Louise Cake
Introduction
Serves:
Ingredients
130g (4½ ounces) plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
75g (just under 3 ounces) butter, softened
45g (1½ ounces) sugar
2 egg yolks
¾ cup lemon curd apricot jam or strawberry conserve
Topping
2 egg whites
120g (about 7 ounces) sugar
60g (about 2 ounces) desiccated coconut
Method
Base
1 Sieve flour and baking powder together with a pinch of salt. Put butter in a smallish warmed bowl and beat with an electric beater until soft and loose. Gradually beat in sugar, and beat until light and creamy. Beat in egg yolks, then blend in dry ingredients. The mixture will be on the dry side and will be difficult to amalgamate, but this is how it should be, and it will form a stiff paste with a bit of elbow grease.
2 Press into a small Swiss roll tin (jelly roll pan) roughly 25cm x 16cm (10” by 6½”), lined with baking (parchment) paper and spread generously with lemon curd.
Topping
1 Beat egg whites until stiff. Add sugar gradually and beat again until stiff and glossy. Carefully stir in coconut.
2 Spread coconut meringue topping evenly over curd layer making sure all the jam is covered.
3 Bake in an oven preheated to 160°C (320°F) for about 15 minutes, or until the coconut meringue is lightly coloured and the curd is bubbling underneath. Cut Louise cake into 24 slices while still warm, then transfer to a cooling track. Store in a container, separating the pieces with waxed paper.
Recipe notes
This is also delicious filled with homemade apricot jam or strawberry conserve.
If you want to get some preparation done in advance, make the base, press it into the paper-lined tin and freeze. Once frozen, remove from the tin and transfer to a sealable freezer bag and freeze until required.
Photography Aaron McLean http://www.aaronmclean.com