Yesterday, to the symphony of building work (which continues today, only louder, and more like a dying manatee) I baked a cake. It didn’t go well.

The reason it didn’t go well is that the battery in my scales ran out, and rather than buying a replacement battery I decided to see if I could manage without. The result was something which I could have anticipated pretty early on. I used too much egg and too much butter (or not enough flour, one way or the other) and the result – while not inedible – was not exactly nice.

However, undeterred, I went out today and bought a new battery, with the idea of trying again, and try again I have. I present to you my almond and chocolate chip loaf cake:

Method
When I was at school I got really into baking, and I’ve been trying to get back there ever since, because I found the science of it amazing. I have to admit, I’ve forgotten a lot (hence el-disastro-cake above) but at least I can always remember how to make a basic cake the way my Mum taught me. 4-4-4-4 otherwise known as 4 eggs and 4 ounces of everything else, which is 225 grams.

• Mix 225g of sugar with 225g of butter until it’s pale and fluffy. I went for a 3 way mix of white granulated, demerara and golden caster.
• Whisk 4 eggs lightly and then gradually add them into the mix. I also added some almond extract at this point.
• Sieve in 225g of self-raising flour and fold together. I mixed in some ground almonds (because they are delicious).
• Add in chocolate chunks – I sliced up a bar of chocolate which was asking to be used, but chocolate chips would have been as good.
• Bung it all in a greased and floured loaf tin, and stick it in a pre-heated oven at 180° for 20 minutes(ish) or until you can poke a skewer in and it come out without stuff all over it. I say 20 minutesish because with my rubbish oven this actually took almost an hour of constant checking. However…

Taa-daa! A far better cake than the first attempt, and this one shall be a gift to the Astrophysics researchers of Leeds tomorrow, because I’m not trying to eat a full cake to myself right now.

Part of the reason for the baking is that a site which I have a bit to do with are running a #Bakespiration competition (and to be honest, to try again after that first cake I’d have to have some quite strong inspiration!) This isn’t a proper entry as I’m not allowed to enter, but if you are a baking fan then you can enter here (it’s worth £400, so there’s really no reason not to!)