Marie Frank, author of More Than Sweet: Desserts with Flavour, offers two elegant pastry recipes: strawberry shortcakes and cardenales. The shortcakes feature macerated strawberries with pomegranate molasses and black pepper, while the cardenales combine genoise sponge, meringue, and marsala whipped cream with apricot compote.
Strawberry Shortcakes: A Perfect Dessert for Non-Cake Lovers
Frank describes these shortcakes as ideal for those who are not cake enthusiasts. The contrast between the salty, warm biscuit-like shortcake, whipped cream, and macerated fruit creates a satisfying dessert. The recipe serves eight and takes about 1 hour 20 minutes total, including maceration.
For the shortcakes, combine 280g plain flour, 40g granulated sugar, 2½ tsp baking powder, ¾ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp ground cardamom. Rub in 115g cold unsalted butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add 120ml cold double cream to form a soft dough, then roll to 2½cm thickness and cut eight biscuits. Brush with remaining cream and sprinkle with demerara sugar, then bake at 220°C (200°C fan) for 18-20 minutes.
The macerated strawberries use 300g fresh strawberries, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses, and freshly cracked black pepper. Crush a quarter of the strawberries with sugar and molasses, then fold in the rest and let sit for 30 minutes. The whipped cream combines 480ml double cream, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla, whisked to soft peaks. Assemble by splitting biscuits and layering strawberries and cream.
Cardenales: A European Pastry with Mallorcan Roots
Frank explains that cardenales originated in Vienna as "cardinal slices" and later became popular in Lloseta, Mallorca. This recipe makes six pastries and requires about 2 hours plus chilling time.
For the apricot compote, simmer 225g apricots (half the total) with 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp tamarind paste, and water for 15-20 minutes. Add remaining apricots and cook 10-15 minutes more until tender. Season with salt and refrigerate.
The meringue uses 5 egg whites and 100g granulated sugar, whisked to stiff peaks. The sponge uses 3 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 80g sugar, ¼ tsp salt, and 80g plain flour, beaten to thick ribbons. Pipe alternating rings of sponge and meringue on lined trays, marking eight 8cm circles. Bake at 180°C (160°C fan) for 30-35 minutes.
The marsala whipped cream combines 480ml double cream, 50g sugar, and 60ml marsala, whisked to medium peaks. Layer compote and cream between two cake rounds, refrigerate 3-4 hours, and dust with icing sugar before serving.
