Cleopatra Cake
From; Sweet; Yottam Ottolenghi / Helen Goh
This is a big cake - you will need either an angel food cake of chiffon tin to bake it in to make sure the warmth of the oven can get all the way round the cake. I bought a chiffon tin specifically - very much worth it.
Cake Ingredients
500g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¾ tsp salt
340g caster suger
175g unsalted butter (at room temperature) plus extra for greasing
75ml olive oil
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons (2 tsp)
Finely grated zest of 1 medium orange (2 tsp)
Seeds of ½ aa vanilla pod
4 large eggs
450 ml muscat dessert wine at room temperature
100g seedless red grapes, washed and sliced lengthways
For the topping
70g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
70g caster sugar
100g seedless red grapes, washed and sliced lengthways
Method
Preheat the oven to 210 deg C / 190 Fan / Gas Mark 6. Grease and lightly flour a 25cm round 10 cm deep angel food / chiffon tin, tap away the excess flour.
Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a bowl and set aside.
Using an electric mixer cream together the sugar, butter, olive oil, lemon and orange zest and the vanilla seeds, mix (at a medium / high speed) until smooth and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating them in well after each addition. Take the mixer speed down to low and add one third of the flour mixture followed by half of the wine. Repeat and then finish with the addition of the final third of the flour and continue to mix on a low speed.
Once everything is combined pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, scatter 100g of the sliced grapes on top and bake for 20 minutes.
Whilst the cake is in the oven make the sugar crust. Cream together the sugar and butter until you have a thick paste.
After the cake has been in the oven for 20 minutes, remove it and quickly but gently dot the sugar / butter paste around the top of the cake. Break it into small pieces as you place it. Spread the other 100g of grapes around the top of the cake and then place it back in the oven, immediately turn the oven temperature down to 180 deg C / 160 fan / Gas Mark 4 and bake for another 35 - 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool for about 30 minutes before removing from the tin.