TANNIE ELZA’S CUSTARD CAKE

TANNIE ELZA’S CUSTARD CAKE Note: This recipe is all about the custard icing. Please use any sponge cake recipe that you are comfortable with – I like the warm milk method, and I use a little less sugar than tannie Elsa de Jongh’s original cake batter recipe. But don’t tweak anything about the custard icing – it looks a little curdled, but that is exactly what it should look like! Ingredients for sponge cake: 4 eggs 300 ml (250 g) caster sugar 500 ml (280 g) cake flour 15 ml baking powder a pinch of salt 250 ml milk 100 g butter 5 ml vanilla essence

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC. Grease and/or line 2 x 20 cm round cake tins. Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together, then fold into egg mixture. Heat milk and butter until butter is melted, but don’t let it boil. Add vanilla, then fold into flour and egg mixture. Pour batter into lined cake tins, then bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked and golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool on wire racks.

Ingredients for Custard icing: 500 ml milk 100 ml custard powder (I use Moirs) 125 g butter at room temperature 200 ml caster sugar 5 ml vanilla essence 100 ml desiccated coconut, toasted to a golden brown in a dry pan

Dissolve the custard powder in 100 ml milk. Heat remaining 400 ml milk until boiling point, then add custard mixture and stir for a few minutes over lowered heat until it is smooth and thick. Take care not to let it burn. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and vanilla for a few minutes until creamy. Add cooled custard to butter mixture, then beat on high speed for about 3 minutes until smooth. It will look slightly curdled, that is perfect! Spread custard on cake layers and on top, then top with toasted coconut. Recipe credit to Ilse van der Merwe – The Food Fox http://thefoodfox.com/2012/09/06/custard-cake/ Recipe tested and Photo: Wilna Dorfling