Baking was always part of the Sunday morning ritual in our house and bread, apple tarts, fairy cakes and tea brack were turned out week after week. Come September my mother would gear up for Christmas making puddings, cakes and mincemeat. She's now in her eighties and nothing has changed. Sundays are still baking days (and I've a freezer full of apple tarts to prove it) and I've just handed over my pudding bowl for filling.
I fall very short of my mother's culinary mark, but every now and again I make brief attempts to improve. The Easter before last I spent a day learning how to cook with chocolate. (Actually the learning bit was a ruse. I love chocolate and the idea of spending a whole day in its presence was compelling.)
First we covered the theory and then it was onto the practical business of making Easter novelties and guzzling chocolate when no one was looking. With mother in mind, I spent about four hours constructing an impressive-looking confection comprising a big milk chocolate egg piped with contrasting dark chocolate, chocolate leaves and roses and a chocolate backdrop and plinth to sit it on. I was excessively pleased with my effort and anticipated lavish praise from an impressed parent.
Two days later there was an ominous crash from the dining room. Making Olympic-like speed down the stairs I found my 15-year-old mutt standing in the middle of my creation with an unbecoming milk chocolate muzzle. I salvaged what I could but the superstructure had been dealt a fatal blow. The badly cracked egg listed hideously and half the plinth and chocolate roses were missing. My mother was the essence of comfort when she heard the tragic news. It was customary to break Easter eggs in order to eat them she said and the dog had just saved her the trouble.
My second brush with the finer points of culinary decorative art came at a workshop on making fabric effects with icing. It was fun but I was easily the worst student in the class so I'm still in search of my culinary niche. If you'd like to stun your nearest and dearest with an iced masterpiece to mark the millennium you can bring your cake along (or buy one there) to the Cake Box in Dun Laoghaire on either Sunday, November 28th or Sunday December 5th for a 10 a.m.-3 p.m. workshop on Christmas cake icing. The workshop will cover the basics such as almond and white icing and then how to decorate it with flair. The workshop costs £40 including a light lunch and places can be booked with Jennifer at (01) 280 1870.
Cakes & Co in Blackrock are doing things slightly differently. They will be running free decorating demonstrations in their shop starting at the end of November after which you can buy a DIY icing kit with all the bits and have a go at home. They will also have cakes for sale. Places will be limited. Contact Rosanna at (01) 283 6544 to reserve a seat.
