Some time ago I posted a recipe for Gulyás Soup and promised a dessert. But then many things happened, winter doldrums mini vacations, and a pandemic, so, with one thing and another I never did write it. Perhaps I was in shock for a while, but here I am at last. Better late than never.
I learned this cake from my Aunt and have been making it for nearly fifty years. My children loved the raw batter and called it pudding. They always insisted I make more then was needed for the cake. They licked the bowl, the beater, the spatula, and made a game of smoothing the top, before baking so they could have one more lick off the spatula. Not only was it an easy dessert or snack, but also a great source of fun. My son named it Grandfather cake because my father liked it so much that I made some variation every time he visited. Whenever he came, after greetings, he headed for the kitchen to taste the flavor of the day. For a long time the favorite variation was with hazelnuts and Grand Marnier and it went to parties regularly while we lived in Luxembourg.
Here is the ANY FLAVOR CAKE that goes well with the soup and is both easy and very changeable, hence the name, any flavor. You need ingredients that are always on hand: eggs, butter, sugar and flour. The one thing you may not have is a scale, but they are cheap enough, it need not be elaborate.
This cake can be made in any form you like, the traditional one is a long ribbed non stick pan. When you turn this out after it is baked, it looks lovely and is easy to slice. However, you may use any form you desire, deep and domed, shallow and snow flaked, whatever is your pleasure.
Important to know: use only all purpose unbleached flour. DO NOT use self rising flour
Use UNSALTED butter at room temperature
I recommend large or extra large brown eggs
use butter and flour for prepping the pan, the sprays are salty and add an undesirable flavor.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, if your oven is very efficient 325 will be plenty.
Grease the pan of choice with butter thoroughly, dust with flour and shake out excess. Set aside in a cool place, possibly the fridge.
Weigh all your principal ingredients starting with the eggs. I usually use 4 and they weigh somewhere around 8 to 12 ounces. Break whole eggs in to mixers bowl and start beating slowly. Weigh sugar, I use raw, unrefined sugar, it should weigh just under the weight of the eggs ( 1 or 2 ozs less), add to eggs and increase speed to high. Whip eggs and sugar till they are thick and creamy and pale yellow in color. They should have about doubled in volume. Do not skimp on this step. Weigh the unsalted butter, it should be about 8 ozs and add to the batter in medium size lumps. Keep whipping till butter is blended, the consistency of the batter will change. Last, weigh the flour and it should be the same weight as the sugar was, then sift into batter and continue whipping till well blended and the batter is smooth, thick and a bit shiny.
This is the basic cake, no flavoring, it can be poured into the prepared pan and baked till golden and puffed up, then turn onto a cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar, or glaze with chocolate or citrus. Or make it the flavor of your choice. I will share some of my favorites, but you can make it your own with your imagination. If you bake the cake at this point, place in the middle of the oven in the prepared pan and bake till golden. Time will vary depending on the oven and the shape of the cake. Do not over bake as it dries out if baked too long.
Variations:
You can substitute ground nuts, almonds or hazelnuts for some or all of the flour, and add alcohol, dark rum is good with almonds, but I like Grand Marnier, Cordon Ruge best with any kind of nut. Walnuts are more oily so use them sparingly or in broken bits mixed into the batter.
You can make it chocolate by adding melted chocolate. Melt the semi sweet chocolate in a double boiler into a few tablespoons of espresso or rum, then when smooth add to batter.
It can be half chocolate and half vanilla. Do this by pouring half the batter into the pan, make the remainder chocolate, pour it on top of the vanilla then swirl a knife blade through it to marble the two together.
There is also a fruit variation, you can add berries to the batter and top with a berry coulis, pictured below. I added fresh blue berries to the batter. To make the coulis put fresh berries and Cassis to cover, into a small saucier and cook until berries become soft and fall apart, reduce to a thick syrup. It can be strained to be smooth or left as is with the berry bits, like I did.
Note: when you add fruit it is more moist.
If you prefer it to be drier add powdered chocolate, and less alcohol to the nut variations.
You can also use grated lemon zest and lemon juice, or shaved apples or a layer of jam. Let your imagination and the contents of your pantry be your guide.
This is what the ribbed pan looks like.
Hope you enjoy making this and finding new variations.
Please comment or ask questions, or tell me how it worked for you if you tried it. There is a comment space when you sign in.
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