I’m a sucker for pretty cookbooks. Fact. We have more cookbooks than recipes we’ve cooked from them for sure. I like baking, but I’ll be honest and say that I’m not a very good measurer and tend to just guestimate things. I’ve found this doesn’t yield the best results with baking, it’s a science.
Hobbycraft very nicely sent me The Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking so I figured it was the perfect time to get back in the kitchen and make something. Also to follow the actual recipe. I love Hobbycraft for their craft supplies but their baking section is amazing. I have accumulated many a cookie cutter from them and cute cupcake wrappers. Two vices that you now know about. 
Imagine my surprise when my cake turned out delicious, huh, maybe I’ll measure things out correctly in future. I measured all my ingredients out ahead of time so I was less inclined to just dollop a little more or less into the mixing bowl like I normally do. This victoria sandwich cake called for a mix of cream cheese and mascarpone to make up the filling instead of the traditional cream I’m used to in these types of cakes. It was goooood. Also, I’m obsessed with Tiptree jams, they do a strawberry champagne that I had at Christmas but it must have been a special one because I haven’t been able to find it since. 
After I baked my cakes (and after I found out we only had one tin the right size so it took twice as long so I could re-use it for the second sponge cake…) it was time to put it together. Not pictured is when I lifted the sandwich layer back up because I decided I wanted to put freshly chopped strawberries over the whole inside of the cake. I’d recommend it, so good. 
Since it was for Easter and we were taking it to Adam’s Mom’s I wanted it to look pretty, so I halved the strawberries and smushed them around the outside of the cake. The recipe called for raspberries but Adam isn’t a huge fan, so strawberries it was.
Of course when I was done I had Adam take pictures of me with my pride and joy because, look at it! I mean, *pats self on back* I am quite proud of myself. It’s definitely the prettiest looking cake I’ve ever made, and I’m now going to be making it for every summer function, so get ready for this bad boy when you come over to my house. After I buy another cake tin to speed up the process that is, and a new sifter because ours wasn’t cooperating.I’ve been staring at the gorgeous pictures of baked goods in the book to decide what to make next, I might attempt something more difficult, or I might just make this cake again. I’m not posting the recipe because I think the book is a pretty good investment.
Do you buy cookbooks based on how pretty the pictures and colour schemes are? Well this one has that and also a lot of pretty great looking recipes.
*Hobbycraft sent me the book to review on my choice*
