Salted Cake with Caramelized Zucchini
Not too sweet, with just the right amount of saltiness—the perfect dessert to pair with sake
While it’s customary to pair sweet desserts with sweet wines, this practice hasn’t really caught on with sake.
With the hope that people will be able to enjoy these pairings with sweets as part of their daily lives, we’ll continue to explore pairings between sake and sweets.
(Recipe by: Yame Saheho)
Ingredients: (Makes one 18-cm pound cake)
100 g unsalted butter
2 eggs
80 g granulated sugar
2 g of Guérande salt
A: 90 g cake flour
Almond Powder 20 g
Baking powder 2 g
☆Syrup
Snow Dreams in Summer 10 g
10 g of water
10 g granulated sugar
How to Make It
Preparations
● Let the butter and eggs come to room temperature.
● Line the pan with parchment paper.
● Preheat the oven to 180°C.
● Set A aside
● Place the syrup ingredients in a saucepan, heat until the sugar dissolves, then turn off the heat and let it cool.
1. Place the butter in a bowl and beat with a whisk until smooth and creamy. Add the granulated sugar and Guérande salt, and mix well. Continue mixing until the butter turns white.
2. Beat the eggs, then gradually add them to the bowl from step ➁ in 10 to 15 batches, mixing as you go. Add the vanilla beans (not included in the recipe).
3. Add the sifted dry ingredients and mix gently with a rubber spatula. Once the mixture is smooth and glossy, pour it into a loaf pan and bake in an oven preheated to 170°C for 40 minutes. Insert a bamboo skewer; if it comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and brush it with the prepared syrup.
4. Once it has cooled slightly, remove it from the mold, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it rest.
Caramelized Zucchini
Ingredients
1 zucchini
4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
2 teaspoons of water
1 teaspoon oil
How to Make It
1. Slice the zucchini into 5-mm-thick rounds and cook them in a frying pan with oil (not included in the recipe) until they are golden brown.
2. In a separate pot, combine granulated sugar, water, and oil over medium heat. Once the mixture turns amber, add the zucchini from Step 1, toss to coat evenly, then spread it out on parchment paper to dry.
3. Arrange the sliced salted cake on a plate, garnish with the caramelized zucchini, and it's ready to serve.
Grocery List
☆Salt: Salt is something we take for granted, but it is essential for the body and for survival. Its main component is sodium chloride, a compound of sodium and chlorine. It is also one of the five basic tastes: salty. It is such a vital basic seasoning that even animals will travel in search of water and salt, but consuming too much can lead to high blood pressure and other health issues. It’s a natural instinct to crave salt when you sweat; the best way to determine the right amount is to rely on your sense of taste—if it’s not salty enough, add a little more; if it’s too salty, dilute it. However, if you consistently consume heavily seasoned foods, your sense of taste can become desensitized; in that case, it might be better to measure the amount precisely. Since you use salt every day, if possible, choose varieties that contain trace minerals like magnesium and calcium—which give it a slightly complex flavor—rather than those with 99.7% sodium chloride. We recommend salt that has been sun-dried or produced in traditional flat kettles.
☆Zucchini: Although it looks similar to a cucumber, it is actually a type of squash. It helps cool the body down, making it ideal for cooling off in the summer or after exercising. It’s also effective for relieving irritability and quenching thirst. It’s recommended for skin problems caused by fluid retention.
