“it's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine ... it's summertime!”― Kenny Chesney
Summertime.
And the most appropriate word-Chiffon...
Yash Chopra and his sensuous heroines come to mind!
Light and airy and gossamer!
Almost there and yet not.
A new movie coming up this summer,and you can bet that Katrina Kaif will be wearing ...CHIFFONS!
You have to behave in a very lady like "propah" manner when you dress in chiffon...so yours truly generally avoids this delicate fabric...I prefer crepe de chine.
Back to the edible stuff!
Cake...enchanted by the beauty of it!
My piping skills are not extraordinary...but they can make you go mmm!
A kiss of lemon in the sponge and a veritable kick of lemon and vodka in the frosting. A perfect end to a sunday lunch.And my all time favourite...Lemon Curd!
I so love cocktails...so what if this was an incomplete martini.I had to feed little chilldren too,thus had to use some restraint...only a small swig of vodka in the frosting.
After I saw a Lemon and Lavender Cake made by Deeba here, I was dying to try this out..onlt the main ingredient Lavender was missing.Minor changes from the original recipe...but it certainly made all happy!
I searched high and low, and even pestered my mum, but the Delhi heat ensured that Lavender was not coming from that aisle too.
So I skipped ,added the vodka.
You need some compensation, right?
Even if it is miniscule!
And this was my first all American type cake with three layers. I could have done four, but that would have stratched my luck. Next time.
On the cake platter.No less.
And the cake rose and rose...double in volume and held its shape. It also taught me a valuable lesson.
Pay attention!(One thing my teachers could not make me do in school or in college.)
And follow instructions.(Again, I prefer to learn the hard way.)
No...it depends on you, which path you want to take .
for the
Lemon Chiffon Cake with Vodka and Lemon Curd Whipped Cream ...
you need
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 tbsp/ 90 mils water
1 tsp baling powder
1/2 tsp lemon zest..no lavender so...
1 1/3 cup flour (remove 3 tbsp flour and substitute it with corn flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartare or a few drops lemon juice
sugar syrup
1/4 cup water or vodka or a mix of both
juice of 2 lemons
3 tbsp sugar
frosting
400 gm non dairy whipped cream
1/2 recipe lemon curd(coming up)
30 mils or more vodka
Oven on at 180C/350F, once you start with the batter ,you'll realise urgency takes on a different meaning.
Start with the sugar...sift it so that there are no lumps. Reserve 1/2 cup and proceed.
Separate the eggs carefully, the summer months make the eggs aquire a "loose" character, the yolks love to run away,careful is the buzz word.
The dry stuff, flour, cornflour,salt and baking powder, sifted.
The oil and water into the yolks,whisk lightly.
Into this add in the reserved half cup of sugar and the flour mix. Just whisk together and set aside.Add the zest, if you are using it now.
Start with the whites and lemon juice. ?Begin to whisk them with a vengeance.
Mid way add in the sifted sugar ,bit by bit, whipping till soft peaks form. soft peaks?When you lift the beater the peaks should hold like the ones in the picture.
Now, a spoonful of the whites into the yolk mix. mix in to lighten the batter.
You should actually fold in the whites into the yolk mix, but my bowl was smaller, so I poured the yolk mix into the whites and then GENTLY folded them all together.Dont go all loco, just fold.Save your energies for the whipping cream.
This should have been done first. A tall cake mould, no greasing or flouring needed. Just a sheet of non stick baking paper cut to shape the bottom. I do all my baking at night, and(as usual) could not find the roll of baking paper. So this was regular A4 paper. I'm not saying that you must use this , but if you are as un organised as me..A4 is great too.
Batter in, Only half way through.
In for 35 minutes, I was happy when I saw this dome...the cake was so happy!
It came out all well done too. You need to leave it till it cools,dont try to wrangle it out of its mould before it has completely cooled....that is what was instructed. Only they did not say why. Well, I'll tell you why, and if you have ever worn chiffon and it has rained down upon you...you'll know!
It shrinks!
I remember once carrying a chiffon scarf, and getting wet in the rain...and when I came back home, my scarf was no bigger than hubby dear's handkerchief.
That is why this is a chiffon cake.
I just wedged a bit off the side and left it overnight....covered, and in the morning I thanked my stars I had'nt tried any gymnastics with the cake.
It came out super easy, just ran a knife around the rim and popped it out.
The whipped cream...
All the cream I blended in with about 30 mils of vodka(kids here..) and half the lemon curd(find the recipe here.)
And that is the soaking syrup...I used half vodka ,half water.
One slice, brush on about a third of the syrup, slather on the lemon frosting, cover, second layer, brush the syrup and frosting....
Third layer, remaining syrup and frosting. Smooth on...
Clean now...
Left over frosting I tinted purple...
And piped on...
And some bits of lemon on top.
The proof of the pudding, after being chilled for about 6 hours, the vodka was mellow...and the flavours rich.
Sliced and served...
“Life itself is the proper binge.”
Soft and dreamy, just right for this crazy summer.
Even the colours soothe...
Coming up , the buzz that is Lemon Curd!
ASAP!
PS, if you want to , you can skip the vodka totally!
So what are you baking today???
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