This super fluffy cake with summer fruits is the reinterpretation of my grandma’s sour cherry cake classic, that brings together sweet and scrumptious flavours of the best fruits summer has to offer.
Food with love
Take a moment and think about your grandmas. What are those great dishes that they make (or used to make), that always take you down memory lane? I’m sure you’ve got at least a couple to list here, don’t you? So do I! While my Mum’s mother is specialised in winter cookies made with lard and filled with a delicious walnut and cacao cream, my Dad’s mother’s special is placinta cu visine, a soft and fluffy cake filled with sour cherries.
Placinta cu visine
Placinta cu visine, mistakenly called placinta (pie), because it is, in reality, a cake, is one of those desserts that make your wait for the summer worthwhile. It’s sweet, soft, fluffy, and the sour cherries add a lovely texture and a delicious refreshing flavour. Sour cherries are a big thing in Romania, they tend to grow everywhere, even on random fields, or on the side of the road. They’re the smaller, juicier and more sour sister of cherries.
My British sour cherry story
Because I really like these delicious fruits, I hoped I would find them in Edinburgh as well – probably imported, but that doesn’t even matter! In all my innocence I went to a couple of fruit and veg shops to ask for the mighty fruits. Most shop keepers got confused when I asked them if they sell sour cherries, and one even asked me ‘Miss, why would we want to sell sour cherries? Of course we’re trying to get the sweetest we can!’. I gave up.
The recipe
This is not exactly a sour cherry cake, because I decided to add a more complex mix of summer fruits, to experiment. Ans because when I go to the market I have a hard time not buying enormous amounts of… well, everything.
This super fluffy cake with summer fruits is the reinterpretation of my grandma’s sour cherry cake classic, that brings together sweet and scrumptious flavours of the best fruits summer has to offer.
Before anything, add half of the sugar tot eh fruits, and place them all in a colander. It is important to get some of the juice out, in order to make sure the cake will cook through.
Preheat the oven at 200ºC.
It’s now time to start making the batter. Beat the yolks with a pinch of salt, the sugar and the melted butter, until you obtain a fluffy, light in colour paste.
Beat the egg whites until fluffy, add the sugar and mix more.
Carefully, using a spatula, fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture.
Slowly add the flour and baking powder, a spoonful at a time
When the batter is ready, it should be soft and very aerated – this will make the cake so fluffy once cooked!
Grease and dust a medium sized oven tray, and add the batter to it. Spread the fruits on top – don’t worry, they’ll move down inside the batter.
Bake at 200ºC for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 160ºC and bake until golden, about 35 minutes.
Once done, take the cake out of the oven, let it cool, then sprinkle some icing sugar on top and serve.
Love, happyholism and nom-nom,
Ioana
