Rachel Khoo’s DIY wedding cake - Lemon and Yoghurt

SERVES 8 OR MORE

FOR THE LEMON CURD (MAKES ABOUT 450G)
125ml lemon juice, plus the zest (equivalent to 3-4 lemons)
200g caster sugar
3 medium eggs
a pinch of fine sea salt
1 tsp cornflour
100g butter

FOR THE CAKE
baking spray or oil, for greasing the tins
240g soft butter
250g caster sugar
4 medium eggs, beaten
175g full-fat natural yoghurt
a pinch of fine sea salt
zest of 1 lemon
320g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING
300g soft butter
250g icing sugar, sifted
500g cream cheese
fresh, unsprayed flowers to decorate

1. Place all the ingredients for the lemon curd, apart from the butter, in a saucepan. Whisk on a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Continue to whisk until one or two bubbles are released, but don’t let it boil. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter. Pour through a sieve if desired (I leave the lemon zest in). Pour into a sterilised sealable jar and chill until needed. This makes more than you will need, but it keeps well for a few days in the fridge.
2. For the cake, you will need 2 x 19cm cake tins. Preheat the oven to 180C/
fan 160C/gas 4. Grease your cake tins lightly with baking spray or oil, and line the bottom with baking paper. Beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in four stages, whisking between each addition.
3. Beat the yoghurt with the salt to remove any lumps, then pour into the egg mixture along with the lemon zest. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder, then fold this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter evenly between the cake tins and bake for 30-35minutes, or until a skewer inserted at the centre comes out clean. Transfer the cake tins to a cooling rack and leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing the cakes. Leave to cool completely before cutting both cakes in half horizontally with a serrated knife to make 4 layers.
4. Beat the butter for the icing until white and fluffy before combining with the icing sugar and cream cheese.
5. To assemble, place one layer of the cake on a serving plate. Add a generous dollop of the icing and spread out evenly. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of lemon curd and spread all the way to the sides. Add the next layer of the cake. Repeat once more. Repeat again, then add the remaining icing to the top and smooth around the sides. (For a neater finish, do a thin layer of icing first, then chill for 30 minutes before applying the final coat.) Decorate with the flowers.

TOP TIP The cake is also delicious on its own, warm out of the oven or served at room temperature.
GET AHEAD The un-iced cake keeps well for 2-3 days if well wrapped and may be frozen for a couple of months.

Holland becomes first country without homeless dogs and here’s how they did it

Homelessness is a huge problem for animals all over the world. Even if it’s nearly impossible to count how many stray dogs there are, the World Health Organization estimates that about 200 million around the planet do not have a home. Sadly, it doesn’t seems the problem will be soon fixed. Therefore, a major part of those pups won’t have a home and a family.

“This problem has escalated to the point where it would take decades of a concentrated spay-neuter program in a city like Houston to begin to reduce the numbers,” said Peter Zheutlin, a rescue dog advocate in US. “The shelters are not often high priorities for governments either when they’ve got competing demands from the school department, the police department, the fire department, parks, sanitation. Who speaks for the dogs?”

However, surprisingly one country has beaten all the odds, becoming the first nation without homeless dogs. Over the last few years, Holland has been working hard to fix their stray dog problem and it finally paid off! And now the Netherlands has officially become the first country without stray dogs.

Let’s hope that other countries will fallow their example. And here’s how they managed to deal with it.

Their first step was to implement a country-wide sterilization program.  Every dog that was brought it for sterilization was also given a medical exam and brought up-to-date on any vaccinations needed. This, too, was instrumental in cutting back on the spread of diseases like rabies.

Then, the authorities passed a new set of laws in order to improve the animals rights and to protect their health. The Dutch government also raised taxes on store dogs to encourage people to rescue dogs from shelter.

“Animals — and our entire society — need the animal police,” said Marianne Thieme, leader of the Party for the Animals. “There is a direct link between violence against animals and violence against humans.”

Now, more that 90 percent of the Dutch residents own a dog, having taken a million of them off the streets. It’s a happy ending for dogs in Holland and a happy ending for humans, too!

TANGY FRUIT SALAD - Gordon Ramsey

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small pineapple peeled, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 crunchy green apples quartered, cored and cut into bite-sized chunks
• 2 pears not too ripe, cored and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 mango not overly ripe, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• ½ cucumber peeled, deseeded and cut into bite-sized chunks

FOR THE DRESSING

• 1½ tbsp tamarind paste
• Zest and juice of 1 lime
• 2–3 tbsp palm or brown sugar
• ½–1 Red chilli finely sliced, to taste
• 3 tbsp skinless unsalted peanuts
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. First make the dressing. Mix the tamarind paste, lime zest and juice, sugar and chilli, then season with a little salt and pepper. Mix well, taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
2. 2. Toast the peanuts in a dry frying pan with a small pinch of salt until golden and toasted. Wrap the nuts in a clean tea towel and run a rolling pin over them to crush them.
3. 3. Mix the crushed peanuts into the dressing. Taste and add a little more sugar and/or salt if needed.
4. 4. Combine the fruits and cucumber in a serving bowl. Add half the dressing and toss well. Taste and add the remaining dressing if needed.

USING TAMARIND

1. Tamarind’s tangy flavour makes it a very useful addition to salads, and it’s definitely worth tracking down a jar if you can. Adding a little extra lime juice can sometimes be a good substitute, though you may find the salad will lack a certain fruity sharpness.

Happy Tuesday

"Live. Love. Smile. Hug. Laugh. Dream. Do. Create. Have fun. Be intense. Be audacious. Be unreasonable. Act impeccably. Breathe. Be you. Be different."
~ Brian Johnson

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."
~ Katharine Hepburn

Bend a few rules and have a happy Tuesday!

Charles Santore, Philly illustrator of classic children’s books, dies at 84

By
• Peter Crimmins
August 16, 2019

Illustrator Charles Santore works on a watercolor illustration for a new edition of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.'' (Emma Lee/WHYY)

The Philadelphia artist Charles Santore died this week. The prominent illustrator in Philadelphia who 

created children’s books for almost 45 years passed away on Sunday. He was 84.

Santore spent the better part of his professional life in a large studio above a pizza shop in Rittenhouse 

Square. That’s where he painted pictures for reissues of classic books like the Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Rabbit, Snow White, and many, many others.

Santore could spend years on a single book, constantly revising the illustrations until they were just 

right.

“If you’re in for a penny you’re in for a pound,” he said in a 2015 interview. “If I’m going to spend 

two or three years on a project, I want it to be the way it should be so I have no apologies. A book is 

around for along time. The worst feeling in the world is to look at a book and say, ‘If only I had more 

time I could have done this better.”

Born in South Philadelphia, he grew up tough. Santore would hang around the Fleischer Art Memorial 

but never go inside.

“I would sit outside on the steps with my friends and make fun of people going into Fleischer,” he said 

in an interview for an exhibition catalogue at the Woodmere Museum. “It was important to me to hold 

my own with my friends.”

His artistic talent was recognized by teachers who encouraged him to pursue illustration. Santore 

attended what is now the University of the Arts (at the time the Philadelphia Museum School of 

Industrial Art), graduating in 1956.

After short stint in the Army he worked in commercial illustration, making artwork for advertisements 

and magazines. His portraits of celebrities regularly appeared on covers of “TV Guide” in the 1970s.

In 1985 he was approached by a publisher to illustrate a new edition of Beatrix Potter’s “Tales of Peter 

Rabbit.” It was a transformative experience. He spent the next four decades illustrating children’s 

books.

“When you’re working on a children’s book and you get involved in the long narrative, it’s more like 

composing a piece of music than a picture,” said Santoro. “You can actually make very quiet pictures 

that build to a crescendo.”

Santore was also something of an expert on antique furniture. He published a book about 18th and 

19th century Windsor chairs in 1982.

Santore’s work has been collected by many museums including the New York Museum of Modern 

Art and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Last year a major retrospective of his work was 

exhibited at the Woodmere Museum in Chestnut Hill.

SHEET PAN SCALLOPED POTATOES

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion peeled and diced
• 3 pounds medium Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1/8-inch slices
• Freshly grated black pepper *SEE NOTE
• 12 ounces grated Gruyere Emmental, Jarlsburg or Swiss cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary or thyme leaves optional

INSTRUCTIONS

• Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and heat oven to 450°F.
• Heat a large skillet, over medium-low heat, and add the oil and butter. When the oil is hot and butter has melted, add the diced onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is translucent, about 5 minutes.
• While the onions cook, scrub, dry and cut the potatoes into 1/8-inch slices. Pat the slices dry with paper towels and lay them (shingle-stylin the prepared baking sheet. The rows of potatoes should barely touch and the potatoes should fill the pan.
• Season the potatoes with black pepper, and sprinkle them with half of the Gruyere and half of the Parmesan.
• When the onions are ready, raise the heat to medium and add the cream, Dijon and herbs, stirring continuously. Heat just to a simmer and carefully pour the cream/onion mixture over the potatoes. Tilt the sheet pan slightly in all directions to spread the cream/onion mixture to the edges and corners of the pan. Season with additional freshly ground black pepper.
• Top with the remaining cheeses; Gruyere first and Parmesan on the very top.
• Cover the potatoes with foil that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Be sure to place the foil sprayed-side down.
• Bake 15 minutes at 450°F and remove the foil.
• Reduce the temperature to 375°F and continue baking 40-45 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through, the edges are crispy, the middle is bubbly and the top is golden brown.
• Transfer the potatoes from the oven and let cool 15 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!

THROUGH THE LENS: CHASING THE RED ARROWS – PICTURES FROM THE RED ARROWS VISIT TO CHICAGO

Incredible. That’s the only word I can come up with right now. I’ll gather my thoughts for an article later this week. But the Royal Air Force Red Arrows this past weekend at the Air and Water Show in Chicago were simply incredible. They were the most crowd-pleasing – the only ones where people were standing and clapping. They had the best display by far and I didn’t want it to end. I have so many pictures to go through. But here’s a sampling of the best ones from the hundreds I took. The Red Arrows are at the beginning of an 11-week tour of North America, check here to see the schedule. If they’re coming anywhere near you- you must see them. They are amazing.

THE RED ARROWS ARRIVE AT GARY AIRPORT

The first part of my pictures are from last Wednesday when the Red Arrows arrived at Gary Airport, just outside of Chicago. This was their staging area for the Chicago Air and Water Show. I was invited with the press to have a close-up look (and got lots of great info that will go into my eventual article. When they arrived from Canada, they flew over and then broke up the formation to land one by one.

PHOTOS OF THE RED ARROWS FROM THE CHICAGO AIR AND WATER SHOW

I went down on Saturday to see the Red Arrows perform in person, for the first time in my life (I’ve seen them fly past once before during the Diamond Jubilee, but I’ve never seen them perform). I had access to the press area, which was fantastic (thank you to the organizers for arranging access for me!). The weather, however, was not fantastic. It was cloudy and rainy all day, not the best day for aviation pictures! I was lucky – the Red Arrows would be out twice, first before the show started properly to practice, and then later after lunch for their full display. Despite the weather, they managed to do it and it was incredible. Here’s a selection of my best pictures. It was very dark that day, so these had to be heavily edited to add some light.

FINAL DAY – RETURN TO GARY

I didn’t go up to Chicago on the second day – for various reasons – mostly because I didn’t think the weather would allow the air show to continue. But I was wrong (it’s a long drive into Chicago and a production to park and get to the air show). I decided to go back out to Gary Airport as it’s much closer so I would see if I could see them take off and land. I missed the take-off. But I caught them coming back and I got, what I think is my best picture from the whole weekend. One perfect shot. I think I might get this one printed and put on my wall!