Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line the bottom and sides of a 22cm diameter loose-bottom cake tin, with baking paper. NB: the paper should stick 10cm above the rim of the cake tin as the cake will rise up. Sprinkle 30ml of the sugar and 2,5ml of the ground cinnamon on the bottom of the baking tin and then set it aside. Place a saucepan on medium-high heat and pour in the 1 litre milk, butter, 250ml sugar and another 2,5ml cinnamon. Remove the saucepan from the heat as soon as small bubbles start appearing on the sides of the pan. Add the cornflour, flour, salt, egg yolks and 250ml milk to a bowl and whisk together. Drizzle the milk into this mixture while whisking. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place it over medium heat. Stir the mixture until it thickens and has a custard consistency. Remove from the heat. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold it into the custard. Gently pour the custard into the prepared cake tin. Sprinkle the leftover 30ml sugar and 2,5ml cinnamon over the batter. Bake the military in the oven for 50 minutes. Remove and cool completely before serving.
Preheat your oven to 200℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Add the flour, salt and baking powder to a mixing bowl and stir to mix. Add the cubed butter and rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, citrus peel and raisins and lightly mix through. Add the grated zest of the orange and lemon and stir again. Add small quantities of milk, stir and repeat until the mixture comes together as a dough. Flour a work surface and place the dough on it. Flatten with your hands so that it is 5cm thick. Cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter or a glass and place the scone on the prepared baking sheet, spaced apart evenly. Bring the dough together to a 5cm thickness again and cut out some more rounds. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the scones and cool on a cooling rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Filling: 3 egg whites 250g sugar 500ml desiccated coconut about 100ml smooth apricot jam
For the pastry: Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray 2 x 12-hole muffin tins with cooking spray. Sift the flour, caster sugar, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the dry mixture with your fingertips. Whisk the egg yolks and water together and add it to the mixture. Mix and knead by hand until you have a soft pastry. Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes.
For the filling: Add the egg whites to a mixing bowl and whisk to medium peaks. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time, waiting about 15 seconds between each addition so that it is incorporated into the whites. Add the coconut and fold through. Set aside.
Roll the pastry out to a 3mm thickness and cut out pastry circles of 7cm diameter. Line the muffin tins with the circles. Spoon about 7ml apricot jam into each pastry case and then divide the coconut and egg mixture amongst the cakes, topping it. Bake in the oven for 22 minutes. Cool the Hertzoggies in the muffin tins for 10 minutes before gently removing them to cool on a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.
125ml sugar 125ml flour 3 eggs 5ml vanilla 30ml butter, melted 250ml milk enough pitted cherries to cover the bottom of a pie/flan dish
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and grease a ceramic pie/flan dish. Add the sugar and flour to a mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs, vanilla, melted butter and milk together in a wide-mouth jug. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients while whisking. Fill the bottom of the pie dish with an even layer of cherries and pour the batter over the cherries. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. The clafoutis will puff up in the oven and fall back on itself as it cools. Dust with icing sugar once cooled.
It has been said that a Viennese Sachertorte is a cake worth fighting over….! Hopefully without the fighting, you will bake this labour of love and indulge in the best chocolate cake in the world! Traditionally the cake is served with Chantilly cream on the side so that every bite may be dipped into the cream before eating. If you want a higher cake like the one in my photographs, bake the cake twice – the apricot and chocolate glaze is sufficient to cover a higher/larger cake.
Chocolate glaze: 220g sugar 125ml water 200g dark chocolate, chopped
Place an oven rack in the centre of your oven and preheat to 180℃. Lightly butter 22cm springform tin with butter and line the bottom with a round of baking paper. Dust the sides of the tin with flour and tap out the excess. Add the chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt. Remove from the heat. Stir the chocolate often until tepid but still fluid. Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Turn the mixer to low speed and beat in the icing sugar. Set the mixer back on medium-high and beat until light in colour and texture. (about 2 minutes) Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Now beat in the chocolate and vanilla with the machine running. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the egg whites and granulated sugar to a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer on high speed just until they form soft, shiny peaks. Do not overbeat. Stir about a fourth of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Now fold in the remaining whites, leaving a few visible whisps of whites. Sift half the flour over and fold in with a spatula. Repeat with the remaining flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake tin and spread it evenly. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the sides of the tin and invert the cake onto the wire rack. Remove the baking paper. Re-invert the cake on another rack to turn it right side up and leave to cool completely.
For the apricot glaze: Melt the jam in a saucepan over medium heat, add the rum and pass through a sieve. Set aside to cool slightly.
Trim the top of the cake to make it level. (Optional) Cut the cake horizontally into 2 equal layers. Brush the top of one cake layer with a third of the apricot glaze. Place the second layer on top and brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining glaze. Allow to cool until the glaze is set/less sticky. Half an hour in the refrigerator should be sufficient.
For the chocolate glaze: Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the chocolate, remove from the heat and stir until the chocolate has melted and you are left with a smooth, glossy glaze.|Set aside to cool and thicken slightly.
Transfer the cake to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the slightly warm chocolate glaze over the cake. Take care to cover the entire cake and the sides. Allow to cool and set completely – 2 hours minimum. Trim away any hardened glaze on the bottom of the cake and transfer it to a serving plate. Serve each slice of sachertorte with a generous dollop of cream so that each bite may be dipped in the cream before eating.
For the pancakes: Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Pour the milk, water, oil and eggs into a large jug and whisk together. Turn the mixer on a low speed and add the liquid slowly and in a very thin stream. Whisk on high speed for 2 minutes once all the liquid has been added. Cover the mixing bowl with a tea towel and stand the mixture for one hour.
For the filling: Add the cornflour to a mixing bowl. Pour in a small amount of milk and stir to dissolve the cornflour. Add the egg yolks and 100g of sugar and whisk together by hand. Set aside. Pour the rest of the milk and the other 100g of sugar into a small saucepan and warm but do not allow it to boil. Take the saucepan from the heat and drizzle the hot mixture into the egg yolk mixture while whisking vigorously. Remember: pour slowly, whisk quickly!! Keep going until all the milk has been added. Pour the mixture back in the saucepan, place on a medium heat and stir until thick and glossy. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Scrape the mixture into a clean bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface. Allow to cool completely.
Bake the pancakes in a 20cm diameter pan and set aside to cool.
Assembly: Place one pancake on a serving platter. Spoon a generous dollop of the custard onto the pancake and spread evenly. Sift an even layer of ground cinnamon over the custard and repeat the layers until you have build a beautiful stacked cake. End with a layer of filling and cinnamon.
The original cake, Kladdkaka, is a traditional Swedish bake but this is my take on it, resulting in a warm dessert that is somewhere between a brownie and a lava cake. From start to finish it will take you 30 minutes to put together this more-ish chocolate cake!
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a 22cm loose-bottom cake tin with cooking spray. Dust the bottom of the tin with cocoa powder. Set aside. Add the chocolate and butter to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and stir every now and then until completely melted. Pour the chocolate-butter mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the flour, cocoa powder and sugar to the bowl and stir together by hand. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until combined. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 25 minutes. The cake should have a firm top that cracks when you apply pressure to it with your finger. Allow the cake to cool slightly in the cake tin. Run a knife between the cake and the tin and remove the cake ring. Serve warm with a dusting of icing sugar.
My Whisk and I 