Saffron & lemon syrup cake
This is a good one for the dead of winter. The lemon rounds glow in saffron like little suns, lighting up your palate with their bright flavor.
This makes a 9 in/24cm diameter round cake because I think it looks amazing as a large cake, but if you only want to make a few portions, halve the recipe (and the baking time) and bake in 6 muffin tins
13 tbsp/200g butter
2 cups/270g sugar
4 large eggs
1½ cups/200g ground almonds
a pinch of turmeric
heaped ¾ cup/140g semolina
3 tbsp pastry flour
1 lemon, juice and zest
a pinch of salt
½ tsp baking powder
For the syrup and topping
2 lemons, really thinly sliced
enough water to cover x 2, plus 2 cups/400ml
1¼ cups/250g sugar
a pinch of turmeric
a pinch of saffron
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 in/24 cm diameter cake tin with parchment paper.
Place the lemon slices for the syrup and topping in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Drain the slices, re-cover with water and bring to the boil again. Drain for a second time (by now all the bitterness should be gone), then cover with 400ml of fresh water. Add the sugar, turmeric and saffron and bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 6–8 minutes until the peel is soft and the syrup has thickened. Remove from the heat.
Use a fork to lift the slices of lemon out of the syrup and layer them, just slightly overlapping, all over the base and a little way up the sides of the lined baking tin; the sugar will help them to stick in place. You may not need all of the lemon slices. Pour over 2 tablespoons of the syrup and reserve the rest for later.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer, or with a wide spoon in a bowl, until they are well combined but not fluffy, as you do not want to aerate the mixture. Stir in the eggs, ground almonds and turmeric, then fold in the semolina, flour, lemon juice and zest, salt and baking powder. Mix well and pour into the cake tin. Bake in the center of the oven for 20–25 minutes, then turn the cake around to ensure that it bakes evenly and bake for a further 10–15 minutes. The cake should be golden and firm. Remove from the oven and pour over all the remaining syrup to soak in. Allow to rest for 20 minutes before turning out.
The cake needs to be turned on its head to serve, so place a plate on top of the tin and flip it over so the bottom-side is uppermost. Gently remove the tin and the paper. Now, turn off the lights and watch it glow.
Honey parfait
It was Rob’s birthday. He and Michelle hosted a party at the restaurant. I rolled up 25 small cones of brown parchment, placed them pointy-end down in empty egg cartons, filled them with honey parfait and put a stick in each one so people could eat them like an ice cream on a stick. Later that summer night the noisy dining room went completely quiet as we handed these out. The sight of 25 lawyers licking these parfaits and grinning like kids was truly magical. Though this is a very simple dessert, the flavors are sophisticated and elegant; the honey flavor comes through powerfully and the cream is, as always, a great partner to it. You can use the simple ice cream molds that get sold everywhere in summertime to make kids’ ice creams or, if you are feeling ambitious, get rolling parchment paper and place each cone in a cup in the freezer while it sets. It is hard to give you an exact yield for this recipe, as it will depend on the size of mold you use, but it should make a minimum of 4 popsicles. Any left over can stay in the freezer and will stay tasty for up to a month.
Makes 4–8 popsicles
3 large egg yolks
¼ cup/80g honey—the best quality you can find
1 cup/200ml heavy cream
Place the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, set the speed on maximum and leave it running so that they start to foam up.
While the yolks are whisking, heat the honey in a small pan until it reaches the boil (you can heat it for 2–3 minutes in the microwave if you prefer), then remove from the heat. Very carefully pour the hot honey in a slow constant drizzle into the yolks and continue whisking until the mix is really fluffy and shiny.
Lightly whip the cream. It is very important to keep it soft: the whipped cream should just reach the “soft ribbon” stage where it starts to hold its shape. If in doubt, for this dessert it is better to under-whip than over-whip. Fold the honey-egg mixture into the whipped cream, then use to fill the molds. Place a lolly stick in the center of each one and freeze for at least 4 hours or until you are ready to be a child again.
White chocolate, pine nuts, olive oil & candied lemon zest
We generally see no point in white chocolate—it is good for nothing except this wonderful dessert, where it works with the olive oil to create silk-on-silk smoothness, while the lemon and pine nuts bring interesting accents. At the restaurant we use a delicious Greek olive oil, its bitter finish works beautifully with the rich cream. That bottle of olive oil you bought for the price of a laptop when you got drunk at the River Café will come in handy here.…
Makes 4 portions—it may not look like much but it is very rich, so you don’t need a lot
1 cup/200ml heavy cream
3½ oz/100g white chocolate
generous 1 tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tbsp to finish
1 lemon
enough water to cover x 2, plus scant ¼ cup/50ml
¼ cup/50g sugar
⅓ cup/40g pine nuts, roasted till golden (see method here)
4 tiny pinches of sea salt, to finish
Heat the cream in a pan over a high heat until it is boiling, then pour over the white chocolate in a bowl. Add a generous 1 tablespoon of olive oil and whisk in circular motions to combine (whisking in one direction only, so that you don’t break the texture), until the chocolate has melted. Cover and place in the fridge to cool for at least for 6 hours or overnight.
Peel strips of the lemon skin (just the yellow part, without any white pith) and cut into very thin slices—you can use a special long zester for this, if you own one, but it is just as easy to do with a peeler and a sharp knife. Place the zest strips in a small pan, cover with water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Drain, re-cover with water and bring to the boil again. Drain for a second time (by now all the bitterness should be gone) and cover with a scant quarter cup/50ml of fresh water. Add the sugar and return to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
When you are ready to serve, whisk the white chocolate cream until it thickens and starts to hold its shape, but don’t over-whip—the fat content is so high, you may end up with butter instead. Carefully spoon into your loveliest glasses. Top each one with some pine nuts, a pinch of sea salt, a touch of olive oil and some candied lemon zest.