A homecoming baking marathon

Home, sweet home! I've been back in P-ton and comfortably installed in my newly decorated room (thank you, parents!) for a whole weekend. And, seeing as my parents have been on a diet for the duration of my last term at uni, I thought I'd help them along by spending three consecutive days baking.

Baking is, simply put, my favourite pastime, so you might see quite a lot of bakes on here.* It all started in my Granny's kitchen, back when I was so teeny tiny that I had to have my own special stool to stand on so that I could reach the counter (I'm happy to say that, despite remarks to the contrary, it's no longer needed). A lot of my favourite bakes are Granny-inspired and, as she is Chief Baker in our family - making all the Christmas, wedding and special birthday cakes - she is the one I look up to as an aspiring and VERY amateur baker.

I love borrowing her vintage recipe books - this is one of hers, a fab cookbook from the 70s, featuring (of course) a huge Black Forest gateau, some brilliantly retro choux swans and even some original recipes by Mary Berry (henceforth known as Mezz Bezz) for good measure.

Vintage baking: a recipe book from the 1970s, given to me by Granny, which includes all the staples of a retro buffet table.

Speaking of the Queen of Puddings, these two bakes are from her newer book, the Baking Bible. It's one of my absolute favourite books and I've learnt a lot from it - it was also a v generous gift from the boyfriend's family, so muchas gracias, Durbins! Probably the most used recipes in this book are the iced lemon traybake and the double chocolate button cookies, which I've made today. 

Iced lemon traybake: sponge flavoured with lemon zest and topped with lemon juice glacé icing.

Double chocolate button cookies: chewy Cadbury's Bournville chocolate cookies (made using a whole tin of condensed milk!) with white chocolate buttons.

My first recipe book of my own, though, was given to me in the dark days before I knew of St Mary, the font of all baking knowledge, by my parents. Easy Baking by Marks and Spencer has, as you might be able to see below, has been well-used (read: splashed with egg, covered in self-raising and with caster sugar stuck in the spine - particularly the butterfly bun page).

Favourite books: my two most-used recipe books, 'Mary Berry's Baking Bible' and Marks and Spencer's 'Easy Baking'.

This little book was probably responsible for my baking revival, having been started off by Granny all those years ago. Several family birthday cakes have come from here and, although it's small and I've had it for a long time, it still keeps me busy most weekends. I've returned to an old favourite of my Dad's as a Father's Day treat - pear and ginger cake. 

Pear and ginger cake: ginger sponge, layered with juicy pears and sprinkled with brown sugar. 

On the subject of dads, this is the (quite late, sorry!) cake for my boyfriend Oli's dad's birthday, which was earlier in the week. It's Mary Berry's chocolate Victoria sandwich, from her Baking Bible. Happy belated birthday, Gary!

Chocolate Victoria sandwich: two light chocolate sponges with white buttercream, a teatime classic!

PS. If you'd like to see some of my potential future bakes, take a look at my 'Baking' board on Pinterest.

(: xx

* just the successful, prettyish ones