St Anne’s Gateau
St Anne is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary according to tradition. St Anne was the Saint of the Month in July 2021, when The Southern Cross told her story.
Barren and childless into an advanced age, Anne and her husband Joachim remained faithful and hopeful as they prayed for a child. God granted their prayers and blessed them with a daughter like no other: the Mother of God. Thus, Anne was a key to carrying out the will of God: salvation for mankind.
Anne dedicated Mary to a life of service to God and his Temple, giving herself and her daughter at an early age to God. She raised Mary in a life of such purity that her daughter’s womb was blessed to carry the Son of God, whose birth we celebrate this month.
This gateau is perfect for celebrating the feast day of St Anne, with its delicate sponge and contrasting cream cheese icing. It has a fragrant lemony taste. When it’s all eaten together, it’s perfect — just as she was.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup of sugar • 4 eggs• 170g soft butter • ¾ cup flour • ½ tsp baking powder • pinch of salt • 140ml water • 2 ⅔ cups ground almonds • 5 drops almond essence • zest of 1 lemon • 20ml lemon juice
Icing ingredients:
- 125ml cream cheese • 200ml icing sugar • 2 tsp vanilla essence • ½ cup soft butter • 2 tbsp plain yoghurt
Preparation: 60 min • Servings: 6-8
Preparation:
- Heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a round bunting cake or spring-form tin with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together. Add the butter, flour, baking powder, salt and water, and mix with an electric beater.
- Stir the almonds and essence into the batter. Grate the lemon, and add the zest and juice and stir until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake on the middle rack for approximately 45-50 minutes (check after 45 minutes). The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- While baking is in progress, prepare the icing. Cream together the butter and icing sugar, and add vanilla essence. Then add the cream cheese and yoghurt. Mix together till smooth. If it is still a bit runny, add more icing sugar and vanilla essence to taste.
- After letting the cake cool down, cover it with the icing. You can decorate with fresh berries of choice and perhaps edible flowers, just for the finishing touch.
- Enjoy with a prayer to St Anne!
Grazia Barletta is an author, book designer, and food photographer & stylist. She can be contacted at . Follow her blog at www.momentswithgrazia.com and connect with Grazia on Facebook/Instagram: momentswithgrazia
Published in the December 2022 issue of The Southern Cross magazine
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