Friday 17 May 2013

Almond & Raspberry Genoise


Adapted from a Roux brothers recipe for a mango and green pepper cake (which works better on the page than in reality, as 'mango' has loads of menu-appeal, but in fact seems to lose almost all of its luscious edginess in the process of cooking), this is another of those quick-and-easy recipes that, for me, come to the fore as soon as the weather and the clocks allow garden work to continue in the evening until well after dinner-preparation should already have been significantly underway. Five minutes prep, and then into a hot oven for twenty five minutes or so while dinner is already being consumed, and after an appropriate period of resting, this is perfect, served ideally with cream or with a light crème anglaise. Like all of these sorts of things, you can play as many tunes as you like with the recipe - substitute blueberries, or blackberries, or peach (or whatever you fancy) for the raspberries; add a little chocolate powder to the cake mix if you want to introduce a chocolate flavour; add a spoonful of any alcohol of your choice to the fruit, once you've put it into the ramekin....the world is your oyster. The dessert itself is light and delicious, and comes highly recommended.

Ingredients: 1 punnet fresh raspberries; 30g sugar; 1 egg, separated; 50g icing sugar; 15g ground almonds; 15g flour; 2 or 3 drops of almond essence.

Method:

1. pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C,

2. Grease the inside of two ramekins. Put a strip of aluminium foil across the base of each ramekin, long enough to come up the sides of the rameking and fold down over the rim - this is to allow you to unmould the finished dessert more easily. Divide the fresh raspberries between the ramekins, and sprinkle the sugar over the fruit.

3. Beat the egg-white until frothy, and then beat into it half of the icing sugar. Beat the remaining icing sugar into the egg yolk, and then fold the yolk mixture into the egg white mixture.

4. Fold into the egg mixture the flour and almonds, adding the almond essence at the same time.

5. Divide the mixture between the two ramekins, to cover the fruit. (Don't worry if some of the fruit pokes through - as it cooks, it will spread and cover.

6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for twenty to twenty-five minutes; it will be done when the top is visibly browned and crisp.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for about ten minutes, and then unmould onto plates to serve, along with ether whipped cream or crème anglaise.