Mascarpone and Strawberry Traybake
This is an unusual American recipe as it has a pastry/dough layer, then jam, then fruit and finally a cream topping. It's a good way of using the strawberries that are around in the shops. I think a good quality jam makes a difference to the finished taste - I bought some from a local WI market.
Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease a large rectangular tin, about 23 x 30cm and line it with a long strip of foil with the ends hanging over the short edges; this is to get the cake out of the tin more easily.
Using an electric hand beater or a stand mixer, beat together 200g butter and 50g light brown sugar, mixing together for about a minute. Add 280g plain flour and mix together on a low speed. Turn the speed up a bit and beat together till you have a dough.
Press the dough roughly in a layer in the foil lined tin.
Bake the dough for about 20 mins till it's just starting to puff up. Take it out of the oven and cool while you get on with the rest of the cake. Leave the oven on.
Brush some melted butter on the foil just above the crust all round the pan - this will help to remove the traybake from the tin.
Spread a layer of jam over the whole crust - you need about 3/4 of a jar, then sprinkle with 300g chopped strawberries.
In a mixer beat together 250g mascarpone cheese and 125g cream cheese, then add 100g caster sugar plus a tbspn plain flour. Mix till blended. Add 1 large egg and a yolk, 1 tspn lemon zest, 1 tspn lemon juice and 2 tspn vanilla extract and beat till smooth.
Spoon this mixture evenly over the strawberries.
Bake for 30 mins till set.
Cool in the tin for an hour, then cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Sieve some icing sugar over the top.
When ready to cut into slices, lift out of the tin using the foil. Cut into pieces with a sharp knife.
Lovely textures - the crunchy base, soft layer of jam and fruit, then the creamy topping. It's not easy to cut even using the foil, and my photos of the slices weren't very good, hence one of the bake in its tin. It makes a good dessert - we ate it with some vanilla ice cream; a strawberry coulis would be good with it. You could change the fruit and jam and use raspberry, plum, blackcurrant or blueberry. It's a versatile recipe.
Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease a large rectangular tin, about 23 x 30cm and line it with a long strip of foil with the ends hanging over the short edges; this is to get the cake out of the tin more easily.
Using an electric hand beater or a stand mixer, beat together 200g butter and 50g light brown sugar, mixing together for about a minute. Add 280g plain flour and mix together on a low speed. Turn the speed up a bit and beat together till you have a dough.
Press the dough roughly in a layer in the foil lined tin.
Bake the dough for about 20 mins till it's just starting to puff up. Take it out of the oven and cool while you get on with the rest of the cake. Leave the oven on.
Brush some melted butter on the foil just above the crust all round the pan - this will help to remove the traybake from the tin.
Spread a layer of jam over the whole crust - you need about 3/4 of a jar, then sprinkle with 300g chopped strawberries.
In a mixer beat together 250g mascarpone cheese and 125g cream cheese, then add 100g caster sugar plus a tbspn plain flour. Mix till blended. Add 1 large egg and a yolk, 1 tspn lemon zest, 1 tspn lemon juice and 2 tspn vanilla extract and beat till smooth.
Spoon this mixture evenly over the strawberries.
Bake for 30 mins till set.
Cool in the tin for an hour, then cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Sieve some icing sugar over the top.
When ready to cut into slices, lift out of the tin using the foil. Cut into pieces with a sharp knife.
Lovely textures - the crunchy base, soft layer of jam and fruit, then the creamy topping. It's not easy to cut even using the foil, and my photos of the slices weren't very good, hence one of the bake in its tin. It makes a good dessert - we ate it with some vanilla ice cream; a strawberry coulis would be good with it. You could change the fruit and jam and use raspberry, plum, blackcurrant or blueberry. It's a versatile recipe.
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