HARRY EASTWOOD
CAKE INGREDIENTS
3
medium free-range eggs
1 1/4 cup
caster sugar (divided)
1 1/3 cup
peeled and grated butternut squash
3/4 cup
white rice flour
3 Tbsp.
good-quality cocoa powder
2/3 cup
ground almonds
1 tsp
baking powder
1 tsp
bicarbonate of soda
1⁄4 tsp
salt
1/2 cup
buttermilk
ICING INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup
unsalted butter, softened
2 cups
icing sugar, sieved
1/4 cup
mascarpone
4 tsp
cocoa powder
small pinch of salt
Recipe taken from Red
Velvet and Chocolate
Heartache by Harry
Eastwood, published by
Bantam Press (2009)
BEFORE YOU START BAKING A CAKE, CHECK THE
EXPIRY DATE on your baking soda. It expires much quicker
than we often realize and the cake could rise unevenly in the
oven if it’s out of date. You’d be amazed how many people never
check this and they end up thinking that they’re at fault when the
cake doesn’t rise, when in fact, the raising agent has expired.
NEVER OPEN THE OVEN DOOR whilst baking a cake, no
matter how curious you are to see what’s going on inside. The
sealed hot air inside is essential to making sure that the cake rises
properly. If you have an oven with a glass door, simply make sure
that the light is on so you can see through the door. If the cake
still has a bit of a dip in the centre, keep cooking it even if the
recipe time says it’s done. The middle is always the last bit of the
cake to cook through.
ALWAYS COOL A CAKE THOROUGHLY BEFORE ICING
IT. There is a surprising amount of residual heat left in a cooked
cake, even when it feels cool enough to touch. Make sure you
refrigerate it for at least half an hour after it’s cooled down in the
ambient before icing.
GARNISH
handful spray roses, (with stems at least 2 cm long)
YOU WILL NEED
2 18 cm-diameter x 5 cm-deep loose-bottomed tins
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Line the tins with baking parchment
and brush a little vegetable oil over the base and sides.
Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl for 4 full minutes until pale and
fluffy. Beat in the grated butternut squash, followed by the flour, cocoa powder,
ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add the buttermilk
before beating again one last time to make sure that all the ingredients are well
introduced to one another.
Pour the mixture evenly into both tins, then place in the middle of the oven for 30
minutes.
Once cooked, remove the cakes from the oven, unmold, peel off the baking
parchment and leave them to cool down completely on a wire rack.
You can make the icing whilst the cakes are cooking, as long as you don’t ice them
until they are completely cold, otherwise the icing will run off. Beat the butter with
1/2 a cup of sugar in a large mixing bowl. You will need to work them together
patiently, using the back of a wooden spoon. It will seem like an impossible task at
first, but they will eventually turn into a lovely rich paste.
Once you reach this stage, beat vigorously for 10 seconds to loosen the butter even
further. Add the mascarpone, cocoa powder and salt, as well as the remaining sugar.
Beat once again to combine.
Refrigerate the icing for 15 minutes. Give it a good beating with your wooden spoon
before icing the middle and top of the cold cake. Decorate the top with flowers
before serving. - Harry Eastwood is a resident judge on Food Network Canada’s The Big Bake