Lancashire Courting Cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• Butter and flour for the mold
• 71 g butter
• 71 g sugar
• 1 egg(s)
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 118 g wheat flour type 405
• 6 g baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 180 ml whole milk as needed if cream powder is used
• 150 g yogurt, Greek or cream, quark (40%) or pudding cream
• 100 g fruit (e.g. strawberries, raspberries, currants or jam)
• 30 g sugar (not required if using jam)
• 20 g powdered sugar
• 1 pack of instant gelatin or equivalent

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Rest time approx. 5 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 25 minutes; Total time approx. 5 hours 50 minutes

English engagement cake, for an 18 cm springform pan

Butter and flour an 18cm springform pan (this corresponds to a 7″ English-sized springform pan and is about 50% of a 24cm springform pan). Preheat the oven to 180°C (or 350°F) conventional heat. Mix the butter and sugar with a hand mixer or food processor for at least 3 minutes. The longer and more thoroughly the two ingredients are mixed, the lighter and better the cake will be. After the 3 minutes, add the egg and mix the batter for another 1-2 minutes, also adding the vanilla sugar. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Pour the mixture into the egg mixture and mix again for 1-2 minutes with a hand mixer or similar. Pour the batter into the springform pan and smooth it down. Tap the pan with the batter firmly on the table once to avoid or eliminate any air bubbles. Place the pan on the middle rack of the hot oven and bake the batter for approx. 20-25 minutes. Bake. After baking, the cake should have a light golden brown color; the skewer test will indicate whether it is baked through. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the tin on a wire rack for one hour. Do not use ingredients that are too runny for the cream, as they could easily run out of the cake. We recommend quark with 40% fat, Greek yogurt, or a custard cream, as these ingredients are relatively thick. Either add the berries directly to the cream or puree the berries; this will make the cream much more runny. A little instant gelatin helps to firm the mixture. Simply stir the gelatin into the cream. The gelatin needs at least 3-4 hours to set. Place the cake on a surface that can also be kept in the refrigerator; ideally, one with a very narrow edge. After one hour, turn the cake out of the tin and cut it in half using a very sharp knife. To do this, proceed as follows: Place the knife on the surface, which is half the height of the cake. Place the cake on a surface next to the knife. Insert the knife about 1 cm into the cake, then turn the cake so that the knife cuts exactly the same height all the way around. After making the cut, take a strong piece of string, place it in the cut surface, and pull it together. This will now cut the cake in half. Carefully remove the top half and spread the cream generously over the bottom half. Carefully place the top half on top, pressing down firmly so that the cream does not squeeze out. If gelatine was used, chill the cake in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours. If jam was used or whole fruit was added, the cake is now ready to eat and can be served or cut. To do this, carefully score the cake several times with the knife along the cut lines to avoid squashing the cake and cream due to too much pressure all at once. After cutting, decorate the cake with icing sugar as desired. The courting cake is a classic English engagement cake, traditionally served at teatime. It can be served with almost any sweet cream or filling. Unfortunately, it’s rarely found under this name in Germany. The recipe is simple and incredibly delicious.