Heritage Almond Cake

 I don't know much about my great grandmother, Beatrice Versfeld except that her and my great grandfather, Alexander lived and farmed on the now wine-growing estate of Groote Post in Darling. It's where my grandfather and my mother also grew up. Judging from my genes, I've always thought it safe to assume that she was an excellent baker. 'Cos, well all the woman (on my mom's side of the family) are! Well, that was an assumption until I found the Cape's very first cookbook written by Hildegonda Duckitt amongst my Great Aunt's things the other day. 

You'll notice that, for a cookbook, it is suspiciously spotless - mainly because it came from my dad's side of the family ;)

The author, Hildegonda Duckitt also grew up on Groote Post (with my great grandmother) and is credited as being the first collector of typically South African recipes - Dutch, English, German, East Indian and Malay - which she started collecting in her teen years from servants and then later from the high society groups in which she moved. Basically, this book contains the who's-who of excellent bakers and cooks from the 1850's. And guess who I found... On the very first page in the 'cakes' chapter too!

Turns out my great grandmother's almond cake was legendary in the Cape. Not just legendary, but Hildagonda penned a 'very good' next to it too. 

Now, these recipes are so old that most of them indicate cooking on an open fire and there are a few that use a 'plateful' of flour as a measurement! (The ex-pastry chef in me gasps in horror!)

Mrs Versfeld's Old Dutch Almond Cake calls for one pound of loaf sugar - don't worry, I also asked what the heck is loaf sugar?! Turns out in the 19th century, sugar was sold in cones called 'sugar loaves' to ensure it's quality and weight, as it was such an expensive ingredient. To use it, you'd need sugar nips (tongs) to break off lumps which were then ground down to a finer consistency. 

Can you imagine grinding sugar like this for any of my recipes?
You'd be in the kitchen for days!

Great Granny Beatrice would turn in her grave if she saw how much of this 'expensive' sugar I use each week but I don't think she'd mind that I added my own touches to her beloved recipe. A few inky raspberries, a touch of lemon zest and a sprinkling of flaked almonds was it. This cake is light but moist and gets even better after a few days. 

The method is seriously on the vague side - something I noticed to be a trend in this book. The assumption in those times was that everyone could bake, so most instructions are only 3-4 sentences long. This cake, for instance, doesn't even explain that you need to whip the egg whites... Because, I mean, duh! 

Do you have any treasured family recipes? Why not dig them up and bake something truly special (rather than braaing - bleh) this Heritage Day 24 September. 

Great Granny Beatrice's Almond Cake

Serves 8-10

50g flaked almonds

5 large eggs

250g Natura Golden caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g ground almonds

80ml (1/3 cup) crushed plain biscuits (about 6 biscuits) - I used Marie Biscuits

zest of 1 lemon

1 cup frozen raspberries (optional), dusted in flour

Natura icing sugar, for dusting

Line a 18-20cm springform cake tin with baking paper then sprinkle half the almonds on the bottom. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (160 degrees for a fan-forced oven).

Whip the egg yolks with 200g of the sugar and the vanilla with an electric or stand mixer until very pale, thick and light. 

In a clean, seperate bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peak stage, then gradually add the remaining 50g of sugar until thick and glossy. 

Combine the ground almonds, biscuits, and lemon zest and fold into the whipped egg yolks alternately with the whipped egg whites. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin then press the flour-dusted raspberries into the batter. Sprinkle with the remaining flaked almonds over the top and bake in the preheated oven for an hour and a half until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before unmoulding. 

Serve with a dollop of softly whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar. 

MORE OF MY OLD FAMILY RECIPES:

1954 Sticky Toffee Pudding

Homemade Romany Creams

My Family Milktart

Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake

They say you can't buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream. And that's sort of the same thing isn't it?! Well how about buying the ingredients to create this spectacular show-stopper of a beauty guaranteed to bring you happiness. This ice cream cake is so ridiculous easy to make I should be embarrassed for even sharing it. But I'm not. 

This recipe combines two of my childhood memories; I'm sure I'm not the only one to remember licking melted dribbles of artificially-flavoured strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream off my fingers. And of course, the ice cream had to be served in those hideous pink cones! 

The other childhood memory is trips to Milky Lane for soft serve - which meant an award for best parents for mom and dad!  I would sit and swoon over the intricate ice cream cakes that were made to order - if you managed to score a Milky Lane ice cream cake for your birthday party then you were the luckiest kid ever. 

 Despite the kitsch-ness that we associate with Neopolitan ice cream, it actually has a far more dignified history. Invented in Italy (Naples to be exact) it was apparently first made up of the colours of the Italian flag - pistachio, vanilla and cherry! Over time, pistachio and cherry (sadly!) got ditched for the more popular chocolate and strawberry. I've subbed the chocolate layer for a brownie base but if that's too much effort, then go for chocolate cake, crushed chocolate biscuits or even just good ol' chocolate ice cream!

Neapolitan Ice cream Cake

Serves 10-12

300g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

150g unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla
150g caster sugar
3 eggs, beaten
75g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt

1L vanilla ice cream, softened

1L raspberry, strawberry or mixed berry sorbet, softened

Chocolate sauce, to decorate

Fresh raspberries, frozen, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Line a 20cm spring form cake tin with baking paper.

For the brownie base, melt 200g chopped chocolate, butter and vanilla together in a heatproof bowl, set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar, then leave to cool for a few minutes.

Beat in the eggs, then sift in the flour, cocoa and salt and fold in until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Stir in the remaining chocolate. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top starts to crack but the centre remains gooey.

Turn off the oven and leave the brownies inside for a further 5 minutes before removing.

Leave to cool completely in the tin. Loosen with a palette knife, clean the tin and place the brownie base back in the cake tin.

Spread over the softened sorbet and place in the freezer to set.

Top with softened vanilla ice cream and and freeze until set.

Remove from the mould, top with chocolate sauce and decorate with raspberries.

5-Ingredient Chocolate Raspberry Macaroon Cake (Gluten-free)

Be honest, I had you at chocolate right?. Well that’s understandable, because without chocolate there would be darkness and chaos in the world (okay we don't know that for sure but let's just put it up to trust - and I'd trust a chocolate bar any day). But back to the 'cake', it's got just 5 main ingredients - how cool is that? And it's gluten-free! Even more brownie points earned!

Layers of coconut macaroon, whipped chocolate and raspberries make this recipe an absolute hit and super impressive with so little effort it's actually embarrassing.  But don't worry, I won't tell if you don't! Try and use the best quality chocolate you can get your paws on, the high cocoa content gives the whipped ganache a bittersweet richness, combined with the sweet meringue and zing of the fresh raspberries - it’s just plain awesome. 

Chocolate raspberry macaroon cake
Recipe and images created for Yuppiechef.com

(Serves 6-8)

1 cup cream

300g dark chocolate, chopped

3 egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 2/3 cups desiccated coconut

To decorate:

Cocoa, for dusting

200g fresh raspberries (or other fresh fruit), to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 20 x 20cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Bring the cream to a boil, remove from the heat and add the chocolate chunks. Allow to stand for 5 minutes then stir until smooth. Refrigerate until set then whip until fluffy and stiff.

In a medium saucepan, bring 1cm of water to a simmer. Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites in a glass bowl set over the simmering water until soft peak stage. Gradually beat in the sugar until combined. Remove from the heat and beat at high speed until cool. 

Fold in the coconut gently until combined. Spread the mixture into the lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool slightly, and then turn the macaroon cake onto a clean surface. Trim the edges and cut the cake into two rectangles.

Sandwich the layers together with the whipped chocolate mixture, finishing with a layer of chocolate and finally a dusting of cocoa and a sprinkling of raspberries.

TIP This cake is even better refrigerated overnight and enjoyed the next day. 

Red Velvet Raspberry Sweetie Pies

South African's have a serious soft spot for sweetie pies (around the world they're known as cutie pies, wagon wheels, moon pies or mallow puffs). But whatever you choose to call them, their squishy marshmallowy centres covered in a thin layer of chocolate will turn anyone to mush. I don't know about you, but I love them for the fact that sharing is not an option, the treat is designed for a solo indulgence(best done in the car on the way home so you can hide the wrapper and no one will know!). I'll also add that everyone has their own technique for eating a sweetie pie - mine being to bite off a piece then use my finger to dig out all the marshmallow inside before devouring the remnants.

But now that the original has been discontinued here in South Africa (my sincerest condolences if this is news to you...) you'll now have to get your fix by making your own. I thought outside the cake box and added a red velvet spin to mine, with some bright raspberries swirled in for good measure. The red hue transforms this childhood favourite into a sexy little red number, perfect to make for your sweetie.

In the spirit of a different kind of luuuurve, my super-talented sister and I teamed up to do this very special post. Sarah-Jane from Art Strings has transformed my boring recipe text into the most beautiful illustration so feast your eyes before you feast on the sweetie pies!  

And just incase, here is the boring recipe text...

Red velvet raspberry sweetie pies

Makes 20

2 egg whites

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 tsp liquid glucose

1 tsp vanilla extract

few drops red gel food colouring

¼ cup raspberry puree

20 fresh raspberries

20 round biscuits or wafers

250g dark chocolate, melted

Whisk the egg whites in a heatproof glass or metal bowl until soft peak stage. Add the castor sugar gradually until the meringue turns glossy. Place the bowl over a pot of gently simmering water and beat the meringue on high until the mixture feels hot to the touch (or 60C on a thermometer). Then add the liquid glucose. Remove the bowl from the heat transfer to a new bowl and beat on high until cool. Fold in the vanilla, red colouring and raspberry puree then place in a piping bag. Pipe a swirl onto each biscuit, insert a raspberry into the middle then finish piping more marshmallow on top. Dip the sweetie pies in chocolate and allow to set on a wire cake rack.

TIP The marshmallow fluff can be stored in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Remember to hop on over to Facebook and like my page for recipes and sweet stuff. I also tweet about some cool things every now and then and Instagram my bakes (if I remember to snap them before I devour them!) 

If you LOVE the illustrations as much as I do and require custom creations, you can contact Sarah by emailing artstrings.creations@gmail.com