Akrotiri & Dhekelia

I had a birthday yesterday. I missed the tough task of the cake being from Akrotiri and Dhekelia. I had no idea what that was. It was British military bases on the island of Cyprus. They have the status of British overseas territory and are under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. I could not hope to find a local cake, at least because the military in these bases does not have the job to make desserts. That’s why I’m going to cook something typical of the British – “Trifle”. Something light and colorful for my holiday.

Evidence of this dessert appeared in the 17th century. Originally the recipe was a slice of bread, well sherry-dipped. The English in the early days have a sweetheart called “fool,” which is a combination of fruit and cream. It was only in the 18th century that Hannah Glase in her book “The Art of Cooking” united the two recipes and gave birth to the modern recipe of the carafe. In it as a mandatory element remain the sherry and the broken cream. The word truffle comes from the English “Trufle”, which inherited the French “trofel”. It means something small or “trifle”. In Scotland, the dessert is called “whimwham” and in Italy it is known as “zuppa inglese” (English soup) because it is served in a large bowl and is poured with a ladle. His Creole version consists of pieces of different sweets, dipped in rum, red wine or fruit juice (instead of sherry). In the southern part of the United States, they have their “tipsy cake” – a variant of the trifalfa. In Germany and Austria we find a similar taste with the name “Punschtorte”. The English, in turn, designate the Italian “Tiramisu” as a relative of his “Trifle”.
Nowadays, preparing this dessert involves different product variations. Typically, it is a sponge bush soaked in sherry or some liqueur, egg cream, broken cream, different types of candied or fresh fruit and caramel. Can be prepared with a ready swamp, as they sell in almost all shops, cake pieces or even cozonac. I will make a blaze because I prefer to make my desserts from scratch. And I’m going to buy sherry in particular to get an authentic flavor. I have not tried this drink so far, and here’s a good reason to do it. Variations also exist in serving the Trifle – in a large glass bowl, but also as individual portions in beautiful glasses. The important thing is to see the layers of marsh, cream and fruit well.

For cake (circular tray with a diameter of 24 cm):
6 eggs
180 grams of sugar
150-180 grams of flour
pinch of salt
sippers for syrups
For Cream:
500 ml of fresh milk
10 yolk
10 tablespoons of sugar
8 tablespoons of flour
250 grams of cow butter
3 vanilla powders

For decoration:
150 ml of confectionary cream
strawberries or other fruits

Steps of preparation:
We start with the preparation of sponge cake. In a dry container with dry mixer stirrers, break the egg proteins (which are at room temperature) along with the salt clip to the solid tips. In another container, we break the egg yolks as the mixture trims its volume. If you want to use some essences, here is the place to add them. Add very carefully the mixture of proteins to the egg yolks by stirring slowly and scooping up from the bottom to add extra air to the mixture. When homogeneous we begin carefully and in parts to add the well sifted flour. I have written a weight of between 150 and 180 grams because the quantity depends very much on the quality of flour and humidity. If you notice that the mixture starts to fall after the addition of the flour stop, because obviously the flour is enough and will get heavy, and hence the swamp will not rise well.
Put it in the baking pan to bake the bottom baking paper and, with the walls, smear it with oil. Pour the mixture and lean, leaving a little lower in the middle. In this way a flat blade is obtained. Not that this is important for this recipe, but it is a standard cake. Bake at 180 ° C until the stick gets dry, and in the first 10 minutes we do not open the oven door. When it’s ready we take out the swamps and let it cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before we put it on a grid to cool it completely.
Now prepare the cream. In half the fresh milk, whisk the egg yolks, flour and sugar very well with the mixer. Put the other half of the milk on the hot plate. When this happens, remove it and add the egg mixture to a thin trickle. Reduce the power of the hotplate by half and bring it back slowly. There is a lot of patience here. Do not stop stirring. When the cream becomes very thick remove it from the heat and add the vanilla. Let it cool down. Beat the butter to become fluffy and then add the egg cream to it. Beat very well with a mixer until the cream becomes smooth. Leave it in the refrigerator to tighten, covered with foil so it does not dry on top.
Beat the cold cream and cut the strawberries as you like.

We can assemble the trifle. At the bottom of a glass bowl we place pieces of marshmallows and water them with sherry without overdoing;). Next is the egg cream, fruits and cream. If the cup is large, we repeat the layout as many times as we want and need. Finally we end up with fruits, which may be cached, natural, glazed with warm jam or whatever your imagination gives you. You can add caramel, chocolate, jelly or jam. Really variations a lot.
This is from me this week. I tried to do something festive. Still, for the first time and for the last time I am 44.

Next destination – Albania.