the first slice

Like most work places, mine is one where some days a better than others. Some days, you tick things off lists. Some days the phone never rings and the only people who knock on your door want to take you out for coffee.

Then there are other days. Days when the piles of relentless bureaucracy pile so high that you fear they will teeter over, forever burying you under a mound of submission documents so immense that you will never emerge - entombed forever waiting for the archaeologist's trowel to uncover you years later. Who was this strange woman, and why the hell did she have so much paper?

Yes, I'm sure that you, too, work, or have worked, in such an unpredictable environment. And on days like that? You eat cake of course.

And now, I don't want imply that things in my workplace are so bad that we have to have regular scheduled sessions of whipped cream and puff pastry, but every other Wednesday is Cake Day. On a roster system we bring in 'cake'. Now I say 'cake', rather than just cake, because cake seems to mean cake, and some dips, and fruit, and a flan or a tart and then some little nibbly bits to go with them. The wise remember not to bring lunch on cake day, the forgetful suffer from bloated stomach. I've only been working in this office for a bit over a year, but the Cake Club has been a long standing tradition, and by all accounts has got more and more over the top as time has gone by.

So, in order to preserve these recipes for posterity, I have put together the Cake Club, to record our best kitchen artistry, and probably a little bit of gossip as well. Having sent out the email asking for past Cake Club favourites, the young lady who sits outside our boss' door was the first off the mark. I'm going to call her the painter-chick. I hope she understands why. Painter-chick sent me a raft of her past favourites. Today I've decided to post a chocolate pavlova

Chocolate Pavlova
6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
2 drops white vinegar
3 tblsnp cocoa powder
150gm dark chocolate, finely grated

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar a third at a time until it is well combined and then beat until mixture is smooth and satiny, adding the vinegar at the end. Fold in the cocoa powder and chocolate. Pile the mixture on a baking tray covered with baking parchment, creating a small well in the centre for the topping.

Place in 180 degree pre-heated oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 150 degrees. Bake for 90 minutes, then leave the over door ajar and allow the pavlova to cool in the oven.


When cool top with whipped cream and berries.

As I said, this is an old recipe, so I'm afraid this photo is not taken in our dreary little staff kitchen. I nicked it from Nora at Life's Smorgasboard. Thanks Nora! I'm not sure who supplied the recipe to painter-chick, but thanks to them to.

Quite coincidentally then next Cake Day is mine - in just over a week's time. Now that I've created this record, I had better come up with something good (and not forget the camera).