Irresistible cakes
Apple and chilli cake
Preparation time: approx. 50 minutes (plus baking time)
Makes 12 slices
For the sponge
2 eggs
75 g butter
20 g dark couverture chocolate
1 pinch of chilli powder
90 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
90 g plain flour
For the filling
1 kg apples
1 chilli pepper
150 g sugar
60 g butter
Also
butter and breadcrumbs for the tin
1 Pre-heat the oven to 225 °C (Gas Mark 7, fan oven 200 °C). Grease a spring-form tin (diameter 26 cm) and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Put them in the refrigerator until needed. Melt the butter with the couverture, stir in the chilli and allow to cool a little. Beat the egg yolk with the sugar and salt until creamy. Fold in the flour, then stir in the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Place the beaten egg white on the cake mixture and fold in.
2 Pour the mixture into the tin and pre-bake on the middle shelf for approx. 10 minutes. Remove the cake and put to one side. Turn the oven down to 175 °C (Gas Mark 4, fan oven 155°C).
3 To make the filling, wash, peel and core the apples and slice finely. Wash the chilli pepper and cut vertically. Heat up the sugar with the chilli in a frying pan until the resulting caramel turns a golden yellow colour. Add the butter and simmer a little, ensuring that the caramel does not turn too dark. Add the apples, toss briefly in the caramel, remove the chilli and spread the hot apple mixture on the cake. Bake in the oven for approx. 30 minutes.
Blackberry and Crémant flan
Preparation time: approx. 40 minutes (plus resting, baking and cooling time)
Makes 12 slices
For the shortcrust pastry
120 g butter
225 g plain flour
2 egg yolks
1 pinch of salt
100 g sugar
For the filling
1 leaf of gelatine
100 ml Crémant sparkling wine
2 egg whites
200 ml cream
75 g icing sugar
40 g ground almonds
500 g blackberries
For the icing
1 sachet cake glaze
3 tbsp sugar
250 ml Crémant sparkling wine
Also
Butter for the dish
Flour for the work surface
Baking beans
1 To make the shortcrust pastry, knead all the ingredients together. Wrap in foil and allow to rest for approx. 1 hour in the refrigerator. Then pre-heat the oven to 200 °C and grease a flan dish (diameter 28 cm) with butter. Roll the pastry out on a floured work surface and line the dish with it. Pierce the base several times with a fork, then line with greaseproof paper and weight with baking beans. Bake blind for approx. 15 minutes on the bottom shelf. Take out of the oven, remove the greaseproof paper and baking beans, and continue baking for a further 7 minutes. Take out and allow to cool.
2 To make the mousse filling, soak the gelatine in cold water according to the packet instructions. Then squeeze it out and heat in a small measure of Crémant until dissolved. Take the pan off the stove and mix in the remaining Crémant. Beat the egg white until stiff and fold in. Put in the refrigerator for approx. 30 minutes. Beat the cream until stiff, whisk in the icing sugar and fold into the Crémant mixture.
3 Sprinkle the ground almonds on the base and pour the Crémant mousse on top. Put the flan in the refrigerator until needed.
4 Wash the blackberries and pat them dry. Distribute evenly on the flan base. Mix the cake glaze with the sugar in a pan with a little Crémant. Allow to bubble up, then mix in the remaining Crémant. Drizzle by the tablespoon over the blackberries. Refrigerate for approx. 3 hours before eating.
Amarena cherry cheesecake
Preparation time: approx. 1 hour (plus baking and cooling time)
Makes 12 slices
For the base
2 eggs
75 g butter
90 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
90 g plain flour
For the filling
1 unwaxed lemon
1 pinch of salt
75 g butter
125 g plain flour
4 eggs
500 g low fat quark (soft curd cheese)
250 g mascarpone
200 g sugar
1 jar amarena cherries (125 g drained net weight)
250 g crème fraîche
Also
butter and breadcrumbs for the tin
1 Pre-heat the oven to 225 °C (Gas Mark 7, fan oven 200 °C). Grease a spring-form tin (diameter 26 cm) and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Put in the refrigerator until needed. Melt the butter in a shallow pan and allow to cool a little. Beat the egg yolk with the sugar and salt until creamy. Fold in the flour, then stir in the melted butter. Add the beaten egg white on top and fold in.
2 Smooth the base mixture in the tin and pre-bake on the middle shelf for approx. 15 minutes. Remove the flan and allow to cool. Turn the oven down to 175 °C.
3 In the meantime, to make the filling, wash the lemon under a hot tap, dry, finely grate the peel and squeeze out the juice. In a pan, bring 250 ml water to the boil with the salt and butter. Remove from the hob, add all the flour and beat into a smooth mixture using a wooden spoon. Place the pan back on the hob and stir until the mixture comes away smooth from the pan base. Remove from hob again and mix in an egg. Transfer the choux pastry into a bowl and place in the refrigerator.
4 In the meantime, combine the quark, mascarpone, 175 g sugar, lemon juice and the remaining eggs until creamy. Little by little, stir the cooled choux pastry into the quark mixture.
5 Drain the Amerena cherries, reserving the juice. Spread the drained cherries on the cooled flan base and add 1 tablespoon of Amarena juice. Add the quark mixture on top and bake in the oven for approx. 1 hour. Remove and allow to cool completely in the tin.
6 Mix the crème fraîche with 1-2 teaspoons of lemon peel and the remaining sugar. Spread on the cheesecake before serving. Serve drizzled with 3 tablespoons of Amarena juice.
Marzipan and rhubarb
flan
Preparation time: approx. 45 minutes (plus baking time)
Makes 20 slices
For the base
5 eggs
190 g butter
225 g sugar
1 pinch of salt
225 g plain flour
For the filling
1.5 kg rhubarb
5 tbsp raspberry syrup
200 g cold marzipan paste
1 egg yolk
100 g crème fraîche
For the crumble
100 g butter
100 g plain flour
100 g sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
Also
Butter and flour for the tin
Icing sugar for dusting
1 For the filling, wash the rhubarb, cut off the ends, remove the peel from the stalks and cut the rhubarb into pieces. Mix the raspberry syrup with the rhubarb and allow to steep for approx. 10 minutes. Drain and let the rhubarb drip.
2 Pre-heat the oven to 200 °C (Gas Mark 7, fan even 180 °C) . Grease a deep baking tin and dust with flour. To make the base, separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Put in the refrigerator until needed. Melt the butter in a shallow pan and allow to cool a little. Beat the egg yolk with the sugar and salt until creamy. Fold in the flour, then stir in the melted butter. Add the beaten egg white on top and fold in.
3 Distribute the dough in small mounds throughout the whole tin and smooth down to make a base. Create a small pastry edge around the tin. Pre-bake on the middle shelf for approx. 10 minutes.
4 In the meantime, roughly grate the marzipan, or chop into small pieces using a knife. Add the egg yolk and crème fraîche and mix everything together until smooth using the balloon whisk on a hand mixer.
5 Mix together the ingredients for the crumble and knead to a dough using your hands. Then fragment to resemble medium-sized breadcrumbs.
6 Using a spoon, spread the marzipan mousse carefully over the pre-baked base. Arrange the pieces of rhubarb on top, and sprinkle with the crumble. Bake the flan for 25-30 minutes. Serve dusted with icing sugar.
Little parrot cake
Preparation time: approx. 25 minutes (plus baking and cooling time)
Makes 1 mini cake
For the sponge
100 g butter
100 g sugar
2 small eggs
120 g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp vanilla sauce powder
2 heaped tsp cherry flavour jelly powder
2 heaped tsp sweet woodruff flavour jelly powder
To decorate
40 g icing sugar
coloured hundreds and thousands and sugar sprinkles
Also
butter for the tin
1 Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C (Gas Mark 4, fan oven 160 °C). Grease a mini cake tin approx. 15 cm long with butter. To make the sponge, beat the butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar, then the egg, and stir in. Mix the baking powder into the flour and stir, alternating with the milk.
2 Divide the mixture into three. Mix one with the vanilla sauce powder, the second with the cherry jelly powder and the third with the sweet woodruff jelly powder. Pour the three mixtures into the tin in layers, starting with the yellow mixture and finishing with the green one. Bake on the middle shelf for approx....
