Tahini and nectarine cake
- Published: 12 Jul 23
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Rich and nutty tahini makes a surprisingly good flavour for a sponge cake. Paired with a zesty homemade nectarine curd, this sandwich cake offers a contemporary flavour upgrade to classic cream and jam offerings.
Ingredients
-
150ml sunflower oil, plus extra to grease
-
180g self-raising flour
-
3 medium free-range eggs
-
180g golden caster sugar
-
1 tsp vanilla extract
-
80g tahini
For the filling
- 100g unsalted butter, softened
- 100g cream cheese, chilled
- 200g icing sugar
- 150-200g nectarine curd
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
Specialist kit
- 2 x 20cm sandwich cake tins
Method
- Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of both sandwich tins with oil and baking paper.
- Weigh the flour in a small bowl so it’s ready to hand. Put the eggs and caster sugar in a large bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until pale and smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the vanilla, sunflower oil and tahini and whisk again to combine. Gently fold/mix in the flour with a rubber spatula, then scrape evenly into the prepared tins.
- Bake both cakes in the centre of the oven for 18-20 minutes until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean and they’re starting to come away from the edges of the tins. Carefully run a palette knife around the edge to release the cakes, then ease out onto a wire rack to cool.
- While the cakes cool, make the buttercream. Put the softened butter in a large mixing bowl and beat using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and mix again briefly to combine. Fold or gently mix in the icing sugar, then beat until combined and fluffy. (Try to avoid over-mixing cream cheese frosting as it can turn to liquid.)
- Set the bottom sponge on a serving plate or board, then spread half the buttercream on top using a palette knife. Avoid flattening the buttercream too much; waves in the frosting will create pockets for the curd to fill. Spoon half the curd on top, allowing it to drip a little at the edges, then top with the second sponge. Repeat with the remaining buttercream and curd, then sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. Allow to set before slicing and serving.
- Recipe from August 2023 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 487kcals
- Fat
- 29g (9.4g saturated)
- Protein
- 6.5g
- Carbohydrates
- 49g (38g sugars)
- Fibre
- 1.3g
- Salt
- 0.3g
delicious. tips
Make the cakes, icing and curd and store separately. They can all be frozen or if just for assembling the next day kept in airtight containers, with the cake at room temperature and the icing and curd in the fridge,
Make sure you use good quality runny tahini – and if it’s separated in the jar, take the time to give it a proper stir to ensure you’re getting an equal amount of oil and paste.
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