Let’s Cook at Gaby’s on 21 March 2022
Being English, I couldn’t think what to cook together and which would represent my cooking in a few hours. I though of cakes but then not everyone would be happy eating only cake for lunch! I then thought about making quiche to start.
I premade the quiche pastry bases and chose three recipes, a traditional Quiche Loraine, (OK this may be French!) Roasted tomato, basil and parmesan quiche, (Italian!) and an Asparagus quiche using fresh asparagus which is just in season.
For the cakes, first I chose Churchill’s fruit cake, a cake made by Sir Winston’s housekeeper, Mrs Landemare who cooked for the Churchill family from 1939 throughout WW2 until her retirement in 1954. She said that Churchill was a very fussy eater and liked plain English food! I soaked mixed fruit in strong tea over night and we started this cake soon after 10.00 as it required cooking for almost 2 hours.
The second cake was Chocolate cola cake, a nod to America! I first enjoyed it at a friend’s house about five years ago, it is chocolatey and delicious but very light and easy to make by melting butter and Cola in a saucepan and adding the dry ingredients so an ideal recipe for children to make. We didn’t have time for a frosting, but it would have made the cake very rich!
I had made a classic sponge earlier in the morning as one lady thought she may have to leave early, and I wanted something ready for her to eat.
Everyone helped with something, and we had a great morning together.
All recipes are below:
bbcgoodfood.com – Ultimate Quiche Lorraine
bbcgoodfood.com – Roasted Tomato Basil Parmesan Quiche
thewi.org.uk – Asparagus Quiche
nationaltrust.org.uk – Churchills Fruit Cake
saturdaykitchenrecipes.com – Chocolate Cola Cake
theenglishkitchen.co – Mary Berrys Victoria Sandwich Cake