The Sunny Side Up Cake

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately! Maybe it’s the break of spring and the wonderful warm weather we’ve been having. I just feel a lightness in all my activities, tasks and chores and my ideas are running freely again. I just wish I could find out how to make time double up for me to have enough of it to realize and try making them all come true. So, instead I am making sure to have fun with those activities and tasks I have decided to focus on and give priority to.

See, I am driven by my dreams and ideas, and I have the choice of making them come true. I am not afraid of failure – no – I am more afraid of not trying or having a go at these ideas and dreams. After all they are made of my hopes, of opportunities and provide many possibilities and not aspiring to reach these goals means I have failed. If an idea is unsuccessful or a dream has floundered – well I have to try again – after all not everything works the first time. 

“The Perfect Day … Going to Bed with a Dream and Waking up with a Purpose!”

The past week I saw 3 rainbows. Rainbows are said to be lucky and auspicious, maybe my cosmos is telling me that I am on the right road. I hope so … whatever road I am currently travelling on I am having fun while on it because I am trying to make a purpose out of a dream.

We are having a lot of fun in my kitchen too. It seems to be the one place I am most often in at the moment. Cooking with girlfriends, baking with Soeren, preparing for photo shoots, recipe testing for an upcoming project – the kitchen is my kingdom! I do love it and thank heavens for the inventor of the dishwasher!

One of the enjoyable afternoons I spent with Soeren in the kitchen was while baking a cake I was testing for a client. I had a lot of the batter left over and we decided to make-up a “Happy” kind of cake. This is what became of our idea – The Sunny-Side Up Cake. It’s easy to whip up and we both agree that it would be a charming addition to the Easter coffee table.

Recipe: The Sunny-Side Up Cake

Printable version of recipe here

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Makes: 20 pieces from a baking sheet

Ingredients:

• 650g apricot, halved, pitted and skins removed
• 200g butter, at room temperature
• 200g + 100g sugar
• 4 eggs
• 300g flour
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 packet of vanilla pudding
• 500ml + 125ml milk
• 400g quark or sour cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with some baking paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together 200g sugar and butter until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and making sure that each egg is incorporated well before adding the next one.
3. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter-sugar mixture in 3 portions alternating with 125ml milk, then mix in the lemon zest. Beat until the batter is smooth then pour into the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for approx. 20 minutes until the top is golden and spring-y to the touch. Remove and allow to cool completely.
4. In the meantime make the topping for the cake by mixing the vanilla pudding powder with 100g sugar and 6 tablespoons of milk until smooth. Place the remaining milk (from the 500ml) into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and vigorously whisk in the pudding powder and sugar mixture. Put the saucepan back on the heat, whisking all the while and allow the cream to thicken into a custard consistency - 1-2 minutes. Allow the vanilla pudding to cool completely, then whisk in the quark or sour cream until smooth.
5. Spread the topping over the cooled cake with a metal spatula. Place the apricot halves on the cake to resemble a sunny-side up egg. Cool in the fridge then cut into squares and serve

Notes
You can also make individual cakes by pouring the batter in single tart forms. Reduce baking time to 15 minutes.
Place some vanilla pods in a spice grinder and grind some of the vanilla over the apricot. This looks like freshly cracked pepper on an egg. ;o)
Alternative you could sieve some cocoa powder over the cake slices.

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Verdict

The cake resembles a fried egg and will bring smiles to those at the table. Enjoy this with friends over espresso and make the kids some hot chocolate. It's a basic sponge cake mixture pepped up with an easy frosting of vanilla pudding and sour cream making it a tangy, not too sweet topping pairing well with the sweetness of the apricot.

Connect

In this section of the post I share bits and pieces, finds and interesting things I come across as I surf the web. It might be a quote, a picture a moving post, interesting news and announcements, whatever makes me connect with you. This week I am looking for fun and inspiring recipes and posts for you and your Easter festivities.

• Here is something I'd love you all to join. Asha from Fork Spoon Knife and I have started a challenge. A short while ago @ashafsk posted an image and mentioned that she often forgets to cook for herself. That stuck with me as I love cooking for myself. It's a different kind of cooking ... almost like therapy. I got talking with Asha and we decided to start a series called #cookingfor1 as we are sure there are many out there on the run with busy schedules forgetting to feed themselves. We are going to be posting the meals that we cook for ourselves. We hope you will join us and share your #cookingfor1 images and be inspired by others who join. Invite, tag and share with your friends and followers. Here is my first dish - Spicy Indian style scrambled eggs with caramelised onions in cumin and turmeric, peas, tomatoes and coriander leaves. Served with a papaya orange chutney and a hot masala tea.
  
  
• Sweet Pea & Pearl Onion Pesto Smothered Zucchini Noodles by the lovely sisters Julie and Yvonne of The Alkaline Sisters, whom I had the pleasure of meeting a few years back in London. Their dream "is to inspire and energize you for life. We hope to set you on a journey to better health and a clear understanding of how food affects our bodies, through delicious recipes"
• Feta-Crusted Rack Of Lamb With Mint Sauce by the lovely Anne Faber. In my opinion a magnificent English Easter menu!
• Marta Potoczek takes us on a sensual and visual trip to Portobello Road in London. Join her and enjoy the lovely images!
• Oven dried tomatoes by the charming Aparna who is lucky to get fresh tomatoes all year round. Our season will be starting and I plan to grow them again this year. A great way to use them!
• Shulie of Food Wanderings is tempting me with this Masala Chai Ice Cream that I plan to make this weekend with my favorite blend of masala chai.
• Tuesday are taco days over at Chez Us and I love these Slow Cooker Barbacoa Style Lamb Tacos
• Have you heard? Now it's seven a day! Here are 7 simple ways to get those seven a day by the Guardian

Workshops

I am very thrilled to announce that HarperCollins 360 will be sponsoring the upcoming workshops in VENICE & BERLIN with a copy of donna hay's gorgeous cookbook "Fresh and Light" for each of the participants AND we will be holding a special competition with a fantastic prize. Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime checkout my Instagram video showing more of this gorgeous book!

2-day workshop in the trendy capital
Berlin, Germany
4th - 5th July 2014
Workshop programme
Register for the Berlin here!

2-day workshop in Finland's dynamic capital
Helsinki, Finland
7th - 8th June 2014
Workshop programme
Register for Helsinki here!

2-day workshop in the Prosecco region
Venice, Italy
1st - 3rd May 2014
Workshop programme
Register for Venice here!

More details for all upcoming workshops and e-courses

You might like these fun recipe ideas for Easter from What's for lunch, honey?

Egg-straordinary: Light Mousse au Chocolat with Baileys Crème Caramel	Buttery Saffron Brioche	Muscovado Sugar Orange and Cardamom Easter Wreath

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