I read a great article today about the importance of the cake. Symbolically and socially cake is and has been for centuries part of togetherness. It cannot be a birthday without a cake, you often meet a friend for coffee and cake, visiting a grandparent often involves sitting down to cake and family activities include baking a cake. This can often end in disaster as to who is going to like the bowl or spoon. The sweet foods provide us with comfort and a sense of simple pleasure. Using fruit to provide flavour, sweeten or colour a cake is what can make the end product even more appetising.
Trying to find compatible flavours is experimentation. However, if you follow particular cultural cuisines you will often get it right. Combining flowers and fruits or flowers and spices can make for an exhilarating mix. A common middle eastern combination is rose and berry fruits.
These delicious delights can be made into one big cake or small bite size parcels.
Meringues with Rose Water Cream and Berries
6 egg whites
200g icing sugar
200ml cream
2 tsp rose water
1 punnet strawberries, diced
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, crushed
Beat the egg whites until firm peaks form. Slowly add the icing sugar while the eggs are still beating. On an oven tray lined with baking paper make 12 circles (8cm diameter). Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes at 80 degrees celsius. Once baked leave to cool in the oven.
On a second tray, prepare the same as above, but sprinkle with pistachios. Bake as above.
Beat the cream and rose water until thickened. Place cream on the plain meringue and cover with strawberries. Place the pistachio covered meringue on top.
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