Cake Monday - April

We race (electronically) and the loser has to bake a cake to feed the office. 

Why? Because we like cake.

Who? Everyone in the office. No one gets out of it. When? 1st Monday of the month. The rules: you make the cake yourself, without any help. You can't 'repeat' a cake. Your cake will be judged on presentation, difficulty and taste, and marked out of 10 by each colleague. When you have baked 3 cakes, you are out of the competition for 1 year.

‘Maple & Pecan Cake’ by Teresa.

In the office we have categories as to the level of baker and therefore when Teresa was chosen we were all pretty delighted as she falls into the ‘expert’ category. However, Teresa was struck with a problem, she was away skiing the weekend before Cake Monday and had no cook books with her. Remembering that quite a few of the cakes taken from online recipes had gone wrong she went for a safe bet and ‘did a Delia’ who luckily has all her recipes online. Being very organised, once she had chosen a recipe she ordered all the ingredients online so she would be able to make it upon her return. For the sponge she mixed butter, eggs, flour, sugar, some finely chopped pecans and maple syrup. This was put into tins. She made the topping by drenching more pecans in maple syrup and caramelising. She then added these to mascarpone cheese to make an icing. This was spread across the middle and top of the cake and more pecans were added as decoration.

The Verdict: 

You could tell this cake was going to be delicious before you even took a bite, as soon as Teresa took the cake out the smell was simply dreamy. The cake was moist and light and the maple syrup gave it a deliciously sweet taste without being sickly. The topping was fresh and creamy and the choice of mascarpone really complemented the cake's sweetness. The only drawback was the cake fell apart slightly when cut because of the nuts and Jamie H, Greg and Sam questioned the cakes ‘structural integrity’. Katie absolutely loved the cake as pecan nuts are her favourite, and Adam said it was a ‘very strong cake’. Sid and Katie gave it a 10/10 and the cake raced to the top of the leader board with 9.1, well done Teresa!

Next time: Callum’s up, and he has already asked if he can make a pie…

Maple & Pecan Cake Average Score: 9.1