Tag Archives: dessert

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

4 Dec

Deep Dark DelectableSome days, you just need chocolate. For happy, for sad, for good and for bad, chocolate has a remarkable complexity and depth to it which just eases you on your way. I have a real deep affinity for chocolate, and I always try and have some in the house at all times. There is something so essentially sexy about chocolate. Its the stuff of lovely naughty imaginings, and it is unabashedly decadent and delightful.

And I am a serious chocolate snob. Cheapo chocolate made with vegetable fats (like those overly sweet sugary candy bars) is not something I crave regularly. Admittedly, sometimes it just hits the spot, but its obvious junk food. Deep, dark bittersweet chocolate though, preferably Valhrona or Callebut … now there, my dears, is something to get excited about.

Bittersweet chocolate is real chocolate in my book (though you will never see me turning down milk or white Valhrona or Callebut) … it has such deep notes, so much going on in each bite. It resonates with the sunshine and the earth where it was grown, it has notes of coffee, caramel, plum, tobacco, dusk. A small mouthful of bittersweet chocolate brings me straight into the now. I cannot think of anything but that melting bass pounding taste. Its amazing.

And I am a chocolate snob in other ways as well. Chocolate and fruits, meh. Well, chocolate and bananas and chocolate and some berries are okay, but Im not a huge fan of astringent orange or lemon and chocolate. It just doesnt do it for me. Though I do love a good mint and chocolate combo. And chocolate and nuts is a combination which I have generally stayed away from… Again, some nuts, for me, are okay with chocolate (almonds, hazelnuts and peanut butter), but the dairy nut tins were never my first choice.

However, I have been gradually re-evaluating this stance. Gesine Bullock-Prado’s Starry Starry Night cookies introduced me to the wonders of baked almonds and chocolate, and I have recently been fiddling with a combination of hazelnuts and chocolate. The most famous hazelnut and chocolate combo is that sweet treat from all our childhoods – Nutella spread. But there is a lovely grace to the pairing, the round, rich, caramel notes of the nuts gentling the intensity of bittersweet chocolate.

After several tries, and several versions, I have decided this is the chocolate hazelnut cake that I love. Its not so much a cake as a fallen souffle, a thick gooey almost brownie like pudding, with a crackling crust. It must be served with a generous blowsy dollop of whipped cream, and can be made completely gluten free by removing all the flour and using only ground hazelnuts instead. Though if you can, keep the flour in – it gives it some structure, and helps to pull everything together in a beautiful whole.

Bake this cake in a springform tin, and do make it the day before you will serve it. It really benefits from sitting, well wrapped, in the fridge overnight. Something about that pause between baking and eating allows all its flavours to blossom. And, if you can source it, use hazelnut oil. I find that it really adds to this cake, both in texture and flavour. Its unctuous smokey caramel tone embraces the chocolate beautifully.

Serves 8 – 10 (even 12 if you serve really thin slices). Best baked the day before, though you could refrigerate for up to 3 days, easily.

  • 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts
  • 1/4 cup flour (you can substitute additional hazelnuts here if you need a gluten free version)
  • 3 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
  • 10 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp hazelnut oil
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1/2 + 1/4 cup light brown sugar + additional for whipped cream
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 – 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tsp agar agar
  • Vanilla paste or essence (I used a remarkable vanilla, cacao nib and chili paste) – to taste

Preheat your oven to 325F (165 F). Line a spring form cake pan with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine the ground hazelnuts, flour, cocoa powder and salt in a large bowl, tossing well to make sure the mixture is smooth and integrated. Set aside.

Place the chocolate and butter in a small bowl that fits over the rim of a small to medium sized pot or saucepan. Boil a kettle of water, and pour into the pot. Place the bowl containing the chocolate and butter over the pot, and allow to sit, stirring occaisionally until the butter and chocolate have melted completely. Once the chocolate and butter are liquid, add the hazelnut oil and stir well. Set aside.

While the chocolate is melting, combine the egg yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar, and beat well with an electric stand mixer or hand held beaters. You want the egg yolk mixture to be fluffy, thick and golden in colour. When you lift the beaters from the yolk, a thick ribbon will fall back into the bowl. This should take you 3 – 5 minutes or so. Beat in the vanilla once you have the consistency you like.

Pur the melted chocolate/butter/hazelnut oil into the ground hazelnut mixture, and stir exceedingly well. Make sure any lumps or clumps are smoothed out.

Pour in the beaten egg yolks and sugar, and using a spatula, stir well to combine. Set aside.

Clean the beaters and bowl (or use new ones!), and beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until the whites hold soft peaks. Continue beating, adding the remaining 1/4 cup sugar gradually, until the whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. The egg whites should look like foamy marshmallow.

Fold about 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter, stirring quickly and strongly to lighten the batter. Add the rest of the egg whites in two batches, stirring firmly, yet gently. Stir in a folding motion, making sure to completely integrate the egg whites with the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the top has risen and cracked, and a tester inserted into the cake comes out with crumbs attached.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan.

Prepare the whipped cream. Measure out the cream, and take 2 tbsp and pour into a small bowl or container. Sprinkle the agar agar into this set aside cream, and allow to melt into the cream. You could assist by whisking gently with a fork. You want the agar agar to be completely absorbed by the cream, and to melt away into the cream.

Whisk the remaining cream until it holds soft peaks. Add the reserved cream and agar agar, along with the sugar and vanilla paste. Whisk until the cream holds stiff peaks. Reserve, covered until you are ready to serve, up to three days.

When serving, remove the cold cake from the fridge, and ice the top with the whipped cream. Serve in gentle slices, and enjoy!

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Raspberry Tart

28 Nov

With purple pansiesThis raspberry tart is dramatic, beautiful, romantic and outrageously delicious. Its such a perfect combination of flavours and textures, and its so pretty that people smile when they see it. I love this tart, and I must give credit where it is due – it was inspired by Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio’s amazing raspberry tart, but enlivened with a few of my own happy pleasures. Specifically, dark bittersweet chocolate – and instead of a cookie crust, a pistachio crust inspired by her pistachio ice cream.

This tart is easily made (in its various components) ahead of time, and put together a few hours before serving. The combination of pistachio biscuit crust, dark bittersweet chocolate cream, light vanilla whipped cream and tart fresh raspberries is just outstanding. Crunchy, slightly bitter and nutty, creamy, chocolatey, tart, fresh, cool, bright – decadent, sumptuous, and totally sensual. Can you tell by all the superlatives how much I loved this tart? 😉

The element which brought drama and a really natural beauty to the tart were the flutters of sweet purple flowers adorning the top. My local supermarket sells edible flowers in a little packet – all different colours and they are beautiful. I picked out the purple ones – pansies I think – and together, they made for a stunningly lovely presentation. You can find information on edible flowers at the Cook’s Thesaurus and also some very pretty photographs here and here. Flowers are a wonderful way to make food look visually appealing and beautiful, and after this result, I definitely need to start using them more often!

This tart will serve 10 – 12 people. Its very rich, so you dont need huge slices.

Pistachio Crust

  • 1 cup whole pistachios
  • 2 tbsp powdered/icing sugar
  • 5 tbsp flour (plus additional if needed)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp cold butter
  • 1 egg + 1 egg white
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Using a coffee grinder, processor, your immersion blender – or even a plastic back and a rolling pin to smack them into submission! – grind and pulverise the pistachios with the powdered sugar. The sugar will ensure that the nuts dont go over into a paste – but watch them carefully. I usually grind the pistachios in two batches of 1/2 cup each plus 1 tbsp of powdered sugar.

Put the ground pistachios and sugar into a bowl. Add the flour and salt and toss to combine. Grate the cold butter over the pistachio mixture, and using the tips of your fingers, combine very gently. You could even use a fork left in the fridge to mix everything up. This mixture can be exceedingly delicate so be careful!

Beat the 1 egg and vanilla together, and add to the pistachio-butter mixture. Combine gently and quickly until the mixture comes together into a dough. If its really sticky, add additional flour, a tablespoon at a time until it comes together, but be gentle and work quickly.

Shape the dough into a ball, and refrigerate, covered for at least half an hour.

Preheat your oven to 175 C (350F). I used a 11″ tart pan with a detachable base and non stick surface for this tart. If your tart pan is not non-stick (and really, it should be if it has a detachable base), butter the pan well. Remove the dough from the fridge, and centre it on a the tart pan. Using your fingers, quickly spread and knead and push and prod the dough so it completely covers the pan. Line the tart with parchment/baking paper, and pour in some pie weights. I use dried beans – theyre much cheaper, and they work just as well!

Bake your tart for about 15 – 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the baking paper and pie weights/beans, and place the tart crust back into the oven for a further 5 minutes or so, or until the shell has lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 3 minutes or so. Whisk the egg white with a fork in a small cup or bowl. Brush the interior of the shell with the egg white. This is a great trick to ensure that the tart crust is “water proof” and does not become soggy when you add the pastry cream!

Set aside to cool completely before assembly.

You can make the tart crust up to 1 day in advance, and store in the fridge, covered until needed.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pastry Cream

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 cups cream
  • About 150 grams (1 1/2 small slab bars) best quality bittersweet chocolate – I used Lindt, broken into pieces
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt until well combined. Whisk together the egg yolks and cream in a small bowl, and whisk into the sugar-flour mixture until you get a smooth paste.

Place the saucepan over medium low heat, and bring slowly to the boil, whisking all the while. This will take you about 10 minutes – about 5 minutes into this time, stick your thumb in the mixture. It should be like quite hot bathwater. Add the chocolate now, and continue whisking for a further 5 minutes or so. The mixture will start to steam, and bubble, and will have become noticeably thicker.

Check that the mixture will hold a line when it coats the back of a spoon and you run your finger through it. If not, continue to cook for a few minutes further, whisking all the while. It should not take that long to get there, so be vigilant! And remember, the pastry cream will thicken as it cools, so the consistency at which you take it off the stove is not the consistency it will be when you finally assemble the tart!

Remove the saucepan from the heat, and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract. Strain the pastry cream through a fine sieve, and allow to cool to room temperature.

The pastry cream can be made up to 2 days in advance, and stored, covered (with parchment paper spread over the surface for preference), in the refrigerator until needed.

Vanilla Whipped Cream

  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream – 2 tbsp of cream removed from this amount
  • 1 1/2 tsp agar agar
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, split, and beans scraped – or 1 tbsp vanilla essence/paste

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream. From this amount, measure out 2 tbsp, and remove to a small bowl. Sprinkle agar agar over the 2 tbsp of cream, and set aside for a few minutes to allow the agar agar to dissolve into the cream.

Whisk the remaining cream (by hand if youre macho – with a stand mixer or handheld electric beaters if youre me!) until it just begins to hold soft peaks. Add the reserved cream and agar agar mixture, the icing sugar and the vanilla, and whisk until the cream holds stiff peaks.

The agar agar will ensure that the cream holds its shape for about six hours.

I would prepare the whipped cream just before assembly.

Assembly

  • Pistachio Crust
  • Bittersweet Chocolate Pastry Cream
  • Vanilla Whipped Cream
  • Raspberries – About 1 1/2 pints (1 1/2 small packets)
  • Pretty edible flowers for additional decoration (optional)

Place the tart crust/shell on a good working surface. For the kind of pretty decoration that I created here, I actually centered the crust (in pan) on a small lazy susan that I had from Ikea – this helped move the tart as I was placing raspberries and piping cream.

Pour in the bittersweet chocolate pastry cream, and using a palette knife or even a spoon, ensure that the pastry cream is evenly covering the tart shell, and is smoothed on top.

For this tart, I placed half the vanilla whipped cream into a piping bag with a small round tip (and topped it up when needed). If you want to get extra fancy, you could use a star tip, but that for me would be gilding the lily!

GorgeousPipe a border of whipped cream around the edge of the tart. Now take the raspberries, one at a time, and using the small tip, fill the raspberry with whipped cream, and pipe a small circle of cream at the opening of the raspberry. Place the raspberries onto the pastry cream in circles – working your way from outside in.

Once the tart has been covered with raspberries, begin placing the flowers. Pipe small circles of cream between the raspberries, working from inside out, and on each small circle of cream, place a single flower. You could cover the entire tart with raspberries and flowers, or, as I preferred to do, leave the outer edges with the decadent chocolate cream peeking out.

Refrigerate the tart until ready to serve. Assemble no more than 6 hours before consuming!

When you are ready to serve, remove the tart from the pan, leaving the bottom intact.

Enjoy the pleasures of this most lovely of desserts.

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Passion Fruit Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

24 Nov

Yum!Yes, we were totally inspired yesterday by the astonishing, gorgeous raspberry tart at Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio. I think I might have become too excited, and pushed myself too hard, because last night I slept for over 12 hours. But today, I am feeling better. Not 100%, but good enough to write down this recipe.

AngelKitten and I decided to make ice cream. I knew I had a whole bunch of passion fruit from my organic delivery guy and so I suggested we start with that. But we were still obsessing about the raspberry tart, and so we decided to make a swirl of flavour – the tart brightness of passionfruit melded with the lush ripeness of raspberries. We also felt that the colours of both together would be beautiful … and oh what a pretty sight the final ice cream is! Gorgeous, happy making. And the taste is out of this world.

We started by making a double batch of vanilla custard which would serve as the base for the flavoured ice cream. If you dont want to add vanilla, leave it out, but for me, at least, the combination of the fruit and the vanilla is outstanding – the vanilla adds a musky note that helps the two flavours to meld. Its also one of my favourite flavours ever, and I just wanted to add it! We wanted to end up with about 5 cups of vanilla custard, and we also wanted about a cup each of flavouring.

Making ice cream is relatively simple, but you need to keep in mind the varied sweetness of the different elements you are adding to the mix. Because the fruit was not very sweet, we added sugar when we boiled it down – and therefore, we subtracted that amount of sugar from the custard. We also added only 8 egg yolks (4 per batch) – whereas most ice creams use 6 egg yolks per 3 cups of milk/cream. We wanted to keep the fruit flavours foremost (say that 3 times fast), and felt that 4 yolks per batch would ensure the creamy silkiness of the ice cream, without making it too French custard-y.

Finally, it was a simple process of mixing up 2 batches of ice cream in the ice cream maker, and when they were both still soft, combining them in a large serving container. We then just used a knife to ripple through, and let it all freeze and bloom overnight. This is home-made ice cream of the most joyous kind – fresh, bright and preservative free. Its going to be served as part of our Thanksgiving! Yum.

Makes 2 batches of ice cream, which you can swirl, or leave separate, as you wish. You will need an ice cream maker to ensure simplicity of work – but if you dont have one, freeze the flavoured creams, and every few hours, whizz in the blender until they are frozen and solid. Not as good, but still better than anything you can buy.

Vanilla Custard

Makes approximately 5 cups

  • 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
  • 2 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 vanilla bean pod or 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 8 egg yolks (the whites reserved for another use – they can be frozen very successfully)

Combine the heavy cream, milk and vanilla bean (or essence) in a medium pot over medium low heat. Heat the cream mixture slowly, stirring occasionally, until it just starts to steam, and reaches 80C/175F on a candy thermometer. If you dont have one (though you should! Theyre cheap and SO useful!) just wait until the cream starts to steam – about 5 – 10 minutes.

While youre waiting for the cream to start steaming, whisk the caster sugar, salt and egg yolks until the yolks are very light and golden coloured. They will be creamy looking. This is just perfect. The caster sugar will have completely incorporated into the eggs as well.

As soon as the cream has reached 80C, take it off the heat, count to ten (I dont know why, may be to let it cool a few degrees? Ive always done this though!), and pour about half of the hot cream into the egg mixture, whisking all the while. Pour the egg cream mixture back into the pot, and return to a medium low heat, stirring constantly.

You want the egg cream mixture (your custard) to reach 85C/185F, as you constantly stir. This should only take a matter of a few minutes… You can tell the custard is ready when it lightly coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn down the middle of the custard on the spoon stays intact. You shouldnt really be stirring for more than a few minutes – you dont want a thick cream, just a lightly thickened custard, with the eggs properly cooked through.

Strain the custard into a bowl, top with parchment paper, and allow to cool to room temperature. Once at room temperature, put in the fridge for a few hours before making ice cream.

Passion Fruit Syrup

This will make about 1 cup of passion fruit syrup

  • 18 – 24 passion fruits, which should equal about 1 3/4 cups passion fruit pulp with seeds intact (Do note that passion fruits vary wildly from place to place. In South Africa, and the US, they tend to be thin skinned and very juicy. Here in Malaysia, they are thicker skinned, and less giving of pulp. You should figure out approximately how many you need for about 1 3/4 cups)
  • 1/4 cup caster sugar

In a clean pot, combine the passion fruit pulp and the sugar. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, allow the passion fruit and sugar to incorporate with each other, and the pulp to darken and thicken a bit. This should take between 5 – 10 minutes. The mixture will boil up, and the colour should become a dark yellow gold. As soon as the mixture is to your liking, strain and sieve into a separate bowl. You should have about 1 cup of passion fruit syrup. Allow to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until cold.

Raspberry Syrup

This will make about 1 cup of raspberry syrup

  • 1 3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
  • 1/3 cup caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp water

Combine the raspberries, sugar and water in a clean pot. Over medium low heat, stir and crush the berries into the sugar and water. They will let go of quite a bit of liquid and become a mushy pulpy bright red mess. They will smell and look totally gorgeous, like the colour of red Burmese rubies. Allow the mixture to boil up, and thicken. It should take only about 5 minutes or so. Sieve and strain the syrup into a small bowl and press the seeds to extract as much juice as possible. Allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate until cold.

Passion Fruit Ice Cream

  • 2 1/2 cups vanilla custard
  • 1 cup passion fruit syrup
  • 1 – 2 drops natural (IndiaTree) yellow food colouring (optional)

Mix together the vanilla custard and passion fruit syrup. If you really want to, add a few drops of natural yellow food colouring, but its not necessary. For a really smooth ice cream, run the mixture through the sieve to ensure that its completely mixed.

Pour into ice cream maker, and allow to process for 1 hour. When the ice cream has been made, it will be very soft. Scoop into a container, cover and place in the freezer.

Raspberry Ice Cream

  • 2 1/2 cups vanilla custard
  • 1 cup raspberry syrup
  • 1 – 2 drops natural (IndiaTree) red food colouring (optional)

Mix together the vanilla custard and the raspberry syrup. If you really want to, add a few drops of natural red food colouring. For a smooth, well mixed ice cream, run the mixture through a sieve.

Pour into ice cream maker and allow to process for 1 hour. When ice cream has finished processing, it will be very soft. Scoop into a container, and proceed to make passion fruit and raspberry ripple ice cream, or place in freezer.

Passion Fruit Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

  • 1 pint container passion fruit ice cream (still at semi-soft stage)
  • 1 pint container raspberry ice cream (just made)

We used a medium sized, rectangular metal baking tin with 3 inch sides. Use whatever shallow container you wish. We scooped out alternating heaping tablespoons of ice cream, three in a row, all the way across the baking tin. We then smoothed over the top, and used a knife, pulled across the tin, to ripple the flavours and colours together.

We then covered the ice cream with parchment paper, and plastic cling wrap, and froze for at least 24 hours to allow the ice cream to harden and the flavours to bloom.

Absolutely gorgeous, and totally worth the effort! Enjoy!

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Suji (Semolina) Cake 2

19 Nov

HappySo, I was thinking about the suji cake I made earlier this month. It was quite delectable, and very rustic. Nubbly bits of almonds gave it texture and a deliciously different crumb. It was the suji cake of my memory and my childhood… But there were a few things about it that annoyed. First and foremost, you really had to make this cake with forethought. No popping a few ingredients together, and quickly baking in the oven. The butter and suji had to be left for a while to get acquainted, which is fine if you have the time, but if you really want suji cake right here, right now, could be a bit frustrating.

There was another suji cake of my memory that was slightly smoother, more pudding-y, with the same gorgeous scent, and since I havent been well, and have not had much to do, I decided to try and see if I could come close to making it. I succeeded quite well with this cake, and it took about 20 minutes to put together, and a further 20 – 30 minutes in a hot oven to bake. Easy and quick, this is a different suji cake, but just as comforting, just as golden, and just as open to interpretation – may be even more so.

I used vanilla to scent this cake, but you could certainly go with cinnamon, some almond essence, the grated rind of an orange or lemon… Go with what comforts you, and get semolina that is as fine as possible… and yet, not floury. You want the texture and the bite of the semolina in this cake. Its a big part of what makes it so unique.

If the previous cake was a bit intimidating, start with this one. Its a pleasure to make, and a joy to smell baking in the oven. Its a fantastic little cake to offer friends who are dropping by for tea. It creates happy happy memories, even when you might be struggling with a cold, or tiredness, or just the regular woes of the world. A little sifted icing sugar, or a simple glaze, or a smear of buttercream elevates this cake, but its so good it doesnt really need it. As you can tell from the photo – I was so greedy for a taste, I sliced it straight out of the pan, without waiting to sift any icing sugar on my bit.

This little golden cake seems to say, for that one glorious instant, its OK. Just have some cake, and be happy.

Makes 1 9-inch cake

  • 1 3/4 stick (12 tbsp) butter, slightly softened
  • 3/4 cup icing (powdered) sugar plus an additional / optional 1/4 cup for sifting over cake if you wish
  • 5 eggs separated – 5 yolks plus 4 whites (the extra white can be discarded or saved for a future use)
  • 1 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 tbsp vanilla essence (or 1 vanilla bean scraped – or in fact, and flavouring that seems to catch your fancy)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup fine semolina
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup ground almonds

Preheat your oven to 175C (350F). Butter a 9-inch cake tin, and line with baking paper. Butter that too, and set the cake tin aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until soft and slightly fluffy. Add 3/4 cup icing sugar, and cream well. It will look like the beginning of buttercream. I decided to use icing sugar in this recipe because I wanted the softness of the cake to be highlighted. The fineness of the icing sugar really helped.

Add the 5 egg yolks, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition until fully incorporated, before you add the next. This cake, while quite quick and easy, also relies on a slow and gentle process of addition of each ingredient. I used a stand mixer, and as I added each egg yolk only after I separated it from its white. This gave the batter a period of slow steady incorporation of each yolk before the next was added.

Once all five yolks have been added, you should have a gloriously golden batter. Add the sour cream and vanilla essence, pausing to combine after each addition.

In a measuring cup, combine the salt, semolina and baking powder, and stir with a fork to combine. Add to the egg-butter-sugar mixture in a slow steady stream, beating with a stand mixer or electric beaters all the while, on medium low. Keep beating for about a minute, and then add the ground almonds in a steady stream, beating all the while.

Once the mixture has been well combined, set it aside for at least ten minutes or so.

Clean your beaters, and in a clean bowl, whisk the 4 egg whites until they hold firm peaks. If you turn the bowl upside down, and the egg whites stay, then they are ready – though I would not suggest you do this unless youre sure, or you have extra egg whites to work with!

Once the batter has sat for the requisite time, fold in the beaten egg whites, in three batches, combining extremely well. You need to make sure the batter is fully incorporated. The egg whites will lighten the colour and texture of the mixture. You shouldnt beat them into the batter, but you dont need to be timid about mixing them in firmly with a spatula.

Turn out the batter into your prepared tin, and bake for 20 – 30 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch, and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Let cool for five minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto a cake rack, and turn right side up again. Cover with sifted icing sugar if you like.

A warm slice of this cake will ease just about anything that ails you 🙂 Enjoy.

 

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Pretty Gingersnap Cookies

14 Nov

Gingersnaps!Today was a day of birthdays! My beloved nephew turned 21 (yeah, I cant quite believe it myself!) and dear friends celebrated their, and their children’s, birthdays with a huge bash this afternoon. I wanted to contribute something, and so I made cookies! About 200 Starry Starry Night Cookies (4 batches) and about 200 of these gorgeous decorated gingersnap cookies. I was going to make sugar cookies, as I did for my sayang niece’s 1st birthday, but I thought I would try something different – and I do love a good, crisp ginger cookie. These make fantastic gingerbread people, and they last for ages (no eggs, so they dont go soft quickly) – you could poke hole in them (with a straw or chopstick) and use them as stunningly pretty decorations on a tree for Christmas.

I used Royal Icing for the cookies, and it set hard, and gorgeous. And because it was a children’s party, I used IndiaTree natural food colours – they were the loveliest shades of pastel – pink, robin’s egg blue, violet and spring green. Before the icing set, I decorated them with tiny silver and gold dragees, hearts, sparkle sugar, and colourful hard sugar confetti. They looked luscious, and they tasted pretty great too!

The other thing I loved about these cookies were they were a snap (hehe) to make – but you need to be really organised and focused. I made 2 batches of dough, each divided into 4. Rolled out, and frozen overnight, and then cut with small and large shapes. I stuck with hearts and circles, but you could make animals, letters, stars… anything actually that you can find as a cookie cutter. They take about 10 – 15 minutes to bake. Decorating can take a bit longer!

If you prefer chewy cookies, roll out a bit thicker, and cut and bake until the centres are just firm. Either way, involve the young people in your life in the decoration. You will be overjoyed by their creativity, and your cookies will be uniquely beautiful.

Makes about 20 – 25 gingerbread people or 80 – 100 gingersnap cookies (depending on the size of your cookie cutter). Any leftover can be frozen, rolled out, for later use.

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (use dark brown, not light brown – you will taste the difference here. The dark brown sugar really deepens the flavour of the cookie)
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp all spice or mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cloves
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup – 12 tbsp) butter
  • 3/4 cup molasses
  • 2 tbsp milk

In a large stand mixer, or large bowl if youre using a handheld mixer, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, all spice, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda. Mix briefly so all are combined well.

Add the butter, cut into large chunks, and mix again. The butter will “cut” into the flour mixture, and will become coated with it – and the bowl will look like it contains a sandy mixture of small dark pellets.

Add the molasses and mix again. The dough will start coming together with the addition of the molasses.

I usually add the milk to the measuring cup which held the molasses, and stir it around a bit to capture any molasses that was left behind. Add the milk, and mix just briefly.

You will have a very very soft dough. Turn out onto a sheet of wax paper, and divide into four even pieces. Working quickly, form a disc with each piece, wrap tightly in individual pieces of wax paper, and transfer to the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes or so.

Once the dough has firmed (it will still be pliable, but will just be a little easier to work with), place a piece of wax paper on your working surface, then a disc of dough, and cover with a second piece of wax paper. Roll out quite thinly and evenly. You now need to freeze the dough for about half an hour (and even overnight if you wish) – you could also refrigerate it, but I find it works quite well coming out of the freezer. Given that this is the tropics, frozen dough is much easier to work with.

Once you have frozen or refrigerated the dough, and are ready to bake, prepare your oven. Preheat to 160C (325F).

Remove one sheet of dough from the freezer. Peel the top layer of wax paper off the dough, and then replace it onto the dough sheet (this helps in making the dough easy to remove once its been cut). Flip the sheet over, and remove the (now) top layer of wax paper. I used this wax paper to line my baking sheets.

Cut out shapes and patterns to your heart’s content, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper.

Bake in the hot oven for about 10 – 15 minutes, or until the cookies have puffed (from the baking soda), and deflated, have darkened just a bit, and are firm in the centre to your touch.

Remove and allow cookies to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a rack (or even a plate – they should be pretty cool and hardy by now). Repeat with the remaining dough.

Decorate as you like, or have them perfectly naked – a spicy wonderful happy making gingersnap.

Any scraps can be gathered together, formed into a disc, refrigerated, rolled out, frozen and re-cut.

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White Chocolate Shortbread

11 Nov

I am in full on cookie baking mode. I just put about 200 Starry Starry Night cookies into the freezer, waiting to be baked tomorrow, and I decided to sit and think about what other kind of cookie I could make. I love shortbread – full, rich, simple and classic, but I wanted to give it a twist. As I looked in my store cupboard, I realised I had about a kilogram of Valrhona white chocolate waiting to be made into something fabulous.

I wanted to make white chocolate chip cookies, and I still may do that, but I wondered if there was a way to get white chocolate into a shortbread without making a shortbread with white chocolate chips. I wanted the white chocolate to be in every bite, to permeate the shortbread – to live in its essence 🙂 So I thought about it some more, and looked at the ingredients list – pretty simple, really. Butter, sugar, flour. Vanilla for additional flavour if needed, and a touch of salt. Thats it.

Well, I thought, if I were to add white chocolate, I could bring the sugar content down. But how to add the chocolate without melting it? Melting the chocolate and adding it to shortbread would, I thought, mess with the essential crumby-ness of this classic biscuit. It would make a nice cookie, but it wasnt what I wanted. I was still thinking about the sugar though, and then it came to me… Could I somehow crumb the white chocolate so that it was mixed in with the flour? I could blitz with my immersion blender – and lo! It worked!

This cookie is astoundingly good. Its surprising too – white chocolate just oozes out of its very heartbeat – but you dont see it when you bite into the cookie, so it taste is unexpected and wonderful. Crispy, rich, scented with vanilla and white chocolate, this cookie is so much more wicked than it looks. Enjoy it very soon, with someone you love very much 😉

Makes 8 triangles from a 9 or 10 inch pan

  • Approx 1 cup (5 oz/150 g) good quality white chocolate (I used Valrhona disks – otherwise, use a good chocolate bar and roughly chop), cold from the fridge
  • 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla

Place white chocolate, flour and salt in a large bowl. Using your hands, mix together until all the white chocolate is completely covered in flour. This is important for the next step, so please dont skip it!

If you are using a food processor or blender, place the flour chocolate mixture into the machine, and pulse lightly until the white chocolate has crumbed and completely integrated into the flour. If you are using an immersion blender, as I did, place the blender into the flour chocolate mixture, and pulse quickly. Move the bowl around, until all the chocolate has been incorporated into the flour. Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the butter mixture.

In a stand mixture, or using a hand held mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. This usually takes about a minute or two. Add the light brown sugar and cream until it is incorporated into the butter. Add vanilla and mix again.

Remove the flour mixture from the fridge, and add to the butter mixture, adding it in a few batches. The dough will come together quickly.

Butter a spring form pan or a tart pan (about 9 – 10 inches across), and place the dough in the centre. Using your hands, quickly push the dough so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan. Score wedges with a sharp knife (I cut it into 8 pizza wedges – you could do it however you wish), and poke holes in it with the tines of a fork.

Refrigerate the prepared dough for at least an hour, or overnight.

Once youre ready to bake the shortbread, preheat the oven to 175C (350F). Bake the shortbread for about 25 – 35 minutes. Check after about 15 minutes, and if its browning too fast, cover with a little aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. After about 25 minutes check again – it should be crumbly and firm to the touch.

Cool, in the pan, on a rack for about ten minutes. Re-score and re-hole if you feel the shortbread needs it! After about ten minutes, cut the shortbread through with an offset spatula or sharp knife, and allow to cool for a further ten to fifteen minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!

If you have any leftover, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

 

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Pretty Pink Pots – Strawberries + Yogurt Cream

9 Nov

Strawberries + Yogurt CreamI do love a good gadget. Its one of the benefits of cooking regularly, the collection of fascinating bits of cooking kit! Gadgets to me are like jewels and baubles to others 😉 Every country I go to, every little market or pasar malam stall or cooking shop – I always look for things that are slightly out of the ordinary, bits and pieces of equipment that I have never seen before but which strike my fancy. When in a foreign country, I always go to the grocery store and check out the kitchen aisle. Its amazing whats hidden in places like these, and people are so happy to explain and share and show. Food, and cooking, connect me to new and different cultures in a wonderful way.

But I am straying off topic (as per usual). I love gadgets, I said. And one of my favourites is the Donvier Wave Yogurt Strainer. Its made by Cuispro, and can be found in most good kitchen shops. I got mine at EuroChef in Plaza Damas for a few bucks because I thought it was nifty. Basically, its a small plastic box with a lid. Inside is a very very fine sieve, shaped into a three dimensional wave, into which you pour yogurt. Pop the lid back on, leave it for a day or so, and your plain old yogurt drains, quickly, efficiently and brilliantly. You get a thick yogurt cheese – depending on how long you leave it in, you have the consistency of thick Greek yogurt or even thicker to a cream cheese like consistency. This is pretty awesome because yogurt is a very healthy foodstuff and with this little beauty, you can really extend its usefulness.

Of course, you can just stick a fine strainer and some cheesecloth over a bowl, pour some yogurt in, cover the whole lot tightly, and then stuff it in your fridge overnight. But it can get messy, and this little gadget makes everything as simple as saying hello! I pour about 3 cups of yogurt in, and within 24 hours, I have a really thick creamy cup of yogurt, with all the liquid drained out on the bottom. You still have all the health giving properties of yogurt, but you can do so much with it now. Mix in a few herbs, salt and fresh cracked black pepper, and you have a divine spread for bagels or toast. Add a couple tablespoons to the blender with some fruit, and you have a really thick and creamy smoothie. Stir a few tablespoons into soup, or use as a substitute for sour cream. Or do what I love best – make pretty pink pots from the yogurt cream and some diced strawberries.

These little pots sit in the fridge and make me smile whenever I open it. Theyre wonderful for breakfast, and fantastic as a sweet ending to lunch or dinner thats not too heavy or overwhelming. Children love them, and you can doll them up with grated chocolate, any other kind of fruit you can dream up, or even flavour the yogurt once its thickened and make a pretty coloured striped parfait. But I like keeping it simple here. The strawberries I found at the open air market over the weekend. Lovely, fat and sweet, but not very pretty – they were the ones that were not chosen for export to the fancy shops. Diced up though, and tossed with a little balsamic and some powdered sugar, they came into their own and made me proud. 🙂 Layered with thick yogurt cream with a hint of vanilla, and sat in the fridge overnight to set, these are a beautiful, healthy and happy making treat. And so easy to make.

If you cant get a Donvier Wave (and given the internet, and proliferation of cooking shops, you really should be able to), use the old school method described below. Its worth it. Youll love it!

Serves 6

  • 2 – 3 cups plain yogurt (I use FarmFresh – a wonderful local brand that’s free of preservatives and conditioners)
  • 2 – 3 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
  • 1 – 2 tsp light brown sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean pod, split and scraped or 1 tbsp vanilla essence or paste
  • 1/2 kg (about 1 lb) strawberries
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 – 2 tbsp powdered or caster sugar to taste

This recipe involves no cooking over heat or baking, but it does take time. Its a wonderful dessert to serve at a dinner party, but you do have to plan in advance. You will need at least 2 days before serving to prepare properly. On the first day, you need to make the yogurt cream.

Yogurt StrainerIf you have a Donvier Wave, just pour the yogurt into the box, cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. If you dont have a Wave, find a sieve that will hold at least 3 cups of yogurt, and will fit into a bowl that will go into the fridge. Line the sieve with cheesecloth (or any other clean very fine cloth), and pour the yogurt into the the sieve. Cover with clingwrap, and place in the fridge for at least 24 hours.

Once the yogurt has been in the fridge overnight, it will have drained and will have reduced in volume by about half. If you want to add a little heavy cream to add richness, whisk a few tablespoons of cream in a small bowl. Once the cream holds soft peaks, scoop in the yogurt cream, and whisk together to combine. If you decide not to use the cream (healthy you!), then just transfer the yogurt cream to a small bowl, and whisk it gently.

Sprinkle over the light brown sugar, add the vanilla and whisk gently again. Taste and adjust if you like. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the strawberries.

Chop the strawberries up quite finely. You will have about 3 cups of strawberries. Transfer to a small bowl. Add the balsamic and a few teaspoons of powdered sugar if the strawberries seem to too tart for your liking. Cover and leave in the fridge for about an hour. The strawberries will interact with the balsamic and sugar and let go of quite a bit of liquid. You dont want to have this in your parfait, so this is a good thing.

Once youre ready to make the parfait, remove the vanilla yogurt cream and strawberries from the fridge. Drain the strawberries in a sieve (the strawberry juice is a sublime cook’s treat) and have six little glass containers cleaned and at the ready. You could use small glasses, shot glasses or anything else that you like. I love the little glass containers from Ikea – they have little covers and look gorgeous.

Using a small teaspoon, fill the containers with a few teaspoons of strawberries, making sure to cover the bottom of the container. Using a separate teaspoon, spoon over a few teaspoons of yogurt cream, making sure you cover the strawberries completely. Alternate like this until you have used everything up – I usually have two stripes of pink luscious strawberries and two vanilla creamy stripes of yogurt. Of course it all depends on what containers you use! I also try and end with yogurt because I think a creamy top just looks dreamy.

Cover your containers, and leave overnight in the fridge. Serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner – or as a healthy yet indulgent snack. Enjoy!

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Suji (Semolina) Cake

2 Nov

CakeLast weekend, at the family BBQ, my Mak Enda and Kak Manja really enjoyed the lemon bundt cake. They liked its simplicity and charming tartness, the fluffy texture, and as well as the addition of whipped cream and strawberries! But of course, they are Malaysians… and so, they started to dream about the next cake they wanted to taste, whilst reveling in the lemon one 😉

And the cake they wanted was suji (aka sooji aka sugee aka semolina) cake. Suji is the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat – and it is an extraordinary and much used grain all over the world. The Italians use it to make pasta and pizza and breads. Indians use it to make dosa and uppam. And the list goes on and on. I have posted a recipe for white chocolate semolina pudding that sent some friends into total ecstasies. I love suji, and suji cake is a particular emotive memory for me.

Malaysians (of all races, creeds and kinds) are very attached to suji cake. Its kind of like our version of pound cake. Buttery, fluffy, rich and yet incredibly simple. It is pure deliciousness. The suji cake of my memory has almonds in it – crushed ground almonds, and little chunks of almonds. You can leave them out, but why would you want to? They give the cake a wonderfully grainy texture that stands up to the semolina, and enhances the crumb. We Malaysians serve this little cake at almost all the high holidays, and though many people adorn it (with rose syrup, glazes and icings), I am not in that camp. I like my suji cake plain and unadorned, perfect in its simplicity and golden beauty.

For me, suji cake is the ultimate coffee cake. Its not too sweet, its immensely satisfying and very very comforting. When people taste it they smile, and remember a time when things were easier, less complicated, when they were more connected. Its a cake to give to those you love, wrapped carefully in aluminum foil, knowing that they will appreciate it for its clean loveliness as much as you do.

But know this. Despite its almost stark simplicity, suji cake does have its secrets. You need to soak the suji in butter, sugar and a touch of milk to allow the grains to plump up a bit. Some recipes ask that you do this overnight, but I am too impatient and have found that about an hour will do me. You need to beat the eggs and sugar for at least five minutes to get air into the mix, but also to get a almost puddingy consistency. And you need to watch the cake – the top burns easily, so I almost always put a little foil cap on it for the last half of the baking time. And it really does help if you have a stand mixer, but a hand held, or your own strength will do – it will just be rather tiring!

Follow these instructions closely, and you will have a cake that tastes like home… no matter where you are 🙂

  • 1 3/4 sticks (14 tbsp/200 gm) butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup + 1/2 cup fine (caster) sugar – brown or white is fine – and make these scant cups – suji cake is not overwhelmingly sweet
  • 3 tbsp cream or milk
  • 3/4 cup suji or semolina
  • 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks (whites reserved for another use)
  • 2 – 4 tbsp vanilla
  • 2/3 cup all purpose flour (it needs to be all purpose to stand up to the suji and the almonds)
  • 1 tsp  baking powder
  • Large pinch of salt
  • 2/3 cup ground almonds
  • 1/2 cup almond nibs or finely chopped almonds

Start by preparing the suji mixture. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup of sugar for about a minute or so, or until light and fluffy and completely combined. Add the cream, and mix briefly – it will loosen up the butter mixture substantially. Fold in the suji by hand, cover the bowl and leave in a cool place to let the mixture really get to combine well for at least an hour, and up to three.

While youre waiting, read a book, play with a child, listen to music or cook something else 😉

Once the hour is up, preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and butter a cake pan extremely well. Line the bottom of the pan with grease proof baking paper, and butter that too. Set aside.

Beat together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla for five minutes. It would help if you have a friendly kitchen gnome to do this for you whilst you get on with other things (that or a stand mixer!).

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, ground almonds and almond nibs. Just a note on ground almonds. They tend to be rather expensive, so I often pound almond nibs into ground almonds – this is very easy if you measure out the almonds, stick them in a zip loc bag and bash away with a rolling pin or other heavy object. You can also use a mortar and pestle, but thats sometimes more trouble than its worth. Either way, I always use almond nibs for this recipe, without the skins on, and give them a good whack till they are pulverised. Combine the flour mixture well and set aside.

By now, the eggs should have been beaten for at least five minutes. They should have increased in volume, and they will look golden and creamy. Uncover the butter-sugar-suji mix, and get ready to combine everything.

Gently, using a wooden spoon or silicon spatula, fold about half of the egg mixture into the butter mixture. Do this quickly, surely and gently. Fold about half of the flour in, and then add the remaining eggs, and finally the remaining flour, folding gently but confidently after each addition.

Transfer the batter into your prepared cake tin, and bake, in the centre of your oven for between 30 – 45 minutes. Check at about 15 minutes to make sure the top is not burning, and if it is, cover the cake with a bit of tin foil. The cake is ready when a tester goes in, and comes out clean.

YummmLet the cake cool, in the pan, for about ten minutes on a rack. Then turn out onto the rack, and turn right side up again. Cool further, or if you are like me, and your happiness cant wait, serve yourself a slice, warm, crumbly, buttery, almondy, vanillay, delectably evocative, warm from the oven.

This cake will keep, wrapped well in foil for at least 4-5 days in the fridge. But I have never managed to keep it for that long 😉

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Su-Feh’s Gingerbread Cake

28 Oct

Gingerbread CakeI dont know why I have been baking all this week. May be its my longing to be back with my beloved sister, may be I am trying to create a sense of home and comfort from all the lovely scents wafting in from the kitchen. Whatever it is, this is the third cake I have baked in my bundt pan this week! And oh, what a cake it is…

My friend Su-Feh sent me this recipe. What a gift! Gingerbread cake … damp and thick with molasses, dark dark sugar, and studded with candied ginger. So dark and deep, such a complexity of flavours. Its a gorgeous cake – so many flavours in every bite.

I have to admit, the minute I read a recipe, I think about ways I can adjust it and make it mine. However, I stayed true to the original, and I am so glad I did. This is perfect for a mid-week dessert, coffee break, or light celebration cake. Its a multi-purpose wonder cake … and its so scrumptuious, none of us could have just one slice! You will love this cake – and its incredibly easy to make.

Whilst I did not change the cake, I did add something – a vanilla sour cream glaze. Especially with a bundt pan with such intricate design, you need a glaze to make sure all those points and swirls stay moist! Plus, it tastes really good.

You could also bake this cake in 2 9-inch cake pans, and ice it with a sour cream or cream cheese frosting – total ginger heaven. Enjoy this cake with family and friends, you will be so happy you made it. It will make your loved ones smile.

Thanks Su-Feh for this lovely recipe!

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 heaping tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup butter, melted, cooled slightly
  • 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 2/3 cup chopped crystallised ginger (3 oz)

Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Butter a 12-cup bundt pan well.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and the dark brown sugar. Use an electric beater, and beat well – when you first start mixing, it will be loose and quite liquid. As the sugar and butter combine, it will become almost pudding-y. At this stage, gradually beat in the molasses, and then the eggs.

Beat in the flour mixture in heaping tablespoons. Once all the flour has been incorporated, mix in the hot water. Remove the electric beater (wonderful tasting for the cook!) and stir in the chopped crystallised ginger.

Gently pour and scrape the batter into your bundt pan, and bake for about 45 – 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then rap it sharply against a flat surface.

Turn the cake out onto a cake rack, and cool for a further 30 minutes or so before eating.

You can eat this lush cake plain, or serve it with sifted powdered sugar over. I however loved it with this glaze:

Vanilla Glaze

  • 2 heaping tbsp sour cream
  • 1 vanilla bean, scraped or 1 tbsp vanilla essence
  • 1/2 cup icing sugar

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. Taste for vanilla and adjust.

Pour gently over still warm cake. Make sure there is a jelly roll tin under the rack to catch dripping glaze!

Enjoy!

 

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Lemon Bundt Cake

25 Oct

Bundt CakeMy beloved gorgeous friend Chiara sent me a bundt pan … and not just a garden variety bundt pan but a stunning, almost architectural pan. It is soooo pretty – and I was really excited to be able to use it! I kept wanting to bake a bundt cake when I was at my sister’s place, but never seemed to find the time. While cakes from scratch are generally easy, they also take a certain amount of commitment.

You need to set aside some time to really think about your ingredients, and gather them. You usually use about three or four mixing bowls to assemble things separately and then mix them all together. You bake, wait, remove from pan, wait again, and then ice. You can make cakes in less than an hour, but the slightly more complex ones take a while. Granted, a lot of the time is spent waiting for things to bake or cool down, but still, you need to set those times aside. I wasnt organised enough at my sister’s house to do that.

However, when I realised I was going to a family BBQ on Saturday night, I decided that Saturday afternoon would be the perfect time to bake a lemon cake … and then I remembered my bundt pan! Oh joy! This is such a terrific cake, and to make it even more stunning … such pleasures are these, I cant even tell you 😉

I served this bright tart glowing lemony cake with sweetened vanilla whipped cream and balsamic strawberries. Each on their own is fabulous. (Admit it, sometimes a mouthful of whipped cream is just what the doctor ordered!) But together… oh such ambrosia. Such contrast in colour and texture, such balance of flavours. They enhanced one another. So yummy and so good.

GlazeThe thing I love about this cake is that it is cake. Deceptively simple, its lemon flavour shouts with joy. Its fluffy and yet slightly damp – a pretty good combination if you ask me. Leftover cake becomes a little more solid, like pound cake … nothing to frown at either. You can bake it in 2 9-inch cake tins as well – if you did it this way, I would ice with whipped cream and have a layer of strawberries and whipped cream in the centre. Either way, this is a great dessert which people really flock to – its less rich and decadent than chocolate cake, its a bright and fitting end to a big dinner, and its totally delightful.

Oh and please… dont forgo the lemon glaze. Its fantastically tart, adds a layer of sweetness, and a textural crunch to the crust of the cake. It doubles the lemony flavour and is an integral part of success of the cake.

I adapted this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated

Fills 1 12-cup bundt pan or 2 9-inch cake pans

  • 3 + 2 lemons
  • 3 1/2 cups unbleached cake flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup + 1 tbsp buttermilk
  • 18 tbsp (2 1/4 sticks) butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 2 cups powdered / icing sugar

Preheat oven to 190C (350F). If your bundt pan is non-stick, butter it well with soft butter, making sure to get into the grooves and gulleys well. If its not non-stick, melt about a tablespoon of butter, stir in about a teaspoon of flour, and brush all over pan. This should ensure that your cake comes out whole. If you are baking in cake tins, butter and then line the tins with parchment or baking paper.

Wash the lemons well (I hope you are using organic lemons – they make such a huge difference in flavour!). Grate the lemon peel into a small non reactive bowl, making sure not to grate any (or much) of the pith. Slice the lemons in half, and juice the lemons straight onto the lemon peel. You should have 5 – 7 tablespoons of lemon juice and peel. Set aside for at least ten minutes or so – the acid in the lemon juice will soften the peel so that when it gets added to the cake mixture, it will melt straight into it.

In a small bowl (I actually used a large 4-cup measure – less washing up), whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together the eggs and egg yolk until lightly lemon colored, and set aside.

Whisk the vanilla extract (a whole vanilla bean would work wonders here as well but would be rather decadent!) and the buttermilk into the lemon juice and rind. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Really allow your mixer to do some work here – you want a creamy mass where the sugars have really been incorporated into the butter. Dont overbeat, but dont just mix it all together quickly either. The basis of a good cake is a solid creamed sugar and butter mixture.

Add the eggs and whisk again until a batter forms.

Add the flour mixture and lemon-buttermilk mixture alternately until all is incorporated and you have a thick batter.

Spoon into your bundt pan (or divide evenly between your cake pans), and bake for 45 – 55 minutes, or a cake tester is inserted and comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes.

While the cake is cooling, juice the remaining lemons, and whisk together the lemon juice, 1 tbsp buttermilk and powdered sugar. This will be your glaze. Set aside, covered, until you need to use it.

Then, rap the bundt pan sharply against a flat (strong) surface a couple of times. This should loosen the cake out.

Flip the cake onto a cake rack, and lift off the bundt pan in one smooooth move.

Place the cake and cake rack over a jelly roll pan (to catch any dripping glaze) and slowly pour over about half the glaze. This will soak into the still warm cake. Leave to settle for about an hour, and then pour over the remaining glaze and transfer to a serving plate.

CakeServe with about 2 cups heavy cream, whipped with 1 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp vanilla extract, and a punnet or box of strawberries, hulled and chopped and mixed with a tablespoon of aged balsamic vinegar.

Photographs copyright Chan KY

 

 

 

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