domingo, 14 de febrero de 2010

A sponge with everything included, it's more than a sponge


There are wonderful and unexpected flavor combinations in the gastronomic world, and this is one of them. It’s a moist, delicious and custardy sponge wonderfully cooked with a mixture of fresh fruit. The original recipe comes from the excellent The Australian Women’s weekly, and it has rhubarb which is a fruit I first tried when I moved to the UK. And I have to say that it’s not one of my favorites. This is a very easy and rewarding cake as its flavors melt in your mouth and it’s also good for you because of the amount of fresh fruit.  



I used kumquats and cherries as well, because I had them at the moment of the making of this recipe and it run put really well but you can use any fruit combination you want, pear and apple, cherry and orange, strawberry and blackberry, etc.  It keeps really well in the fridge for two to three days, if there is any leftover that is!




Ingredients

125g softened butter

¾ cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups self raising flour

½ cup ground almonds

2 tablespoons custard powder

½ cup milk

3 trimmed stalks rhubarb, sliced

1 or 2 pear, peeled, sliced thinly

100gr kumquats thinly sliced

100gr pitted cherries

½ cup apricot jam, warmed, strained



Glaze

1 tablespoon water

1cup icing sugar

 

Custard

2 tablespoons custard powder

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

20g butter



Method

Preheat oven to 180 and grease a 22 cm round cake tin.

Firs make the custard. Combine the custard powder and sugar in small saucepan. And gradually stir in the milk. Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter and stir until butter has melted. Cover surface of custard with cling film to prevent skin forming. Cool to room temperature.

For the cake mixture, beat the butter and sugar with n electric mixer until light and fluffy, add eggs one a a time, beating well between well between additions. Using wooden spoon stir in flour, ground almonds, custard powder and milk.

Using metal spatula spread half of the mixture into prepared pan, top with half the fruit and spread the custard on top in a single layer over the fruit. Spread cake mixture over custard top with remaining fruit and bake cake for about an hour. Stand cake for 5 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack, mix the ingredients for the glaze, brush top with warm jam, glaze and serve.





14 comentarios:

  1. This looks really good. I love that you added cherries, too. ;-)

    Paz

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  2. That cake looks fantastic! I'm keeping your recipe...

    Nice banner!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. The cake looks awesome.
    I love how many different flavors it provides with one bite!

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  4. What an amazing looking cake you made. Looks like it has a great texture.
    I hope you had a wonderful Valentines day.
    *kisses* HH

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  5. This cake looks wonderful with the custard incorporated. don't give up on the rhubarb though - it goes really well in cakes - especially with ginger and custard of course.

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  6. Wow, this cake looks amazing!

    Maria
    x

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  7. Love your banner too and also the fact that you always find the most fantastic recipes. I love the combination of custard and fruit, especially rhubarb. Beautiful photos as always. Hope London isn't as cold as Berlin and take care!

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  8. You make it look so delicious! I like how moist it looks!

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  9. I love how full of fruits it is! Fruits have a way of imparting their own moisture into a cake...which id why I love them :) This looks fantastic!

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  10. Fabulous and luxurious.
    Awesome flavours.
    Beautiful photos x

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  11. Gasp.. rhubarb and custard.. in a cake! Yum!

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  12. I love custard filled cakes and yours looks amazing. Fabulous photos!

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  13. Wow, wow, wow... I need this cake. They don't sell self-rising flour in Mexico -- can I use regular and possibly add in some baking powder? This looks like it was made for nibbling with coffee. I think I may have to invite some girlfriends over, just with the pretext of eating this cake.

    Glad you found my blog! I've bookmarked yours and will definitely be back.

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  14. I will have to take this recipe with me, Rhubarb is already showing at the supermarket and I want to take advantage of it. Will let you know the results.

    Saludos!

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