Lamington-style White Cake

White Cake

Yield: 8-12 slices
Baking time:  25 min
Baking temp: 350°F

Ingredients

2 C AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C white sugar
6 egg whites (3/4 C)
2 tsp vanilla
12 TB unsalted butter (softened)
3/4 C whole milk or cream

Instructions

1. For two 9" round pans or one 13x9x2 pan, grease and line with parchment paper.
2. Sift or whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar for five minutes until light and fluffy.
4. In small bowl combine egg whites, milk and vanilla.
5. Beat in 1/3 of drys to butter mixture, then 1/2 of the wet mixture, and continue. Scrape bowl often.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with metal spatula.
7. Bake 25-30 min or until toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool in pan 5 min then turn onto rack, remove paper, and let cool completely.
9. Frost once cool.

Tip: For a Yellow Cake variation, use three whole eggs plus one egg yolk in place of the six egg whites.
Tip: Parchment paper will really save you hassle with any cake or sheet cookie recipe. Cut a round, and it will release the bottom of the cake beautifully. For square or rectangular pans you can drape a rectangle of paper over opposite edges to lift the whole cake clear in one stroke. Don't forget to grease the pan first (true for EVERY CAKE!).

Lamingtons


Traditional Australian lamingtons use sponge cake, are completely coated with icing (top and sides), and topped with coconut. Some lamingtons have a layer of jam (fruit spread) in the middle. I am using a white cake because I can't get the hang of sponge. Here are the ingredients and instructions for turning your delicious white cake into a lamington cake. Try this recipe if you find cakes frosted american-style to be too sugary.

Ingredients

2 1/2 TBsp boiling water (50 mL)
3 TBsp melted butter (60 g)
2 C confectioner's sugar
3 tsp cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 to 1 1/2 C dessicated coconut
2-4 TBsp red jam

Instructions

1. Bake white cake as usual, in two 9" square or round pans, or a 13x9" pan if you want no jam layer
2. Chilled cake cuts much more cleanly so if you're making squares, chill first.
3. If you are using the jam layer, spread jam onto bottom layer using flat spatula, install top layer over that.
4. Cut into squares if desired.
5. Make frosting (steps 6-9)
6. Combine water, melted butter, and vanilla.
7. Sift, together, sugar and cocoa over that.
8. Beat well.
9. Spread over cake or squares.
10. Coat with coconut.

Cherry Turnovers

Note I photographed this guy while it was cold, they look a little more "alive" when they are piping hot! Also this is obviously a cutaway, to show you the filling.
Enjoy!

Cherry Turnovers


Yield: 8 turnovers

Baking Temperature: 350°F

Baking Time: 20-25 min

Ingredients: Dough

One box of "puff pastry" dough

One egg white

Pinch of salt

3 TB turbinado or white sugar

Ingredients: Filling

About a pound of cherries, pitted and halved

sugar to taste (1/4 C)

1/2 tsp almond essence

Instructions

1. Cooking the filling first reduces its water content, reducing sogginess in the turnover. In a saucepan over medium heat, place cherries in a little water (1/2C).
2. Heat until it is bubbling then cook down until volume is reduced.
3. Add sugar to taste (some cherries are sweet and some are tart).
4. Add almond essence to enhance flavor (not to impart an almond flavor) if you wish.
5. Defrost the pastry according to its directions.
6. Cut each sheet into quarters for a total of eight squares.
7. On your work surface lay out a square and put a few spoonfuls of fruit in the center.
8. Fold one corner over to the opposite corner making a triangle.
9. Using tepid water trace a line along the edge to "glue" the pastry into a triangle.
10. Tamp down edges using a fork.
11. Using a sharp knife make a one inch slit in the top of the pastry to vent steam.
12. Transfer to baking sheet/silpat and repeat for remaining pastries.
13. In a small bowl, whisk an egg white and a pinch of salt well until mixture has an even texture.
14. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg white onto the top (cut top) of each pastry. This just browns the pastry and can be omitted.
15. Using a spoon, sprinkle some turbinado (or white) sugar evenly over the egg white. This adds crunch and sweetness and can be omitted.
16. Bake at 350°F-375°F for 15-25 min, until tops are brown and fruit is bubbling.
17. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
18. Serve hot or warm, best when fresh.

For the first time in this blog I am using an improvised recipe. The cherry turnover thing all started with getting over a pound of cherries from a business contact. I imagine the guy got them from a dude at the side of the road because there's a lot of those fruit stands around this time of year with cherries and strawberries. I had to use these cherries fast and I've never made a successful pie before, so the idea was to try turnovers. Not in a mood to ruin the dough (which is similar to pie dough), and considering it was at least 80° and dough is hard enough to deal with in winter, I decided to "cheat." Then I improvised on the filling.

The baking time and temperature is vague because my oven can't regulate it's own temperature properly. Basically when your house starts to smell delicious, it's done. See what's on the box of puff pastry and use that as your guide.

Yes you can make your own puff pastry, don't let me stop you. This is an "abundance of fruit" recipe and is a quick and easy way to use up fruit.

Look forward to more "abundance of fruit" recipes because this is a farm town and fruit season is here!

Pavlova Pictures

While I did make a Pavlova to both use up the egg whites from the orange cookies and to take pictures of, I did not get a chance to take pictures. This is probably for the best as my oven was being very uncooperative. These pictures are from previous Pavlovas.

Here is some raw meringue. You can see that once the sugar is incorporated into the eggs, it appears glossy and smooth.

Right out of the oven your pavlova may be cracked or collapsed. Nothing to worry about as we're topping it!

This one is topped with fresh blueberries, homemade berry coulis, and chocolate shavings. And cream of course.

This one is just blackberries and coulis but looks like the cream might have been overwhipped. Coulis on the serving tray or plate can add a nice touch.

Here is a slice of Pavlova. While not the most photogenic of desserts, it is a real crowd pleaser. In this photo we can see the crunchy meringue is on the bottom, top and sides, while soft meringue makes up the center.

Pavlova with Chantilly Cream

Yield: 8-10 servings
Baking Temperature: start at 400°F
Baking Time: varies on oven
Trivia: This Australian (or New Zealander) classic was named in honor of Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova.

Ingredients: Pavlova

6 egg whites
pinch of salt
2 C fine white sugar
1 ½ tsp white vinegar
1 ½ tsp vanilla essence

Ingredients: Chantilly Cream

300 mL heavy whipping cream
2-4 tsp confectioner's sugar
½ tsp vanilla essence

To Top

½ to 2 C sliced fresh fruit
confectioner's sugar
or ¼ C dark chocolate shavings
or ½ C fruit coulis

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F). Grease and and lightly flour 9" springform pan or grease silpat on cookie sheet.
2. Beat egg whites and salt in an electric mixer at full speed until they stand in stiff peaks.
3. Sprinkle in sugar one tablespoon at a time, beating on high until all sugar is incorporated.
4. Fold in vinegar and vanilla.
5. Spoon in large dollops in pan or on cookie sheet in a low dome.
6. Reduce heat to 150°C (300°F), put pav in oven and bake for one hour.
7. For electric ovens: Turn off heat and leave in oven until cold.
8. For gas ovens: Turn heat down to 120°C (250°F) and bake 30 more minutes, then turn off oven and leave in until cold.
9. Remove to or slide onto plate. Collapses and cracks are normal.
10. To make chantilly cream: whip cream in an electric mixer, incorporating sugar and vanilla to taste. Don't overwhip.
11. Top room temperature pavlova with chantilly cream.
12. Prepare fruit topping. Rinse and slice fresh strawberries or blackberries; rinse raspberries; halve and scoop out passionfruit pulp; or peel and slice kiwi. Overly tangy berries can be sweetened with a dusting of confectioner's sugar then use once sugar has dissolved.
13. Arrange fruits on top of cream-covered pavlova in pleasing pattern.
14. Serve in slices like cake.

Notes: If fruits are out of season you can make a coulis with frozen berries and drizzle top of pavlova and plate, without dark chocolate shavings. Try chocolate flavored with mint for a sophisticated fruitless pav. Sprinkle shavings straight from a vessel as the heat of your hands will melt the chocolate. Use your egg yolks for another dessert such as custard, or make pasta.