With 4 whole days of fun and frolics there will be parties and BBQs galore and everyone knows that a party needs a cake and it doesn’t get much more British than a cake filled with juicy British strawberries. I made this for a 16th birthday party last week and some of my most experienced taste-testers declared it “the best cake ever made”

This recipe is adapted from Alice Hart’s new cookbook Friends at My Table - the original recipe is for a three-tiered wedding cake – she goes into great detail of how to assemble and decorate the full cake. I wholeheartedly recommend this book – a beautifully shot & illustrated guide to entertaining in style, packed with information you wouldn’t normally find in a cookbook that makes for a really inspiring read.

The recipe used buttermilk which I sometimes struggle to get hold of – so I usually replace this with either soured cream or yoghurt mixed with lemon juice – I also added the zest of the lemon… because what could be the harm?

Vanilla & Strawberry Cake

175g / 6oz golden caster sugar
175g / 6oz unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs, room temperature
200g / 7oz self-raising flour
¼ tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
25g / 2 tbsp ground almonds
40ml natural yoghurt or soured cream
juice & zest of half a lemon
a generous blob of vanilla bean paste

Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing

125g / 4.4oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
250g / 9oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 generous blobs of vanilla bean paste
300g / 10oz icing sugar

Strawberry Filling

half a jar of good quality strawberry jam
100g / 3.5oz british strawberries – hulled and sliced

Preheat the oven to 160°c / 320°f  / gas mark 3 and grease, flour and line a 20cm springform tin.

Cream the butter and sugar together, until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until combined after each one. If the mixture starts to curdle add a spoon of flour.

Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt and mix until combined.

Scrape down the sides and add the ground almonds, yoghurt, zest, lemon juice and vanilla.

Mix together until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the batter over – make a shallow indentation in the centre of the cake – this is to avoid the cake raising into a dome too much, one desires a flat top.

Bake in the oven for 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to fully cool.

To make the icing put all the ingredients into the bottom of a stand mixer and beat together until the yellow of the butter has turned pale and the icing sugar has all dissolved.

To assemble the cake – carefully slice in half with a serrated knife and spread some of the icing on the bottom layer, don’t spread all the way to the edges – leave about a 1 to 2cm gap.

Cover the icing with the sliced strawberries.

On the other half spread a generous amount of jam – again don’t spread all the way to the edges.

Sandwich the 2 halves together.

Tuck 3 pieces of greaseproof paper or tinfoil under the edges of the cake – to stop your board or plate from getting caked in icing.

Now dollop some icing on the top – and spread it out, gently teasing it down the sides. This layer only needs to be thin as it’s just what is known at the crumb layer – it traps any stray crumbs and prevents them from spoiling the look of the finished cake. Once the whole cake is covered – chill for about an hour (or longer if you have the time) Also chill the remaining icing.

Repeat this process for the finished layer, this time being more generous with your dolloping. You don’t need to be too precise in smoothing the icing out, a little rippling adds to the effect.

Remove the greaseproof paper and decorate however you wish – I made mini bunting from cocktail sticks, string and cut paper but you could use fresh flowers or strawberries – whatever you wish.

As the sponge is just simply almond & vanilla you could use any fruit to fill it or flavouring for the icing. Maybe try Rose Water and Raspberries or Blackberries and a Kirsch icing. There is nothing stopping you.

Filed under: recipe, Sweet, Treats Tagged: "the best cake ever made", Alice Hart, Bank Holiday, BBQ, Bunting, cake, Cream Cheese Frosting, Cream Cheese Icing, dessert, Diamond, Friends at My Table, Jubilee, Occasion Cake, party, Queen, Roswensian, Special, strawberries, Street Party, vanilla, Vanilla & Strawberry Cake ]]> http://roswensian.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/vanilla-strawberry-cake/feed/ 16 roswensian 023 034 053 http://roswensian.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/bourbon-chocolate-pecan-pie/ http://roswensian.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/bourbon-chocolate-pecan-pie/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:03:04 +0000 roswensian http://roswensian.wordpress.com/?p=612 ]]> I’m not sure I trust someone who doesn’t like Pie, especially a Pie that is filled with Sugar and Nuts and Chocolate and Booze.

Pecan Pie is a well-loved and well-known dessert, when I decided to make my first one I had 3 cookbooks (Baked, The Boy who Bakes, Jamie’s America) in front of me, each recipe was very different. The one that really stood out for me was one from the Brooklyn bakery – Baked. I suspect what drew me to it was the layer of chocolate and the bourbon – I jumbled the three recipes together to make this resplendent pie.

I hope it will bring joy into your lives, especially if you are in my homeland and having to put up with this constant barrage of weather!

Shortcrust Pastry

250g / 9oz unsalted butter, chilled & diced
400g / 14oz plain flour
1 tsp salt
6 – 10 tbsp iced water

Pecan Filling

200g / 7oz pecan halves
3 large eggs
340g / 12oz golden syrup
3 tbsp golden caster sugar
4 tbsp dark brown sugar
50g /1½ oz butter – melted
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 tbsp bourbon (I used Canadian Club whisky – very Don Draper of me)
90g / 3oz milk chocolate chunks
90g / 3oz dark chocolate chunks

Put the butter, flour and salt in a bowl and with your fingertips rub together till it resembles irregular breadcrumbs. Add a tablespoon of water at a time and with your hands work the mixture until it comes together.

Knead the dough gently and then wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least half an hour.

Once chilled, roll it out between two pieces of clingfilm or greaseproof paper, until it is about the thickness of a pound coin.

Line a 23cm / 9 inch pie dish with the pastry, trim off the excess – leaving about an inch overhang. Tuck the overhanging pastry under itself and using your fingers and thumb crimp the edges.

Be careful not to pull the pastry too much, as this may form cracks once baked, which will then allow the filling to leak and your pastry will get stuck to the dish. I speak from experience, please note the gap at the very top of my pie. I did try to patch this up after the blind bake but it was stubborn and yes, my pie got very stuck. Not that the eaters of my pie criticised me for this, but as a Virgo I am still kicking myself to this very day!

Once lined, chill the pastry case for up to 30 minutes and turn the oven to 170°c / 325°f / gas mark 3

Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans (or rice)

Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes. Then place to one side while you make the filling.

You want 75g / 2½ oz of broken pecans to go into your mixture and 125g / 4¼ oz of unbroken pecans to lay beautifully on top. Break the broken bits by hand into smaller pieces and set both aside.

Put the oven back on at  170°c  / 325°f / gas mark 3

In a large bowl whisk together the eggs and then add the golden syrup, both sets of sugars, butter, salt, vanilla and the bourbon. Whisk again until fully combined and stir in the broken pecans.

Sprinkle the two lots of chocolate chunks over the bottom of the baked pastry shell and pour the filling over the chocolate chunks.

Arrange the remaining (near perfect) pecans over the top – you could be super neat if you like and arrange them in even circles but I arranged them haphazardly and personally think it looked pretty good that way.

Bake for up to an hour, turning halfway through and covering the edges with foil if they are starting to look a bit too well done!

It will be ready when a knife poked in the centre comes out clean – if lumps of the filling come out give it 5 more minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and serve at room temperature.

Be warned that if you are serving it to many people they will ask you to list the ingredients as they try to pick out exactly what’s in it.

Serve with a whisky on the rocks and a Mad Men boxset.

Filed under: recipe, Sweet, Treats Tagged: American, BAKED, Bourbon, Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie, Canadian Club, chocolate, Classic American Dessert, dessert, Edd Kimber, indulgent, jamie oliver, Jamie's America, Mad Men, Pecan Pie, Rainy Days, Roswensian, The Boy Who Bakes, Whisky ]]> http://roswensian.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/bourbon-chocolate-pecan-pie/feed/ 5 roswensian 032 033 http://roswensian.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/cherry-almond-tarts/ http://roswensian.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/cherry-almond-tarts/#comments Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:19:15 +0000 roswensian http://roswensian.wordpress.com/?p=429 ]]> I was flicking through February’s issue of Waitrose Kitchen magazine looking for dessert inspiration and found this recipe from Lily Vanilli. What stood out for me most about this recipe is that it makes 6 small tarts, so there wasn’t going to be loads leftover that I’d have to freeze to stop me from scoffing them all. A massive advantage in my Weight Watchers era! They were really simple to make and looked super cute and decadent, an impressive small dessert.

Pastry

120g / 4¼ oz plain flour
60g / 2oz unsalted butter – chilled & cubed
1½ tbsp icing, plus extra for dusting
zest of 1 orange
½ large egg – lightly beaten
1 tsp milk

Filling

50g / 1¾ oz  unsalted butter, softened
50g / 1¾ oz golden caster sugar
50g / 1¾ oz ground almonds
½ large egg – lightly beaten
1 tbsp plain flour
9 pitted black cherries – drained & halved
2 tbsp flaked almonds
icing sugar – to dust
optional extras – 1 tsp almond essence, ½ tsp vanilla paste & a splash of Kirsch

Pastry – In a bowl rub together with your fingertips – the flour, icing sugar & butter with a pinch of salt until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the orange zest and then pour in the egg & milk beaten together.

Stir it together and then gently knead until you have a smooth ball. Wrap with clingfilm and chill for 1 hour.

Filling – Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, beat in the ground almonds, almond essence, vanilla paste and Kirsch. Then the egg and followed finally by the flour. Beat until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 190°c  / 375°f  / gas mark 5

Lightly dust a clean work surface with icing sugar and roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin, using a 9cm cutter cut out 6 rounds and press them gently press into the holes of a large cupcake tin.

Spoon the filling evenly into each and push 3 halves of cherry into the top of each tart and scatter with flaked almonds.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Cool first in the tin for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool fully.

Dust with icing sugar and scoff!

There are five parts to this Tart and you can make all five from scratch if you have the time but if you don’t have the time or patience you can cheat and it would still be delicious. Just buy ready-made pastry and meringue nests and use Jam instead of the syrup.

Sweet Pastry – for approx. 500g
250g plain flour
50g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
125g chilled cubed unsalted butter
1 Large Egg – beaten
Splash of milk

Strawberry Syrup
250g Strawberries
(roughly) 4 tbsp Caster Sugar

Frangipane
75g butter – room temperature
75g ground almonds
75g caster sugar
2 egg yolks (left over from meringue OR 1 Large Egg)
Splash of Fruity Booze

Eton Mess
Roughly 100g of crushed Meringue
I always use Delia’s method, it has NEVER failed me
Make them the night before you will be making your Tart
300ml double cream – whipped
250g Strawberries
Squeeze of Lemon
Chopped Mint
2 tbsp Strawberry Syrup or Jam

You can either make the pastry by hand or to save time you can pulse it in a food processor. Sieve the flour and icing sugar into a bowl, add the butter and with your fingertips gentle rub the mixture together to form breadcrumbs.  Add the egg & milk and work the mixture together into a ball. Dust with a little icing sugar, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

While the pastry is chilling you can start to make the strawberry syrup – place the strawberries and sugar in a pan on a low heat – stirring occasionally until it turns into a thick syrup – it can take up to an hour.

Dust a clean surface with icing sugar and roll the pastry out, so it’s about ½ a cm thick – then gently ease it into a 25cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Ensure it is pushed into all the edges and then trim the top. Prick the bottom with a fork and place in the freezer for another 30 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 180°c

Gently cover the chilled pastry base with greaseproof paper and fill the base with baking beans or rice – bake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and beans/rice and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Mix all the ingredients for the frangipane together – spread about 2 thirds of the Strawberry Syrup over the base (or about 4 tbsp of Jam) and then cover with the frangipane mix and pop back into the oven for about 20 minutes, or until it’s golden.
Leave the base to cool and then carefully remove it from its tin.

Whip the cream until its thick and mix in the broken meringues, chopped strawberries, mint, lemon juice and the remaining strawberry syrup and spread over the top of the base. Chill the Tart in the fridge for at least an hour.

EAT and quickly, as this uses fresh cream & strawberries this won’t last much longer than a day.