanut pieces in it, a rich dark chocolate topping ensured an excellent balance of flavour.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Slice

The Bakewell Tart is a regular and deservedly so, perfect crisp pastry with a fruity, full flavoured plum jam sandwiched between it and a soft almond cake, all topped with slivers of toasted almond.  I would do serious travelling for this.

Bakewell Tart

The Orange Cake is another favourite that is regularly available, a denser cake with a good citrus flavour, soaked in a spiced syrup.  The subtle flavour of star anise compliments orange really magnificently.  The Baked Cheesecake, is exactly how cheesecake should be.  I truly loathe the gelatine based cheesecake and it is always a joy to get a proper baked version.  The only drawback with this one is that although individually superb it was up against stiff competition on the plate and was well… a little bit boring.

Last up was the Morello Cherry and Chocolate tart, something I have not had at Tart before.  Well, here’s hoping they do it again!  The pastry was the outstanding crisp shortcrust that James, the assistant chef produces, with a full flavoured Morello cherry compote and a thick, unctuous dark chocolate filling.  Not too sweet, not too rich and sadly not quite enough for me, I wanted a really, really big slice of it.

Jennie and her team left us all full and satisfied once again, a wonderful time had in a happy, bubbling place, that is well.. just like home (but I don’t have to do the dishes!).

Tart Café and Foodstore
16 The Promenade
Gloucester Road
Bristol
BS7 8AE

0117 924 7628

Food: 9
Décor: 8
Service: 8

Cost: £8 per head

Date: 11 June 2011

Note: There is no disabled access to the toilets.

Love: Visiting Boy 3

Last week was the birthday of Boy 3, so on the weekend we journeyed down to visit him and his parents (my brother and his wife) for the day.  My brother turned out a wonderful lunch of stuffed tomatoes, followed by chicken breasts filled with basil and mozzarella and wrapped in prosciutto before being baked and accompanied by new potatoes beans and a personal favourite, asparagus.  Dessert was a magnificent, moist, deeply chocolate fondant with double cream, clotted cream ice-cream and strawberries.  I love the contracts between hot chocolate pudding and rich cold creamy ice-cream.

While it is easy to get distracted by the food the whole point of the visit was the birthday of Boy 3.  As he made sure we knew he had turned 4 years old, it has amazing watching the speed with which he has grown up over the past years and now seems to be beanpoling upwards in imitation of his parents.

He is always a little shy to start with when visitors appear, but it doesn’t long before he was chattering at full speed whilst taking TB on a tour of the house.  e.g.  “This the computers room, this is dad’s computer that we play games on and (turns round and waves at the items on the other side of the room dismissively) that is mummy’s stuff”.  Not always totally coherent in the direction of the conversation was never an obstacle, nor was not necessarily understanding what you asked as he would then just tell you what he wanted to tell you.  It is a delight to see him discovering language and revelling in it’s usage.

He is about to start school and is not a natural at making friends, but fortuitously a handful of the kids he has got to know in his play group are moving to the same school, so the move shouldn’t be too difficult.

Birthday presents like always with kids threw up a couple of surprises.  We got him a small fluffy pig that walked and snuffled its nose, a shark mouth where you press the teeth and try to avoid the snapping jaw and some junior  (plastic pieces designed for 3+).  The  was left for my bother to make something out of and the shark was viewed with significant suspicion.  Rasher, the pig, on the other hand although just a little last-minute add on was a huge hits.  Boy 3 ran round it squealing with delight and making declarations about how it was trying to escape as it sedately moved across the room.

He had been given a small compact camera for his birthday in the few days he had it had already learned to take pictures, review them on the screen and then delete any he didn’t like and then adjust the scene to take a picture he liked.  David Bailey watch out.  Rasher became a main subject for the rest of the afternoon of much photographing and moving around the room to get the right picture.  TB is seriously into photography so Boy 3 spent a lot of time telling him what to take pictures of with his SLR, then reviewing and critiquing what it looked like.

A wonderful afternoon, reminding me how much I enjoy spending time with the kids, and how important they are to me.  Small moments that I cherish and remember, fleeting experiences that are bright threads in the tapestry of my life.

Eat: Yo! Sushi, Cabot Circus

I am a huge sushi fan and have been for many years.  We had our honeymoon in Japan and I dragged myself to Tokyo fish market at 5am to eat some of the finest (and best value) sushi in existence.  I miss this.  Bristol has next to nothing in the line of decent sushi which makes Yo! Sushi the default choice.  The visit for today was at the behest of Boy 2 who decreed it as part of his day (where he gets to choose anything to do within reason) following on from watching X-Men: First Class.

I have been to Yo! Sushi in Cabot Circus several times now, it is not bad, but really it not good either.  We arrived at around 2pm and the place was busy but not chaotic and were asked to wait for a table to come free.  For some reason the back half of the restaurant was closed and empty, with everyone in the front giving the impression it was busier than it actually was.

The table in front of us was vacated and cleaned.  The manager (I presume) ambled over and told us that it would be a few more minutes until somewhere would be available, so I pointed at the table and asked why we could not use that one.  He told us that we couldn’t use it as it was not clean.  I told him I thought it was a shame he felt that way given that we had watched the lady standing next to him clean it.  Thus we were seated.

We had a selection of sushi and hot dishes, which were a study in mediocrity.  We had some nigiri, make, a futomaki, gyoza, tempura, miso soup, chicken teriyaki and California rolls.  Like I said, not bad, not good either (except the tempura which was horrible).  The portions are small and the fish doesn’t seem  completely fresh, I always feel mildly uncomfortable with the length of time it sits out on the counter while the sushi is being made.  The menu is also incredibly safe, there is none of the more exotic dishes you find in Japan (or indeed even in the USA). There are a number of items which you would not find in Japan as they are definitely made for the British market.  Consider it Anglicised fast food, non challenging and somewhat bland.

If you are a sushi virgin you may find the experience somewhat challenging.  None of the dishes are labelled and although you are provided with a picture book menu trying to match what you are seeing with a picture in the book is tough going, especially as they keep moving past.

The worst part is always the bill.  Yes, the colour coded plates have their pricing prominently displayed, but it always seems to add up to more than you expect for what you have eaten.  I can’t complain really but I do feel somewhat ripped off every time I go and generally I only go if I have a discount voucher.  Paying full price was uncomfortable.

Yo! Sushi (Cabot Circus), Glass Walk, Bristol, 0117 321 3161

Food: 5

Décor: 4 (think warehouse)

Service: 5

Cost: £65 for 2 adults and 1 child for lunch

Date: 5 May 2011