The intention was to layer vanilla madeira cake batter (is this the same as what is known as pound cake in the US?) with more of the cake batter flavoured with pistachios and lemon curd. I expected the lemon curd to change the consistency of the cake batter and thought that it might form moist, gooey layers within the cake. I hoped the pistachios would colour this layer green, so that it would stand out as a differentiated layer, and I could see how it spread while the cake was baking. This didn't happen, because I didn't grind the pistachios to meal, just chopped them in a mini-processor to give a mix of coarse and fine lumps - there wasn't enough fine meal to colour the lemon layer, but I was worried that nut meal would make the lemon ripple too dry.
The finished cake was delicate in flavour, but rich and moist in texture, with a tender, close crumb. It was too difficult, for the most part, to differentiate between the vanilla and lemon/pistachio areas. I have a suspicion that, apart from a patch at the bottom of the cake, the lemony layers blended with the vanilla as the cake cooked, but I won't know this for sure unless I colour the lemon layer. The rich, even moistness of the cake is what suggests to me that the layers merged during cooking.
There wasn't enough lemon flavour from the lemon curd alone, so this is another area which needs work. The next step would probably be colouring the lemon/pistachio layer with added food colour, to see if it stays separate, and adding some lemon zest to boost the flavour.
Ingredients
225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
275g SR flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk, as necessary
75g pistachio nuts, divided, see note
100g lemon curd
note - chop the pistachios to give a mixture of fine and coarse pieces, then remove about 25g of the larger pieces to top the cake.
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 170C, and prepare your cake tin. I used a 30cm long, narrow loaf tin with the same capacity as a 2lb loaf tin. This is roughly the same volume as a round 8"(20cm) diameter tin. I used a sling of baking parchment covering the base and the long sides of the tin.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time, with a tespoon of the flour, to prevent curdling. Fold in the rest of the flour with the vanilla extract and enough milk to give a dropping consistency.
Weigh 250g of the batter into a small bowl and stir the 50g portion of nuts and the lemon curd into this smaller amount of batter.
Layer the two batters into the prepared tin in this order, spreading each one to make an even layer before adding the next: 1/3 of the vanilla; 1/2 the lemon; 1/3 vanilla, rest of the lemon, rest of the vanilla.
Sprinkle the remaing nuts evenly over the top and press them lightly into the batter. Bake the cake for about 70 minutes until a tester is clean. You may need to cover the cake for the last 20minutes or so, if it is browning too fast. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then move to a wire rack.
7 comments:
Suelle, such a pretty loaf! I find the only time I can get lemon curd to hold its form inside a cake is if I blob it in rather than spreading, otherwise, as you say, it just blends into the crumb.
I've made US pound cake recipes, and I think you're right - they are very similar to what we know here as madeira cakes. We also know them as butter cakes, although I think butter cakes are a bit heavier in texture than madeira.
By the time we got further into the centre of the cake, there were more signs that the two layers had stayed separate, it's just that they were too similar in colour to distinguish easily. I don't usually like using food colour, but the cake really was such a lovely texture and flavour that I wouldn't want to spoil it by trying to grind the pistachios more finely and altering the consistency of the lemon layers. Adding colour seems to be the way forward.
I know what you mean about about experimenting and developing a cake until it is just right. I keep dreaming of having a cafe and that would provide the perfect opportunity to keep making different version of the same cake until it was perfected. This cake looks wonderful - a great texture. I don't think pound cake and Madeira cake are interchangeable, just similar. Pound cake is traditionally made from a pound of each ingredient used whereas my understanding of a Madeira cake is it's a plain lemon cake.
Choclette - a lovely dream to have1 Is there any chance of it becoming a reality?
A pound cake does sound as if the proportions of ingredients are different to a Madeira Cake. In fact a pound cake sounds like a Victoria Sandwich, although they always look heavier in texture - perhaps because they are bigger. Or perhaps it uses less raising agent?
Suelle - I just keep hoping
I bought an orange and lemon cake that had a row of liquid lemon curd down the centre. Id love to know how that was done
~I bought an orange and lemon cake that had a row of liquid lemon curd down the centre. Id love to know how that was done~
That sounds lovely. My guess is the manufacturing process would rely on additives such as gums etc. If you try anything similar at home, the lemon curd just gets absorbed into the cake batter.
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