Fictional Food Adventure: Making Mary Poppins Strike-me-pink Raspberry Jam Cakes

Well, if you were to consume an entire plateful of these cakes, as Mary Poppins and her friend Bert did, I think you would regret it, unless you are completely famished

These cakes are more like scones; they are made with a very loose, slightly sticky dough that is made in the same way as a scone mix, but with the addition of sugar and an egg. 

They are very simple and quick to make (providing you are not stopping as you go to take photos, or stop cats from eating packaging, or going next door to ask for help opening a jam jar!).

You just mix together flour, b.p and sugar, rub in butter to make fine breadcrumbs, then stir in a beaten egg and a bit of milk. You'll get a lovely golden lump of dough which you divide into 12. Each little lump gets gently pushed into a flat circle and a teaspoon of jam is dolloped in the centre. This is where I got held up as I couldn't find any raspberry jam in our supplies so I decided to use Damson jam instead. Firstly, we have rather a lot of it and it keeps well. And secondly, Andy loves it. 

The jar I was using ran out after filling 7 cakes so I went to select another pot. I struggled with the lid and just could not get it open. It was the same with all the other jars so in desperation I padded next door to see if our pricelessly brilliant neighbours had one of those grippy things. They did, in the shape of Mike. He answered the door looking very wobbly, having come home ill from work, but still managed to open the jar with seemingly no effort. 

Once the jam is all in, you pull up the sides, tuck them all firmly in to seal it, then flip it over, park on a lined baking tray, brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. They bake at 180°C, until golden, but not golden brown. The recipe said 15-20 minutes but I'm glad I used my experience with our monster of an oven to check them early as they were perfect and ready when the timer went off after 12 minutes.

I didn't know what to expect visually, but they looked so beautiful. Lightly golden, cracking over the surface, with glimpses of dark, hot jam inside. Slightly domed and begging to be eaten. While they sat cooking for a moment I made a big mug of tea and took a plateful next door. These kind of things are definitely best on the day they are baked so I needed to get people eating them. Perhaps Mary Poppins and Bert knew that too, and were determined not to waste a single crumb!