Gooseberry Cloud Cakes

When I was a little girl, I used to go to work sometimes with my Dad where I'd be put to work filing invoices.  Slave labour, eh!  I was always distracted by the giant gooseberry bushes outside and used any excuse to disappear outside and pick as many as I could carry.  I learned pretty quickly that they weren't like regular berries and needed to be cooked first.  Holy moly, the sourness of a raw gooseberry is pretty unforgettable!  Something you rarely see now is Gooseberry Jam and I came across a jar in Danish home store Søstrene Grene last week which I simply couldn't resist.

The easy thing would have been to just spread it on toast but I knew I could make some little cakes with a sweet and sharp gooseberry jam centre.  And adorn them with a simple citrussy glaze, just because.  The acid test was the reaction from the work colleagues.  Cakes that result in thank you hugs are good cakes...

Gooseberry Cloud Cakes

2 Eggs, separated
110g Butter, very soft
165g Caster Sugar
195g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
50ml Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
12 tsp Gooseberry Jam

Preheat your oven to 180c / Gas Mark 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper liners.

In a spotlessly clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff (this will take much longer than you think... so persevere)

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and very fluffy.  Add the egg yolks, one at a time and mix well.

Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl.  Mix the milk and vanilla extract together. Now add 1/3 of the flour to the butter, mixing well, followed by 1/3 of the milk. Repeat until everything is very well blended.

Fold the egg whites into the batter, using a metal spoon, until the mixture is very light and almost sloppy.  Divide half of the mixture between the paper cases, drop a teaspoon of jam on top, and finish off with the rest of the cake mixture.  Level out with the back of a spoon and bake for 25 minutes until well risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely, then make the citrus glaze.

Citrus Glaze

100g Icing Sugar

25ml Orange Juice

Beat well together with a small whisk until completely smooth.  Drizzle over the tops of the cooled cakes and allow to set before eating.