Tastes like home.
For this recipe, I’ve chosen something that takes me home to Australia. Like lamingtons and Anzac biscuits (and Vegemite, obviously!), Iced VoVos, stalwarts of school lunchboxes and afternoon teas, are one of those shared memories that create a connection between Australians whenever we’re far from home.
Helen Goh says…
Three places represent home for me. Malaysia is the home of my childhood. Melbourne, where my family migrated when I was 10, is the place where I became an adult and developed my twin professions of psychology and cooking. And London is where I created a family and went from being a chef to a food writer.
Unsurprisingly, the constant that runs though these three homes is food. Sit me down anywhere in the world with a nasi lemak, often eaten in Malaysia as a street-food breakfast dish wrapped up in a banana leaf, and instantly I’m with my sisters on the humid streets of Kuala Lumpur. Put a peppery meat pie in my hand and I’m beside an oval in country Victoria, watching my then-boyfriend slog through the mud of a footy match on a Saturday afternoon. Show me a tray of chocolate brownies with halva and tahini, and I’m carrying it up the steps to a bake sale at my son’s first school in West London.
For this recipe, I’ve chosen something that takes me home to Australia. Like lamingtons and Anzac biscuits (and Vegemite, obviously!), Iced VoVos, stalwarts of school lunchboxes and afternoon teas, are one of those shared memories that create a connection between Australians whenever we’re far from home. They’re like a code word: mention them and a smiling Aussie will sidle up to you and you’ll share an instant bond.
I’ve taken this inspiration and created a mini-cake. When I look at a tray of them, I can hear the rustle of a packet of Iced VoVos being opened. I top each one with a cherry, but if it’s not cherry season, raspberries or any other red fruit will do nicely.
Ingredients
Serves 12
180g unsalted butter, soft but not oily, cut into roughly 6 cubes, plus extra 15g for greasing
180g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
180g caster sugar
50g ground almonds
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
50ml full-cream milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons sunflower or other neutral oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Jam
350g sour cherry (or other red) jam
1 tablespoon water
Mascarpone Cream
100g mascarpone
100g thickened (double) cream
50g icing sugar, sifted
To Finish
60g desiccated coconut
12 fresh cherries
Method
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan-forced. Brush 12 dariole moulds or a 12-hole muffin tin with the extra butter. Sprinkle a little extra flour in each mould or muffin hole, then rotate to ensure the base and sides are floured. Turn upside down and tap to remove the excess flour.
To make the cake batter, sift the flour, sugar, ground almonds, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, then add the butter. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, until the mixture resembles large wet crumbs.
Place the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg mixture to the bowl and beat on low for 30 seconds, then increase to medium–high and beat for about 1 minute, until the batter is smooth and light. Divide batter evenly between the moulds or muffin holes, then bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into one of the cakes comes out clean.
Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes before loosening the edges with a small palette knife. Place a sheet of baking paper on top of the muffin tin, then place a wire rack on top and invert to release the cakes. Set aside for the cakes to cool completely. Trim to level the cakes if they have formed a dome.
Meanwhile, combine 250g of the jam and the water in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat until the jam is warm and loosened. Using a sieve, strain the jam into a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool.
Place the mascarpone, cream and icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed until combined (around 1 minute), scrape down the bowl, then increase the speed to medium and whip for around 2 minutes, until peaks form. Scrape the mascarpone cream into a piping bag fitted with a 1½ cm nozzle and refrigerate until needed.
To assemble, place the coconut in a small bowl. Brush the sides of each cake with the cooled jam, then roll the cakes in the coconut so that the sides brushed with jam are covered in the coconut.
Place the cakes on a serving plate and pipe a ring of mascarpone cream around the top of each sponge. Fill the space created by the ring with 1 teaspoon of the remaining jam, then place a cherry on top.
BAKING AND THE MEANING OF LIFE BY HELEN GOH IS OUT NOW.
Published in ed#747
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