The cake voyage takes us today to Grenada, an island nation in the Caribbean. I’m so tired of it being cold now that I’m happy to transfer my thoughts to a warm and sea place. The territory was discovered by Columbus. From 1650 for a little over a century the French owned Grenada. The British then conquered the island, and two hundred years later, in 1974, Grenada declared independence.
The islands are of volcanic origin, and from July to October hurricanes often pass over them. The world’s first underwater sculpture museum is located on the west coast of Grenada. The collection of ecological sculptures was created by a British sculptor in 2006. Prototypes of the figures are locals. They are made of concrete – cement with low pH and rough surface. On an area of 800 sq.m. at a depth of between 3 and 6 meters one can see over 60 sculptures. The first installation is Grace Reef – the sixteen bodies of one woman. They lie on the bottom face up, and the most famous composition is Vicissitudes – 26 children holding hands, arranged in a circle with their backs to the center of the circle. The circle symbolizes the constant cycle of life and the ability of children to adapt to their environment. The idea of the artist is to show how we can admire nature and interact with it. His sculptures gradually became home to corals and fish. In this way, the biological diversity of the sea is restored in a different way, because the natural reefs have been affected by hurricanes, and in addition, diving enthusiasts get an unusual feeling.
The proximity of the sea and the ocean provides the grenades and travelers with seafood and fish, and the rainforests and local farmers – game, meat, vegetables, fruits and spices. Grenada is known as the island of spices. It ranks second in the world in the production of nutmeg. In addition, bananas, cocoa beans, coconuts, cotton, citrus fruits, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper and ginger are grown on fertile soils. The influence of French, African-American and English traditions has created a special local cuisine that will appeal to many tourists. The fruits of the breadfruit, sweet potatoes, yams, legumes and cassava are served with fish or meat dishes, the taste of which comes from various spices and nutmeg. Tourists are required to attend the fish festival organized every Friday in the fishing village of Gouyave. For lovers of well-cooked fish there is a fish kebab, jacks, pizza with fish and fried fish. For dessert you can enjoy fruit or candied flowers and fruits. The favorite alcohol of the aborigines is rum, which is made according to the recipes of their grandfathers.
As in other Caribbean countries where we have been so far, cakes in their classic European form are not made. We have something that looks like a cake with a lot of fruit, with or without rum. 🙂 Today without rum… unfortunately. To your attention – Grenada light fruit cake:
Necessary products:
225 grams of butter
225 grams of sugar
50 grams of almonds
350 grams of flour
2 teaspoons ginger
4 eggs
225 grams of dried apricots
225 grams of dried cherries
450 grams of pineapple
50 grams of cherries
4 tablespoons jam / apricot jam
2 tablespoons water
Steps of preparation:
Beat the butter with the sugar into a fluffy cream. Mix the flour and ginger. It is good to sift the flour. I don’t always do it, but it’s a bad habit. With sifting, air is introduced into the flour and the pastries become fluffier and tastier. So don’t do like me, but always sift the flour. Add the eggs one by one, adding a tablespoon of the flour mixture to each one. Beat until smooth.
Add the ground or chopped almonds. I prefer the nuts to be in larger pieces to feel their crunchiness, but of course, this is to my taste. You do it according to your wishes. 🙂
Cut the dried apricots, cherries and pineapple into small pieces. I used fresh pineapple. You can also use one canned, and why not dried. Add the sliced fruit to the dough and mix well with a mixer.
Prepare a baking tray with parchment paper and preheat oven to 150 degrees. Pour the dough and provide a place for it to swell, not like me. (I had to apply emergency measures at one time 🙂) Bake 2.5 – 3 hours. If at some point you think that the top has acquired color, you can cover it with foil so as not to burn. It didn’t happen to me.
When the cake is well baked, take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, transfer to a serving platter. It’s time to prepare the glaze. I had a wonderful homemade apricot jam. Put it in the pan with the water on the stove until it boils.
Arrange dried cherries on the cake. The original recipe said to strain the warmed jam. I decided to keep the delicious fruits and leave them on the cake. You do as you wish.
In the end we got a very fragrant and light dessert. With a pronounced fruity taste. I just didn’t understand where the taste and aroma of pineapple escaped me… Except for the long baking, the cake is made quickly and easily. I had not recently positioned myself in a Caribbean country, but after reading about Grenada and the sun through the window, I dream again of these warm and tempting places on the map. Apparently I really need a break. And from the sun. And from the sea. 😀
Next destination – Greenland.
