Last year, I made some lemon sour cream cakes as part of Barbara’s event for LiveSTRONG Day.

LiveSTRONG Day aims to remember those who have lost their fight against cancer, to raise awareness and funds to help and support those who are fighting against cancer and to celebrate those who have survived. LiveSTRONG Day for 2008 is on May 13th. Check out the LiveSTRONG website if you want to get more involved with this day.

This year I thought I would continue on the theme of lemons, which to me epitomise the most yellow of foods, and contribute one of the most classic of lemon based desserts : the lemon tart. This recipe by Marco Pierre White is in my opinion, the definitive lemon tart recipe. It is a sumptuous treat that achieves that perfect balance between lemoniness and sugary sweetness. At work, we used to cut the tarts into small diamonds and top them with berries to be served as canapes. A silky smooth taste of yellow.

Tarte au citron :
(recipe, with slight adaptations, from Wild Food From Land and Sea by Marco Pierre White)

500g sweet pastry
5 lemons
9 eggs
350g caster sugar
250ml double cream

Using the sweet pastry, line and blind-bake a standard tart case. Brush the blind-baked tart shell with eggwash and return to the oven for a few more minutes before proceeding.

Finely grate the zest from four of the lemons, and squeeze the juice from them all.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl, then add the lemon juice and zest. Stir in the cream. Strain and let sit for half an hour. Skim any froth off the top.

While the prepared tart shell is still hot, pour the lemon mixture into the shell. Bake at 120’C for 30-40 minutes until starting to set in the centre.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest and set for at least an hour before serving.

Continuing on with the theme of oats, I thought I would share with you something else I made recently, involving the use of lots of delicious nutty oatmeal.

Most of us probably know about Anpanman, the kids’ superhero whose head is made of a bean jam bun called anpan. Rather bizzarely, Anpanman is capable of feeding the hungry by giving them bits of his head. His head is then restored by Uncle Jam, his creator. Anpanman battles for justice, with a collection of friends – one of whom is Shokupanman whose head is a slice of white bread.

I’m betting though that you probably haven’t heard of OatcakeMan. Until now. OatcakeMan was baked one fine, but rather overcast weekend, and is a fusion of Scottish oatcake and Japanese Anpanman. I was whipping up a batch of oatcakes, and inspired by Duchy Originals Oatcakes with their signature stamp on each biscuit, I decided I would like to do something similar. The only stamps I could think of to use, were some plastic Anpanman bread stamps I bought when we were in Tokyo last October. The stamps are actually intended for using to mark Anpanman images onto pieces of white bread, but I never got round to trying it out. Anyway, oatcakes just seem so much tastier.

The resulting stamp on each oatcake worked quite well; the pattern remaining very defined even after baking. I’m thinking next time I could try something else, depending on what rubber stamps I could get hold of. Return to Sender, Property Of, Faxed … ? It could be Oatcakes : The Office Edition

Meanwhile, OatcakeMan fights hunger, one decent piece of cheese at a time.

Oatcakes :
(from The Art of Handmade Bread, by Dan Lepard)

250g fine oatmeal
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
20g unsalted butter or lard
100g water at 20’C
additional oatmeal for rolling

In a bowl, combine the oatmeal with the salt and baking soda. Blend the butter or lard through the dry ingredients until all the lumps have disappeared. Add the water and mix until you have a soft dough.

Sprinkle a little fine oatmeal on the work-surface and place the dough on top of it. Sprinkle more oatmeal over the dough. Using the heel of your hand, bash the dough out to flatten it, then sprinkle more oatmeal on the top and underneath. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a scant 1/4in thick. While doing this, constantly run a spatula underneath to make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the work-surface. Cut out discs using a 3in cutter and put them onto a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to 204’C. Bake in the center of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the oatcakes are tinged with brown around the circumference. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

(Tip: Ideally, roll the dough out immediately, but if you can’t you will find that the dough hardens. This isn’t a problem; simply add a little more water to the dough and work this through with your fingertips until it is evenly combined, then roll it out).

I never thought about this before, but I’m quite a fan of oats. There’s nothing like a big bowl of hot oatmeal on a cold Winter morning. Oats are also a vital ingredient in Anzac Biscuits, Scottish oatcakes, Baker & Spice’s Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies and muesli bars. They also make a nice addition to crumble mixes, pancakes and are surprisingly good with raspberries and cream in another Scottish creation, Crannachan.

For BBD #9, I’ve tried my hand at Beatrice Ojakangas’ recipe for Danish Oat Loaf (Havrebrod). It’s a simple bread with a homemade flavour and a nice nuttiness to it, thanks to the oats within and on top of the loaf. Beatrice recommends a bowl of thick pea soup as the perfect accompaniment to this bread.

Danish Oat Loaf :
(makes 2 loaves)

1 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 cup milk, heated to boiling
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups water, 40.5’C to 46’C
4 to 5 cups bread flour or unbleached plain flour

Glaze and topping:
1 slightly beaten egg
2 tablespoons milk
rolled oats

In a small bowl, combine the rolled oats with the milk. Stir to mix. Add the butter, brown sugar, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand 5 minutes. When oat mixture is just warm to the touch, stir into the yeast mixture. Blend in 1 cup of the flour and mix until blended. add the remaining flour a little at a time, beating to keep mixture smooth. When mixture is stiff, cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest 15 minutes. Sprinkle board with flour, turn dough out onto floured board, and knead for 10 minutes until dough is smooth and satiny. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Divide into 2 parts, shape into round loaves, and place in 2 greased 9-inch round pans. Let rise again until doubled.

Preheat oven to 190.5’C. Brush with egg mixed with milk and sprinkle with rolled oats. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped.