News From Cake Towers

Reading several blogs at lunchtime (and even commenting on them) I was struck by a pang of guilt. How do I have time to read other peoples’ blogs and yet I don’t have time to write my own? With no disrespect to the people that I was reading about (and they were all lovely and interesting blogs!) surely my business should be more important to me than others’? I started my blog to share my journey, thinking at the time that I wasn’t baking as regularly as I would like, so could write about the other aspects of having a business and baking in general. Now that I am baking regularly, I’m not sure why I’m not regalling you all with ‘tales from the kitchen’! It seems daft that I’m not writing about the thing that I’m now doing!

The Earlsfield Deli opened in Garratt Lane just before Christmas and I am now supplying them with cake. It’s a bit of a trial and error process for us both, but one that I am enjoying and I don’t appear to have poisoned anyone yet, which is a good thing! I’ve had a good week – they have taken a dozen Valentine’s Day cupcakes, a carrot cake, a parsnip cake, a coffee and walnut cake and on Saturday will be having a clementine and almond cake and a batch of Millionaire’s shortbread.

One of the things I’m loving about the deli, is that I’m getting to experiment with cake flavours. I tried a parsnip cake last week which went down very well at work (I started off with a glut of butternut squash, so I turned it into ratatouille. In the process, I needed some parsnips, so I then ended up with too many of those and thought I’d turn them into cake. It really works!). When making one for the deli last night, I realised about 3/4 of the way through, that the recipe I was making wasn’t the same one as I made last week. Oops! Hopefully I’ll get another chance as the one I meant to make was really good!

Talking of parsnip cakes, I ended up starting a thread on Twitter last week about vegetables and cakes and was sent a recipe for a swede cake. I now have a swede, so I’ll be trying that out in the next few days and I’m really keen (I have been for a while!) to try a courgette cake. Perhaps I shall get myself a reputation as the vegetable girl! It’s certainly one way to get your 5 a day! (I suspect those advocating 5 a day didn’t envisage 5 different cakes however!!!)

So, in addition to trying lots of different cakes (and using as many vegetables as I can!), I’m going to get my blogging back on track! I have ideas for the next few weeks, including my up-coming wedding fayre (about which I’m scared, nervous and excited!) and I will start adding recipes here. I do send out a monthly recipe in my newsletter (shameless plug: you can request it here) but it seems like a month is a long time to wait for a recipe. In the meantime, I recommend baking with vegetables! If you want to be a little less virtuous, make a nice icing to go with it!

So, we’re at the beginning of February already, which is scary! I read a blog last week by Claire Habel about taking stock of where you are and as we’re now in a new month, I thought it seemed like a good idea. The original blog can be found here: http://www.workfromhomewisdom.com/2012/01/25/new-years-business-resolutions-how-to-stay-on-track-to-achieving-them/

I have a big to-do list for the foreseeable future. It’s comprised of tasks for the next few days, weeks and months; some simple which should take minutes; some which will take hours. This list has seen me through the last month, being added to and removed from on a continuous basis.

My main accomplishments in 2012 are the creation of my newsletter. The second edition of which is about to go out and can be subscribed to here: http://www.claireshandmadecakes.com/newsletter.html and I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out so far. I’m now supplying my local deli with cake.  http://theearlsfielddeli.co.uk/earlsfielddeli/Home.html It’s very much in its infancy, but I really hope that it’s a success for us both as the deli is such a great place. I’m keeping up with my blogging (just about!). I’ve set myself the target to blog once a week. There will be 2 blogs this week as this blog is last week’s! Finally, I’ve just booked a wedding fair, my first ever!

I wouldn’t say I’d had any failures this year, yet! I’m trying to keep my website and facebook site up to date and Claire’s Corner is going well. I’m currently working on my Valentine’s edition, which will be out in the next few days. I’m not being as hard on myself this year as I have been in the past and I’m taking breaks from the kitchen, the books and my laptop. I’m running in the marathon in just over 11 weeks (a thought which is horrifying!), so I’m enjoying having a focus that’s not work or cake related.

Over the next few weeks, the recipe experimentation is going to continue. Now that I have my Kenwood, which is right at home on my kitchen worktop, I’m eager to find out just what it can do. I’m still to try macarons, but as my March newsletter will feature them, it won’t be long before I’m cracking open eggs! I’m a member of the Real Bread Campaign http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/and I want to get baking bread. I made hot cross buns last Easter, so they’re on the menu again this year and as the year progresses, I hope to be sharing some savoury dishes as well as cakes and biscuits. I’m making marmalade this weekend (hopefully) and I’m looking forward to using that in my cakes and baking. I’m really excited about the possibilities and opportunities of the next few weeks and months and I’m looking forward to sharing them.

I hope that 2012 is treating you well. If it’s not quite going to plan, it’s a new month, so start afresh and keep striving to be the best that you can be. That’s my ultimate goal for 2012!

On Twitter last week, I saw a tweet inviting people to the recording of a new cookery show on Radio 4. Having been to the recording of Radio 5 show a little while ago (it was the last ever Richard Bacon evening show), I thought it might be a fun way to spend a Tuesday evening. So, off I duly trotted to Whitechapel, with my map in hand, in search of Wilton’s Music Hall. Perhaps it says something about me, that the only history I knew of Whitechapel involved Jack the Ripper, rather than any cultural or foody heritage, but I came away at the end of the evening richer for my time spent there!

Wilton’s Music Hall is an extremely unimposing location; you can walk past it, thinking nothing of it. Indeed, even the bar area isn’t that exciting. The Music Hall bit, where the recording took place was beautiful however and very surprising. If you haven’t been, I recommend a visit.

On arrival, we had to complete two forms – one included a question we would like to put to the panel and the 2nd was a questionnaire loosely based on Valentine’s Day. The questions would be put to the panel and those from the questionnaire would be weaved into the discussion. When would we throw out food in our fridge? What were our favourite aphrodisiacs? What would be the next trend in baking?

Around 7 o’clock we went through some health and safety notices and then the panel was introduced. Jay Rayner would be overseeing the proceedings and the panel comprised: Henry Dimbleby, Angela Malik, Rachel McCormack and Peter Barram (apologies if I have Peter’s name down incorrectly – I have spelt it 3 different ways in my notes!).

Jay took us through the start of the questionnaire – the findings on what we would like our partners to cook for us on Valentine’s Day. I had made an error in completing my questionnaire, which I will never make again. In addition to ticking a box, I wrote something down. I can’t remember exactly what I wrote, but if you tune into the show, Jay will read it out. It was something like ‘None of the above – I’m single’. Everyone howled with laughter. I joined in, so as not to draw attention to myself, but the shame. Note to self, when filling in anything for a radio show, tv show etc, never write anything down when you can just tick a box!

Well, the recording carried on and it was entertaining and interesting. I learned that we shouldn’t keep tomatoes in the fridge as it renders them tasteless. (Incidentally I still have tomatoes in my fridge, but as I can’t bring the taste back, they may as well stay there!) Cheap saffron can taste of soap, or even bleach and some people are unable to taste it. Eating a hot curry isn’t always a good idea as its molecules can chemically attack your nerves. Fortunately most of the damage is repairable, but not the most pleasant thought!

More episodes of ‘The Kitchen Larder’ will be recorded over the country in the next few weeks and if there’s one near you, I recommend going along. I’ll be listening to the broadcast on the i-player, seeing how much of what was recorded makes the final show (I suspect my ‘I’m single’ comment will!). The series starts on Radio 4 on 7th February at 3pm, with the Valentine’s Special on 14th February (also at 3pm).

My one disappointment from the show is that when we completed the questionnaire the last question ‘what is the next trend in baking’ wasn’t answered. Perhaps they ran out of time, or perhaps no-one knows and the cupcake is here to stay!

Yesterday I posted some photos on Twitter and I’ve decided to turn them into my blog post for the week! Apologies if you’ve seen the photos, but you don’t yet know the whole story…

It’s coming up to Valentine’s Day and I thought I’d try out a red velvet cake as they seem to be all the rage. I had a go at making one last summer and it won’t go down as my most successful cake ever! I have a problem with red velvet cakes because they require food colouring (either liquid or paste) to turn them the bright red colour which one associates with the flavour. The problem I have is the amount of food colouring which is required.

Now, I’m quite particular about what goes into my cakes. I bake seasonally, I use organic and fair trade ingredients where I can, I try and source local produce and I don’t just throw anything into my cakes. Therefore, the thought of adding food colouring (some recipes call for 2 tsp, some 1 tbsp, some even more) just frightens me. How can I use the best ingredients around, which I source with pride and then pour in a load of e-numbers? It doesn’t sit right.

Therefore, I tried the ‘red velvet experiment’ yesterday. Essentially, in the old days, the red from the red velvet came from the reaction of the buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda. So, I used a recipe which required buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda. It also called for red food colouring (20mls of it!) and I decided not to use it. I doubled the recipe and split it into two batches. In one batch, I didn’t add anything and to the other batch, I added beetroot and lemon juice. I thought beetroot would make the cakes redder, though I had read that the reaction of the beetroot with the other ingredients wouldn’t change the colour. I thought then that if I added some lemon juice, that might bring out the red colour after all.

I felt a bit like an alchemist! It was quite exciting, though very messy! These are the cakes that I made before being baked – the cake on the left is the cake without anything added and the cake on the right is the beetroot juice cake.

After about half an hour, the cakes were ready and they were taken out of the oven. The difference after cooking wasn’t so apparent, but was still there. (As above, the beetroot juice cake is on the right.)

When the cakes had cooled, I cut them in half and iced with a cream cheese frosting. It was then that it became apparent there was little difference in the colour as you can see below:

After icing

So, finally, the taste test. I actually liked both cakes (which surprised me!) but I preferred the beetroot juice cake. It was a bit moister and just had more of a depth of flavour. When I gave them to my friends to try them and said they were red velvet cakes, I did have to explain why they weren’t red. Once I’d done that, I think I won them over by saying I didn’t want to use colourings and e-numbers to get a pretty cake. I think the proof is in the eating. No, it’s not very red, but personally, I’d rather have a cake that wasn’t bright red, if the only way to get it like that is by using food colouring (or ‘nasties’ as a friend called them!) and hopefully others will agree.

It seems like I was only just planning my Christmas break and now we’re almost into the third week of January! How did that happen?! Christmas was a time to slow down and recharge the batteries, as well as give some serious thought to where I see Claire’s Handmade Cakes going in 2012. I tend to do things as and when they come up, but I think it’s important that there’s a direction in which I want to head.

I treated myself to a copy of Dee Blick’s ‘The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Book’ after having already bought her wonderful ‘Powerful Marketing on a Shoestring Budget’, which I re-read over Christmas. I’m still working my through her second book, and it’s quite involved – I have to think about what I’m reading, make notes and think about what she says in relation to my business – but they really are fabulous books.

I struggle with my marketing (I struggle with quite a lot of aspects of my business, actually! When I’m my business’s IT helpdesk and I don’t know what I’m doing, there can be (and often are!) tears…) and one of my goals for this year is to do something about this. Dee suggests writing a marketing plan (which I don’t have), think about who your customers are (and who you would like them to be), then think of ways that you can target / appeal to them. Not everything you do will appeal to all of your market and nor should it.

I’m already starting to think differently about what I’m doing and I’m making lots of lists and lots of plans. This year I’m starting a monthly newsletter (I’ve already sent out January’s!) and whilst I want to do more fairs, I am going to be more discerning about which ones I choose. Short-term, I’m also going to commit a marketing plan to paper and the other task on the horizon is to put actual numbers into my business plan.

I know I usually talk about cake and I’m sorry for not doing so this week, but having a cake company is about so much more than being able to bake a nice cake and make it look pretty! Sometimes it’s important to stop, take stock of what’s going on and to actually really think about what you want to do. Taking the time now to do some serious thinking and planning will hopefully stand me in good stead over the rest of the year and if I really know where I’m going, it will make the journey so much easier.

So, we’ve just about made it through 2011. I can’t believe that in just 2 days’ time, it will be 2012. It has been a good year overall, and I have a lot to be both proud of and thankful for. I started the year by giving a talk on starting your own 5-9 business and I feel that 12 months on, I’ve learned so much more than I knew just 12 months ago. I have had stalls at summer and Christmas fairs (with varying degrees of success!), I was a finalist in the National Cupcake Championships and I finished the year as a winner at #wemakechristmas My shiny new Kenwood which stands proudly in my kitchen will be a permanent reminder.

There has been much that I wanted to do this year, but sadly didn’t manage to. I can be very hard on myself and as I have a permanent job in addition to my cake company, I need to allow myself time off and time to spend with friends away from work and cake!

I have high hopes for 2012 – I’ll be launching a newsletter in January and I’m finalising plans for the rest of the year. I very much hope that you will continue this journey with me. I’m running the marathon in April (I’m starting my training on Monday, which I think I’m looking forward to!), so please bear with me in the first part of the year if I don’t blog as often as I’d like. I know I wrote last year that I wanted to include more recipes on here and that’s definitely my intention for 2012. I’m setting myself some goals now (I don’t usually make resolutions, but I set goals instead) and all that remains to say, is thank you for your support to date and have a very happy New Year!

I’m sitting here writing this, still not quite believing that yesterday actually happened! I was invited to http://www.fortnumandmason.com/ by the lovely Vanessa Kimbell http://writingacookerybook.blogspot.com/ The idea was that foodies and food bloggers got together, we all brought something which we had made which was nice and ‘gifty’ and we went home with someone else’s baked goodies. We also provided the recipe, so the lucky recipient could bake it themselves and we all blogged about it as well.

I had intended on blogging prior to the event, but if any of you read this, you’ll know that I’m not always up-to-date with my blogging! (I promise to turn over a new leaf in the New Year!) So, I’ll write about the event and post my recipes at the end…

I decided to make gingerbread biscuits which I would ice. Up until about Wednesday I was going to take some chutney and jelly with me, but I had a change of heart and the thought of ‘amaretti’ hit me. I took Friday off work, had a lie-in (I’ve been busy recently and the Christmas rush is about to kick-off!) and then got baking. The gingerbread went well and whilst it was cooling, I made my amaretti, threw them in the oven and forgot to note the time. Oops. They ended up a pale golden, looked OK and I left them to cool whilst I made my icings.

To cut a long story short, the icing didn’t want to dry (if you look at the picture it’s quite tacky), but I had to leave as it had gone 3pm and I was supposed to be at Fortnum’s AT 3pm! In getting to the meet-up, I forgot my oyster card, the train was delayed, the tube was delayed and every traffic light I passed in order to cross the road was green! It was one of those days! I then had a fraught moment on the 3rd floor, even asking someone where Vanessa was. They’d never heard of her. Did she work there? It turns out I was a floor short, so rather flustered (and VERY late), I arrived.

I had my goodies taken from me, I got myself a drink and I caught my breath! It was really lovely to chat to so many people, none of whom I knew (apart from Vanessa and the lovely Charlotte from Go Free Foods http://www.gofreefoods.co.uk).

The goodies that we all made were judged by Dan Lepard (of whom I am in awe. I don’t think I did star-struck yesterday, if I did, I’m sorry Dan!) and there were prizes awarded which had been very generously donated by Kenwood, Fortnum and Mason and Rococo Chocolates amongst others. I never thought in a million years I would win anything, and I went along to meet fellow foodies and get some new ideas!

After Dan had tried every entry (it’s a tough job!) and deliberated, the results were in! Firstly, the award for best preserves went to Urvashi Roe for her blackberry curd http://thebotanicalbaker.wordpress.com/plants/blackberry/blackberry-curd I’m already looking forward to next summer, when I shall be trying this out!

Next came best baked goods. I was chatting (I think!) to a lady next to me and Dan mentioned ‘amaretti biscuits’. ‘Hang on a minute,’ I thought. ‘I made some of those!’ He then held up their bag and asked who had made them. I was dumbstruck. ‘I did,’ I said and tried to make my way forward. He didn’t hear (or see!) me and asked again. I was a bit braver (and louder!) this time and a path to Dan miraculously opened for me. He congratulated me and I was chuffed to bits. Then I was told what the prize was. A Kenwood food processor. My jaw dropped and I was in total disbelief. I couldn’t believe it. I think my photo was taken, but I can’t remember.

At this point in the story, I’d like to point out that, despite baking, LOTS!, and having a cake company for over 2 years, I don’t have a table-top mixer! (For those of you out there who don’t have one either, yes it is possible. It’s just hard work!)

I made my way back, still stunned and in shock. The next prizes were announced – Best sweets went to Snejana Simeonova for her mincemeat cake pops http://orangethyme.blogspot.com/ something else I’ll be trying! They looked lovely.

The final category – best drink – was won by Jayne Rivera-Lynch for her Slivovitz http://jaynerly.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/slivovitz-blog-birthday-cheers/ something else I must try!

After this, the final prize was awarded – overall best gift. It was still sinking in that I had won a Kenwood, when Dan mentioned ‘amaretti biscuits’ again. I almost felt a little embarrassed walking back, to be greeted with the news that I had won a Fortnum and Mason Christmas Hamper (cue delighted parents – their Christmas gifts are sorted now!).

Photographs were taken of all of the winners, there was a photo taken of me for Kenwood (I’ll do any publicity that they would like!!!) and until I left the event (to go to the bar downstairs), I was overwhelmed by the response and congratulations which I received.

24 hours later, it still hasn’t quite sunk in. I feel so proud of myself and I’m still giddy that Dan Lepard likes my biscuits!!! I’m not the most confident person (which may surprise people!) and to hear praise like this was humbling. I fought back a few tears as well as I was just so overwhelmed. You may notice the picture at the top of my blog is for my gingerbread biscuits. I didn’t even take one of my amaretti!!! I’ll be making some for my fair next weekend and the camera will be going ‘click! click! click!’!

So, finally, thank you so much to Vanessa for organising such a wonderful event, to Dan for liking my biscuits, judging and being an all round good egg, to Fortnum and Mason for hosting the event (and for your hamper!), to Kenwood for my fabulous new toy and finally to everyone I met yesterday and for those who I didn’t meet, but who have tweeted me. I have been blown away by everyone’s kindness. And now for the important bit of this blog, the recipes! If you replicate either, my one wish is that you enjoy them. They have given me much pleasure!

Gingerbread
125g unsalted butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
3 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
300g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 200C.
In a pan, melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar. In a bowl, mix together the flour, bicarbonate of
soda and the ginger. Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture, to make a stiff dough. Roll out
to a thickness of about 1/4" and cut out shapes.

Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until firm and a little darker
round the edges. Remove from the oven and trim (they will spread during baking). Leave to cool on
a wire rack. You can either enjoy as they are, or decorate. I made royal icing using icing sugar,
merriwhite (an egg albumen) and some water, or you could use icing sugar and egg white, or even
packet royal icing.

Amaretti (makes 20)
180g ground almonds
120g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2tsp almond extract
pinch of salt
2 egg whites
1 tbsp honey
100g flaked almonds
icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 160C and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
In a bowl, place the almonds, sugar, lemon zest, almond extract and salt. Rub together with your
fingers, until well mixed. In a separate (and spotlessly clean) bowl, whisk the egg whites and
honey together until soft peaks form. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold the meringue mixture
into the almond mixture, to give a soft paste.

Roll into 20g rounds. Flatten them a little. Put the flaked almonds onto a plate and then roll
the rounds in them, and then roll in icing sugar. Place onto your prepared baking tray and bake
for 14-18 minutes - they should be a very light golden brown, but still relatively pale. Place
them on a wire rack to cool completely before serving, or gift wrapping. 

I feel like I’m going to be bombarding you with posts this week – I’m either silent or the chattiest person around! I just heard a heartbreaking story which I wanted to share, although my blog at the weekend will still go ahead.

Back to this very sad story. Someone bought a cake from a lady who just had a facebook page, which was full of very good images. It turns out that this lady had copied the images from another (and reputable) cake maker.  The customer was unaware of this however, and ordered a cake for his daughter’s christening.

When he had collected the cake, he was very disappointed. It looked nothing like the picture.On further investigation, he tracked down the original cake maker, but as she lived in another part of the country, was unable to help him and although she offered to find him someone she trusted to make another cake for him (he felt he was unable to share the cake with his family and friends), he declined as he couldn’t afford another cake (he was trying to get the money back from the lady who made the cake), but more importantly, he didn’t trust anyone to make another cake for him.

Like many cake decorators, I watermark all of my cakes. It’s not that I’m particularly precious about what I’ve done, but I don’t want someone else using my work on their website. This can lead to misrepresentation and ultimately, as shown above, disappointment.

So I urge you, if you’re buying a cake, do a little work first. Don’t just accept the cheapest quote. I’d also advise against using someone who just has a facebook site and not a website. I’m not saying that there aren’t very good cake decorators out there who just have facebook sites, but I’m looking out for you. Also, make sure that there is an address for the cake decorator on the website and if possible, a landline phone number too.

I do have a facebook site (which true to me isn’t updated as often as it should be!), but I also have a website, which contains my address and phone number.

If you’re having a cake made, ask some questions. See if the photos are watermarked. See if the style of the cakes is broadly similar as most cake decorators have a style, sometimes without them particularly realising it! Be prepared to spend a bit of money – you are buying a bespoke cake, made just for you, to your exact requirements and desires. If you think a cake sounds too good to be true, in all likelihood it is. There are so many very talented and amazing cake decorators out there, who work really hard and its a shame that their good names are being sullied.

I had an idea of a blog I was going to write. I wrote it, actually, but never quite got round to posting it. I’m sure I will, as it was about my day at the WI’s Cookery School and the valuable lesson learned that I shouldn’t be let loose near sharp knives!

I decided that I’d write about me though, rather than something I’ve done! 26 November is the 2nd anniversary of Claire’s Handmade Cakes. I feel really proud to be going strong. I suspect the reason I am still going is that I still hold down a full-time job! It’s incredibly hard to go to work, 9-5, Monday to Friday and then to come home in the evenings and bake or sit at my laptop and do admin. Life can be rather lonely, which considering I’m at work all day seems rather an odd thing to write!

The lessons I’ve learned over the last 2 years are to trust my instincts, it’s OK to say no and it’s not possible (nor wise!) to do everything yourself. I still can’t let go, I beat myself up all of the time that I should be doing something I’m not and I’m always striving to do better.

I thought recently, if I knew 2 years ago what I know now, what I still have done this. Frequently I think no. It has been exhausting, I’ve made myself ill, I have given up my social life and financially it has been a struggle. On the other hand, I look at everything I’ve achieved. For starters, I have an excuse to always bake and always have ingredients in my cupboard, ‘just in case’. I’ve made some cakes which I’m incredibly proud of – there was a wedding cake in Dublin for some friends, cake(s) to celebrate www.bearnibbles.co.uk 1st birthday and I was a finalist in the summer for the National Cupcake Championships and that’s despite not being the biggest fan of the little beauties!

I’ve also met some amazing people who otherwise I would be blissfully unaware of. Yes, it’s incredibly hard work, yes, it will be a while before I’m able to give up the day job and be able to dedicate my life to cake, but it has been so rewarding and I’ve had an amazing time. I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store!

At the moment, we’re half way through British Food Fortnight. We don’t seem to be go a few days without celebrating a day or a week of something. We’ve just had National Cupcake Week and I doubt it will be long before the next one comes along!

If I’m honest (and as a cake maker I probably shouldn’t be admitting this!) I much prefer British food to cupcakes. I use local and season produce wherever I can, beit in cakes or in cooking for myself, family and friends.

As it’s been a while since my last recipe, I’m sharing a recipe for a plum cake, as plums are very much in season at the moment and this is a great way to celebrate British Food Fortnight. It’s very tasty and is great warm or cold! I’m sure it would work well with other fruit (for example substituting apples for plums and cinnamon for mixed spice).

Ingredients

150g self-raising flour

75g ground almonds

1 tsp mixed spice

100g butter

50g caster sugar

2 large eggs

4 tbsp golden syrup

300g plums, stoned and chopped

Method

Preheat oven to 160C.

Grease and line a baking tray measuring 30cm x 20cm.

Prepare the plums and add the mixed spice and half of the sugar. Leave to macerate.

Rub the butter with the flour and then add the ground almonds and the remaining sugar.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the golden syrup and then add to the flour mixture. Add the plums and stir until just combined. Transfer to the tin and level the surface.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes, but keep an eye on it. It is ready when it has risen and is just firm to the touch. A skewer inserted should come out clean. Cut up and serve.