FOOD

Shabbat cakes so super-easy

By Pascale Perez Rubin

I LOVE baking. I especially enjoy trying out new concoctions and creating new and unique cakes with raw materials I’ve never tried before.

I’m constantly browsing through speciality stores searching for interesting-shaped pans and especially sharp carving knives so that I can form cakes in the exact shape I desire.

Although we are approaching Shavuot — and it’s never too early to begin thinking about the wonderful dairy delights we can prepare for the occasion — it would be a shame not to have any nice, tasty cakes to eat over the next few Shabbatot.

To that end, I’m offering here a few super-easy cakes that you can prepare in a snap so that your family members are happy to be home for the weekend.

The following cake recipes can be tweaked with any dried fruits or nuts you desire, and topped with your favourite icing.

And if you bake them in a fun-shaped pan, then with no extra work you’ve prepared a creative delicacy everyone will be excited to taste.


Pistachio, Lemon & Ginger Ring

INGREDIENTS

Syrup:

  • 1 small lemon
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 50 ml water
  • 1 tbsp freshly grated ginge
Dough:
  • 50g butter
  • 40g canola oil
  • 3 eggs
  • 200g sugar
  • 250g flour, sifted
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 150g sour cream (or orange juice or coconut milk for parev version)
  • 50ml milk (or juice, water or almond milk for parev version)
  • 2 tbsp roasted ground pistachios

Before baking:

  • 2 tbsp honey

White chocolate ganache:

  • 125ml sweet cream
  • 150g of white chocolate

Toppings:

  • 1 tbsp chopped pistachios
  • Dried rose petals

METHOD

Use a 20cm diameter bundt cake tin.

Wash and scrub lemon. Slice it thinly, remove seeds and place in pot. Add the sugar and water. Stir and cook for 30 minutes until soft and syrupy. Remove from flame and let cool. Add the ginger and blend together with liquids.

Melt the butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for a few seconds at a time. Remove and add the oil. Stir well. Using an electric mixer beat the eggs on high speed and then gradually add the sugar. Whip until stiff peaks form. Add the flour, baking powder and butter and mix again.

Add the sour cream, milk and pistachios and mix again. Fold in the lemon and ginger syrup and mix well. Pour into a well-greased pan (make sure the oil has reached every nook and cranny so that the cake will separate easily after it’s finished baking). Flatten batter and then drizzle with honey.

Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 170°C for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick that is inserted in the middle comes out dry and clean. Place on a wire rack to cool and then flip over cake onto a large serving platter.

To prepare the white chocolate ganache, place the sweet cream and the chocolate pieces in a glass bowl. Heat in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. Stir until smooth.

I like to prepare the ganache so it’s not too thick, but you can add more chocolate until it reaches the desired consistency. And if it becomes too thick, just add a bit more cream. You can let it cool down before icing the cake, which is easier.

Let the ganache drip over the sides of the cake and then sprinkle with pistachios and rose petals on top.


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