I love this cake because it is fresh, delicious, it has different textures in it, it is satisfying and surprising, there are berries, there is cream cheese… and this is how you can make it…
Here’s what we need.
1. First, preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
2. Then separate the eggs – the yolks into one large bowl, the whites into another large bowl.
It seems that I tend to celebrate the arrival of each season with them.
Somehow, it always works.
To welcome this year’s spring and Easter, I decided to go for a wonderful, fresh and invigorating citrus flavor.
And here it is.
In fact, the big clever books of baking would call this cake a chiffon cake.
Chiffon cakes are light and moist cakes that use vegetable oil instead of butter. That is the main reason why these cakes do not tend to harden or dry out as traditional butter cakes might.
That is positive, I think.
Frankly, this cake tastes just lovely.
Plus, there’s this delicious citrus glaze that increases the whole fresh experience immensely.
Here’s how you can make it too…
These are the ingredients that will come in handy.
1. First, preheat the oven to 325 °F (165 °C).
2. Wash one tangerine under running water thoroughly.
Pat it dry with a kitchen towel.
Then grate one tablespoon plus one teaspoon peel. We are going to need one tablespoon for the cake and the remaining teaspoon for the glaze.
When I was a kid, cakes like this one were on our table very often.
My lovely Mom used to make them.
They were filled with any fruit that was in season. And during the months of winter, Mom would use just about any canned fruit she had on hand.
So, whether you use plums, cherries or any kind of berries to make this sponge cake with fruit, you’ll be amazed by a very nice flavor it has and how surprisingly easy it is to prepare it.
Here’s what we need.
1. First, preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
2. Separate the eggs placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.
Use larger bowls.
3. Pour the sugar into the egg yolks and beat until thick and pale in color.
Try your best not to eat this all.
Oh my gosh, it’s so good.
Or is it just me?
4. Then add the butter and mix until fluffy.
5. Next, in a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add it to the egg-yolk mixture. Mix to combine.
6. Then, using a cleaned whisk attachment, whisk the whites…
…until they hold stiff peaks.
7. Add the whites into the egg-yolk batter.
Small lumps of egg whites in the batter are okay.
8. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and dust it lightly with flour.
9. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
I used a 13 x 9-inch (33 x 22 cm) baking pan. This cake will rise a lot, so if you are going for a less tall version, use a larger baking pan.
10. Spread out the batter evenly.
11. Now cut the plums in, halves. Or, if you are using canned plums, drain them.
12. Evenly arrange the halved plums on top of the batter.
13. Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
14. Remove from the oven and let cool.
14. Then dust with a little confectioner’s sugar and cut into squares.
And because the running oven makes it really, really warm in here.
The time before Christmas has a sweet and magical impact on me. I find myself in the kitchen even more often than usual.
Which actually means that instead of 14 hours a day I spend 20 hours here now.
Like yesterday, for example, I made 82 cookies and I don’t even know how that happened to me.
Strange.
Anyhow, these lovely Bowtie Cookies were one of those I made yesterday.
The dough has cream cheese in it. It remotely resembles puff pastry, but it is less layered and less fatty. And oh so delicious!
The dough is filled with jam. You wouldn’t believe how gorgeous that combination is.
Let me show you how I prepared them…
Here’s what we need.
1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, and salt on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes.
2. Then on low speed, gradually beat in the flour just until mixed. A crumbly mixture will form.
3. Using your hands, pat the crumbly mixture together to form a dough ball.
Oh, and the face – I had to. Again. It’s addictive. Sorry!
4. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Now, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a square or rectangle about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick.
6. Cut the dough into even 2.5 x 2.5 inch (6 x 6 cm) squares.
I’ve found out that my pizza cutter works best when it comes to cutting pastry.
It’s perfectly sharp.
And pink.
I’m in love with it!
7. Place 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center of each square.
Use a really thick jam. There are even jam brands out there that are meant for baking. Get one of those, preferably.
Also, when I was making the first batch of these cookies I was a little too generous and placed a little more than one teaspoon of the filling in the center. And I also spread it.
I don’t recommend that.
Although the cookies looked amazing before baking, if there’s too much jam, it has a tendency to leak while baking.
In the second batch I was less generous.
And the cookies leaked less, they almost didn’t leak at all.
7. Back to the instructions… pull 2 opposite corners of the square into the middle, and pinch the edges together to seal.
Pinch the edges well, don’t give them a chance to open back into the square shape while baking.
8. Place the cookies on the prepared cookie sheet, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart.
9. Bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for about 12 minutes or until lightly golden.
10. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.
11. Dust the tops with sifted confectioner’s sugar while still warm, then let cool completely.
Enjoy, dear friends!
(This recipe was loosely adapted from Epicurious.com and makes 40 cookies.)
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