This may not come as a surprise but I love summer, the long days, the warm weather (not too hot though, my comfort zone is somewhere between 24° and 28° C) and just think about all the fresh produce I get. However I don’t have a garden (I seem to complain about that a lot) but the second best thing to having your own garden are parents with a huge garden. Well, actually, it’s better. One can harvest without putting in the work first. Without the commitment you can enjoy the flowers and trees and bushes. Unfortunately my parents live quite far away. It’s a pity for many reasons but the garden is definitely one. So whenever one of my sisters or me drive back home, we have to take a big (mostly empty) suitcase with us to fill with vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts. All from the garden of my parents. Organic, regional, seasonal and very healthy. And the taste! If you have a garden (or access to one like I do) you’ll probably agree that homegrown vegetable don’t taste the same as bought ones. Just think about tomatoes! No comparison to the ones bought in a store! But I drift away.

So my sister went home last weekend and brought me this. She got up on Sunday morning just to pick them for me. So as a thank-you I made her this currant meringue cake (and because I wanted to make it anyway but pssst! If she asks, I made it only for her, ok? You’re with me?).

It’s a quite easy and old recipe. My mum and my grandma make the same cake. Done in 40 mins and the sweet and sour combination is perfect for summer.

Currant meringue cake

Currant meringue cake

Ingredients

    For the cake:
  • 60 g butter (room temperature)
  • 25 g castor sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanille sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 60 g flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 150 g currants (without the stems)
  • For the meringue:
  • 2 egg whites
  • 80 g sugar

Instructions

  1. These are the ingredients for only half the cake. It's supposed to be a sheet cake but I used 2 small heart baking dishes. So please adjust to the baking tin you use.
  2. Preheat oven to 175° C.
  3. Beat the butter with the sugar and Vanille sugar until very smooth.
  4. Add the egg and combine well.
  5. Sieve in the flour and baking powder and slowly combine.
  6. Pour your cake dough it into the baking dish and sprinkle the currants on top.
  7. Bake for 25 mins.
  8. While the cake bakes, beat the egg whites with the sugar and put it into a piping bag.
  9. After 25 mins take the cake out and pipe the meringue directly on the cake and finish baking at 200° C for around 8 mins.
  10. Let it cool down and enjoy!
http://look-what-i-made.com/2013/07/12/currant-obsession/

currant_cake3

Look what beautiful currant cake I made.

I know it’s currently very en vogue to shoot on black (or dark) background. I gave it a try this time and I must admit that the colours pop much more!

 

currant_cake_detail

You can tell from the amount of pictures I took (and this is only a fraction!) that I really liked how the cake looks. Very fresh and summer-like.

currant_cake_from_above

This is me symbolically handing it over to my sister. (Actually I gave it my other sister to bring it to her. So this is really only a gesture.)

currant_cake_holding

Now. Carry on!