Day 290: a happy day
Every cake tells a story. And this one tells the story of a happy day, a new family and a moment of total lack of good sense (a moment of stupid, really) involving a palette knife and a gas flame.
As most of you know, our family expanded significantly and rather rapidly earlier this year. But I was a little vague on the details. Well, as many of you probably already guessed: we adopted. Not one, not two, but three beautiful children. Taking us from a two-person two-dog household to a two-adult, three-cherub/gremlin (depending on when they were last fed) two-dog household - overnight! The first few months were all about settling in, building relationships and adjusting to a completely new way of life - for all involved!
We mark every special occasion in this house with food (if you’ve been following for a while now, you’ll know that our little angels eat basically anything) and I said to myself that I’d make this cake the day it all became official. The day our two-year-long journey to adopt came to end and we “officially” became a family (as in all the waiting on the legal stuff over). Well, that day happened very recently! And so to mark the birth of our new family: Day 290 is Nigella’s Birthday Custard Sponge.
Of course, to my husband and I, we’ve all been family since that day we first set eyes on those gorgeous cherubs as they bounced wide-eyed and shyly into the soft play centre, clutching their foster carers’ hands so tightly; the lumps forming in our throats almost cutting off our air supply as I made a conscious effort to avoid contact with my husband in fear of losing it completely and bursting into tears. Within minutes we were all rolling about, climbing under and over giant padded structures, going down slides, getting lost in the ball pit, sharing our first laughs and tears - and food! - with, what we hoped more than anything, our soon-to-be children. Leaving after that hour-long ‘bump-in’ session was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. And oh my goodness did we sob when we got outside the building! It was overwhelming on every level; like every Christmas, birthday and special occasion you’ve ever experienced so far in your life rolled into one.
Following this session was a two-month wait as we prepared for matching panel which, after the match was approved, was followed by a wonderful, but insanely exhausting, introduction period, before they moved in earlier this year and claimed this home and our hearts (and our energy surplus) their own. It’s been a monumental journey - overwhelming, emotional, rewarding and life-affirming. And the adventure’s only really just beginning.
I also just want to say how happy and truly grateful I am that this whole journey took place/is taking place during this cookalong; all five of us have a deep love for food and it’s just so wonderful to be able to share new experiences, foods and tastes together. It’s a project that kept me grounded and my mind occupied during the intense, nerve-racking application process too (which was really quite tough on my anxiety and insecurities). And all you lovely lot make it even more special.
Re the palette knife: I’m either a total idiot or just someone who you can’t blame for always making sure they lick every last morsel of food off of the utensil in use. All was going well. The sponges had cooled, the buttercream filling made and the cake sandwiched together. I poured over the chocolatey icing, shakily placed on the coloured chocolate letters (with the aid of my anchovy tweezers (cleaned of course)), and then ‘’DADDY, DADDY, DADDY. I HAD A POO POO. I HAD A POO” broke the silence and, as a result, my concentration too. I huffed, tended to the loo situation and then returned to the cake with now hardened icing; the hundred and thousands just bounced off and onto the worktop and kitchen floor as I scattered them over the glossy chocolate surface of the half-decorated cake. So, I (the intelligent being that I am) took a small palette knife, lit one of the gas hobs and heated the metal part of the knife, in hope of being able to gently run it over the icing and re-melt it slightly. Just enough to buy me a few seconds to shake some sprinkles over. It kind of worked but it smeared and cracked and made messy lumps. So I dismissed that idea and licked the *TSSSSSS*. That was the sound of a hot iron branding flesh, as I closed my mouth around a red-hot palette knife to suck the chocolate off (imagine how you would suck mustard off the spoon as you pulled it out through pursed lips) and sizzle the skin on my lips in the process. We’ll leave it there now but, in the end, I got results with the pallet knife and a bowl of just-boiled water. A hairdryer didn’t work.
The recipe for Nigella’s Birthday Custard Sponge can be found in Feast and on nigella.com (link below).
To any new visitor on this page (welcome): I’m also running a little fundraiser alongside the cookalong to raise awareness of the problem of food waste and hunger issues in the UK, by raising funds for FareShare (a UK charity fighting hunger and food waste; saving good food from going to waste and redistributing it to frontline charities). Link below to the JustGiving page should you wish to donate (I know times are hard) or find out more.
