A simply elegant Wild Maine Blueberry Spongecake with Sticky Toffee Pudding Sauce!

You can see why I'm calling this sponge cake! I have adapted and added to a very simple recipe called "Huguenot Torte" from the book "Sundays at Moosewood restaurant" - I made the recipe to the letter first time around and then second time I amended it with the addition of one more egg white for volume, twice the amount of blueberries and nixed the pecans as I felt the pecans overwhelmed the taste and texture of the cake, with just blueberries the flavour really shone through - then I added the piece de resistance of Sticky Toffee Pudding Sauce, for what couldn't be improved with it's addition??

Herewith I give you my version with the alternative of pecans if you'd like to try it that way too:

Before you start the recipe do avail yourself of a small - 6" round - baking tin, butter it and then line it with parchment which you butter again - the first time I made the recipe I didn't do this (the book did not mention doing it so I thought it was not necessary) and it was very hard to manipulate the cake out of the pan - with the parchment it was easy peasy!!

HAVE ALL YOUR INGREDIENTS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE this helps infinitely with the volume achieved when whisking the eggs!

Preheat oven to 325F

INGREDIENTS: Makes 4 small servings

1 whole egg

1 egg white

4oz/1 cup of blueberries

(or if you want to try as the original recipe 2oz/ 1/2 cup blueberries and 2oz/ 1/2 cup toasted pecans broken into pieces)

2 1/2oz/scant 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

2oz/1/2 cup white flour

a goodly grating of nutmeg

a pinch of salt

1. Whisk, whisk, whisk the whole egg and egg white together with great aplomb until it achieves great volume - I found this was helped by popping the bowl with the eggs into another larger bowl with a couple of inches of warm water in it....

2. Add the sugar bit by bit and whisk in between additions until when you lift the whisk out of the mix it leaves a marked trail thus:

 3. Sift baking powder, a pinch of salt, grated nutmeg and the flour together and then fold into the egg mix in three batches - be gentle and don't mix too much or you'll deflate the volume - don't worry if not all the dry ingredients aren't perfectly mixed through - it will work out fine!

4. Add the blueberries in one go and gently fold through.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan:

6. Bob into the oven and bake for about 40 minutes until it smells good and the top is nicely browned and set to the touch:

7. Leave in the pan for about 10 minutes then remove with the aid of the parchment, remove the parchment and leave on a cooling rack until completely cooled.

In the meantime make the 

STICKY TOFFEE SAUCE:

2 1/2oz/ heaped 1/4 cup brown sugar

 1 1/2 oz / 3 tablespoons salted butter

2 tablespoons cream or half and half

1. Put all three ingredients in a pan to melt together, mix and keep mixing whilst letting it bubble a couple of minutes until it gets a bit thick - allow to cool and then pour on top of the cake:

Now whip up a good 1/2 cup/4 fluid ounces of heavy/double cream sweetened with a tablespoon or so of sugar and dollop on top of your cake in a random but pretty mound:

Here's a picture of the nice crumbly surface of the cake which has the texture of a macaron:

This is the one I had a hard time removing from the pan when I didn't use parchment so it cracked a lot and below is a pic of the original pecan and blueberry version showing the inside texture, it was a gloomy day so I took the cake outside to photograph:

..and the better, in my humble opinion, version with more blueberries and no pecans:

and a close up of the lovely light texture:

I do hope you try this cake - it's ever so easy - there's so little in it for the size of cake it makes and it's really very lovely. I also tried it again yesterday and this time I used raisins - it wasn't as good as with the blueberries but it was still VERY good.

BTW the blue pattern you see in these photographs, my "Blue Rhapsody" can be purchased on any number of items at my CafePress shop HERE and also on fabric, wrapping paper, decals and wallpaper at my Spoonflower shop HERE - thanks!! 

HAPPY BAKING!! Let me know if you make it - Patricia

Devon Cream Splits small enough to call Sliders.

Aren't these little beauties? They are just about the right size for two genteel bites and as such look like the sweet version of burger sliders. This recipe can be used for Yorkshire Tea Cakes and also an Iced Tea Ring - I'll add the variations for those at the end of the recipe.

When I started this recipe rolling I was so convinced it was not going to work that I neglected to take photos thinking I would be making a second batch to correct what seemed like the wrong comparative amounts of the ingredients so I am scant on process pictures, my apologies - when I make them again soon, they were awfully good and actually much easier than I thought they were going to be, I will add in some pics of the yeast and dough.

DEVON CREAM SPLITS from Complete Vegetarian Recipe Book 

by Ivan Baker

Have all your ingredients at a nice warm room temperature - the butter especially should be very soft but not melted.

Makes a good 20 sliders

INGREDIENTS: I like to weigh my ingredients, especially for a yeasted recipe as it makes it much more reliable than cups but am giving cup equivalents which can never be precise as everyone weighs cups differently

2 ozs/ 1/2 cup/ 50 grams white flour

10 fluid ounces of warm (90 degree) whole milk 

2 scant level tablespoons of dry yeast (this is the amount that flummoxed me - seemed like a huge amount but it worked) - times can vary depending on the freshness of your yeast - here's a way to test your yeast
(I just did some research into this and it appears the faster you prove your dough the more yeast you use to make it rise quickly)

One teaspoon of sugar

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 2 tablespoons of the warm milk in a bowl - this will be quite thick

2. Slowly stir in the rest of the milk in two batches alternating with the flour.

3. Mix until smooth.

4. Cover bowl with a clean cloth and stand in a cosy place for 1/2 hour.

The yeast mix was way more bubbly than this picture below but I thought I should give you some form of reference for the yeast as a visual is always helpful - especially if you're not familiar with working with yeast. 

It was much more energetic than this and rose way higher - just FYI

Now add the following ingredients in the order in which they are listed and mix well between each addition:

1 eaten egg - maybe that should be beaten egg!!

3ozs/scant 1/2 cup/100grams of sugar 

1lb/4 cups/380 grams white flour - add this in 3 or 4 goes not all at once

1/4 teaspoon salt

3oz very soft butter  - I always use Kate's from Old Orchard Beach, Maine - it's such a fresh flavourful butter - and it's local for me!!

1. Now knead this ridiculous sticky and unmanageable mess for about 3 or 4 minutes until it miraculously comes together very nicely into a smooth and lovely dough  - this part was really convincing me everything was wrong - but it turned out I was wrong!!

2. Cover and stand in a warm spot for another half and hour.

3. Knead back the dough - ie knock it down and take the air out of it.

4. Tear off into big walnut sized pieces and roll into sweet little balls and place on a greased tray thus:

 5. Cover your little babies with a light tea towel and prove once again for half an hour.

6. After about 15 minutes start your oven and set it to 375F.

7. When the half an hour is up pop your dough balls into the oven and bake for about 12 minutes until lightly golden.

8. Remove from the oven and put on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

9. In the meantime whip some lovely cream with your preferred amount of sugar to soft pipeable peaks and have your preferred jelly/jam - even marmalade, to hand, although strawberry or raspberry jam is traditional.

10 When completely cool split almost halfway through put a nice big dollop of jam in there and then pipe as much cream as you can without getting silly - arrange on a pretty plate and then dust with confectioners/icing sugar - and there you have: 
DEVON CREAM SPLITS - light, airy, not too sweet - heavenly and good with a nice hot cuppa!!

To make Yorkshire Tea Cakes do the exact same recipe but make the dough balls twice as big, add 5oz of currants to the dough before kneading and DON'T split and add the cream and jam - instead split them in half horizontally, toast them and slather with lashings of the best butter you can find - good with a cuppa also on a rainy afternoon.

To make Iced Tea Rings...weigh off the dough into 40z balls - then roll each ball into a 12 inch rope - twist pairs of ropes together and form into rings, bake as directed. Cool completely and ice with a simple confectioners/icing sugar icing - and then scatter toasted flaked almonds atop and eat with - you guessed it - a nice cup of tea.... 

I just found an excellent place to do conversions, from the French Culinary Institute, for conversions from weights to cups to grams for all sorts of basic ingredients - check it out here:

Pastryscoop.com 

Happy Baking - if you make these please feel free to post pictures to my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/PatriciaSheaDesigns

and please consider following this blog at Bloglovin'

Thank you - Patricia!!

A FOOL for Valentine's Day!!!

Is this a Fool or a Whim Wham...that is the question!

After reading through various books and tearsheets I realized that Fool and Whim Wham are somewhat interchangeable although Fool leans more to crushed fruit and luscious whipped cream gently folded together and Whim Wham tends towards custard, cream and crushed fruit with the excellent added addition of almond macaroons. I have to admit I swooned towards the Whim Wham but, of course, I wanted to use Fool in the title as it works so well with the whole concept of Valentine's Day!!! Tee Hee

Here is the recipe, which honestly is not at all unlike the trifle recipe below...the jelly/jello being the noteable absence.......please make in order...

MACAROONY PART:
2ozs ground almonds
2ozs fine sugar (I actually grind the sugar and almonds together in a coffee grinder to get them finer than they come from the store...the almonds don't go oily if you combine them evenly with the sugar and don't grind for too long).
2 egg whites...whisked to quite dry/stiff peaks
1 teaspoon rose water (not necessary if you can't find it but it does add a certain 'je ne c'est quoi')
Very simply gently blend all ingredients together so as not to deflate the whisked egg whites then drop in small mounds onto a greased baking sheet and cook in a slow oven ie about 275F for about 30-40 minutes until somewhat browned and 'dry'....the net result should be a very crunchy cookie/biscuit to crumble in with the Fool, allow to cool completely before you use them so they are nice and crisp.

CUSTARD/english custard/creme patisserie/pastry cream:
FINALLY, I have found a pastry cream that actually sets when cold, I tried about 3 other recipes that SAID the custard would set when cold but they didn't...this one WORKS!!!, and really well but you have to be vigilant!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of regular flour
1 tablespoon of cornstarch (cornflour for the Brits)
1. Combine the milk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. In a bowl beat the egg and extra yolks with the remaining sugar until thick.
3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch into yolk mixture and beat until well mixed and smooth.
4. Beat half the hot milk into the yolk mix until combined and smooth.
5. Then pour this into the remaining hot mixture in the pan.
6. HERE IS THE VIGILANT PART, keep your eyeballs peeled and whisk moving like the clappers!!! Bring the custard to a quick boil, whisking, whisking, whisking and as soon as it thickens..., take off the heat and whisk until it starts to cool....put pan in a bowl of cold water and continue to whisk until cold...you don't have to do it non-stop, but pretty often to prevent a skin from forming....when I was little if there was a skin on the custard it made me gag,

so don't go there!!!

WHIPPED CREAM:

Preferably organic and about 12 fl. oz of such with a little added sugar to taste and perhaps a teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence

FRUITY PART:

I chose raspberries for my Fool, a package of frozen organic ones which I put into a bowl, sprinkled with sugar and let steep and macerate whilst I proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

You can do strawberries or most traditionally gooseberries if you can find them.

ASSEMBLAGE:

In a tall glass layer the whipped cream, then the custard, then the crushed fruit, then the crumbled macaroons til the glass is elegantly full....add a macaroon to the top...consume!!

DID YOU KNOW??

In Medieval Europe lovers gave one another sprigs of YARROW at the beginning of a Valentine's Day dinner which if they wilted by the end of the repast, meant the love affair was doomed, DOOMED I tell you....now where do you get yarrow at this time of the year in Maine??

(This information courtesy of Gourmet Mag Feb 2008)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! A trifle, I say, for 2009!

Lady fingers.... this was my first attempt at making them and they came out a little thin but they tasted great...crisp, light and so Ladyfingery!

Here are the Ladyfingers broken up in the assigned trifle bowl ready to be 'dressed' with chopped crystallized ginger, unfrozen organic cherries, a squeeze of lemon and 'jelly' made from concentrated cheery, or even cherry, juice thickened with 'Natural Desserts' all natural unflavoured jel dessert instead of animal gelatin, as is usual, so our trifle is vegetarian.

The finished trifle...a layer of jelly and fruit and cake, a layer of homemade creme patisserie (pastry cream/custard that 'sets' when cold) and a layer of whipped cream with a little sugar and crystallized ginger scattered in a random but considered fashion. Ta Dah!!! Delicious!!!

THE RECIPE FOR A CHERRY AND GINGER TRIFLE
(READ THROUGH THE RECIPE FIRST BECAUSE SOME OF IT NEEDS TO BE DONE IN A SPECIFIC ORDER!!)

Ladyfingers from 'The Martha Stewart Cookbook' Makes about 36...you need extra to eat, of course, other than those you are putting in the trifle......

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs seperated

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

2/3 cup sifted cake flour (or 2/3 cup regualr flour minus 1 tablespoon if you don't have cake flour...I never do!)

confectioner's/icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 300F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip.

1. Beat egg yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar until mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a trail on the surface of the egg mixture when the whisk is lifted out.

2. In a seperate bowl whisk the egg whites with the remaining tablespoon of sugar and pinch of salt until stiff but not dry.

3. Fold the egg whites ever so gently into the yolk mixture alternating with the sifted flour...be careful not to overmix...fold until all flour and whites are just incorporated. The batter must remain as light and fluffy as possible.

4. Spoon the batter into the pastry bag and pipe onto parchment in lengths of 4" x 1 1/2" wide.

5. Using a fine sieve dust the fingers thickly with confectioners/icing sugar.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes, they are done when they are slightly beige in colour and firm but tender.

7. Cool on wire racks before using in the trifle.

THE CUSTARD

FINALLY, I have found a pastry cream that actually sets when cold, I tried about 3 other recipes that SAID the custard would set when cold but they didn't...this one WORKS!!!, and really well but you have to be vigilant!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar

1 whole egg

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon of regular flour

1 tablespoon of cornstarch (cornflour for the Brits)

1. Combine the milk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves.

2. In a bowl beat the egg and extra yolks with the remaining sugar until thick.

3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch into yolk mixture and beat until well mixed and smooth.

4. Beat half the hot milk into the yolk mix until combined and smooth.

5. Then pour this into the remaining hot mixture in the pan.

6. HERE IS THE VIGILANT PART, keep your eyeballs peeled and whisk moving like the clappers!!! Bring the custard to a quick boil, whisking, whisking, whisking and as soon as it thickens..., take off the heat and whisk until it starts to cool....put pan in a bowl of cold water and continue to whisk until cold...you don't have to do it non-stop, but pretty often to prevent a skin from forming....when I was little if there was a skin on the custard it made me gag, so don't go there!!!

THE JELLY PART

Now here is the confusing part...to a Brit jelly means Jello not jam. I decided to use a vegetarian jelling agent and found a great one at the local Food Co-op by 'Natural Desserts'...it works really well and FAST....starts to set-up whilst it is still hot so beware of that as you go along. I used one packet and set one US pint of 'jelly' with it ie 16 fl oz not 20 fl oz for a British pint...so I took about 10 fl oz of concentrated cherry juice and added 6 oz water to make up the liquid...I made the juice stronger than the instructions said for more flavour in the jelly......but don't make the jelly YET....read the rest of the recipe to know what to do in what order.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER IN ORDER.

1. Make the Ladyfingers, let them cool and break them up into the bottom of the chosen GLASS trifle bowl...you want to be able to appreciate the layers.

2. Make the custard and let it cool without letting it get a skin...YUCK!!!

3. Assemble the unfrozen cherries, as many as you like, and chop the crystallized ginger, and sprinkle with a little lemon juice for ZING, and scatter them over the Ladyfingers.

4. NOW make the jelly, whisk a little til cool and starting to thicken and then pour over the Ladyfingers, cherries and ginger.

5. Let the jelly set.

6. Spoon the custard over the jelly bit.

7. Whip lashings of cream...the best you can find, preferably from Jersey cows and either 'dollop' over the custard or pipe as I did.

8. Garnish with more chopped crystallized ginger.

CONSUME!!!!

The combination of jelly, fruit, custard and whipped cream is divine and sublime if done well, when I was growing up in Manchester, England Mum made trifles from a packet and they were pretty grim but not this one...it is subtle and cloud like and not horribly sweet...you can make any flavour combination of fruit and jelly(o) you like...be inventive....some people do raspberry jelly and bananas, strawberries and strawberry jelly(o)....some people like to sprinkle cream sherry on the Ladyfingers before you put on the fruit and jelly(o)....some people use jam instead of jelly(o). Let me know what you come up with...I just liked the idea of cherry and ginger, and there you have it!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR!