In celebration of International Day of Birmingham, brainchild of Joe Lycett, Brindleyplace have joined forces with Head Chef Vicky at Hilton Garden Inn to cook Brummie Cakes for our Brindleyplace tenants to enjoy and celebrate this great day. Read on to earn more about Vicky’s job and career at Brindleyplace…
Vicky has been Head Chef at the Hilton Garden Inn for almost 7 years. She lives just 5 minutes away from the hotel and hails Brindleyplace as her teenage stomping ground. Speaking to her it’s clear to see why she loves her job so much: she’s passionate about ingredients, recipes and creating! She lives and breathes food!
When asked her favourite thing to cook, she answers quickly – everything – and it changes frequently! She’s currently experimenting with Korean dishes. She’s also very popular with her fellow workers at the hotel who are treated to a staff lunch every day, and enjoy Vicky’s creations.
Outside of work, Vicky finds it hard to switch out of ‘chef mode’. She loves eating, cooking and watching cookery shows. Her favourite restaurant in Birmingham is ‘hands down’ Wilderness in the Jewellery Quarter while at Brindleyplace she thinks we’re spoiled for choice. As far as TV shows go, she’s a huge fan of Kitchen Nightmares but her favourite chefs are Anthony Boulain and Monca Gelletti. She loves reading anything written about food by Nigella Lawson and shares her passion for flavours, loving the way she describes them.
Vicky’s top tip for everyone: don’t be afraid of cooking! She worries people find it more intimidating than it needs to be. Just be confident!
When we asked Vicky to collaborate with Brindleyplace to celebrate International Day of Birmingham, the answer was resounding yes, she loves Joe Lycett and was thrilled to create her version of the cake with a few slight tweaks to the recipe (link to recipe) for our tenants to enjoy in recognition of the great worldwide event.
The cakes will be handed out in the receptions of the office buildings on Wednesday 24th along with (hopefully) plenty of Brummie cheer and ‘alright babs’.
Thanks to Vicky and Hilton Garden Inn for getting involved with this activation.
The Brummie Bacon Cake is the perfect addition to your picnic basket. The exact history of the Brummie Bacon Cake isn’t really known, but they’re so delicious that we’ll happily claim them as one of our region’s own creations.
Recipe:
6 rashers of streaky bacon (smoked or unsmoked)
225g plain flour
2tsp baking power
A pinch of seasalt
40g butter
75g grated mature cheddar
150ml milk
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Method:
Line your bacon rashers on a tray and cook under the grill for around 10 minutes. Make sure to keep a close eye on them and turn part-way through cooking. Once nice and crisp, leave to one side to cool.
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.
Add your flour, baking powder, salt and butter to a bowl and rub together to form a breadcrumb-like texture.
Once the bacon has fully cooled, cut it into small shards and add to the breadcrumb-like mixture along with 25g of your grated cheese.
In a separate jug, stir together the milk, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Pour this mixture into your dry ingredients and combine until you have achieved a ball of dough
Turn the dough out onto a lightly dusted baking tray, and shape into a round, about 18cm in diameter. Brush with milk and sprinkle the remaining grated cheese generously on top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Once fully cooled, cut into chunky triangles, and pack into your picnic basket with some butter to spread on as you eat.
References
