Wright Side of Life: Great British Bake Off Star Karen Wright shares her memories of Wimbledon and tips for a perfect Frasier Cake

In her latest column, Great British Bake Off Star Karen Wright shares her memories of Wimbledon - and some top tips for making the perfect seasonal Frasier Cake.
In her latest column, Great British Bake Off Star Karen Wright shares her memories of Wimbledon - and some top tips for making the perfect seasonal Frasier Cake. Photo: Karen WrightIn her latest column, Great British Bake Off Star Karen Wright shares her memories of Wimbledon - and some top tips for making the perfect seasonal Frasier Cake. Photo: Karen Wright
In her latest column, Great British Bake Off Star Karen Wright shares her memories of Wimbledon - and some top tips for making the perfect seasonal Frasier Cake. Photo: Karen Wright

“Anyone for tennis?” that phrase originates from the 1920’s when tennis was considered to be a bit of a fancy pants sport!

Tennis is the only sport that I really get behind and that’s just once a year, the tournament being of course Wimbledon, which starts this week. And I can’t wait!

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As with most things that have happened for as long as you can remember, memories get sparked. My earliest memory of the tournament is coming home from junior school and finding my mam sitting watching it on our black and white TV.

Love, Deuce, Advantage became familiar words.

Also, the names of the top players back then, Ashe, Nastase, Roach, Billy Jean King, Virginia Wade, Ann Jones to name but a few.

The following decade tennis seemed to move up a gear and Wimbledon was no longer the steady game I was used to.

We had colour TV now which was so exciting and the players became personalities we looked forward to each year.

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Who can forget the young John McEnro, with his wild hair, headband and much copied mantra “You can’t be serious?", as well as Boris Becker, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, and Martina.

Strawberries and Cream are synonymous with Wimbledon too, strawberries being right in season and totally delicious. I don’t know anyone that doesn’t like them, do you?

I recently made this Frasier Cake. Fraise means strawberry in French and this cake can be found in every patisserie and supermarket in France. It is so gorgeous to look at and is a real showstopper.

The cake consists of 2 layers of Genoise sponge with strawberries and freshly made Crème Patisserie in between. On the top is a thin layer of strawberry jelly and a few strawberries.

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Genoise is a fatless sponge and is very light and airy, it doesn’t contain any raising agent and relies on eggs and sugar being whipped up to a mousse-like consistency to ensure the cake rises. Plain flour must be folded in very gently to avoid the mixture deflating.

Of course, a bowl of strawberries and cream is scrumptious on its own. However, I do have a couple of twists!

Strawberries are great with a grind of black pepper on them and the cream lifts to another level if you add a splash of balsamic vinegar as you whip it, strange but true. Why not try it?

www.karenwrightbakes.co.uk

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