Che meraviglioso pomeriggio soleggiato…
Robin mi offre un tè freddo accompagnato da Scones con una fantastica crema di un giallo intenso…
Il gusto del limone è così forte e fresco che me ne innamoro al primo assaggio!
Questa crema si chiama "Lemon Curd" ed è una cagliata al limone di origine anglosassone, che già nel XIX era servita con pane o Scones all'ora pomeridiana del tè in alternativa alla marmellata o come ripieno di torte o crostate, come la famosa "Lemon Meringue Pie".

Inizio grattugiando i limoni non trattati e puliti. Ne filtro anche il succo e vi sciolgo dentro il cucchiaio di amido.

Sciolgo poi a bagnomaria il burro con lo zucchero finché non si amalgamo per bene. A parte sbatto tutte le uova e le unisco al composto di zucchero e aggiungo anche il succo, la scorza e la Vanillina. Mescolo il tutto nel pentolino a fuoco molto basso e lentamente. L'acqua deve solo fremere e la crema mai bollire.

Mi armo di pazienza e continuando a mescolare con la frusta attendo che si addensa. Quando inizia ad attaccarsi alla frusta senza scivolare via posso spegnere il fuoco. Setaccio la crema con il colino per eliminare i grumi della scorza grattugiata e renderla più liscia ed omogenea. Posso adesso stenderla sulla mia crostata di mirtilli appena raccolti, oppure gustarmela così! Ricordiamoci che il Lemon Curd va consumato fresco e può essere conservato in frigo solo per alcuni giorni.



English version
What a wonderful sunny afternoon ... Robin gives me an iced tea accompanied by Scones with a fantastic deep yellow cream… The taste of lemon is so strong and cool that I fall in love at first taste! This soft and intense flavored cream is called "Lemon Curd" and it has old Anglo-Saxon origin: already in the nineteenth it was served with bread or Scones at tea time as an alternative to jam or as a filling for cakes or tarts, like the famous " Lemon Meringue Pie". It contains a high percentage of juice and lemon zest than other creams and it is made with egg yolks, sugar and lemon, gently cooked together over a low heat until thick. A fabulous concentrate of lemon! There are variations that use other citrus fruits such as lime, tangerine or berries, but the most widespread in the world, home-made or on the market, remains the lemon one.

Let's see how to prepare a fresh Lemon Curd spread in my tart with blueberries:

• 3 whole eggs and 2 egg yolk
• 220g sugar
• 100g butter
• 1 tablespoon of starch 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3 lemons (zest and juice)

Berry Sauce

I wet the cake with water and sugar. I cover the cake with butter cream using a round and long spatula. Then I  roll the white fondant with a drip of yellow and I gently cover the cake with it keeping attention to the folds. It should be very smooth. 

Vedi anche

Rose Mini Cake

Jade Garden Mini Cake

Rosita Mini Cake

Ricopro i piccoli sandwich iniziando prima a uniformare i lati e poi il centro. Meno sbavature ci sono, più la pasta di zucchero coprirà la torta rendendola perfettamente liscia. Le lascio riposare in frigo finché non indurisce la crema e intanto prendo la pasta di zucchero.

At first, we introduce the "Sugar paste"or "Fondant", from the French word "fondre," which means "to melt", because fondant tends to melt in the mouth. This modelling paste for cake icing is currently much in vogue, but known in Europe, especially in England, since a long time. It's primarily made of sugar and water, gelatin and glucose to make it rubbery. It's perfect for covering cakes and cupcakes, and shape everything, creating true works of art. It's widely used in England and United States, so as to call these cakes "English Cakes".

Nowadays we easily find it in supermarkets, but the homemade one s definitely softer and more malleable, because it dries after longer time. If it seems too hard, I recommend a few drops of honey... But if we want to make it at home, here it is the perfect recipe:

For the topping, I highly recommend you to follow the recipe of butter cream rather than jam or others that coulnd't make smooth and cover the dough with sugar avoiding it melts. I didn't' have icing sugar, so I added cocoa to get the right consistency. Anyway I do not recommend it: cocoa could easily get the white fondant dirty. For the buttercream, I mix the icing sugar with softened butter and margarine well. I flush the milk and I go on mixing until creamy, smooth and quite thick. I keep the cream it in the fridge.

I cover the small sandwich starting from the edges to the center. As less there are imperfections as the sugar paste will cover the cake making it perfectly smooth. I leave it in the fridge until it hardens and then I take the sugar paste.

It's better using a knife without teeth to cut out the sugar paste. Once covered all the cakes, we can compose our two-floor "Mini Cakes" putting the smallest cake on the larger one. Due to the small dimensions it's not necessary to use two toothpicks to pierce in the center to hold the weight, but I did it. We spread gelatine or arabic gum diluted in water over it and after we carefully place the cake in the center. A slight pressure and we already haveour structure.