PS…..OVEN TEMP SAYS “MODERATE OVEN”….I BAKED MINE AT 375 DEGREES

A year ago I stumbled across a catalogue from the early 1920’s for the Royal Baking Powder Company. It was a Chinese version with beautiful illustrations and recipes in both Chinese and English. I had thought I would use in the pictures for a project, never once thinking I might attempt a recipe. Fast forward to our walk through with Ryan Noon at his gallery in Chinatown. We were discussing our dinner plans for our Embers Only supper club event. I asked him if he had any thoughts on food that resonated with him. How could we pull from his experiences and our location to create a meal that satisfied the mood and spirit of his world on Chung King Rd? He mentioned the Chinese bakery tradition of fruit and berry cream cake. Immediately the image below popped into my head. I thought, well, we won’t do strawberry, we will do plum and we will make the cakes small. I tested out the coconut cake sponge and stacked the little circles with plum compote and whipped cream but to my dismay it tasted dry and boring. I needed a better sponge. I would try the recipe from the Royal Baking Powder Catalogue. I was pleasantly surprised. The sponge is simple. It is basic and tastes as such, but with light texture and moisture. I was unhappy with the cake stacks so I pivoted again and decided on a trifle. I would layer this simple sponge with pastry cream, plum compote and whipped vanilla cream……chilled in fancy glasses overnight it would soften together for a chilled dessert delight.

FOR THE TRIFLE

You will need:

Sponge Cake: broken into smaller pieces

Pastry Cream: recipe found on the Profiterole Recipe Page Here

Whipped Cream: recipe found on the Icebox Cake Recipe Page Here

Plum Compote: recipe found on the Plum Parade Page Here

Fresh Plums: sliced

You can also use other seasonal fruits and berries. Get creative and be happy!

LAYER THE COMPONENTS IN THE GLASS BOWL, JAR OR WINE GLASS…TOPPING WITH WHIPPED CREAM. CHILL IN THE REFRIGERATOR OVERNIGHT FOR A GOOD SOAK. REMOVE FROM FRIDGE AND DECORATE WITH FLOWERS AND A SIFT OF POWDERED SUGAR.