Lemon Griestorte

 

So... we are moving! No not moving to another country, although at this point that's how i feel. Ro has been wanting to move out of central London into the suburbs for, well, bigger house, more space, not wanting to stare into the neighbours rooms, countryside a stones throw away and so on. I on the other hand have been clinging on to our conveniently located apartment and every time Ro brought up moving I'd retaliate and it would end up in a fight. And then it happened. The owners decided to sell the apartment and in 4 days it got sold. So we had no choice but to take that decision to finally move out. On one hand i want a bigger house, more space to store my junk etc etc, but on the other i really don't care about a larger place..its just more difficult to maintain and I'm so not a suburb girl, im a hard core city girl..which makes me realise after 9 years how different Ro and I are. Why did we not talk about things like this when we were courting?

So yes, we are moving to the other end of London (well, if i can still call it London), to Amersham. It is a beautiful lil place, the kind i love- quaint cafes, nice shops, no high street brands etc etc. But its on the last possible stop on the Metropolitan line, is an easy 45 minute to an hour trek into c. London and worse of all, i have to start driving. I have been so used to hopping on a bus from right in front of my apartment and now with this move i have to drive and do all the formalities that come with it. I thought i'd left behind driving and traffic back in India!

 

Ro and I have been arguing ever since this move has come up because unlike all other men, Ro needs to have an opinion about every thing. Even what frikking colour the table cloth should be. We have been looking at houses to buy and have given us till end of the year to settle on something. I have been pinning things for 'the' home right from when Pinterest came into existence and Ro (being all technical and practical and bloody irritating to the core) has just taken all the fun out of setting up a new home. I know, its a long way off, so i have, for the moment decided to back off and cross the bridge when i get to it. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to notice I'm upset and angry and has conveniently gone about figuring things out on his own!!!!

Anyhoo, we move end of the month and it takes 3 weeks to get a darn Internet connection, so this is going to be my last post for a while. I baked this cake to take to a friends and it was well received. It screams of summer (wishful thinking) and takes absolutely no time to bake. Its apparently a German cake and gries means semolina. I baked it twice in a weeks time and that says a lot about the cake. Its quite versatile in the sense you can change the flavours from lemon to orange to passion fruit to plain vanilla, fill with fruits of choice, and end up with a gorgeous cake. There is no rising agent or oil or butter, its purely the eggs that give it the light and airy texture. Don't deflate the eggs and more importantly, don't over cook. If you feel that the cake springs back to the touch, just take it out of the oven irrespective of the time.

Recipe adapted from here

 

Eggs- 3 large, separated

Caster sugar- 110 gms

Lemon juice- of half a large lemon

Vanilla extract- 1/4 tsp (optional)

Lemon zest- of one large lime

Fine semolina- 50 gms

Powdered almonds- 1 tbsp

Double cream- 150 ml

Icing sugar- 1 tbsp 

Vanilla extract- 1/4 tsp

Lemon curd- 3 tbsp

Pre-heat oven to 180C, grease and line a 9 x 2 inch jelly roll pan (or 2 6 inch cake pans) with baking paper

Place the separated egg yolk into a large bowl and whisk well with the caster sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract till they turn pale and thick. I just whisked using a wire whisk but feel free to use a hand blender or free standing mixer.

Fold in the lemon zest, semolina and powdered almonds gently and keep aside. A spatula makes this easier.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form. A hand blender or a free standing mixer with whisk attachment is advised or else you'd just end up with aching arms. That said, I've done it a few times before and its not as bad as it sounds.

Using a spatula fold the egg white into the yolk mix gently, making sure you don't deflate the batter.

Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake in the centre rack of the oven for about 17 minutes for the jelly roll pan and about 20 minutes for the 6 inch cake pans. Make sure you don't over cook or it becomes tough. 

Its done when you gently press down the cake with your finger and it springs right back.

Take out of the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes after which you can turn it out on to a cooling rack, peel off the baking paper and leave to cool completely.

Use a round cutter to cut out mini cakes of your choice and assemble. 

For the filling, whip the double cream with icing sugar and vanilla extract till peaks form, again make sure you don't over do this or it will start to curdle.

Place the cake on a plate and spread the lemon curd generously.

Top with the whipped cream, spread it around, it really doesn't need to be all even.

Top with the second cake, sift some icing sugar on top and serve.

Notes: The cake can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring it to room temperature before serving (if its not too warm) if possible.

The sponge can be made a day or two ahead , cooled, cling wrapped and kept in a container till ready to assemble.

Cooking time is crucial for a sponge cake. I  took mine out in about 18 minutes and it had cooked a bit too much already. However, when i did the layer cake the first time, it took me 20 minutes and it was perfect consistency.

From the above measurement you'd get only around 3 cakes, and the rest of the cake was eaten up on its own. I suggest you double the recipe if you wanted to serve it as a dessert for a larger group. I did this method for some variety, but i strongly suggest the layer cake if you wanted to serve at a party. It would serve 6 to 7 people.

Replace the lemon curd with any curd of choice- mango, passion fruit etc.

Mini lemon cakes

I had planned on writing this post waaay earlier but, you know how it is right...you get back home after a short holiday and you don't feel like doing anything, leave alone cooking. Even if we were away for only 3 days, it kinda put me in a state of lethargy and laziness and that's the reason why I'm about a week late in doing the deed.

The short break did us both good. We stayed in a cute lil B&B in the middle of nowhere and trekked around New Forest National Park which was an absolute beauty, areas of it at least. On our way back we stopped by Winchester, walked around the magnificent cathedral and headed back before rush hour. It didn't rain at all while we were there (much to my disappointment) but the moment we were on the M25 back into London, it started pouring like crazy. After gorging on pub food for 3 days continuously, we were dying to eat something spicy, and so invariably ended up ordering chicken biryani from a fav restaurant of ours. Here are some pics we took during the break.

 

Ro was out drinking and dining that entire week which meant no cooking at home and I was a happy girl eating sandwiches and quick fix meals junk. To add to the misery, the oven is still not fixed and I have started panicking slightly, especially since I have guests one after the other starting this month end.

Ok enough of complaints. Coming to this recipe...its again from the same book which had the Nanaimo bars and although I'm not that big a fan of citrussy food/ desserts, this one was not too bad, in spite of the lemon over dose. I wanted to post this on a day the sun was shining and everything was bright and yellow and lovely (which was last week), but since I'm thoroughly late in doing so, its pouring outside now and probably not the colour id associate with it. But with the hope that summery, sunshine days are not that far behind, here's kick starting the season with citrussy sweet mini lemon cakes.

Recipe halved from The Boy Who Bakes by Edd Kimber

 

Butter- 113 gms (at room temperature)

Caster sugar- 113 gms

Lemon zest- from one lemon

Plain flour- 63 gms

Ground almonds- 50 gms

Eggs- 2, lightly beaten

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp (optional)

Lemon syrup

Lemon juice- from one lemon

Granulated sugar- 25 gms

Lemon glaze

Lemon juice- 2 to 3 tbsp

Icing sugar- 50 gms

 

Whisk together the flour and ground almonds in a bowl. Keep aside.

Using a hand beater or free standing mixer beat together the butter, sugar and lemon zest till light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium speed.

Mix the vanilla extract (if using) with the eggs and add this to the creamed mix, bit by bit, beating until well combined.

In two additions tip in the flour mix, beating/ folding until just combined.

Pour into greased muffin cups until about 3/4th full and bake in an oven pre heated at 180C for about 18 to 20 minutes or till a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Take it out of the oven and let it sit on a cooling rack

While the cakes are baking, you can make the syrup and glaze.

For the syrup, combine the lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and set over medium heat.

Simmer for a few minutes, or till all the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat and set aside till ready to use.

For the glaze, whisk together the lemon juice and icing sugar till you get a smooth mix. It shouldn't be too loose, nor too thick.

Once the cakes are ready, when still warm to touch, prick the cake all over, using a tooth pick or wooden skewer. 

Brush generously with the lemon syrup and let the cakes stay in the muffin pan till completely cool

Then tip them onto the cooling rack, turn then upside down and spoon over the glaze, allowing it to drip down the sides.

 

Notes: Use lemon extract instead of vanilla to take the citrussy flavour a notch higher.

If the cakes have a pointed dome, just slice off the top a bit for a more level surface.

If you don't want the lemon flavour to over power, reduce them drastically.

The cakes taste even better the next day with the flavours completely catch on. Also, there is no fear of the cakes drying off because the lemon syrup makes sure its always moist.

Tender Lemon Cake...B'day bake for my babeeee

It was Ro's birthday last week and i decided to surprise him with a 4-layer cake with decorations and all that jazz. Did numerous searches online for cake decorating and went and bought everything only to realize i picked up the wrong baking flour..yeah i picked up wholemeal self-raising flour for cakes and bakes. Since i didn't want to waste the 1 kg flour, I decided to continue with it. It wasn't bad at all..although its like a mental block that AP flour should be used for cakes and bakes and i cant wait for it to get over asap, so i can buy some AP flour.

After I started, i realised it was going to be quite tedious and so cut down the four layer to two and the decorating bit...went for a toss. I learnt two lessons...not to shop in a hurry, no matter what and 2, cake decorating and icing is not my cuppa tea..i don't have the hand nor the patience for it. Next time, i should just stick to a general cake or maybe even buy one instead of slogging it out in the kitchen.

Lemon Cake (adapted from www.marthastewart.com)

AP Flour- 2 1/4 cups

Butter- 12 tbsp

Baking powder- 2 1/4 tsp

Sugar- 1 1/2 cups

Eggs- 3

Buttermilk- 3/4 cups

Lemon zest- from one medium lemon

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Heat the oven to 172 C, butter an 8 inch square or round tin.

Mix the flour, baking pwd and salt together in a mixing bowl.

In another bowl, with an electric beater on medium-high, beat the butter till light and fluffy. Add the sugar continue to beat. Reduce speed and add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mix and buttermilk, alternatively...starting and ending with flour. Stir in the zest.

Pour the batter into the baking tray and cook till a toothpick comes out clean (I took a little over an hr). Remove and cool on a rack.

Basic butter frosting

Butter- 2 tbsp

Confectioners sugar- 1 cup

Milk- 2 tbsp

Colouring- 1/2 tsp (optional)

Vanilla extract-1 tsp

Cream butter and sugar well and add the extract, colouring and milk until mixture is smooth or consistent as per your requirement.

Once the cake has completely cooled, slice it in half and spread a thick layer of icing in between and sandwich the cakes. If you want icing on top, you can do so as well. Decorate with sugar shavings, figures etc.

Notes: For the cake, i thought the lemon zest was a bit too strong, so i would def. reduce it the next time. I used a red colour and mixed it well so i got a pinkish tint

My consistency was all wrong and i suffered while spreading the icing.

PS: Ro said the only thing missing was a 'My little Pony.' He was a bit taken aback with the pinks and purples and stars... So im naming this the 'My Little Pony' Cake.

Also, a Happy Valentines day you guys. Join in the stereotype and be all mushy and swishy and pink!