I'm crapping myself a little bit, since I haven't yet had a chance to meet the extended family! So a good impression is needed, and impressions means gifts- because I can't very well turn up empty handed, can I?
I was going to buy some flowers as a nice gesture, but for some reason the boyfriend is less than partial to the idea...
So the only other thing I can think of is to bake something. Which stresses me out even more, since I'm pretty sure a large majority of all the ladies at this event have done their fair share of baking, and I don't fancy embarrassing myself, trying to impress with the skills that are less than comparable to theirs :(
So, after getting over the initial shock of what I was about to throw myself into, deciding what to bake was the next challenge.
Cake?
A bit too cliche for a birthday party... And i'm pretty sure there'll be cake there.
Biscuits?
They're a bit boring, I don't want to look like a plain jane.
Cookies?
There will be old people, and I'm pretty sure cookies are a little overrated for them.
A traybake.
This is what I've settled on. It's just a matter of finding out which one will last the journey, presentation-wise and texture-wise (since I'll probably want to make it the day before).
So starts the beginning of my short experiment til the event, to find out which effing traybake to make!!!
...Trying to dance this confusion around my final major project for uni is an absolute nightmare.
I opted for a rather attractive looking Rhubarb & Strawberry Crumb Bar tray bake. I found the recipe off of foodgawker. The original recipe is found here. Her's definitely look a lot more palatable than mine, and i forgot to dust mine off with icing sugar -_-' D'oh!!
I think going down the fruit route is better than say, choosing a millionaires shortbread- it's more summery and I think people can eat more of it if it's not too rich.
Anyway, the recipe was pretty standard to follow, the only thing i was unfamiliar with was:
1) cooking with rhubarb, and
2) putting icing sugar into a cake mix
I was actually quite skeptical about using icing sugar in the cake batter, worrying it would be too sweet, but surprisingly, it turned into a very light and bouncy sponge cake! My housemates compared it to the weirdly bouncy sponge cakes you get in the shops that you don't usually get at home. So that's gotta be a plus.
Another thing i was worried about was the size of the rhubarb the recipe said to cut it to (half an inch). I understand that if you undercook rhubarb, it's very stringy and pretty inedible, and putting it raw into the cake.... ughh i dunno.. So attempting to avoid disaster at all costs, I chopped it all into quarters of inches, just to make sure. I don't know whether that was a better idea or not but either way, the rhubarb cooked all the way through and was soft and sweet, and the strawberries gave it a satisfying mush :)
The crumble topping is pretty self-explanatory, except, to the EXTREME. There was a lot of it, and when you pick up a slice, it just falls apart everywhere- it was bloody delicious though, even more so if i'd sprinkled some sugar on top before i baked it, I reckon. But because of the crumble value, I don't think it would make the cut for Grandma's birthday. I have a feeling I'll get there, take off the lid and there's just a apocalypse of crumble and giant red mush.
It was a pretty successful bake otherwise, very tasty, and I reckon it'll be even nicer cold.
It's just a shame it didn't look as nice as the original recipes. How did they get their's so red?!! :( Boo...
Oh, and next time, I'd put the mix into a bigger tin, these slices were pretty tall and mighty.
not the most attractive picture, but just so you can have a look at the squidginess (sp?!)
I'll need to look for something just as fruity, more robust but still as light as these..
The search continues..
