Up Next: Lemon Meringue Pie
This is another one from the request file, something else I can’t believe I’ve neglected for so long. Forgive me, all you contributors to my request post from last month, I’m skipping around a bit. I was actually planning on doing sfogliatelle this week but then realized I was fresh out of leaf lard. Time to get the rendering oven fired back up again! Oh, and I’m also looking for a good recipe for a “mud cake”, a request from reader Nokanen in Finland. He sent me a link to one but it’s in Finnish, and Finnish is one of those Uralic languages that has very few Latin cognates, so I can’t figure it out. Help would be greatly appreciated.
Pretty much one of my favourite desserts. One of the chefs I used to work with taught me a great recipe for a lemon curd tart, that mixed cream/juice and had to sit overnight to settle out before baking – but I forgot to ask her for the recipe when I left that kitchen. Um, any chance you’d be willing to cover a few variations? =p Looking forward to whatever you choose to make!
I could do a tart as well, sure. That’s the French version of course. A good idea is a good idea!
– Joe
Well, now I just feel spoiled! 😉 Thanks!
🙂
Excellent timing considering the “triumphs and disasters” email I sent you earlier today. Thanks, Joe!
I had you in mind! 😉
– Joe
I do hope you plan to make it with graham cracker crust. That’s the only way I will eat lemon meringue pie. It’s blah with pastry crust. Just sayin’.
Oh yes, I agree that’s the only way for a citrus pie like lemon meringue or key lime. You’re exactly right!
– Joe
Maybe you could do an unofficial poll on real crust vs graham cracker crust. I’m the exact opposite. The only way I’ll eat a meringue pie (citrus, coconut, or chocolate) is with a flaky pastry crust. Otherwise I find it like eating grit and sand in an otherwise creamy dessert. It would be interesting to see if it’s a regional thing. Everyone I bake for here in central Missouri raves about the ones I make with the homemade flaky crust. I learned to make them that way in Texas.
Hey JBird!
My guess is it all comes down to personal taste I can go either way for lemon meringue, but for a key lime pie I have to have a crumb crust. Something about the tartness and the crumble together…I can’t live without it. Thanks for weighing in on this!
– Joe
I wonder if it’s a Finnish cake despite the name. Curious… We call a dense, non-flour chocolate cake as (Mississippi) mud cake (or it might contain a little amount of flour).
Here’s a little Finnish-English word list that might come in handy 😀
suklaa = chocolate
kaakaojauhe = cocoa powder
kananmuna = egg
voi = butter
vehnäjauho = wheat flour
sokeri = sugar
That will help!
Thanks, Yukiko!
– Joe
Huh, reminds me of kladdkaka (my swedish friends call it gooey/sticky cake when they mention it in english.
Which reminds me of….
a very dense brownie. XD
I think that’s what it is to be honest!
Anyway, for now we’ll focus on the lemons. Cheers,
– Joe
Yup, and keep in mind while Google Translate is not the end all, it’s pretty okay for figuring things out if you are smart enough (sometimes you have to play detective a bit, haha)
You can enter non standard letters with the online keyboard built in to it as well. I knew a asian person I showed that little trick to want to hug me she was so happy.
Funny, I recently, in the last month or so, started making kladdkaka after seeing a YouTube video of it popping up. It’s literally a ten minute mix of inexpensive ingredients and a quick bake. My teenage daughter is addicted.
Clearly I need to make this soon! 😉
– Joe
Hi Joe, here’s a mud cake recipe I’ve used a couple of times. I’m not a mud cake aficionado so I’m not sure how this compares to others out there. I will say the recipients enjoyed it. I read it’s much moister if allowed to sit 3 days before serving so plan accordingly. Oh and I believe I used a parchment paper collar in the pans as the cake raised quite high.
Chocolate Mud Cake
makes one 8? square or 9? round cake
recipe from Paris Cutler’s Planet Cake
220g butter
220g dark chocolate, cut into pieces
25g instant coffee granules
160ml water
125g self-raising flour
125g plain flour
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda not baking powder)
480g caster sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
7 tsp vegetable oil
100ml buttermilk
Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease an 8? square or 9? round tin and line the base and sides with baking paper that extends 2cm above the top of the tin.
Put the butter, chocolate, coffee and water into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the chocolate has melted, then remove from the heat.
Combine buttermilk, oil and eggs in a bowl.
Mix the flours, cocoa, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and melted chocolate mixture, stirring with a large spoon until completely combined.
Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour 40 minutes or until a skewer poker into the centre of the cake comes out clean though it may be a little sticky. Leave the cake in the tin to cool.
Thank you, chef mom! Excellent. Mud cake should be an interesting little adventure.
Cheers,
– Joe