When I was little, we used a lot a very simple recipe book called...
"100 desserts (legers), 50 trucs (faciles)" (100 (light) deserts, 50 (easy) tips). It was created by "Maizena" brand (cornstarch you find in every French cupboard) and I think you had to collect points on the back of the paquets to get a copy. It's a bit old fashioned but a great great GREAT little book to have on your shelve (only need basic French to understand most of it). Anyway, this is the one and only book that has made it all the way here and followed me through 6 moves in and around London then to Surrey and finally Sussex! I use it regularly since a lot of the recipes are very easy hence brilliant to make with a toddler. If you speak a bit of French, you can order a copy here. The recipe I made on Tuesday with Tom is "le quatre-quart" (The 4 quarters). You don't really need the book to remember any ingredients at all, but the book prompted me to make it.
You'll need...
3 large eggs
equivalent weight of butter (soften), flour and sugar.
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
The basic repice...
Work your butter in a soft creamy consistency.
Add the sugar, then the eggs one by one, the flour (sifted) and the baking powder.
Pour into a buttered and floured cake tin
Bake in a medium hot oven (180 degres) for 40 minutes
now, you can from there add:
some grated lemon or orange zests
a tablespoon of dark rhum for the grown ups
candied cherries and orange peels
raisins (soaked in more rhum of course!)
or make a "gateau marbré" (marbled cake)...Me and my sisters just loved that one!
Divide your batter equally in 2 salad bowls.
In one of them add about 80 g of dark unsweetened cocoa powder or 60g of chocolate melted with 2 tablespoons of milk.
Pour the plain mix in the cake tin then pour the chocolate mix in the middle (or pour a bit of plain then a bit of choc then....you've got it- for a more "artistic" result!).
Once cooked you'll end up with a "marbled cake"
this is the perfect recipe to use as a base for a birthday cake. Or for "holiday baking" since it's a vrey easy recipe to remember!
