RASPBERRY SLICE–a request for a recipe.

This is not a recipe, but a request for one!  The raspberry slice or pavé framboise is a delicious thing that I sometimes buy from our favourite boulangerie in Descartes.

I would really like to know how to make it!  It comes as a large square which I usually then cut into four smaller squares to serve as a dessert or with a cuppa.  A whole slice takes some eating but a small one is quite manageable – in fact we can usually manage a couple!

Its type is very much a throw back to my childhood and I’m sure that either my mum used to make something similar or it was served for pudding at school dinners.

I have looked in my cookbooks and on the internet and none of the recipes I have found seem quite right.  Some have a pastry base, some have coconut in the topping, but this has neither of those.

The top and bottom are the same, a bit like a firm but crumbly cake or soft biscuit texture.  Definitely not pastry yet the top looks like it has been given an egg wash glaze.  In between there is a raspberry layer which could be jam or just fruit.  Either way it is delicious!

So, if anyone out there has any idea how to make it, I would be very pleased to hear about it!

SPANISH ALMOND CAKE

Nick made this cake for our very last Clandestine Cake Club meeting.

You may or may not know that the CCC is closing down at the end of this month.  It seems that the club became immensely popular and with free membership costs spiralled out of control and so those at CCC HQ decided to call it a day.

There is a CCC Facebook group that seems to be thriving but in our Loire Valley branch of CCC not all of the members have a Facebook account so that was a non-starter for our club.

For us the cakes were the central point yet almost incidental – a reason to get together for tea and cake (or more usually wine and cake) and have a good old chinwag about this and that and life in the Loire Valley in general.

Numerous spin-off cake clubs have been formed to continue the tradition and there was never any possibility of our members hanging up our aprons for good.  So we formed the Loire Valley Cake and Bake Club and have our own blog which you can see here.  The major difference between our former club and the new one is that members opted overwhelmingly to abandon the “cake only” rule and be able to bring any baked item that fits with the theme of each meeting.  Personally I confess to being slightly disappointed about this. 

The sight of as many as fifteen absolutely drop dead gorgeous cakes on the table at every meeting was simply amazing, beyond my wildest expectations when I started the club.  Even the odd plain and humble offering blended in well and was always appreciated.  As in life, looks are not everything and it was often the plain, old fashioned cakes that disappeared first.  I can’t really see how a plate of buns or flapjacks can compare to all of that but am more than willing to be convinced!

Anyway, the theme for our last meeting was “Cakes of Europe” and it was appropriate that for it Nick should choose to bake a recipe from one of the CCC cookbooks.  He chose a Spanish Almond Cake, a traditional Mallorcan cake containing lots of eggs and almonds and flavoured with cinnamon and lemon.

It was a great success and went down well at the meeting.  Nick only used to bake occasionally before the Loire Valley CCC was formed but has turned into an accomplished and adventurous baker.  In fact the club has a number of male bakers, prepared to have a go and not miss out on the fun.

Ingredients

300g ground almonds

1 lemon, zest only

1 tsp ground cinnamon

300g caster sugar

7 eggs

icing sugar for the top

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170° fan / gas mk 5.  Butter and line the base of a 23cm springform tin.

Combine the almonds, lemon and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

Separate the eggs and beat the yolks with the sugar, using an electric whisk, until light and creamy.  In a separate bowl whisk the whites to the soft peak stage.

Fold alternate spoonfuls of the egg whites and dry ingredients into the yolk mixture until all is used up.  Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 40 minutes or until done.

Cool in the tin.  Turn out onto a plate or stand and dust liberally with icing sugar before serving.

Cuts into 10-12 slices.

APRICOT UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

This is one of those cakes that doesn’t look much but is really nice.  I was actually looking for a recipe for something else entirely when my book fell open at this page and I remembered the five apricots in the fridge.  Just the right number for the recipe.

You simply halve and stone the apricots and lay them cut side down on a layer of creamed butter and sugar, then add the cake mixture.

The cake looked lovely when I took it out of the oven – until I turned it upside down and the bottom, now the top, looked rather unappealing.  However a good sprinkling with icing sugar soon turned it from an ugly duckling to a very tempting dessert.

Ours was still very slightly warm when we had it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of single cream.  It was delicious.  The slight tartness of the apricots went well with the lemon sponge and the texture was moist but not dense.

It’s an easy, quick recipe that I expect would work well with other fruits and I will certainly be making it again.  I adapted it from Annie Bell’s Baking Bible, where it also includes instructions for a honey and lemon sauce to pour over the cake for extra moistness and sweetness if you like.

Ingredients

For the fruit layer

30g light muscovado sugar

30g softened butter

5 apricots, halved and stoned

For the cake

150g softened butter or baking spread

150g golden caster sugar

2 eggs

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

125ml whole milk

200g plain flour

1½ tsp baking powder

For the sauce (optional)

100g set honey

juice of half a lemon

100ml water

1 tsp cornflour

Method

Butter a 20cm loose bottomed deep round tin and line the base with baking paper.  Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180° fan.

To make the fruit layer, beat the muscovado sugar and butter together and spread the mixture in the bottom of the tin using your fingers.  Arrange the halved apricots cut side down on top of the sugar mixture.

For the cake, put the caster sugar and butter in a food processor and cream together.  Add the eggs and process again, then the lemon zest.  Sift in the flour and baking powder, add the milk and process again until smooth and blended. 

Dot the mixture on top of the fruit and smooth over, levelling the top.  Tap the tin on the worktop a couple of times to make sure the mixture settles into the gaps around the fruit and leaves no air spaces.  Put a baking sheet on the shelf below and bake for 45-50 minutes or until done, covering with a loose layer of foil if it looks like it is browning too much.  (The baking sheet will catch the drips if the tin leaks the sugary layer and save the oven floor!)

Cool in the tin for about ten minutes.  Then run a knife round the outside of the cake, place a plate on top and tip it upside down.  Release the clip if using a springform tin and push the base down onto the cake before removing the tin completely.  Remove the baking paper and transfer to a cake stand or plate if you wish.  Either dust with icing sugar or serve with the optional honey and lemon sauce.

(To make the sauce, bring the honey, lemon juice and water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.  Blend the cornflour with two tablespoons of the liquid and stir back into the sauce.  Simmer for a minute or two until it thickens then set aside to cool before serving with the cake.)

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

RUM AND DATE CAKE (gluten free)

This is an adaptation of a recipe for a gluten free lemon drizzle cake that I found on the Tesco website.  You can see that recipe here.  I was making a cake for a boozy themed CCC event and it needed to be gluten free.

It’s probably two years since I baked this cake and I made notes at the time about how I had adapted the recipe.  I printed off the recipe and added my slip of paper with the changes tucked into a clear plastic cover for future use.  Then it disappeared.  I have looked for it many times since then and then yesterday, as if by magic, it surfaced, when I was looking for something else, hidden in a folder with a bundle of other forgotten recipes.

I remember that the cake turned out well, nice and moist with a hint of rum and of course anything with dates in it is just my cup of tea.  Now that I have found it I will be able to make it again.  Highly recommended to go with your afternoon cuppa or other beverage of your choice!

Ingredients

170g softened butter or baking spread (I used Flora Buttery)

50g light muscovado sugar

120g caster sugar

2 large eggs

120g gluten free plain flour

50g ground almonds

1 scant tsp GF baking powder

75g chopped dates

2 tblsp rum

Method

First, put the dates into a small bowl with the rum and leave to soak.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4.  Butter and line a 2lb loaf tin or use a liner.

Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Fold in the flour, almonds and baking powder then mix in the soaked dates until well combined.

Spoon the mixture into the tin, level the top and bake for 45 minutes or until done.  Remove from the oven then cool in the tin before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

TUNA PASTA SALAD

We were recently served a small portion of this as a starter in one of those “menu du jour” restaurants in the Dordogne.  The ones where there is no choice for lunch and you get what there is on the menu that day, which usually includes cheese and wine as part of the all-in price.  On that particular day we had garlic soup, this salad, entrecote and frites, cheese, crème brulée and a glass of wine all for 12.50€ including bread and the only extra we paid was for two espressos. 

The dish has its origins somewhere in the prawn cocktail years* and it reminded me of the 1970’s buffet table delights that I used to serve up at family parties.  I enjoyed it so much that I wasted no time in recreating something very similar for lunch one day once we were back home.  The main reason for me writing this post is so that I can remember how I did it!

*”The Prawn Cocktail Years” is actually the title of an excellent cookbook by Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham.  It includes recipes for many of the old favourites of the 1970’s which every self respecting housewife should have been able to rustle up to impress friends and family at social occasions.  I was really lucky and picked up a copy in pristine condition in a charity shop a couple of years ago.

Ingredients

4tblsp any mini pasta – I used 2 tblsp each of risetti and etioles but alphabet pasta would be nice too.

2 hard boiled eggs, quartered

1 small tin tuna, drained and flaked

2 inches of cucumber, cut into 1cm cubes

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 spring onions, thinly sliced, or half a small red onion, diced

1 small tin sweetcorn, drained

salt and pepper to taste

1 tblsp mayonnaise or crème fraîche, as required

a few chopped chives

Method

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet, drain and leave to cool.

Add all the other ingredients and mix well to combine, using enough mayo or crème fraîche to loosen it to your taste.

Serve with a small green salad and crusty bread as a starter or lunch dish.  You could of course add any other bits and pieces that take your fancy, such as chopped red or yellow pepper, quartered radish and so on, depending on what you have in the fridge.  Back in the day I would have used rice instead of the pasta.

Serves 6 as a starter, 4 portions as a lunch course.

LEMON AND ELDERFLOWER ROLL

There was much talk about the wedding cake for the Royal Wedding earlier this month.  In fact many versions of the lemon and elderflower Royal Wedding Cake appeared on the internet for us to bake ourselves.  I was not inspired until I spotted a recipe for a lemon and elderflower Swiss roll and with guests coming for dinner that evening, I thought it would be the perfect dessert and homage to the big event (and big cake) on the day.

I used the Mary Berry recipe that I have used before and adapted the recipe for the occasion by adding elderflower cordial to the sponge mixture and elderflower liqueur to the filling.

It went down a treat at our little dinner party.  I simply dusted it with icing sugar before serving and put a little pot of whipped cream flavoured with the elderflower liqueur on the table alongside the cake.  We also toasted the bride and groom with a small glass of the same liqueur on cutting the cake!

I love these fat free whisked sponges.  They are so light and fluffy and ideal for a dessert.  The idea of making a Swiss roll used to have me quaking in my shoes but the more often I make them, the more I realise that although they look really clever, they’re a doddle to make.

Ingredients

for the cake:

4 large eggs

100g caster sugar

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

1 tblsp elderflower cordial

100g self raising flour

for the filling:

2 tablespoons lemon curd

1 tblsp elderflower cordial

200ml whipping cream

1 tblsp St-Germain liqueur (or elderflower cordial)

icing sugar for dusting

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C / 200°fan / gas mk 7.  Grease a 33cm x 23cm swiss roll tin and line it with baking paper.

Using an electric whisk, whisk the eggs, sugar and lemon zest together until you have a very thick, pale mixture.  It is whisked enough when the beaters leave a trail as you lift them out of the mixture.  Whisk in the elderflower cordial.

Sift the flour into the mixture and fold it in gently using a metal spoon.  Pour the mixture into the prepared swiss roll tin, tipping it a little to encourage the mixture to flow into the corners.

Bake the sponge for 10 minutes until the cake is golden brown, shrinks away from the sides of the tin and springs back to the touch. 

While it’s in the oven, cut a piece of baking parchment bigger than the tin, spread it out on the worktop and sprinkle with caster sugar.

Also prepare the filling by putting the lemon curd into a small bowl and beat in the elderflower cordial to make it looser.  Whisk the cream with the elderflower liqueur until thick but not too stiff.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately invert the tin to tip it upside down onto the sugared paper.  Remove the paper from the bottom (now the top) of the cake.  Use a sharp knife to trim the edges and score a line 1cm in from one short end, without cutting through the cake.

Allow it to cool slightly, spread with the lemon curd then the whipped cream, saving any excess cream to serve separately in a small bowl with the cake.  Turn the cake so that the scored short end is nearest to you and, using the paper to help you manoeuvre the cake, take a deep breath and roll it up.

Transfer to a serving plate and dust with icing sugar. 

Cuts into 12 slices.

DRINKING CHOCOLATE CAKE

I made this cake for our most recent CCC event which was themed “Inspired Baking”, although to be honest, it’s a recipe I’d had in mind to do for some time.

My baking inspiration, like so many people I suppose, came from my mum.  She was a good cook of tasty, plain and hearty food and she did a lot of baking.  Every Saturday and sometimes again during the week she would bake a huge pile of little buns and pastries, her favourites being sausage rolls, maids of honour, mince pies and butterfly buns.  Curiously she didn’t make a cake that often.  She would make a Christmas cake at Christmas, ginger cake from the Be-Ro book regularly and the occasional Victoria sponge (which she just called "sponge cake").  If a cake was required for a birthday or Sunday treat it was usually a chocolate cake and made using Cadbury’s drinking chocolate not cocoa powder as that’s what she would have in the house.

I was reminded of all this when I stumbled across this recipe by Karen in her “Lavender and Lovage” blog.  Most chocolate cakes nowadays are made using melted chocolate or cocoa powder, which is very fine but often a bit too chocolatey for me and in any case, my mum would never have contemplated anything so extravagant!

Most of her baking came from a recipe in her well thumbed and ancient copy of the Be-Ro book but I can’t find anything in the more recent editions that uses drinking chocolate.  Hence I used Karen’s recipe and a great success it was too.

I had my doubts when it came out of the oven, there being a sunken ring around each cake which caused my heart to sink too.  However, a good slathering with cherry jam and the frostng concealed all the dents and wrinkles and once decorated with Oreo biscuits, chocolate raisins, mini eggs and little Aeros, it looked a treat.  It tasted really good too.  It had a light and moist texture, something you don’t always get by using cocoa powder, and was well received at the meeting.  Definitely a cake I shall be baking again – if only because it would remind me of my mum every time.

I have adapted Karen’s excellent recipe for the ingredients I had available and it worked well but I suggest you first try her recipe which you can see here.

Ingredients

150g self raising flour, sifted

75g drinking chocolate (I used Nestlé “Le Chocolat”)

2 tsp baking powder

180g caster sugar

200g soft margarine or baking spread (I used St Hubert margarine)

3 large eggs

3 tblsp hot water

For the icing and filling

2-4 tblsp cherry jam

225g milk chocolate

125 ml double cream (I used Tesco double cream substitute)

150g unsalted butter, softened

225g icing sugar

Method

Butter and line the bases of two 20cm round sponge tins.  Preheat the oven to 175°C / 155° fan / gas mk 4.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and add all the other cake ingredients except for the hot water.  Whisk with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.  Add the hot water and whisk again for about 3 minutes until even fluffier.

Divide between the prepared tins and bake for 20-30 minutes until done.  Cool in the tin for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

To make the frosting, break the chocolate into pieces and put with the cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Stir continuously until the chocolate is melted and well blended with the cream. Remove from the heat and add the butter.  Stir until the butter is blended in.  Sift in half the icing sugar and mix well, then add the remaining icing sugar and mix until creamy and smooth.  Set aside to cool until thickened.

When the cakes are completely cold sit one cake on a plate or stand and spread with a layer of cherry jam.  Spread half the frosting on top of that.

Put the other cake on top, spread with the remaining frosting,  decorate with whatever takes your fancy and serve.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.