Maple Chiffon Cake

Lets talk sponge cake. Not in the way that cakes are often generically referred to as a sponge (Victoria I am looking at you!), but actual sponge cake. By that I mean cakes which are traditionally leavened solely through the whisking of eggs (either whole or egg whites), and now in modern times with a little help from a chemical leavener too This would include Angel Food Cake, Swiss Roll, Jaconde and of course Genoise, probably the most well known sponge. But today I want to talk about one of my personal favourite sponge cakes to make, the chiffon. Chiffon cakes are defined as a sponge cake made with whole eggs and for the fat a little oil, they are also traditionally baked in tube pans although they do not need to be. It differs from, the very similar, angel food cake because the latter is made only with egg whites and made without any additional fat. I have a strong preference for chiffon because the oil and egg yolks add fat, making for a moister cake. I also like that once you’ve learnt to make a chiffon batter you can also use the cake for all manner of recipes. The sponge can be used as a roll cake, a layer cake, a sheet cake or of course, as is traditional, baked into a tube pan. The lightness of the cake means this style works great for summer recipes, when butter-rich cakes may not be the thing you are craving.

This particular chiffon recipe is inspired by a trip to Japan my boyfriend and I took about 5 years ago. If you’ve ever visited Japan you’ll likely know that in the basement of most department store you’ll find incredible food halls. The fancier department stores have high end French patisseries and Japanese chocolatiers and fine Spanish Jamon purveyors but even the more everyday department stores have the most incredible offerings. In one of the many Tokyo depāto’s, we were offered a small sample of a very plain looking cake, no frosting, no decoration, just very plain looking sponge. The flavour belied the look however, as it had the most intense maple flavour. It was incredible and I was sorely tempted to buy the entire cake right there and then, but my brain had more sense than my stomach and I very sadly passed up on the opportunity. The idea and flavour has stuck with me all these years and this was my first attempt at recreating it. I will offer this caveat before we get started, I do not know quite how they got such a strong flavour from maple without using artificial extracts and as I don’t ever have maple extract on hand my version has a more gentle maple flavour but it’s a delightful cake nonetheless. To get as much maple flavour into the cake as possible I used both maple syrup and maple sugar. Maple sugar is a granulated sugar maple from early season maple syrup, and because it’s early season syrup the flavour is more mild. Because of this, if you don’t want to go to the expense of buying this type of sugar you can replace it with either white sugar, golden sugar or a light brown version, the choice is yours.

To serve I like to cut a wedge of the cake and serve it alongside whipped cream and roasted strawberries, making a light but wonderfully flavourful summer dessert. Because the cake is low in fat you want to make sure it is always covered because once sliced it can dry out quickly.

Maple Chiffon Cake
Serves 12-15

8 large eggs, separated
65g maple sugar (or alternatives, see above)
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
120ml whole milk
2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
80ml vegetable oil
135g plain flour
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
90g maple sugar

Preheat the oven to 170ºC (150ºC Fan).

Add the egg yolks, maple sugar, salt and vanilla to a large bowl and using an electric mixer whisk on high speed for about 3-5 minutes or until light and pale. Continue whisking on low speed whilst you pour in the milk, maple syrup and the oil. Once fully combined sieve in the flour and mix together until you have a smooth batter.

Clean the whisk from your mixer and make sure the bowl is spotlessly clean. Add the egg whites and the cream or tartar to the mixer bowl and whisk on medium/high speed until the mixture has started to form a dense looking foam. With the mixer still running slowly pour in the second amount of maple sugar, a little at a time. Once all of the sugar has been added, continue whisking until the meringue holds medium peaks. The meringue should be glossy but not dry, it still needs to have a little fluidity otherwise it can be hard to combine into the batter without losing lots of volume.

Add a quarter of the egg whites to the egg yolk batter and use a balloon whisk to fold the two mixtures together. I like to use a balloon whisk for this task as it the most effective tool for folding these two batters together without overly deflating the meringue. Repeat this process, adding a quarter of the meringue at a time. Once all of the meringue has been added and the batter is streak free it is ready to be baked.

Pour the batter into a 10-inch two-piece tube pan. It is important that the pan is made of two parts, the outer tin and the base with the central column. If you have a tube pan without a removable base it is close to impossible to remove the cake. It is also important that the pan not be greased or lined with parchments as to allow the cake to rise to its full potential it needs to cling to the sides of the tin so it can hold itself up. Once the batter is in the pan gently level it out and then give the pan a few firm taps on the worksurface to knock out any large airpockets. To further ensure the cake batter is free of air pockets I like to swirl a skewer through the batter a couple times to make sure the batter is smooth.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean and the cake springs back to a light touch. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the cake upside down. This will sound peculiar if you’ve never done it but trust me, it helps to retain the shape and height of the cake. Most tube pans have feet around the edge of the pan to elevate it when the cake is cooling upside down but, if yours does not and the central tube is similarly level to the height of the pan, you can simply invert the cake so the tube sits atop a wine bottle as it cools.

After an hour the cake should be full cool and you can remove it from the pan. To do so you need to run a thin flat knife or palette knife around the outside of the cake to separate the sponge from the pan. You can then push the base with the cake attached out from the pan and use the knife to repeat the process for the base of the cake. Invert the cake onto a serving platter and serve as you wish. It can be served simply with a dusting of icing sugar or, as I prefer, with a dollop of whipped cream and some oven roasted strawberries.

The cake is best within a couple days of baking.

Turkish Sesame Simit Bread

Simit is a quintessentially Turkish recipe, sold everywhere, it is a very popular bread, commonly served at breakfast or as a snack. The shaped bread is coated with a pomegranate molasses slurry before being coated generously in sesame seeds. The shaping of the bread may look daunting but the process is not as complicated than you may think. My favourite way to serve it is alongside another classic dish, Menemen, a Turkish style scrambled egg, its the perfect breakfast dish.

Simit
Makes 6

500g strong white bread flour
7g fast action dried yeast
15g fine sea salt
20g caster sugar
30ml olive oil
280ml whole milk

To Coat
75ml pomegranate molasses
25ml water
1/2 tbsp plain flour
100g sesame seeds

To make the dough place the flour, yeast, salt and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, and mix briefly to combine. Pour in the oil and whole milk and mix to form a shaggy dough. Once combined continue kneading the dough on a low/medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. This dough is relatively low hydration so if your stand mixer struggles with stiffer doughs you may want to knead this by hand, it should take about 15 minutes until the dough is ready. Form the dough into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and set aside for 60-90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Whilst the dough is rising prep the topping, whisk together the molasses, water and flour. Place the sesame seeds into a shallow tray.

Divide the dough into 12 equal sized pieces and form each into a ball. Forming the dough into balls will make the dough tight so cover them with a damp kitchen towel and leave to rest for 15-20 minutes. Working with two balls of dough at a time, roll each piece of dough into long ropes, roughly 45-50cm long. Twist the two ropes of dough together, then form in a circle and press the ends together. You can lightly moisten the ends with water to ensure the ends stick together, but with enough pressure you shouldn’t need it. Carefully dip the simit into the molasses mixture, coating both sides, then transfer to the sesame seeds, coating both sides entirely with the seeds.

Place the simit onto one of two large parchment lined baking trays. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cover the trays lightly with kitchen towels or clingfilm and set aside for 45 minutes or until puffy and risen but not yet doubled in size. Whilst the bread is rising preheat the oven to 210ºC (190ºC Fan). Once risen bake in the preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.

Kept covered the Simit will keep for 2 days but can also be frozen for up to a month.

Rainbow Craquelin - Pride Eclairs

Okay, strap in, this recipe has quite a few steps but if you perceiver and work your way through each element, step by step, you’ll be awarded by a batch of twelve stunning eclairs filled with strawberries, lemon and whipped cream. Not only will they be fruity, creamy and utterly delicious they’ll also be beautiful as they’re made with a layer of craquelin coloured to look like the lgbt+ Pride flag, in honour of Pride month.

If you’ve never made eclairs, or you have and they ended up looking a little ugly and misshapen, craquelin might seem like a lot of extra work but trust me, its worth it, the craquelin almost acts as insurance against user error. When choux, made without craquelin, rises in the oven the heat of the oven sets the choux. Sometimes the pastry on the outside will set before the inside is cooked and whilst it still has lots of moisture. This can cause cracking and misshapen choux. When you add a layer of craquelin it slows this process down, the outside of the choux sets slower because the heat of the oven has to get through the craquelin before it can dry out the choux. This means your choux pastry opens up more before it sets. This means better shaped choux and hollow choux, perfect if your making eclairs or really any time of choux bun. The rainbow colours obviously adds to the process and does make it more about intensive but if you make it without colouring, or maybe just with one or two colours, it really is very little extra work and absolutely worth trying.

The lemon cream is a French creation, I believe the original method comes from the famed pastry chef Pierre Herme. A type of lemon curd, Lemon Cream is made in a similar fashion but with two major differences. Firstly the cream has a higher butter content. Secondly, and most importantly, the butter is also added in a different manner. When making a classic lemon curd the butter is either added with all the other ingredients and cooked together or it is added as soon as the lemon custard has been made. Either way this leads to the butter melting into the curd. With this method the curd is cooled down for 15 minutes before the butter is slowly blended into the curd a piece at a time. This results in the butter never melting, instead it is emulsified into the curd and once chilled it becomes incredibly thick and luscious. It is perfect when you want a filling that is thicker than a traditional curd, and something that can hold it shape.

Lemon Cream
150ml lemon juice
zest of 3 lemons
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
150g caster sugar
225g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature

Craquelin
150g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
150g caster sugar
150g plain flour
gel food colouring, in rainbow colours

Choux Pastry
70ml water
70ml whole milk
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp caster sugar
70g unsalted butter, diced
70ml plain flour
2 large eggs

To Fill
250g strawberries, diced
2 tbsp strawberry jam
600ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

To make the lemon cream, add the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, egg yolks and caster sugar into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and cook, stirring regularly until the mixture reaches 80ºC on an instant read thermometer. The temperature is key because it needs to be fully cooked like a custard so the finished cream holds the correct texture. I have said here to do this stage in a bain marie but half of the time I just place the ingredients directly into a saucepan and do this over a low heat stirring constantly. It is quicker than the bain marie method but it is also more prone to catching and overcooking so if you decide to do it this way be very careful and keep the heat down low. 

Once the custard is cooked pour it into a large jug, through a fine sieve to remove the lemon zest and any cooked egg bits, allowing to cool for 15 minutes, when it should be 60c or lower. Using some form of blender (traditional jug style or stick blender both work great) blend in the butter a piece at a time. If using a stick blender do this in the jug you cooled the curd, the depth of the jug means you wont end up incorporating too much air which you're trying to avoid (the same reason it is best not to use a food processor). Once all of the butter has been incorporated pour the cream into a container, press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate for at least fours hours, until the mixture thickens up. 

At this point the cream can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

To make the craquelin beat the butter in a bowl until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth and combined. Add the flour and mix to form a uniform dough. Divide the craquelin evenly between 6 small bowls. Add a little food colouring to each bowl, mix until the colouring is evenly mixed. When adding the colouring you’ll need to make the colours very vibrant as they will dull somewhat as the craquelin bakes. Place each piece of coloured dough between two sheets of parchment and roll out until about a couple mm thick. Place all of the sheets of craquelin onto a baking tray and freeze. Once the craquelin pieces are frozen remove them from the freezer and working quickly cut each colour into thin strips. On a fresh piece of parchment paper line up the strips in the order of a rainbow, repeating the pattern as many times as you can. Gently roll over the craquelin with a rolling pin to secure all the strips together to form one large piece of rainbow coloured craquelin. Place back into the freezer whilst you prepare the choux pastry.

Preheat the oven to 195ºC (175ºC Fan).

For the choux pastry place the water and milk into a saucepan and mix in the salt and sugar. Place over low/medium heat and cook until the butter has melted. Turn up the heat and bring the liquid to a rolling boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the flour in one go, mixing immediately forming a soft dough. Place the pan back on the heat and cook for 1-2 minutes more until the dough leaves a fine film on the base of the pan. A tip I learnt from pastry chef Francisco Migoya is that you can also check the pastry is ready by checking its temperature. The point of cooking the choux pastry in this manner is to gelatinise the flour. This happens to the flour when the dough hits between 74-79ºC. At this point scrape the dough into a bowl and beat for a few minutes to cool enough that the dough wont cook the eggs. 

Add the eggs to a small bowl and whisk together to combine. Pour a little of the eggs into the pastry and beat together until fully combined. It may look a little separated or like cottage cheese but keep beating, it will eventually come together. Repeat adding more of the egg until the dough has a sheen and is silky and smooth. When lifted from the bowl using a wooden spoon or spatula the dough should easily fall from the spoon forming a v-shaped ribbon when it does.

Scrape the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a round French star tip.

Line two large baking trays with parchment paper and on the back of each piece of paper draw six 11cm long lines, spaced well apart. Using these lines as your guide pipe the pastry into 12 eclairs, trying to keep your piping as neat and even as possible. Remove the craquelin from the freezer and cut out twelve 11x2.5cm pieces. Lay these atop the eclairs. Bake the eclairs in the oven for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven, open the oven door briefly to allow any steam to escape before closing the door and allowing the eclair shells to cool down slowly in the oven. This helps dry out the eclairs and prevents them collapsing or going soft too quickly. Cool them in the oven for about 30-60 minutes.

Once cool use a serrated knife to carefully slice off the tops of each eclair.

For the filling stir the strawberry jam through the diced strawberries and scrape the lemon cream into a piping bag with the end snipped off. Divide the strawberry mixture between the twelve eclairs, spreading the strawberries out so there is a thin layer in the bottom of each eclair shell. Pipe a layer of lemon cream atop the strawberries and use an offset spatula to smooth into a flat even layer. Place the cream and vanilla into a large bowl and whisk until the mixture has thickened and just holding the barest of soft peaks. If you overwhisk the mixture here it will likely go grainy when piped. Scrape the cream into a piping bag fitted with a plain round piping tip and pipe four rounds of cream atop each eclair. Finish by placing the tops of the eclair atop the cream.

Once assembled the eclairs should be served the same day but all of the elements (except the strawberries and cream) can be made in advance and refrigerated/frozen for a few days ahead of time.

Platinum Jubilee Cake - Lemon and Almond Sponge

Sponsored by Doves Farm

It cannot have escaped your attention that the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is fast approaching, it is in the news constantly and step outside (especially in London) and you’ll be inundated by the newly hung union jack flags everywhere you look. You also may know there has also been a competition to find a recipe to commemorate the occasion. The winner, Jenna Melvin, a copyrighter from Merseyside, created a new take on the classic British trifle, fit for a queen of course. She made the trifle with the classic elements of custard and jelly along with the addition of a lemon curd Swiss roll, a mandarin coulis and amaretti biscuits. A deliciously bright and summery take on the trifle.

Taking inspiration from this winning dessert I have come up with a simple cake that would be a perfect centre piece for any street or garden parties happening for the Jubilee, should you not want to make all the elements for the trifle. The cake element in my recipe is an amazing sponge cake made with Doves Farm Organic Oat Flour. The oat flour gives a wonderful warm and almost caramel like flavour and a perfect balance between a light sponge cake and a classic Victoria sponge. Doves Farm Organic Oat Flour also happens to be certified gluten free, making this cake a great option if you are also catering for anyone following a gluten free diet.

The cake is flavoured with lemon zest and a touch of almond extract and then layered with a lemon white chocolate buttercream and sandwiched together with zingy lemon curd. It is a simple but celebratory cake, sure to be a crowd pleaser. To decorate the cake some buttercream is piped atop the cake in a slightly random matter and then decorated with some edible flowers. It’s a perfect summer time centre piece.

You can buy Doves Farm Organic Oat Flour from www.dovesfarm.co.uk, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose & Partners

Oat Sponge Cake
150g Doves Farm Organic Oat Flour
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
200g caster sugar
6 large eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
Zest of 2 lemons
65ml olive oil

Lemon Simple Syrup
Juice of 1 lemon
50g caster sugar

Lemon White Chocolate Buttercream
3 large egg whites
240g caster sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
360g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature
150g white chocolate, melted and cooled

To Assemble
75g lemon curd
Edible flowers, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan). Line the base of a deep 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. You can grease the base of the tin to secure the parchment in place but do not grease the sides.

Add the oat flour and salt to a bowl and whisk together to combine. Place the sugar, eggs and lemon zest into a large bowl and using an electric mixer whisk together on high speed for about 5 minutes. When the beaters are lifted from the bowl the mixture should form a thick ribbon that slowly dissolves back into the batter. Sieve over a third of the oat flour mixture and gently fold together until the flour is combined. Repeat twice more until all the flour is combined and there are no pockets of flour in the batter. Scrape about a quarter of the batter into a separate bowl and mix together with the olive oil and almond extract until the mixture is emulsified. Pour this small amount batter back into the main batter and fold together as before until the two mixtures are uniformly combined. Keep these actions as light and brief as possible to retain as much of the lightness in the batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Swirl a skewer through the batter to burst any large bubbles to ensure the cake has an even texture. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until the cake has risen and domed but then settled into a flat top. A skewer inserted in the cake should also come out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and whilst the cake is still hot run a thin knife or spatula around the outside of the pan to separate the sides of the cake from the pan. Leave the cake to cool and then turn out and peel of the parchment paper.

For the syrup place the juice and sugar into a small saucepan and place over medium heat and cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has come to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside until needed.

For the buttercream place the egg whites, sugar and lemon zest into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water and heat, whilst whisking gently, until the mixture is hot and the sugar is dissolved. If you rub the mixture between your fingers you shouldn’t feel any sugar grains and the mixture should be hot. Remove the bowl from the heat and using an electric mixture whisk on high speed until the mixture has formed a thick and glossy meringue that has cooled to room temperature, this should take about 7 minutes. Once cooled to room temperature add the butter a little at a time, whisking until combined before adding more. Once all the butter has been combined the mixture will have transformed to a buttercream texture. Switch the whisk for the beater attachment and mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Pour in the chocolate and mix briefly until combined.

To assemble, use a serrated cake slice the cake into two layers, using a cake board or similar to carefully remove the top layer of cake (this is a relatively delicate cake as it is gluten free and doesn’t contain any xanthan gum so lifting the cake layers without support is not advised). Drizzle the cake layer with some of the lemon syrup and top with a thin layer of buttercream. Spoon on the lemon curd and spread to cover most of the buttercream, leaving a border around the edge of the cake. Drizzle the cut side of the second layer of cake with some syrup and then carefully place cut side down onto the first layer. Spread the remaining buttercream, reserving a little for decoration, over the tops and sides of the cake. For decoration I take a little buttercream and pipe it in a slightly random manner over the top of the cake. To replicate the style I have done with my cake I used a small tear shaped piping tip and a small French star piping tip. Finish by decorating with a few edible flowers.

Once assembled the cake is best served within 1-2 days.