Melbourne part 1

Hi Everybody,

Back in March this year, I visited Melbourne to meet the lovely Nigella Lawson. Ever since, I always wait for the time to come back to Melbourne and explore its beauty. I adore how Melbourne creates its entirety from the unique marriage of  the classic and contemporary designs. To top it off, Melbourne is the food capital of Australia. The city is surrounded by many talented and renowned chefs, and an easy access to unbelievably good produce, although I am so jealous and hate to admit these, but there are the truths!

It was a nice sunny day when we arrived, we spent the whole day to explore the city to get to know how things are run in Melbourne. We walked around Hosier lane, took some pictures, had lunch at Degraves lane. We went to the MOST AWESOME market there, Queen victoria market!! Had a spicy bratwurst (they were mind-blowingly good), and again I was so excited to see all the fruits and vegetables there. I even thought of sneak some apples and rhubarbs in my luggage!Crazy idea!

Back to my real life in Sydney!! Although I finally got rid the idea of sneak in some apples from Queen Victoria Market, I couldn't stop thinking about apples. I thought about how lovely apples would be in a cake and so on. I even had this cake (apple and mascarpone torta) haunted me in my sleep. I have no clue why this recipe popped in my mind just minutes before I woke up. An inspiration from a deep sleep, I guess. So, I just have to make this!

 

What I love about this cake, it has a nice subtle taste, and once you bite into the apple topping which is slightly sour, it gives a nice shock to the system, which is desirable! I love to add a dollop of softly whipped cream to give it an extra smooth and velvety texture to the cake. A perfect pairing for an afternoon tea.

Here is the recipe:

Apple and Mascarpone Torta

Gourmet Traveller

Ingredients:

70 g butter, softened

110 g caster sugar

1 lemon rind

1 egg

90 g self-raising flour

50 g plain flour

175 ml milk

150 g mascarpone

Mascarpone filling

350 g mascarpone

40 g caster sugar

1/2 egg, lightly beaten

1 lemon rind

Apple topping

1 small granny smith apple, thinly sliced width ways

Juice of 1/2 lemon

For brushing: melted butter

For scattering: demerara sugar

For dusting: icing sugar 

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C.

2. Beat butter, caster sugar, lemon rind in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.

3. Add in the egg, and mix well

4. Sift in flour and fold to combine

5. Stir in milk and mascarpone

6. Pour the mixture in 23-cm diameter spring form tin, buttered and dusted with flour, smooth top.

7. For mascarpone filling: whisk all the ingredients together until smooth, then spoon over the cake batter.

8. For Apple topping:  toss apple slices in lemon juice and arrange overlapping slightly on top of the mascarpone.

9. Brush the the top with butter, and scatter some demerara sugar.

10. Bake until golden and risen for 50 minutes-1 hour.

11. Cool to room temperature, run knife around the side of the tin, remove the tin.

12. Before serving, dust the cake with icing sugar.

'Till then,