Masterchef winner and baker extraordinaire Emelia Jackson paid us a visit at Readings HQ recently, to sign stock of her new cookbook, You Had Me at Cake. So naturally, we decided it was the perfect excuse for a bake-off, to test the new recipes and supply the office with oodles of delicious cakes (with apologies to our vegan colleagues).
Our staff bakers each chose a recipe to trial, and before they were all devoured for morning tea, Emelia taste-tested everything to see how we went. Below you can take a look at our creations, read about how we went with the recipes and, most importantly, see what Emelia thought!
Louise cake is a top tier slice from New Zealand made with a cakey base layer, jam, then a top layer of meringue with shredded coconut. I loved the idea of a cake based on this classic and I’m a big rhubarb fan too, so was keen to try the recipe.
I was really happy with how this turned out. I was worried it might become soggy while cooling, but the cake layer had a really nice crumb to it. I liked that the recipe used a compote rather than a jam, so the rhubarb held shape and kept some bite. The layers merged nicely and the tart rhubarb balanced out the sweetness of the meringue and cake.
This recipe used 4 eggs and a fairly small amount of butter so it is reasonably inexpensive to make but the result is unique, fun and quite glamorous!
Emelia said: 'This one is better than the one we made on the book shoot! This has been done very well. No notes!'
There were so many great-looking recipes in You Had Me at Cake, but I chose the Pear, chocolate and cardamom tea cake because I love that combination of flavours, and it didn’t disappoint.
As you would expect for the simplicity of a tea cake, it was straightforward to put together – my biggest challenge was finding a tin of halved pears (and don’t get me started on can openers!). Unlike a more traditional tea cake this recipe called for almond meal as well as flour which made for a denser, friand-like crumb with darker richer flavours, enhanced by the addition of the cardamom.
While I did need to bake it for longer than suggested (I'm still getting used to a new oven), the edges caramelised nicely without burning. This is a great autumn or winter bake but really, who could resist it at any time of the year!
Emelia said: 'This was a brave cake to make – it almost got scrapped from the book. I’m very glad I didn’t scrap it!
This has a really nice texture, it has a really welcome density to it that you don’t often see in cakes. It’s almost fudgy. There’s a nice amount of chocolate and a good chunk size.'
I originally wanted to make the mocha tres leches cake on page 91, but after considering the assembly logistics and writing out a shopping list (TRES leches? En esta economia?), I changed tack.
Since moving to Melbourne, I’ve lived in suburbs with big Vietnamese communities, so I was familiar with bánh bò nướng, but I’ve never actually made it before. Turns out, you need 10 (ten!) eggs to help achieve the bubbly honeycombed structure (so much for saving money…) but otherwise it comes together relatively cheaply.
Not to say that it’s an easy bake. There’s technique! Delicate timings! You whisk the batter and then strain it through a fine sieve to break up any sneaky lumps of tapioca or rice flour. 'Bánh bò' translates to 'cow cake’ or ‘crawl cake' – cow because it looks like a cow's stomach, and crawl for how it crawls up the tin as it rises. My bundt tin was quite tall and narrow, so the cake was denser towards the bottom of the tin (too far for the batter to crawl!) and it didn’t get the gorgeous crust like in the book photos. But: get me another pack of eggs and a different tin and I’m ready to bake again.
Emelia said: 'I’m impressed by the honeycomb texture look. I think the tin was slightly too small – because of that you get the density down the bottom. I would suggest using less batter to give it room to grow.
The flavour is great – very pandan heavy, with great grassy flavour and bitterness. I love the texture. It’s a very good cake!'
This cake begs for a dinner party; it’s suitably showy, but quick enough for you to work on other dishes and/or get in on whatever gossip arises after a few glasses of wine. Perfect after dinner, or for breakfast the morning after (I maintain that a cake with coffee in it is a valid breakfast option). This recipe is a star.
The sponge base is soft and delicate, yet robust enough to soak and layer. It starts with beating the eggs and sugar until tripled in volume; this incorporated a lot of air into the batter. The air, plus baking powder, yielded a fluffy cake which isn’t as fiddly as a genoise or as dense as a pound cake.
The sponge is soaked in a 50/50 mix of espresso and marsala; I preferred this mixture to the kahlua and coffee used in some other tiramisus. It’s coffee forward, without the cloying sweetness of a liqueur. The soaked cake is topped with mascarpone whipped cream, then dusted with cocoa. Repeat for an impressive layer cake which is easy to assemble and looks a treat! I can absolutely see keeping this recipe in my back pocket for when I want to impress a crowd and still have time to enjoy the night!
Emelia said: 'It looks beautiful visually, like it’s from the shoot. Great flavour, great texture; perfect execution of the cake. Top scores!'
This cake is described as ‘easy’ and ‘low-maintenance’, two things I love to hear about any recipe. And sure enough, the process was as straightforward as promised, and resulted in a rich cake that was simple to whip up.
As a big fan of vanilla, I normally ignore the recommended amount in recipes and measure with my heart rather than a teaspoon. But in order to properly test the recipe, I did restrain myself in this case, so I can assure anyone else who is usually heavy-handed that Emelia's listed quantity will provide a very rich, aromatic vanilla flavour.
I did manage to ignore the note that the milk for the cake batter should be room temp, so the melted and cooled butter immediately turned to chunks when I added my milk straight from the fridge. Fortunately, I made that blunder before I’d added eggs, so I was able to fix it using the same tip Emelia has for fixing a split buttercream later in the recipe.
Overall this is a winning recipe that's easy to make, offers lots of options for customising flavours and decorations, and is sure to be a crowd pleaser amongst kids and adults.
Emelia said: 'It has a really nice vanilla flavour. If you’re going to do vanilla, do it prominently! The texture is slightly heavier than usual.'
While Emelia had something nice to say about all our cakes, there has to be a winner, and Emelia chose …
Arthur's Tiramisu cake and Kim's Louise cake with rhubarb!
While stocks last we have signed copies of You Had Me at Cake available in shops and online, so you can discover these delicious cakes for yourself!
