Dr William Butler, 17th century English writer
A delicious & light dessert which I made a while ago when I wasn’t quite camera crazy & ‘blogged on’. It was loved by everyone; am waiting to see strawberries back this season to make it again. The gateau has this lovely fresh flavour, and the vibrant look enhances the great taste!! Pretty simple and straightforward, this can be made in a day in advance. Keep it covered if you choose to make it the day before.
Ingredients:
Eggs – 2
Zest of ½ an orange
Flour – 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Filling/ Topping:
Thick Yogurt – 4 tbsp (or fromage frais)
Light Cream – 200ml (20-30%)
Zest of ½ orange
Castor sugar – 2 tbsp
Strawberries – 225gms
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 190degrees C.
- Line a 12 X 8” Swiss roll tin with butter paper.
- Whisk the eggs + sugar + vanilla essence + rind until thick; approximately 10 minutes till mousse-like.
- Fold in the flour with a metal spoon very carefully; try not to knock out any air.
- Pour batter into tin and bake for 15-20minutes/till done.
- Turn the cake onto a kitchen towel, sprinkled with Castor sugar, remove the butter paper, roll up gently & leave to cool.
- Meanwhile, to make the filling, put the cream + rind + sugar in a bowl and beat well until thick.
- Whisk the yogurt until smooth & gently mix in. Divide the mixture into 2 bowls.
- Chop ¾ of the strawberries and fold into 1 bowl for the filling. Slice the remainder for the top. Reserve a few leaves too if you like, or use fresh mint leaves.
- Unroll the sponge and spread the strawberry filling, leaving 1/2 and inch at the edges. The filling will get pushed out as you roll the sponge. Roll the sponge gently, but firmly, and lay in a serving dish with the edge underneath. (to prevent it from opening/unrolling).
- Spread the second bowl of cream over the top, decorate with sliced strawberries and mint leaves, and dust with icing sugar.
- Chill well before serving.
Note: This can be made with other seasonal soft fruit like blackberries, blueberries/rasberries etc. Also, for those who like toasted almonds, you can include them in the topping.