Cookbook Adventure #13 - "Du jour"
Winter has finally arrived (judging by today's rain and brisk temperature!) and apples and pears are in their prime. Perfect for this cake (my second adventure from this cookbook - slightly more adventurous than my first).
Easy to make, healthy, rustic and ideal for afternoon tea or as a light dessert after a heavy winter meal.
Here's my Thermotalk version:
Ingredients
120g butter
120g raw sugar
2 eggs
150g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla extract
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored
1 pear, peeled and cored
extra 50g raw sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon zest
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 22cm springform tin.
2. Place sugar in TM bowl. Grind on speed 8 for 3 seconds.
3. Add butter to TM bowl. Mix for 30 seconds on speed 4.
4. Insert butterfly and mix for 90 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides and mix for another 90 seconds on speed 4.
5. Add eggs one at a time whilst on speed 4. Scrape down sides after all eggs added.
6. Add flour, baking powder and vanilla. Mix on speed 4 for 10 seconds.
7. Spread batter into base of tin.
8. Slice fruit thinly and combine with extra sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest.
9. Arrange fruit on top of cake batter.
10. Bake for about 1 hour or until done when tested. Leave in tin for 5 minutes and then leave to cool on wire rack.
11. Serve with whipped cream (make it a bit fancy by adding 1tsp cinnamon!) or custard (see page 155 of EDC) or icecream (see page 150 of EDC) or just by itself.
Cookbook Adventure #12 - Party Cakes for kids
This is more a cookbook decoration adventure than a cookbook recipe adventure (since the recipe required "1 1/2 packets of cake mix".) But who needs cake mix when you've got a Thermomix?!
I was given the link to Thermomix Never Fail Cupcakes and converted it to a whole cake recipe with a few tweaks to the method and some additions.
Here is my Thermotalk version:
Ingredients
250g raw sugar
rind of 1 lemon
340g butter
6 eggs
400g self raising flour
2tbs milk
2tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line cake tins. I used a 9cm x 22cm x 7cm loaf tin and a 20cm x 30cm x 5cm cake tin.
Place sugar and lemon rind into TM bowl. Grind on speed 8 for 3 seconds. Add butter and mix for 2 minutes on speed 4. Scrape down sides and mix for a further 1 minute on speed 4 until light and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time whilst the TM is on speed 4. Scrape down sides after adding 3 eggs and then continue adding remaining eggs one at a time.
Add flour, milk and vanilla essence.
Mix on speed 4 for 30 seconds.
Place into tins. Bake until golden on top and skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean - the loaf tin took about 25 minutes and the larger cake tin about 35 minutes.
Once baked leave for 5 minutes and then remove from tins and cool on racks before icing.
(This recipe can be halved.)
For the icing I used a Thermomix conversion of a copha-buttercream icing from Gastronomy. The icing was a bit stiff and hard to work with for a winter birthday but I would have no hesitation at using it in summer (when it's been 40C outside) and my previous attempts at a pure buttercream icing have been a melty mess!
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| Happy Birthday Sam! |
