RAINBOWSAURUS CAKE

Imagine how fun cake is. Septuple it and add smarties and dinosaurs.... oooh now we’re talking.  This is a veritable playground of a cake, a kaleidoscopic feast for the eyes, the mind and the mouth, and one we made in honour of a very special friend’s birthday.  Let’s call her Rach, because that’s her name.  She likes colour in abundance....  

We wanted to do something bright with an element of surprise, and the most obvious contender was cake’s answer to world peace: the rainbow cake.  And a rainbow cake disguised by smarties?  That’s basically disarmament on plate.  We can’t claim the rainbow cake is a LS original though, in fact it’s definitely not.  There’s probably a chapter in the old testament about the time when it came to be that John brought forth the rainbow cake and there was much joy, and lo he cut it and there was much mirth, and lo (again) they ate the cake and bounceth off the walls with the e-numbers.  You know the one. Hilarious.  But even if it’s not biblical, it’s certainly been done a lot, so for an extra bit of excitement we made it gluten free; fun for everyone!

The recipe for a gluten free Victoria sponge (listed below) is so straightforward and tasty you wonder there aren’t more of them about.  For our spongy delight, we trebled the quantities and after combining all the ingredients, divided it into seven bowls ready for their dye jobs.   Given that the real trump card of this cake is the carnival hiding inside, we needed our food colouring to make it vibrant and punchy.  In the gel vs liquid colouring debate, gel wins every time; liquid just leads to a wet mixture and weak colours... in fact, they pale into insignificance against their gel counterparts (fun AND puns?!  We spoil you).

Mixing it up...

We then opted for buttercream to hold the layers together, bypassing the classic Vic-sponge-and-jam system to avoid any unnecessary sliding. Buttercream is not only extra fun (butter + sugar) with your fun (see the first fun, add flour and eggs), but is a superb cement and can take the pressure of the next six layers of resplendent sponge on top, provided you wait for the cakes to cool of course... otherwise it melts, obviously, and we all feel a little sad...  It also allows for the sort of humourless accuracy that Cake Bitch of Local Sauce revels in, along with such gems as levelling the top of each sponge with a bread knife so they’re flat, and using a spirit level.  But then precision is so pleasing... and we’re right back to fun!    

Work in progress... Gave Battle In Vain

He's arrived! Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain

While this cake already requires a certain amount of time and patience, the application of the smartie cloak really does take the biscuit, but if you’ve committed thus far you may as well take it to town.  It’s time consuming and a little fiddly, but nobody said world peace would be easy....  So go forth and arrange those smarties in lines, in the order of the rainbow, in the name of fun, all the way over, round and down to the bottom; show the UN how it’s really done!  And if you’re worrying about the calorific impact of a slice, let us reassure you: it’s a cake, it’s packed, it is proper naughty and meant to bad, and is therefore GREAT.  So eat!  Enjoy!  Be merry!  And if you’re still worried, go for a run.   

R x

Elevation and plan views of the UN Building.  Dinosaur security not always present

The slice that got away, and travelled half way across London wrapped in tissues.
What a trooper.

Rainbowsaurus Cake.

GLUTEN FREE Victoria Sponge

(to make two 8” sponge layers)

150 g Butter 

150 g Caster Sugar

2 drops Vanilla Extract

2 Eggs

150 g Gluten Free Plain White Flour + 1 tsp Baking Powder OR 150g Gluten free self raising flour

3 tbsps Milk

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190°C(Fan170°C)/375°F/Gas 5
2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Beat in the baking powder and flour (or self raising flour without baking powder), and add the milk
5. Divide the mixture between 2 oiled and lined 20cm/8" round baking tins, and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15/20 minutes.  When the cakes are browning round the edge and on top, and have come away from the sides, they should be done.
6. Turn the cakes out on to a wire rack and leave to cool.
7. Once the cakes have cooled thoroughly, level the top of one with a knife and spread buttercream or jam over it, before placing the other on top.*
8. To finish, dust with icing sugar. 

* for a more traditional filling, use jam followed by a layer of whipped cream.  Add fresh fruit for an extra bit of flavour!

Buttercream filling:

140g/5oz butter, softened

280g/10oz icing sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half of the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
2. Add the remaining icing sugar and vanilla essence, plus one tablespoon of the milk and beat the mixture until creamy and smooth. Beat in the remaining milk, if necessary, to loosen the mixture.

Notes on a Gluten Free rainbow cake:

The process is much the same as a regular cake except your gluten free version won’t rise as much.  It is still wonderfully spongy and moist, and most people barely or don't notice that it's gluten free; it also keeps well and retains its moisture.

For our rainbow cake we used Doves Farm gluten free self-raising flour, and trebled the quantities.  With your mixture being divided seven ways, the cakes may be shallow and will not require so long in the oven:  15 minutes should be fine, but you can tell if they need to come out when they have come away from the edges and are brown on top.  

Once the cakes have cooled, you can level the top of each one with a bread knife so that each one is flat and they are consistent in height.  As mentioned before, for a cake with many layers that’s held with buttercream, they’re best put together cool, and on the board or plate that you’re serving on as it gets pretty heavy!  Rather than dust the top with icing sugar, carry on with your buttercream all over the top and sides - it gives a great base for sticking on decorations.  Good luck!

BRIOCHE CUSTARD EXPLOSION

I hereby bequeath this recipe to Gillian who requested it's feature on this blog and to Bart, living downstairs, whose main excitement of my friends coming over for dinner is that THIS might be in the oven. To his joy it often is.

This pud bounded into my life when I threw a 'food heritage party' - pretty geeky I know, but look what I learned! Huge thanks go to William who brought it along and more to Lily who confided her family recipe in him all those years ago.

This is my kind of food. Negligible faff and positively bursting with flavour. Boxes are ticked with incredible gusto: so simple, so sweet, so luxuriously indulgent and so bloody quick! This is perfect dinner party fodder. It takes 5 minutes to whip into the oven and then you can forget about it while you eat your meal. Yet another of this pudding's many accolades is that it really can't go wrong. How could it when it's core ingredients are brioche, cream, chocolate and raspberries?! The key is to keep the oven on a nice low heat so that the eggy custard thickens without splitting and the chocolate doesn't burn. Of course, this is calorific hell but Fat Is Flavour - just enjoy it!

Fresh from the oven, and dusted in icing sugar

2 minutes later and there were just 3 of us! Check that Ooozing Chocolate.

This has served 6 people and it has served 3, it depends how greedy you are!

Ingredients
300g brioche
150g creme fraiche
One punnet of raspberries
100ml double cream
4 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Lindt extra creamy chocolate bar - all in!
2 large eggs

Recipe
Preheat the oven to 140°C.
First make a custard by mixing the eggs, sugar, cream and creme fraiche together with the vanilla extract.
Tear up the brioche into large-ish chunks (enough for a small handful) and leave them to soak in the glorious custard mix. Meanwhile, break the chocolate into half squares.

Assemble
In an oven-proof dish, layer it up. Half of the wet brioche is followed by the chocolate which is followed by the raspberries (keeping a handful behind) and then the other half of the brioche on top. Pour the rest of the custard mix over and sprinkle with raspberries.
Cook for about 45 minutes before giving it a quick dusting of icing sugar et voila. Serve it hot, so all the chocolate is still oozing M&S food porn stylee.

MAKE MINE A MOUSSAKA

I was stuck with a lot of minced beef last week - it sat in the fridge for a few days, staring at me with contempt. How to use it. "Not another lasagna!" we seemed to say to each other, "try something new!" the mince added, rather unkindly. So I fondled my cupboards and they graciously responded with a bag of raisins and some pistachio nuts. Pistachios, you may be interested to learn, are a nut my Persian father regularly fed my sister and I when we were wee - the connotations of this particular nut are endlessly nostalgic for me. A Middle Eastern jingle started to play in my head and with it I scurried to the supermarket, khombaks plinking, to make this dream a reality. I returned with some limes, coriander, yoghurt and aubergines and we were off - hurtling past Greece into the depths of the Middle East (whilst staying firmly put in Clerkenwell.)

I've never had Moussaka before (sorry!) but from what I've read it's pretty much a Greek lasagna - instead of beef, lamb and instead of pasta, aubergines with a bit of oregano and cinnamon. This was just not enough for me. No. The mince and I had other ideas. Last week's fish without chips had left me with a swelling spice drawer and I wanted to play! Looking back, the Greeks seem to have got it right - lamb instead of beef would have completed my heritage themed moussaka nicely, but the beef I used in the end worked charmingly.

Now to thank mother, fondly known as 'Bong'. Had she not told me about Evelyn Rose's moussaka earlier this week I doubt the idea would have even dared enter my small brain. So, thanks to both parents, a Jewish/Persian Moussaka has arrived on the scene and it's a good'un.

So Colourful: Middle Eastern Moussaka

Ingredients (this serves 6)

For the meat filling
600g minced beef/lamb
2 onions
4 large tomatoes, cut into quarters
A handful of pistachios
A handful of raisins
1 inch of ginger, grated
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsps caster sugar
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
Zest of half a lime
Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp smoked paprika
 salt and pepper

For the aubergines
3 aubergines, sliced lengthways
1 big glug of olive oil

For the topping
6 tbsps of yoghurt
2 egg yolks
Juice of 1 lime
Zest of half a lime


How to...

...cook the beef/lamb
First Preheat the oven at 140°C. Rub the beef or lamb with smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
Brown in a hot pan in small batches to get a good, even colour. When the meat is browned, sprinkle with sumac. Set aside in it's own bowl.

Onions, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Tomatoes, Raisins, Pistachios, Coriander

...deal with the onions
Thinly slice the onions and fry them slowly in oil. If the pan dries, add a little bit of water. When they're looking nicely jellyfishy (transparent and squidgy), add the ginger, turmeric and cinnamon. Make sure the spices are nicely cooked out - undercooked spices is one of my worsts - it makes for a grim, gritty texture and who wants to eat raw spices?! Set aside the onions in a bowl.

...cook the tomatoes
Rinse out the pan and fry the tomatoes in the olive oil on a low heat. When the tomatoes start to lose their shape a little, add the garlic and shortly after a tsp of caster sugar. Add the lime zest. Again, if the pan gets dry, don't be afraid to add a little more water. Set aside with the onions.

..cook the raisins and pistachios
Rinse out the pan and fry the raisins and the pistachios with a tsp of sugar. When the pistachios start to brown, put the mixture in the bowl with the tomatoes and onions.

...deal with the aubergines and combine
At this stage, combine all the ingredients in a bowl (browned meat and vegetables) with the coriander.
Next, fry the aubergines until they are well browned. Place them on kitchen towel and sprinkle them with sea salt.
In an ovenproof serving dish, layer the meat and aubergine starting and finishing with the meat mixture and place it in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Once cooked, allow to cool.

Layers of spiced meat and aubergine...just one more meat layer to go!

For the topping:
Mix together all the ingredients and when the moussaka is cool, add the topping. Now cook for another 25 minutes. So nice and yellow from the yolks!

Middle Eastern Moussaka

Salaam my new favourite 'bake'.