(This photograph is copied from “Good Food” magazine, July 2009.)

Going straight from appetizer to dessert may seem a little strange to some, but it seems perfectly normal to me… Yes, I will be posting the middle bits, but I know how you lot like your puds so I decided to post it first.

And no it is not because I am only giving you a link you silly person you. I was going to type it all up, but that would be pretty silly considering it’s already all there just waiting for you to honor it with your worthy baking skills. I found the recipe in the English cooking magazine “Good Food” and followed it pretty much to the letter – why change a winning combo I say.

I even loaned the recipe to Kayleigh (remember her from the 1st Anniversary post?) and she made it the week after. So if a 14 year old gets it right first time, you should too…pressure creates performance according to my hubby! It was actually also my first time to bake this cake too – where’s the fun in baking something you know will work out?

As I mentioned in the same post, my problems arose upon appraisal of my (very expensive) green mouldy fruit that were masquerading as strawberries. Fortunately, after some freezer diving I came up with some blueberries and raspberries so instead of sweet strawberries my guests “enjoyed” some tart fruit in their tart.

Compared to the adventures of some fellow members of this planet, this was a hiccup hardly worth mentioning. Have you ever watched those cooking shows where they spend months planning the desserts, hours making the most intricate Eiffel tower type statues in chocolate and prayers, only to have it fall over and crash into chocolate sprinkles and swearing just before the judges get to it? I am that person who watches these shows so there.

A friend mentioned that his German work mate married a Spanish woman who did have some trouble with German products. In an attempt to impress her husband and mother-in-law, she tried to make semolina pudding so she brought the milk to a boil and added the semolina flour. And added more of it, and more of it, and… With her new family rapidly approaching and the spoon literally no longer able to move or be removed from the pot, she opened the window and threw the pot outside. Lesson of the day: always look before walking past foreign pot throwers.

But my all time favourite is this one: in yet another attempt to impress, a young wife went to the local fish market and bought all the ingredients for a cold seafood platter – various types of sea snails, cockles and mussels, you now the usual fresh stuff. She took it home, put it in the fridge and decorated the table until her husband and business associates arrived for dinner. Upon opening the fridge she found the snails crawling all over the less mobile elements of the meal. Poor thing hadn’t realised that they had to be cooked first. She maintained her cool, collected them all up and served them “comme ca” (as is)! My type of girl.

But unless you don’t wash the strawberries properly, there shouldn’t be anything crawling in this cake. My photo does this tart no justice as I (as usual) forgot to photograph the cake and this was the last bit left on the platter and it was tired and would have crawled off if it could have. Mary Cadogen’s (she’s the lady who created this recipe) cake is browned more nicely than mine (must be trick photography and not my lack of skill) – practice makes perfect and this cake is well worth baking again.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/11237/strawberry-gteau-st-honor