Birthday cake

A simple recipe, a wartime recipe -

It's from a book published for the Royal College of Art's 150th birthday in 1987, and ever since then I've used it for many a birthday cake. A simple filling of whipped cream, a topping of seasonal fruit - wonderful! 

The recipe is rather strange - it uses vinegar and bicarb as leavening, rather than beaten eggs, and I found that adding the liquid ingredients to the dry ones produced a lot of lumps ... and by the time they were sorted, the fizz had rather died down. (Perhaps this is why it's called Gunpowder Cake?)

Thin layers, waiting to be stacked up

With a bit (!) of whipped cream, and the contrast of the redcurrants, it was definitely palatable, delicious in fact.

 
The occasion today was Tom's birthday; we had a "special family meal", as you do...  Portuguese Pork with Peppers is a favorite - tenderloin is cut into medallions and pounded thin, then marinated in a mixture (made in a pestle and mortar) of garlic, peppercorns, coarse salt, and olive oil.

First the meat is cooked (it's keeping warm, in the photo, over the baby potatoes) and then julienned red peppers are added - in the cup is wine, which gets added next, the meat returned, and all simmered for 10 minutes or so.

 A squirt of lemon juice finishes it off, and if you want to be fancy, thin lemon slices are the garnish.

Along with the little potatoes, serve with a green salad or a green veg. Simple and delicious.

Birthday boy