It’s actually quite rare that I post recipes verbatim from another cookbook or website without making a few modifications, but this recipe was perfect just as is. It’s from Joann Chang’s newest cookbook, Pastry Love, and besides the fact that I made it square not round, it is exactly as written in the cookbook and boy is it delicious. I also love the way the photos turned out. It’s the little things that keep you happy, right?
cake
It’s official cake day. As I have probably mentioned, I usually only make a *cake* once per year (usually for celebrations, I make cupcakes), but today is official cake day. This year, I made a Lemon Raspberry Layer Cake — inside each layer of cake is progressively “redder” with raspberries (actually, it’s more pink than red) and outside a light, fluffy lemon buttercream. I’ll be digging in shortly!
So while I am on my red currant kick, and because we have soooooo many of them right now, I decided to make something else with currants …. an upside down cake. I also had found some smallish apricots at the farm last week, so it made the perfect combination.Super sweet apricots, wicked tart red currants. The perfect balance.
Today was (is?) my Dad’s birthday. It’s also summertime and the currants are ripening by the minute. So, for his birthday “party” (ok, it’s just a small group of friends) I made this chocolate torte with red and champagne currants, i.e. Chocolate Monterosa Cake. As I always say, I am not great with cake decoration, but the flavor was amazing!
So looping back to the last of the “Use up all those extra eggs!” dishes that I made last week, here is one more. It only uses 4 eggs, but that was (along with all the other stuff that I made) enough to use up the overload. This is a cross between cheesecake and pie, the best of both worlds, and in this case, topped with blueberry compote, although you could swap that out with other flavours too!