Easy Cakes for Special Occasions

I am sorry for my long absence. I was, ahem (and Lord, please do not strike me for this seeming arrogance), promoted at work; hence, my re-channeled energies kept me away from the kitchen for a while.

To make up for my inattentiveness, I am posting two recipes right now. These are two cakes which are easy enough for busy and exhausted people to make and pretty enough for gift-giving in this harried holiday season.

Cake No.1: JCarlos presented me with this impressive looking peaches and cream cake to celebrate my modest career progression. Since everything was bought ready-made at the local supermarket, he had devoted his efforts to decorating it with a delicate pattern of tiled peach slices.



Peaches and Cream Cake

½ Can Peaches
1 Loaf Madeira / Pound / Sponge Cake
1 Cup Whipped Cream
1 Dash Cinnamon

Drain the peaches. Dice 1/3 of the peaches into small bits. Fold this carefully into ¾ of the whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon. Slice the rest of the peaches lengthwise into thin slices. Cut the cake into 3 layers. Spread the diced peaches and cream onto the first and second layer of the cake. Sandwich these together. Spread the rest of the whipped cream on top of the third (and top) layer of the cake. Arrange the thinly sliced peaches on top of the cake, slightly overlapping them at an angle. Et voila! Serve chilled.



Cake No.2: This next cake is a Christmas gift I made for L, who is moving far, far away and needed a present that can be consumed immediately and doesn’t have to be transported interstate.

I actually made it once before ~ a Japanese cheesecake, but I found it too dry, so I added a little bit more cream to make it moister. Unfortunately, this ruined the texture. The cake came out too dense to be a Japanese cheesecake, but at least, it is considerably lighter than a normal cheesecake. And if I don’t really insist on producing a cheesecake soufflé, this tasted of a quite nice cheesecake. I did not bother lining my clay pot (yes, this is what I used as a baking vessel, since I did not have a springform pan), so the thing just won’t come off when it was time to remove it from the pan. Finally, I conceded and sliced the cake into slices, so I could dislodge them without mashing the cake into crumbs. To dress the gift up, I surrounded it with a fruit medley. Fortunately for me, berries were in season, so I had deluxe fruits to make my present look more presentable. I’d have garnished the fruit medley with mint leaves, had I remembered to buy them. I sprinkled bits of glace citrus peel on the salad to make the colors pop even more. I also sprinkled the cake with toasted almond flakes for textural variety and an added flavor.



Japanese Cheesecake with Almond Flakes and Fruit Medley

250 g Cream cheese
100 ml. Cream
80 g Butter
2 T. Corn starch
40 ml. Milk
6 Egg yolks
2 t. Orange extract

6 Egg whites
½ T. lemon juice
½ C. Sugar
1 T. Corn starch

Pre-heat your oven at 150C. Line your baking pan with baking paper, or if you are lazy like me, grease and flour your pan instead.

Melt the cream cheese, cream, and butter over low heat. Cool completely. Dissolve the corn starch in milk. Stir this into the cream cheese mixture, along with the egg yolks and orange extract.

In a big, clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until soft peaks form. Pour the sugar in a thin, steady stream into the whites while continuing beating. Beat in the corn starch until stiff peaks form.

Carefully, fold the whites into the cream cheese. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 min. in a bain-marie (Place the baking pan into a tall-sided pan that is large enough to hold the baking pan. Pour boiling water into this larger pan, so that a moat forms halfway up the sides of the pan with the cheesecake in it.). Reduce the heat to 125C and bake for another hour. Cool completely. Chill before serving.

Sprinkle with toasted almond flakes and serve with a fruit salad of your choice. Mine’s composed of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, and bits of glace citrus peel.

The cheesecake soufflé I made before…