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Tuesday, July 04, 2006

When Thierry Henry scores a goal... - Blueberry, raspberry and vanilla cake

It all started last Saturday when France won 1-0 against the Brazilian team.
I'm not usually a football lover, but i have to admit i appreciate big events such as the world cup or the euro.
And as the saying goes, if you're going to get wet... you may as well ~~go swimming~~ make a tricolour dessert.

Then from Saturday, ideas started to pop in my head. One thing was clear: it had to be bleu-blanc-rouge [blue-white-red].
Let think...
Blue food? Hum... Ten minutes after = eureka, les blueberries c'est bleu non? [Blueberries are blue, aren't they?]
Red food? Big choice: lots of berries = strawberries, raspberries, red gooseberries, red currant etc.

I started with a blueberry, raspberry and vanilla pannacotta, but i really wanted to make something that resembled the French flag.
Then i remembered a beautiful blueberry layer cake in the 21st issue of Donna Hay Magazine. Though the recipe didn't sound that good.
I had to find a good and simple butter cake.
At that exact moment, Bill (read Granger) came to help me with his delicious butter cake from Sydney Food.
I finally had my French glory cake!

Bluebbery, raspberry and vanilla cake
The cake itself is adapted from Bill Granger's Sydney food. I reduced the the amount of baking powder used because i wanted the cake to be dense.
The icing is made of fresh ricotta mixed with a little fromage blanc or yogurt, icing sugar and vanilla seeds. It goes so well with the dense-almost-almondy cake.
As for the fruit topping use whatever fruits you've got on hand - just remember that tangy fruits like blueberries, raspberries or redcurrant help balancing the lusciousness of the cake + ricotta icing.

Bluebbery, raspberry and vanilla cake

serves 8-12

for the cake
160g flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
83g butter, softened
130g caster sugar
2 eggs
seeds from half a vanilla pod
160ml sour cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl.
Place the butter and sugar in a bowl an cream together.
Add the eggs and vanilla seeds and mix. Add the dry ingredients, alternating with sour cream, mixing well after each addition.
Pour the cake batter into a lined 18x22cm rectangle cake tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack until completely cold.

for the ricotta icing and the fruit topping
250g ricotta
2 tbsp fromage blanc
seeds from half a vanilla pod
30g icing sugar
a big handful of blueberries
a big handful of raspberries

Combine the ricotta, fromage blanc, vanilla seeds and icing sugar and mix until smooth. Spread the top of the cake with this icing. Arrange the berries on top.

Note - this cake offers many possibilities from laid-back after-barbecue cake to posh summer dinner cake.

For the latter one, i reckon using only blueberries gives a sophisticated touche.

Labels: cakes of all kind, recipe inside

sweet link | posted by *fanny* at 15:12

13 sweets:

Anonymous said something sweet:: Quelle bonne idée !! Je ne suis pas fan de football non plus mais comme toi, je suis quelques matchs de la coupe du monde. Ton gâteau me plait bien !; 04 July, 2006 16:23
Anonymous said something sweet:: Wow. This looks gorgeous. I love the berries. And what a win too! A perfect cake to celebrate French glory.; 04 July, 2006 16:56
Anonymous said something sweet:: Oh, this looks so good! I enjoy a dense cake too. The ricotta icing sounds so intriguing - I may just have to go out a pick some up so I can give this a try!; 04 July, 2006 18:22
Alhya said something sweet:: voici une bien belle preuve d'amour pour la France, et je sens que je vais la soutenir aussi avec cette merveille!; 04 July, 2006 20:48
Fabienne said something sweet:: Your cake is really gorgeous ... Go les bleus; 04 July, 2006 20:54
Anonymous said something sweet:: Patriotic in both ways, wow ! "allez les bleus" on the 4th of july, and make a cake that suits both sides of the Atlantic, la classe!; 05 July, 2006 00:08
Anonymous said something sweet:: It looks wonderful and the ricotta frosting sounds great. I'm not a big football fan either, but always take the exscuse to bake a cake!; 05 July, 2006 06:23
Anonymous said something sweet:: tu nous gates j'espère que tu en prépara encore un pour une finale France Italie; 05 July, 2006 13:28
Anonymous said something sweet:: This looks amazing! and I love the evolution of the cake :)

Those berries just look perfect.; 05 July, 2006 15:49
Banlieue Blog said something sweet:: really gorgeous post!

My neighborhood went crazy last night.....singing, chanting....we are even yelling out the window....Go Bleu!

Good luck on Sunday!!!
I'll have to make this cake, Fanny!; 06 July, 2006 16:27
Anonymous said something sweet:: Lovely! Allez les bleus indeed!; 08 July, 2006 22:47
*fanny* said something sweet:: Hi there, thank you so much for all the great feedback. Sad we didn't make it, but: "Itralians you should be scared for your next defeat during the Euro cup".
That being said, let's get on with the rest.

Gilly - well it's not really an icing, but it does taste good with vanilla cake and berries.; 12 July, 2006 10:25
Anonymous said something sweet:: This cake is gorgeous! Just another reason to cheer on les bleus! I have to admit though, I stole it for a 4th of July celebration so I hope I haven't corrupted it too much!; 13 July, 2006 20:50