Easy Sponge Cake - with citrus, rosemary and thyme

this week  is the FWDR Blog Birthday week! it's been an whole entire year since the first post 52 weeks ago, and how far we've come. the year has been a good one, with lots of sun (and rain) and great home grown food. when FWDR first posted the Homegrown Bloody Mary post, it was also THE Julia Child's Birthday, and what a day to begin a food blog! So, in honour of Julia and the big birthday, I've taken from Julia's, Baking with Julia Cookbook, a cake recipe I've used time and time again with great results. I tweaked it a little to give it an FWDR spin, by adding lime zest, rosemary and thyme. its a perfect sponge recipe made even better with freshly whipped cream and homemade jam.

 

I've added a lot of pictures of the sponge making process, as I feel many people are afraid of making sponge cake. it really is easy, though. the one trick is to use a light touch, and not to be scared! the only leavening to this cake is the air you whip into the eggs, so an aggressive hand will knock out vital air and lend to a dense, lifeless cake. this is a traditional French genoise recipe, using the cold technique. don't skimp on whipping time, you need to whip the eggs and sugar until a ribbon sits on top of the mixture for 10 seconds, so beat those eggs for at least 5 minutes.

 

 

Radish, Smoked Butter and Flaky Sea Salt

 

 

Smoked Butter

yes it's true! smoking butter at home is quite simple. you need a metal box with large-ish holes punched in it, wood chips, a pot with tight fitting lid, a plate and some butter. I saw this recipe first in the Lark cookbook. (to read the FWDR review on the book click, here.) it instantly got my attention, the chefs at Lark were equally as inspired by the NOMA Cookbook, where they first discovered smoking butter.

 



smoking butter is such a great and simple idea - we smoke cheese, why not butter? it adds a lovely flavour to country bread and is great tossed with steamed veggies, you can make a killer beurre blanc sauce with it too, as they do in the Lark Cookbook. I used it here with fresh sliced radishes and flaky sea salt.

my attempt at smoking butter was a bit of trial and error. I used fine oak shavings my carpenter friend gave me, the recipe first called for chips. I used a roses tin for the smoke box. which I needed to make the holes a bit bigger. i'd say half a centimetre would have been best.