TWELFTH NIGHT CAKE - prof.ssa Ceccarelli

The twelfth night after Christmas marks the end of the celebration and is the time for taking down the decorations. It was originally a night for games, feasting and masques in medieval times, and the Lord of Misrule, appointed at the beginning of Christmas, held his final court on that day. The French still keep the medieval custom of baking a cake containing a dried bean. The person who gets the slice with the bean is King or Queen for the evening, and he’s crowned with a paper crown. He or she is all-powerful and can demand favours and forfeits from the guests, so make sure you know where the bean is hidden in the cake!

INGREDIENTS:

175 g of butter at room temperature or soft tub margarine

175 g of caster sugar

175 g of plain flour

1⁄2 sachet of baking powder

75 g of ground almonds

90 g of evaporated milk

3 egg whites

100 g of glacé pineapple, chopped 

75 g of chopped candied mixed peel 

50 g of crystallized ginger, chopped

75 g glacé cherries

75 g flaked almonds

1 dried bean

For the topping: almonds paste, apricot jam

STEPS:

1) Set the 0ven to 160°c. Grease and line a 20cm round deep cake tin.

2) Cream the fat and sugar together until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour, baking powder and ground almonds, add the evaporated milk and fold together. Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the mixture with the fruits and nuts. Press the bean into the mixture.

3) Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the top. Bake for about 1 1⁄2 hours or until firm to the touch in the center. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

4) Decorate the top with a fluted round of almond paste, or brush the top of the cake with apricot jam and press over 100g of crystallized fruit in a pattern.

Martina Baraldi e Alessia Martinelli