dry sherry

This is a layer cake with sophisticated flavors, fit for a grown-up’s birthday celebration but sure to be devoured by party guests of all ages. The cake itself is made with finely ground almonds, sour cream and a touch of lemon zest. The frosting is buttercream with cinnamon for spice and yet more zest. When you’re making the frosting, be sure to let the egg white mixture cool before adding the butter; the butter should not melt when it meets the whites, which would make for a greasy frosting. What you want is for the buttercream to be smooth and fluffy, an invitation to slice into the cake and take that first heavenly bite. 

Almond Birthday Cake With Sherry-Lemon Buttercream

eggs

sour cream

vanilla extract

lemon zest

cake flour

almonds

sugar

baking powder

baking soda

salt

unsalted butter

fino (dry) sherry

cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch by 2-inch-deep round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment or waxed paper. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, vanilla and lemon zest.

In bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the cake flour, ground almonds, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat in butter and remaining 3/4 cup sour cream until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly beat in the egg mixture until fully combined.

Scrape batter into prepared pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake layer comes out clean. Let cake layers cool in pans on wire racks for 15 minutes, then invert onto racks and peel off paper. Let cool completely on racks.

While cakes cool, make frosting: In a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water (or use a double boiler), whisk egg whites, sugar and salt until sugar is completely melted (130 to 140 degrees on a candy thermometer), 3 to 4 minutes. Remove egg whites from heat; beat mixture with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until completely cooled and thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Beat in the butter, a little at a time, until frosting is smooth and fluffy. Beat in the sherry, lemon zest and cinnamon.

To frost cake, place 1 layer on a cake plate, rounded side down, trimming if necessary so it lies flat. Spread with a third of the frosting, top with second layer and frost remainder of cake.

Melissa Clark gets help from her daughter Dahlia to make a delicious and fluffy cake topping.

Buttercream Frosting

Low fat but so impressive - you can find the wrappers in freezer cabinets of Asian food stores or speciality food halls

Steamed pork & prawn wontons

pork

spring onions, chopped small

garlic cloves, crushed

tsp grated root ginger

tbsp oyster sauce

tsp sesame oil

water chestnuts

lettuce leaves,

soy sauce

tsp grated fresh root ginger,

shreds of spring onion

Mix together the pork, prawns, spring onions, garlic, ginger, oyster sauce, oil and water chestnuts.

Peel off a wonton wrapper and, with a pastry brush, lightly brush round the outside with cold water. Place 1 tsp of mixture in the centre and scrunch up into a pouch, squeezing to seal. Do not overfill. Repeat until you have around 35-40. (These can be chilled for up to 1 hr on a tray lined with baking parchment.)

For the sauce, mix together the soy sauce, sherry and ginger in a small bowl. To steam, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Line a bamboo or metal steaming basket with lettuce leaves to fit.

Arrange half the pouches in the basket (without them touching), cover and steam for 5 mins. Remove with tongs to a platter and steam the rest – check the water level. Serve, sprinkled with spring onion or sesame seeds, with the bowl of sauce.

In Wisconsin, wild rice is truly wild, not cultivated as in other states, the tassels rising and swaying over rivers, lakes and floodplains come late August and September. Called manoomin by the local Chippewa, it is a protected crop that can be harvested only by state residents holding a valid license. And only by hand, as the Chippewa have always done, using wooden flails gently (the grains should fall from the stalk without great effort) from canoes propelled by paddles or push poles.
Shellie Holmes of Rhinelander, Wis., who shares her recipe here, likes to cook wild rice just until it pops open. This is a break with her family’s tradition, which favored a chewier texture and did not allow popping.
“Do not mix with other rice,” she urged, lest you lose the flavor of the wild.

Wild Rice With Mushrooms

long-grain Wisconsin wild rice

(1 stick) butter

salt, more to taste

Black pepper,

dry sherry,

Bring 5 cups water to a boil. Stir in rice, then reduce heat so liquid is just simmering. Cover and cook until grains just begin to pop, about 40 minutes. Drain excess liquid from rice and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have released their liquid and are golden brown, about 8 minutes; remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining butter and mushrooms.

Return all the mushrooms to the skillet and season with the salt and pepper, to taste. Very carefully add sherry to deglaze the pan, and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated but mushrooms are still moist.

Mix mushrooms into prepared rice and season again with salt and pepper.

A mixed fruit stuffing with duck fat potatoes will add all the elements you need to create the perfect Christmas turkey meal.

Valli Little's turkey with fruit stuffing and duck fat potatoes

turkey

unsalted butter, melted

(35 grams) plain flour

(125 milliliters) dry sherry

1L (4 cups) Massel Chicken Style Liquid Stock

orange

(100 grams) dried cranberries

olive oil

onion, chopped

chicken stock

fresh white breadcrumbs

(55 grams) blanched almonds, roasted, chopped

(95 grams) chopped dried figs

green apple,

tsp ground cinnamon

tsp allspice

rosemary leaves

1.5kg small King Edward potatoes, peeled

duck fat

garlic bulbs, halved widthways

rosemary

tbs sea salt flakes

https://resources.newscdn.com.au/cs/video/vjs/stable/build/index.html?id=5348771529001-5977458968001&=domain=del

5348771529001-5977458968001

Get fantastic results with minimum effort in this easy-to-make fish dish

Chorizo, new potato & haddock one-pot

extra-virgin olive oil

chorizo

salad potatoes

cherry tomatoes

bunch parsley

bread

Heat a large lidded frying pan, then add the oil. Tip in the chorizo, fry for 2 mins until it starts to release its oils, then tip in the potatoes and some seasoning. Splash over 3 tbsp sherry, cover the pan tightly, then leave to cook for 10-15 mins until the potatoes are just tender. Move them around the pan a bit halfway through.

Season the fish well. Give the potatoes another stir, add the cherry tomatoes and most of the chopped parsley to the pan, then lay the fish on top. Splash over 1 tbsp sherry, put the lid on again, then leave to cook for 5 mins, or until the fish has turned white and is flaky when prodded in the middle. Scatter the whole dish with a little more parsley and drizzle with more extra virgin oil. Serve straight away with crusty bread.

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Top 5 dry sherry recipes from across the web

The most viewed dry sherry recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Almond Birthday Cake With Sherry-Le...

Steamed pork & prawn wontons

Wild Rice With Mushrooms

Valli Little's turkey with fruit st...

Chorizo, new potato & haddock one-p...

The most viewed dry sherry recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine