My Five Seconds of Fame

I received a call from our weekly newspaper

They wanted to interview me for their Citizen Spotlight column

We set the time for 3 on Tuesday

That morning, I set the table

Spode Blue Room cups and saucers, tea plates and tea pot

in the sunroom

And then

The perfect trio for tea -- tea, cake and cream

Baked a cake

The cake on my pressed glass cake stand

A Dorset Apple Cake

An ENGLISH Dorset Apple Cake

Lots of "Marvelous Martha's Dorset Apple Cakes" for sale.   We did bring one home as our tea treat.
And yes, it was "marvelous"!   Wait -- Martha's Marvelous -- not the cake!

Like these that came from a market in England

where we lived last Spring.

They were "Marvelous Martha's" and they were, indeed MARVELOUS!

And since it was baked by moi -- Martha

My cake too was a "Marvelous Martha's Dorset Apple Cake"!

Served with

Cost a lot more than the 90p that we paid in England -- like many dollars!

 Real Devonshire Cream

The blob of cream can't be too big!

A big blob on each piece

An English pastry fork -- which really should be used for tarts and not cakes . . but sometimes we "press the envelope" at Linderhof!

Perfect with a cup of tea -- Harney's Hot Cinnamon

from life+style

However, 

"Whenever they have company, they toss the dog out!"

Someone felt left out.  

The food . . . and the company was INSIDE

The dog was OUTSIDE.

My five seconds of fame?

It's in our local weekly, The Bourbon County Review

Where I was highlighted in the Citizen Spotlight column

Sigh!

I've been fending phone calls all day -- celebritism has it's price

The cake is good -- it's the third apple dessert I've made in as many days and I'm really hard pressed to pick a favorite for they are all good.  

But this one has memories.    First tasted in England, bought from a market, and not an ordinary Dorset Apple Cake either, but a "Marvelous Martha's Dorset Apple Cake".

The recipe is English as well -- from Nigella.   

It's easy to put together and is a really great tea cake.

DORSET APPLE CAKE

(Marvelous Martha's)

225 g. butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

450 g. Granny Smith apples, finely grated

zest and juice of 1 lemon

225 g. caster sugar, plus extra for dredging (regular sugar)

3 large eggs

225 g. self-rising flour

2 t. baking powder

25 g. ground almonds

1 1/2 T. light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.    Grease a deep 25 cm springform cake pan with a removable bottom, and line the bottom with baking paper.     Peel, core and grate the apples and toss with the lemon juice.

Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a bowl until pale and fluffy.    Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, adding a little flour with each addition to keep the mixture smooth.

Sift the remaining flour and the baking powder into the bowl and fold in with the ground almonds.

Drain the apple pieces well, then stir into the mixture.    Spoon into the prepared cake pan, lightly level the top and sprinkle with the brown sugar.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until well-risen, brown and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.    If the cake starts to look a little too brown, cover with a sheet of baking paper after about 45 minutes.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.    Remove the cake from the tin and place on a serving plate.    Dredge heavily with the extra caster sugar.    Cut the cake into generous wedges and serve warm with a spoonful of clotted cream.

It's Thursday

 and I'm sharing my table with Cuisine Kathleen for Let's Dish and Susan at Between Naps On the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.