Jenny Colgan's Lemon ' Getting What you Want ' Cake

Welcome to the Enchanted Stove where everyday the stove top is full of delicious things to eat. Let's cook something magical. The recipes on this blog have been tested in my kitchen.

Jenny Colgan’s Lemon ‘Getting- what- you- want’ Cake

    Midway into JennyColgan’s book, MeetMe at the Cupcake Cafe, I ran across a delightful recipe.  The title of the recipe caught my attention.  It was a recipe for ‘Lemon ‘Get what you want’ cake that appeared in one of the chapters.  Most of the chapters of the book start off with a recipe. This particular recipe caught my eye.  I decided to give it a whirl.  It’s not a particularly pretty cake to look at, but let me tell you, in the taste department, it really packs a punch.    I don’t guarantee that you’ll always get what you want after serving this cake, but you will certainly make your guests happy.  There will not be anything left of this cake when you serve it.

Lemon ‘Get what you Want Cake’.

  The book’s main character, Issy Randall, has been made redundant from her city job and loses her boyfriend, Graeme, in the process.  She loves baking so she came up with the idea of opening her own Cupcake Cafe.  After presenting her idea to her bank manager, Austin, to persuade him to lend her the money to open up her own Cafe in Stoking Newton, Issy opens up the cafe of her dreams. She finds the business a bit challenging but meets very interesting people and in the end gains a new relationship.  Read my review of the book here:  My Review of Meet me at the CupcakeCafe.

Jenny Colgan’s  Lemon'Getting- what- you- want’ Cake
Ingredients		Notes  This cake is mentioned in Jenny Colgan’s book, ‘Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe’.
For the cake 4 ounces sifted self rising flour 4 ounces unflavoured butter 4 ounces sugar 2 whole eggs 1 teaspoon baking powder Juice of 1 lemon Zest of 1 lemon     For the glaze 4 ounces confectioner’s (icing) sugar Juice of half a lemon 2 TBS water	softened	Cooking Time: 20-35 minutes	Prep Time 10 minutes
			Ready in: 30 to 45 minutes
Method
1.       Preheat the oven to 180 C. 2.       Grease and line a 9 inch loaf tin. 3.       In a mixing bowl combine sifted flour, baking powder and lemon zest. 4.       In a separate mixing bowl mix butter, sugar, lemon juice and eggs.  Using an electric mixer beat the wet ingredients well. 5.       Gradually add the sifted flour mix into the wet ingredients. Beat well but don’t over mix. 6.       Pour batter into the prepared tin. 7.       *Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  You’ll know when it’s done when you insert a cake tester or toothpick and it comes out clean. 8.       Make the icing/glaze:  Into a mixing bowl add l lemon juice, 2 TBS water and icing sugar.  Mix well. 9.       Remove cake from oven.  While cake is still warm, pour icing/glaze over it. Let cool completely before serving.
		Additional notes
		*Ovens do vary.  The original recipe says to bake for 20 minutes.  My oven, which is a fan oven, baked the cake in 35 to 40 minutes.  It’s a good idea to bake the cake as indicated in Jenny’s book and see if it’s done; then if it isn’t, bake a further 10 minutes, then check again.  The cake should be golden and spring back when touched. The centre should be firm, not wobbly. I added the juice of 2 lemons because I like mine lemony.  I also like my cakes sweeter, so I put in an extra 2 ounces of sugar in the cake mix and an extra 2 ounces of icing sugar for the icing/glaze.  (I have a renowened sweet tooth). To prevent cake from burning cover the tin with foil for the first 10 minutes; then uncover and bake for the additional cooking time stated in the recipe.

Flan (Cream Caramel)

Welcome to the Enchanted Stove where everyday the stove top is full of delicious things to eat. Let's cook something magical. The recipes on this blog have been tested in my kitchen.

             Flan (Crème Caramel)

M

Y  Mother was the Queen of  Flan. She used to make it for every occasion at our place.  She even began to make it upon request by the neighbours.  I wondered why she never thought to sell her flans or start her own franchise.........she could have made a fortune; Although, my Dad often jested that the quality ingredients she uses and the slices she serves she would lose out on the profits.  For Mom always cut thick slices of flan for my Father and I and would use the finest ingredients she could get, always using up to 12 free range eggs  per flan and used Carnation® Evaporated milk, Carnation® Sweetened condensed milk and 8 ounces of fresh whole milk....and the finest vanilla essence she could find.  This was just to make the egg custard for the flan.  She made her caramel with granulated sugar and same ratio of water as sugar.

F

Lan has been around for centuries.  The dish was first found in ancient Rome.  The Romans used eggs to make custard-like savoury dish which was baked.  The Romans loved eel flan. They learned to make sweet flan as well which they sweetened with honey and sprinkled, not with sugar, but with none other than....pepper! Spain later adopted the Roman egg custard dish, using caramelized sugar as a base topping for the custard. This was the birth of the modern flan. 

F

lan, in the British connotation of the word means a sweet or savoury pastry case used to fill with whipped cream, strawberries and other fruits.  To the British, what Spain calls Flan is known as Crème Caramel.   The French use both the pastry case and egg custard meaning of the word flan, baking their egg custard in little moulds in a Bain Marie.

F

rom Spain and throughout Europe the idea of this sweet decadent dessert travelled to the Americas and Caribbean.  In my parents’ native country of Cuba, there is a mirage of ways of making flan.  Some Cuban cooks make chocolate flan, other Cuban cooks make pumpkin flan, coconut flan, coffee flan, and even one flavoured with orange.

T

he word flan evolved from the old French word, Flaoun which they adopted from the Latin ‘Fladon’, which means ‘custard’.

                                                    Flan

Ingredients

4 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

1 can (8oz) evaporated milk

1 can (8 oz) sweetened condensed milk

8 oz whole milk (You can substitute skim milk)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 US cup (8 ounces) granulated sugar

1 cup water

1.      Method Make the crème caramel. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan pour the cup of sugar and water over high heat. Let the sugar caramelize and turn a lovely amber colour, for about twenty minutes. Don't let it burn.  Shake the pan from side to side occasionally, but be careful not to burn yourself for the mixture can get extremely hot.

2.      Have ready a deep Pyrex dish ready; alternatively, you can use small glass ramekin dishes for individual flans.  Once the crème caramel sauce is done remove from heat and (VERY QUICKLY) pour the sauce into the Pyrex dish or individual ramekin dishes.

3.      In a large bowl pour the evaporated, sweetened condensed milk and whole milk and stir to combine.  Add  the eggs and the vanilla. With an electric beater beat this mixture until well combined.  Pour the mixture into the prepared Pyrex or individual ramekins. 

4.      Prepare a Bain Marie.  Get a large roasting pan and place the Pyrex (or ramekins) in this pan. Pour enough water till the water comes about 1 inch from the sides of the Pyrex/ramekins.

5.      Bake in oven for 2 hours if making a large flan or 55 minutes respectably if making individual ramekins.

6.      Once the flan is cooked remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes...then refrigerate for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight. 

7.      Once the flan has set in the fridge you want to unmold it.  To do this first run a butter knife around the perimetres of the flan to loosen it.  Give the mold a gentle shake.  Carefully put a serving platter over the Pyrex/ramekins and with one fast move invert the plate so that the flan is resting on the plate and the Pyrex/ramekin is on top.  Let the melted caramel sauce drip unto the platter.