BAKING
Baking:
From My Family
To Yours
With my job it’s not often that I get ‘down time’
because of the countless hours I work in my
kitchen. However, on my days off I love to
spend quality time with my wife and our three
kids. As a family, we’re quite activity focused,
so we’ll typically go cycling, the theatre,
restaurants and when the weather is nice we’ll
have picnics together. I’m sure it’s no surprise
that I absolutely love cooking with my children.
I’m a firm believer of educating them about
food at a young age, especially healthy eating.
I also try to encourage them to explore different
types of food – there are no fussy eaters
allowed in my house.
On the weekend, the kids love to bake and we’ll
make anything from cupcakes, to biscuits, or
sponge cakes and of course the children’s
favourite…. treats that are gooey and chocolaty.
Every now and again I like to set a challenge and
bake something a little spectacular with them. I
am fully aware, as my wife will remind me, that I’m
making things more difficult for myself, and I confess
the process can get a little chaotic; but I have
found that if I delegate correctly, the results can
be quite surprising.
We recently made a white chocolate fruit cake
with a flourless coco sponge, which is this month’
s
recipe. Honestly, there was a lot of cleaning up to
do afterwards, but it was definitely worth it. This
without question is a fantastic cake, the final result
looks as if it was created by a highly skilled pâtissier
,
but the truth is that it’s quite simple. This cake
instantly reminds me of summer because of the
colourful decorative fruit.
If you have a summer party coming up, or simply
want to impress friends and family, then this is the
recipe for you. Enjoy.
Andy McLeish, chef patron at Chapter One
WHITE CHOCOLATE FRUIT CAKE
with a Flourless Coco Sponge
Flourless sponge base
• 155g unsalted butter (room temperature)420g
caster sugar8 eggs (room temperature)130g
cocoa powderCream the sugar and butter in
an electric mixer for 5 minutes. Add the eggs
one at a time, making sure to incorporate each
one before adding the next.
• Sieve the cocoa powder and gradually add to
the mix in 3 or 4 additions, then gently mix
until fully incorporated, making sure to scrape
the sides every so often.
• Pour the mix on trays lined with parchment
about 1.5cm deep. Bake at 180ºC for 10-12
minutes, then remove from the oven and place
on a cooling tray. Once cool, cut the s