4 hours Ago By [email protected] (Deborah Hall)
There’s nothing like a cake to make any celebration go with a swing, and star of the Great British Bake Off tent, Nancy Birthwhistle, has plenty of go-to recipes when an occasion calls for a slice of something sweet. Now, the celebrity baker, Sunday Times best-selling author and eco-campaigner has come up with a classic bake as she teams up with the Women’s Institute to create its official VE Day cake. Nancy, who lives in Barton upon Humber and clinched the Bake Off trophy in 2014, has rustled up an orange and ginger cake from a recipe used by her own grandmother.
Nancy described it as "a simple and classic bake and made using the rubbing-in method – not often seen these days". She said: "I am delighted to provide a recipe for the official Women’s Institute cake in recognition of Britain’s women’s incredible effort during WWII, for VE Day 80. "I have a strong affection for the WI, whose members were integral to the war effort at home.
My recipe was used by my own grandmother who lived through two World Wars. "Her recipe doesn’t require mixers or whisks, and the batter will not curdle. This is my tribute to the women preserving food, and working tirelessly using simple methods and ingredients in those times.
" The drizzle on the VE Day cake went from being glossy to 'looking like melted cheese' (Image: Deborah Hall/Hull Live) As a member of my own local WI and a follower of Nancy, I thought I must have a crack at the VE Day cake. The recipe can be found on the ve80.com website, a central source for VE Day activities across the UK, under its “big bake with the WI” banner, for those also wanting to have a go.
The first and only real hurdle for me was not having the requisite 18cm (7in) round cake tin. Mine was nearer 20cm (8in), so my cake was never destined to be quite as deep as Nancy’s. The ingredients I either had in or were easy enough to find in the supermarket (a jar of stem ginger was the costliest buy, at £3.
39, but you don’t need it all so it can be used in other recipes later). I opted to include all butter (rather than a half-split of butter and lard) in my cake. It’s a simple recipe, just make sure to follow each step in turn.
Now, I know how to “rub-in”, having been taught a thing or two about this while making pastry at school and also with my Nan. For those who may not, Nancy demonstrates the rubbing-in method in one of her Instagram videos about pastry-making, so don’t feel put off. It really is easy when you know what the term means.
WI Life, the national magazine of the Women's Institute, carried Nancy Birtwhistle's recipe for its official VE Day cake (Image: Deborah Hall/Hull Live) I didn’t need all the milk stipulated (Nancy advises about that, you don’t want your cake mix too thin or the lovely diced ginger will all fall to the bottom), and I left out the dusting of Demerara sugar over the top before baking, plumping for the alternative of a “zingy drizzle” of icing sugar mixed with orange juice, once my cake had cooled. Your cake needs to bake until “golden, risen and springy to the touch”. While I could definitely detect a “spring” after the required baking time, I wasn’t immediately taken with the still slightly pasty-looking top, so I popped my cake back in the oven for a short while, a couple of times, before I was happy with the hue.
I have to say the decorative “drizzle” looked lovely when it was first applied and I took the pictures while it was still glossy. I did it with a teaspoon - you can pipe it if you wish - but when it set, the icing, made as it was with fresh orange juice, dried with an orangey tinge and took on the look of melted cheese! Nonetheless, my household wasn’t put off by appearances and we really enjoyed the taste and texture (lighter than I thought it would be). I’ve paired ginger with other flavours before, rhubarb especially, but never with orange.
There was a nice, delicate hint of orange and ginger (from the ground spice you include), then an after-hit from the stem ginger. And the icing was good, too, despite looking like a light sprinkling of grated and cooked cheddar..
