 |
| Prinsesstarta a la Mary Berry |
Week 13 brought a new project inspired directly by the GBBS: the verdant Prinsesstarta. We had made a trip to Ikea that week and I was able to pick up a pile of marzipan just perfect for this project. This composed dessert is incredibly rich and quite the showstopper! I went a little light on the whipped cream filling and that seemed to be just fine. The genoise sponge didn't rise as well as I'd hoped for - I am guessing that the eggs needed to be whipped for a longer period of time for the proper aeration. There were also some pockets of flour in there which meant that I didn't fold quite enough. This genoise batter is seriously finicky business and made me quite nervous! I'll definitely need to try my hand at a few more batches to feel comfortable. For the creme patissiere filling, I used some vanilla bean paste which gave it a nice visual effects. Full disclosure: I used store-bought raspberry jam instead of homemade (I know - what shame). I also didn't have any fondant so I made my rose topper out of marzipan. Sidenote, the Ikea brand marzipan seemed to be a little thick/stiff and oily compared to other kinds. I wonder if it's a brand difference.
 |
Light fluffy slices,
ready for some tea |
Overall, the cake turned out pretty well for a first attempt. I'd like to try it again with some homemade marzipan and a bit of fondant, as well as with a properly made jam. As far as timing goes, it took about 3 hours and 15 minutes to get this whole thing put together. That's about 30 minutes more than was allotted to the GBBO contestants for their technical challenge.
The old project of the week was to celebrate one more batch of lemony deliciousness. I went for the Melissa Clark's lemon bars with olive oil and sea salt recipe and, of course, subbed in a few Meyer lemons for that certain floral essence. It's such a lovely recipe with such great texture and flavor. But the olive oil does make the bars rather soft and finicky at room temperature which makes for tricky transport. I made a parchment sling for this batch, but it just wound up cracking the base and putting in an unwanted bend in the curd filling. An aesthetic bummer, but still tasty.
 |
| Lemon and olive oil bars |
Comments