Lime Drizzle Cupcakes

Dear readers,

Lime has such a refreshing, tart and aromatic flavour and is so versatile across the world of cuisine. I was so surprised at the lack of "lime drizzle" recipes, as there are many lemon drizzle and some orange drizzle recipes out there, that I decided to test the idea myself.

I used a simple sponge recipe with equal weights of eggs, flour, butter and sugar. I actually made a crucial mistake when making these cupcakes - I forgot to use self raising flour! I was quite surprised by how much the cakes rose without any raising agent involved. One almost couldn't tell!

As I mixed the lime juice, sugar and lime zest together, the beautiful bright green of the lime zest started to fade (see photos) to a less attractive olive green colour. This is due to the replacement of the magnesium ions in the chlorophyll with hydrogen ions in the acidic lime juice. Unfortunately, this didn't come to mind before I made the cupcakes! Despite the colour change, I very much enjoyed these cupcakes and they make an interesting yet subtle change from the infamous lemon drizzle cakes!

Lime drizzle cupcakes

2 medium eggs

120g self raising flour

120g butter

200g caster sugar

Zest of 3 limes

Juice of 1 lime

This will make around 12 medium-sized cupcakes.

Mix the butter and 120g of sugar together until well-combined, then add the flour, eggs and zest of 2 limes. Fill the cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180°C, or until golden brown.

Mix the zest and juice of 1 lime with the remaining 80g of sugar. Drizzle on top of the cupcakes while they are still warm. Then enjoy!

Torta Rogel

Dear readers,

Torta Rogel is an authentic Argentine recipe. It consists of layers of crispy pastry sandwiched between glossy dulce de leche and is topped with Swiss meringue.

When I was in Argentina I made this cake with one of my Argentine friends. She gave me a 1kg pot of dulce de leche to take home to make this dessert for my English friends and family.

Many people make Torta Rogel using the same dough as empanadas or they use pre-made empanada discs that I mentioned in my Empanada post. This is such a simple dessert that I didn't want to take any shortcuts. I don't think that England sells empanada discs, anyway! I researched many different recipes, in both Spanish and English, and combined them to create my own.

Torta Rogel
Pastry
4 egg yolks
260g plain flour
100g butter
50ml water

Filling
400g dulce de leche

Swiss meringue
4 egg whites
100g icing sugar

Mix the butter and flour together until a breadcrumb-like texture is formed. Add the egg yolks and water and mix to form a dough. Divide the dough into walnut-sized balls, wrap them in cling-film and then leave them to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough balls on a floured surface to a thickness of ~0.5mm. Place the sheets on a baking tray and prick the pastry all over with a fork. Bake the sheets at 180°C for ~5 minutes until they are lightly golden brown.

Sandwich 7 or 8 baked pastry sheets with spoonfuls of dulce de leche. It may be useful to heat the dulce de leche slightly to soften it and make it easier to spread.

Lightly whisk the sugar and egg whites over a low heat. As the mixture warms, whisk harder until stiff peaks are formed. Place the meringue into a piping bag and pipe little peaks of meringue on the top pastry sheet.

Notes:
This recipe makes 38 walnut-sized dough balls which, in turn, makes 5 cakes. I decided to make 1 cake and several "rogelitos" (mini-cakes) by dividing each pastry ball into 5 smaller balls to make smaller pastry sheets. If one wishes to make one cake, I recommend quartering this recipe.

Although this recipe is simple, the rolling out of the pastry sheets and cooking them tray by tray does take some time. These are best eaten fresh, however, they can be stored for a few days and heated up for a few minutes in the oven before serving.

En Español:
Torta Rogel
Masa
4 yemas
260g harina
100g manteca
50ml agua

Relleno
400g dulce de leche

Merengue suizo
4 claras
100g azúcar impalpable

Mezclar la manteca y la harina juntos hasta conseguir una textura como de miga de pan se forma. Añadir las yemas y el agua y mezclar hasta formar una masa. Separar la masa en bolas del tamaño de una nuez, envolverlas en film transparente y dejar a descansar en la heladera durante 1 hora.

Estirar entonces las bolas de masa sobre una superficie enharinada hasta un espesor de 0,5mm. Colocar las hojas en una bandeja de horno y se pincha la masa por todas partes con un tenedor. Hornear las hojas a 180°C durante aproximadamente 5 minutos hasta que estén ligeramente doradas.

Intercalar las hojas con cucharadas de dulce de leche.

Batir las claras y el azúcar impalpable suavemente calentando en fuego bajo. Cuando esté caliente, batir mas fuerte hasta que este dura a punto de merengue. Rellenar una manga de decoración con el merengue y formar picos encima de las hojas con dulce de leche.

Notas:
Esta receta hace 38 bolas de masa, que hacen 5 tortas. Me decidí a hacer una torta y varios "rogelitos", dividiendo cada bola en 5 bolas más pequeñas para hacer pequeñas hojas.

Aunque esta receta es simple, el estirar y cocinar de las hojas requiere mucho tiempo. Estas tortas se comen mejor frescas, sin embargo, pueden almacenar durante unos pocos dias y se calientan durante unos pocos minutos en el horno antes de servir.

The pastry is very crumbly and delicate. The idea is for the pastry to crack as one adds the layers together and the sticky dulce de leche to act as a glue holding each layer in place.

The Swiss meringue is quite different from normal meringue since it holds a mousse-like texture. If one prefers, the meringue can be hardened on a low heat in the oven for 30 minutes or so. The cakes will survive a low temperature in the oven.

Slice like a normal cake and enjoy!