Baumtorte

I’m always on the lookout for more unique and pretty ways of presenting or making cake. I stumbled on this little gem when flicking through the paper. It’s a cake which is grilled. Yup, grilled. Thin layers of cake batter are spread on top of each other and browned under the grill. Each layer is cooked through by the heat of the grill and when cut produces an amazing stripy effect. The cake is beautifully moist!

(Huge kudos, of course, to Natasha Solomons for the recipe and The Times)

Ingredients:-

225gr unsalted butter, softened

225gr caster sugar

225gr plain flour

6 eggs

Zest and juice of a lemon

Icing sugar

Method:-

1, Cream together with butter and sugar until pale

2, Add in the eggs, one by one, and beat until smooth and creamy

3, Add the lemon zest and then slowly add in the flour until you have a thick creamy batter

4, Preheat your grill to medium

5, Grease your cake pan (I used a 7inch deep sandwich tin) and smooth a thin layer of cake mix into the bottom.

6, Place under the grill and watch it like a hawk, until it is brown.

7, Remove from the grill and spread another thin layer and place back under the grill. Repeat until all the batter has been used or the cake pan is full. Try and make them as even as possible.

8, When finished, leave the cake for a couple of minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack.

9, Make a glace icing with the juice of the lemon simply adding icing sugar until thick and white. Slather onto the fully cooled cake and leave to set!

10, Slice and enjoy.