I spent the afternoon with the lovely Kay Boreham while she baked this delicious Devil's food cake (Recipe by Nigella Lawson). She shared her beautiful baking legacy with me, which I have the privilege to share with you.
I grew up watching my Grandmother bake – standing on her wooden kitchen chair until I was tall enough to see over the bench.
In her kitchen – a former State House in Opotiki that she scrimped and saved to pay off – there were built-in hinged ‘bins’ for sugar and flour. Nana used to keep her cash down the side of the cloth sack in the flour bin – her alternative to under the mattress! The faint traces of white on my birthday $5 was a bit of a give-away; the only association I have had with bank notes and white powder I quickly add.
One day a week was set aside for filling the tins, so there was always something on hand for the regular visitors who would call in for a cuppa and a chat. We all had our favourites – my Dad loved her Orange Cake and Caraway Seed cake (with a thick slick of butter on top); Mum liked Peanut Brownies and Anzac Biscuits – a bit of a traditionalist; I loved a slice called Tan Fingers; a shortcake base, with a gooey caramel spread over it, topped with walnuts and a bit of the shortcake dough grated over the top and baked to a bubbly golden gift for the gob!
Chocolate cake, date loaf, cheese biscuits, gems, ginger crunch – oh my God, the ginger crunch! –were among her repertoire. There was only one bakery item Nana would buy – and they’re still around today – Ginger Kisses – little sponges sandwiched together with mock cream. Nana never used an electric mixer of any kind; it was all bowl and wooden spoon. Standing on one leg – always on one leg whether baking or on the telephone (they hung on the walls then, with a curly wurly cable and the operator’ would ask “number please” and then “put you through” or sometimes – “oh no dear, Shirley won’t be home, its her afternoon to get her hair done”.
When I adopted yoga I realised my Nana nailed stork pose on a daily basis. And arm muscles – wow – no batwings on her; she could beat butter and sugar to smooth, pale submission in no time; being allowed to trail my finger through the yielding mixture was one of the many ways I knew Nana loved me.
When our children were little I baked so they had something for their lunch boxes and the after-school wind-down. Our girls have both become good bakers; thinking about it – they must have learned as I did through osmosis, as I don’t recall ever teaching them directly.
Recently, I’ve rediscovered the joy of baking; sending Ross to work on a fairly regular basis with something for his delightful team of communicators. It would seem a good cake is the easiest (very definitely the seemliest) way to spread pleasure in the workplace. This Devil’s Food Cake was my latest, and most popular, offering. The credit goes to my Goddess of food porn – the delectable Nigella Lawson. It’s a bit intense on the washing up – multiple bowls etc – but well worth the effort.
