The cooks’ secret

Press, 19 November 1977, Page 10

The cooks’ secret

Love of cooking, a thorough acquaintance with the idiosyncrasies of one’s oven, and years of practice on a family of hearty eaters seem to be the ingredients that make prize winning cakes —; or so the cooks testify. There seem to be no short cuts to prize-winning cakes; at the Canterbury A. and P.l Show. The recipe isn’t the; clue. One place-getter used a I recipe published in “The! Press” and got nowhere with I ; her shortbread this year.! ; Last year the same recipe won her first prize. Mrs P. Brundell, of Oam- i aru. who won first place i with her sultana cake made; it from a recipe from a well-! ! stained vintage cook book ; that arrived with an early! model oven. j “It was a very common; recipe,” she said. “I baked it! just as I normally do, alI though I watched it a bit ; more. No secrets.” Mrs R. V. Chapman, second in three baking events, and third in another, used recipes given her by a friendly and interested neighbour observing her teen-age experiments. She put her success down j to practice. “1 have five sons and a

daughter. Fortunately all my failures went down the hatch as fast as the successes.” Mrs F. C. Chappell, winner in the sponge, roll ; section, used a “Sure to Rise” recipe. “I left out the ■ounce of melted butter though,” she said. “I had an idea that when I added it !once before, the sponge was I too heavy. The same recipe also won I her first prize last year, but i “goodness onlj' knows how,” I she said. “I’ve only made it occa- ; sionally, and I can’t think [what I did last year. I didj use apricot jam instead of; ; raspberry. I think it looked 1 ! nicer. All the placegetters were; I in resounding agreement I over one thing: the vicissi-; tudes of ovens. "Mine is; I very hot,” said Mrs Chappell. “If I followed the recipe temperature the cake would be hopeless. I cooked it longer at a lower temperature.” “You’ve got. to know your oven," said Mrs Chapman. “One hundred and fifty degrees Celsius in some ovens is fairly warm, in others it’s quite cool.” It seems that the hidden art of making the. successful

cake lies in the odd tips that the recipe books never mention, usually handed down from mother, or gleaned from experience, diligent reading and endless inquiry. They seem to' make the difference between a “first”; and a “fizzer.” Mrs T. A. Crawford boiled; het sultanas before she cut; them. They cut easier and; distributed better in the ; cake. Mrs Chapman made.: sure that the sugar was| thoroughly dissolved in the I creaming process. Otherwise; the cake was covered ini white spots. She added her[ sultanas at the very last; it' helped them suspend better! in the cake. She also thinks now that j farm eggs in her chocolate! cake possibly made the! difference between a first' place and her second. “I like the higher colour; farm eggs give a cake, but the judges today seem to like a whiter texture,” she said. And no doubt about it, the cooks are at the mercy of the judges. Two placegetters in the shortbread section were astonished when the judge tested the shortbread by cutting it, instead of traditionally breaking and crumbling it.