High Tea with Holly.

Holly is one of my soul sisters. We went to the same ballet school and we have been best buddies since we were 13. So the story today is: Hol and I LOVE tea. So much so that we possibly drink it more than water. We like all sorts of tea - but with tea everyone needs a some sort of food type to compliment.

So we get together when we can and have tea. High tea. I made a cake, and after serious thought - involving furrowing and nearly driving onto oncoming traffic, I decided to fuse Turkish Delight, pistachio and chocolate. Anyone heard of Fry's Turkish Delight? Ok, so it is not the "real stuff" but it has that fake taste that we all sometimes need. Not many people like the taste for Fry's but we do!

For this recipe I used a Basic butter cake,  dark chocolate ganache (I imagine white chocolate would be divine) and "real" Turkish Delight.

Cake Ingredients:

150g Butter, softened

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten,

2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

1/2 cup buttermilk or milk

5 medium pieces (or as much/little as you want) Yellow and Pink Turkish delight

1/3 cup pistachios, shelled and roasted

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (370 F). Grease and line the base of a 20cm round cake pan.

Method:

1. Using an electric beater, cream butter, sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and creamy.
   
2. Add eggs gradually in two additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well in between.
3. Switching to low speed, add the flour and milk in three additions, starting and ending with flour. (Note: Try not to over beat as this will result in a heavy dense cake.)
4. Pour into cake pan and bake for 45 minutes or until skewer comes out with light, moist crumbs. Let to cool in pan for 15 minutes before turning out on a board. (Note: If your cake rises unevenly because you have a dodgy oven like mine, just trim off the top with a serrated knife. At least you can munch on the crust as you let your cake cool!)

Pale, creamy and the paddle attachment.

Ganache ingredients:

230g dark chocolate

3/4 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons butter

Method:

1. Chop chocolate into small pieces. (Note: If you use a serrated knife it is not only easier to chop, but you get flakey pieces that melt easily. Alternatively you can use a grater)
2. Warm the cream on a double boiler until it is just about to boil.
3. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in chocolate and butter until well combined. Let to cool.

To assemble, I cut the Turkish Delight into small cubes using a seriously sharp knife. Firstly pour some of the ganache on the surface of the cake.

Ganache.

Pile on the Turkish Delights and pistachios in any old fashion - I chose a mountain. Drizzle with more ganache to set the pieces in place. 

Finally add more ganache on the edges of the cake allowing gravity to do its job. (Like how I added some science? hehe I laugh because I was never any good at it!)

*Footnote: I didn't use all the ganache, but never fear, all you great bakers out there know you can A: freeze it and whip it out anytime you want B: make truffles or C: eat it on toast for breakfast! *Wink. Wink.*

Enjoy!