Soggy Cake… what would Paul and Mary think?!

One of the many things which make the Great British Bake-Off so popular is the sense of fun in what otherwise is a serious competition! The bakers take on the different challenges determined to do their best, but when things go awry, for the most part the disaster is treated with resigned good humour. The premise of the programme, in case you haven’t seen it, is twelve bakers are challenged each week to do three things, a classic they can practice at home and interpret as they will, an unknown challenge which they don’t know about until they enter the tent (it takes place in a tent) and then a show-stopper along a certain theme. Week by week they are eliminated, in the nicest way, with lots of hugs, until three remain before the final bake-off.

There are two judges, and two others who do their best to support the bakers with encouragement, and also act almost as compères, helping the programme along. Most of the audience enjoy the humour in the show, but some people who to my mind have no sense of humour are upset by some of the mildly risqué jokes… one of long-standing is the phrase ‘soggy bottom’ applied to cakes in particular.

What would the judges, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood have to say about this recipe?

Soggy bottom cake

• 4 oz margarine or butter
• 8 oz Demerara sugar
• 8 oz self-raising flour
• 2 eggs
• 12 oz mixed fruit
• 1 tin crushed pineapple or mandarins
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp mixed spice

1. melt the margarine in a pan and add the sugar, fruit, pineapple/mandarin, bicarb, mix and boil for three mins
2. allow mixture to cool, then add flour and eggs, mixing well
3. pour into a large greased, lined tin and bake 170ºC, 320ºF, gas mark 3, for 40-50mins, or as needed (the recipe is a little vague on this!)