Jutka's Lemon Cake with Roasted Fruit
4 eggs, separated
20 dk butter
20 dk sugar
20 dk self-rising flour
1 lemon*
fruit*
1/3 c. brown sugar* mixed with 2 tsp cinnamon (I eyeballed this last measurement, so just do what looks good to you)
Details after the jump!!
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and set aside. (If you beat the whites first, you don't need to wash the beaters. Brilliant!). Mix together the butter, sugar and egg yolks until smooth, then add in the zest and juice of the lemon. Gently sift in the flour while continuing to mix the batter, then fold in the egg whites until just incorporated. The batter will be quite thick and very fragrant. Spread it out carefully in a large, well-buttered tart dish. Arrange your fruit on top and give it a generous sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. Pop that baby in the oven at 375 for about 35 minutes, or until the top is gloriously browned, and the fruit is roasted to glistening perfection. This tastes as good as it looks, which is saying a lot.
*A few words about fruit, flexibility and ingredients. Hungarian "brown sugar" is more like what we would call rapadura or raw sugar at home. I think you could use granulated sugar or brown sugar, too, but if you're looking for precise results, I'd go raw.
A few suggestions for mixing it up: Tonight, Jutka made this with lemon and 4 or 5 big plums, sliced in crescents. Last week, she used vanilla, apples and fresh blackberries. She says you can use whatever fruit is in season and looks good. He favorite is strawberries (halved) with 1-2" pieces of rhubarb and lemon. She also says a layer of roughly ground walnuts or pecans under the fruit, or a sprinkling of sliced almonds on top of the fruit is delicious (how could it not be?!). Sometimes she foregoes cinnamon alltogether in favor of something else. I'm thinking this might be a szupér vehicle for the first ripe peaches of Summer, with a little candied ginger whirled in the food processor with the sprinkling sugar.
Since this is such a simple recipe, the really important thing is to use the very best ingredients. Jutka gets flour imported from Italy and butter from France or Ireland. The eggs and fruit are organic, from a farm not far from here. Of course, Jutka's Gold Standard might be a little hard to replicate, but it definitely is inspirational, and the pudding is proof that she certainly knows what she's talking about!
