You will have just as much fun making and dusting this cake as you will eating it. This deliciously simple recipe comes from Rachel Allen.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
100g (3½oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
350g (12oz) caster sugar
2 eggs
225g (8oz) plain flour
50g (2oz) cocoa powder
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
225ml (8fl oz) buttermilk or sour milk
For the Meringue:
3 egg whites
150g (5oz) caster sugar
275ml (9½fl oz) double or regular cream
Icing sugar, for dusting
Method
Preheat the oven to 165°C (325°F), Gas mark 3. Line the bases of the cake tins with rounds of baking parchment, brush the sides with melted or soft butter and dust with flour.
To make the cake, place the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until very soft. Add the sugar and one of the eggs and beat again, then add the other egg and mix. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a separate bowl and set aside. Measure the buttermilk and set aside also.
Now, start the meringue. Place the egg whites in a bowl and whisk until frothy using an electric food mixer or hand-held electric beater. Add in half of the sugar and continue whisking until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Turn off the whisk and fold in the remaining sugar.
Next, go straight back to the cake. Fold in the sifted dry ingredients and the buttermilk, then divide the mixture between the two cake tins, making sure they are level. Divide the meringue between the two cakes and spread out evenly over the cakes.
Cook in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Take out of the oven and allow to sit in the tin for 15-20 minutes before loosening around the sides with a small, sharp knife, removing the cakes from the tins and allowing to cool completely meringue side up.
When ready to assemble, whip the cream until it just holds stiff peaks, then place one of the cakes (save the best cake for the top) on a cake stand. Spread the whipped cream over the top, then sit the second cake on top of the cream. Dust with icing sugar and serve.
I am never quite sure if I should be calling this a cake or a tart but in any event, it is delicious and quite easy to make.
Ingredients
I am never quite sure if I should be calling this a cake or a tart but in any event, it is delicious and quite easy to make.
The origins of the recipe are from Tuscany in Italy but I like to use highly perfumed Irish dessert apples when in season. Look out for some lesser known but very delicious Irish dessert apples such as Irish Peach and Ardcairn Russet.
Serves 8
10g butter melted for greasing the parchment paper
4 dessert apples
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g caster sugar
2 eggs
150ml cream
110g butter melted and cooled
125g whole almonds, blanched, peeled and ground to a fine powder in a food processer or ground almonds
110g plain flour sieved
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder sieved
100g of apricot jam
1 tablespoon lemon juice, warmed and sieved
2 tablespoons of chopped sweet geranium leaves ( optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180c / 350 f / gas 4
Line a 28cm flan ring with a removable base with a disc of parchment paper. The paper should in one piece cover the base and sides of the tin and come up 1cm above the edge of the tin. Brush the paper with a little melted butter.
Peel, core and quarter the apples and slice into c 3mm slices. Mix with the lemon zest. Whisk the vanilla, sugar, and eggs to a thick and light consistency similar to a batter. Whisk in the cream and cooled melted butter. Fold in the almonds, flour and baking powder. Add ¾ of the sliced apples, being careful not to break the apple slices.
Pour the mixture into the prepared flan ring and gently smooth over the surface. Scatter the remaining apples over the surface and sprinkle with 1 dessertspoon of caster sugar.
Place in the preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 160c etc and cook for a further 40 minutes by which time the tart will feel gently set. It may be necessary to cover the tart during the cooking with a sheet of parchment paper if the tart is getting too dark.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. While the tart is still warm, Paint the surfaced with the warm sieved apricot jam to achieve a glossy glaze and if using the chopped geranium, sprinkle on immediately after glazing the tart.
A quirky combination. The end result? A scrumptious cake for all to enjoy. Ingredients 4 stalks of lemongrass, base and tops trimmed, outer leaves removed but reserved for the syrup (see below) 250 g (9oz) caster sugar 4 eggs 200 g (7oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing 125 g (41/2 oz) desiccated coconut 125 g (41/2 oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting 2 tsp baking powder greek yoghurt or creme fraiche, to serve for the syrup reserved trimmings and outer leaves of the lemongrass (see above) 75 g (3oz) caster sugar 23cm (9in) diameter cake tin with 6cm Method Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F/Gas 3). Butter the sides of the cake tin and dust with flour, then line the base with a disc of baking parchment. Slice the lemongrass stalks quite thinly into rounds about 3mm (1?8in) thick, then place in a food processor with the caster sugar and whiz for 1–2 minutes or until the lemongrass is finely puréed and very aromatic. Add the eggs, butter and coconut and whiz again until combined, then sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the machine, whizzing very briefly just until the ingredients come together. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 40–45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. While the cake is cooking, make the syrup. Roughly chop the lemongrass trimmings, place in a saucepan with the sugar and 75ml (3fl oz) of water and set over a high heat. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes before removing from the heat and leaving to infuse. When the cake has finished baking, take it out of the oven and let it sit in the tin for 10 minutes. Loosen around the edges using a small, sharp knife and carefully remove the cake from the tin before transferring to a serving plate. Reheat the syrup, then pierce holes all over the cake with a skewer and pour the hot syrup through a sieve onto the cake, moving the pan and sieve around as you pour so that the syrup covers the top of the cake. Allow the cake to cool down completely. Serve with a dollop of natural Greek yoghurt or crème fraiche.
I am never quite sure if I should be calling this a cake or a tart but in any event, it is delicious and quite easy to make.
Ingredients
I am never quite sure if I should be calling this a cake or a tart but in any event, it is delicious and quite easy to make.
The origins of the recipe are from Tuscany in Italy but I like to use highly perfumed Irish dessert apples when in season. Look out for some lesser known but very delicious Irish dessert apples such as Irish Peach and Ardcairn Russet.
Serves 8
10g butter melted for greasing the parchment paper
4 dessert apples
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
250g caster sugar
2 eggs
150ml cream
110g butter melted and cooled
125g whole almonds, blanched, peeled and ground to a fine powder in a food processer or ground almonds
110g plain flour sieved
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder sieved
100g of apricot jam
1 tablespoon lemon juice, warmed and sieved
2 tablespoons of chopped sweet geranium leaves ( optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180c / 350 f / gas 4
Line a 28cm flan ring with a removable base with a disc of parchment paper. The paper should in one piece cover the base and sides of the tin and come up 1cm above the edge of the tin. Brush the paper with a little melted butter.
Peel, core and quarter the apples and slice into c 3mm slices. Mix with the lemon zest. Whisk the vanilla, sugar, and eggs to a thick and light consistency similar to a batter. Whisk in the cream and cooled melted butter. Fold in the almonds, flour and baking powder. Add ¾ of the sliced apples, being careful not to break the apple slices.
Pour the mixture into the prepared flan ring and gently smooth over the surface. Scatter the remaining apples over the surface and sprinkle with 1 dessertspoon of caster sugar.
Place in the preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 160c etc and cook for a further 40 minutes by which time the tart will feel gently set. It may be necessary to cover the tart during the cooking with a sheet of parchment paper if the tart is getting too dark.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. While the tart is still warm, Paint the surfaced with the warm sieved apricot jam to achieve a glossy glaze and if using the chopped geranium, sprinkle on immediately after glazing the tart.