Parlez-vous franglais? Cake tout citron

Sabine

Franglais – what charming coinage, a fusion of français and anglais, to describe a French scattered with English words. The longer I´ve lived in France, the more I realize how many anglicisms are actually used in every day speech.  I´ve always thought French was relatively free from anglo-saxon imports, with French terms being used where the rest of the world has adopted anglicisms so naturally that they´re hardly perceived as such. Example? I´m sitting in front of mon ordinateur (my computer) right now, trying to install un logiciel (a software program) while writing un courriel (email) to a friend. Then mon portable (mobile phone) is ringing, I´ve received un texto (SMS) from my husband.  Bienvenue en France!

By contrast, other domains of daily life are sprinkled with English terms and some pseudo-English neologisms like brioches with sugar grains, contradicting the notion of the French as linguistic purists. The latter exist, bien sûr, epitomized by l´académie francaise, an institution decicated to the integrity of the French mother tongue. But words like googliser (to google) pass most people´s lips without thinking, le selfie even appears in the French dictionary. Whether you go to town by tramway, spend le week-end by the sea or order rosbif (roast beef) at the restaurant – le Franglais is simply there (and has been for decades: the term itself dates back to the 60ies, by the way).

And talking franglais,  on mange du “cake”. Un cake can be sweet or savory, the point is that it´s a simple batter, a pound cake perhaps, usually baked in a rectangular tin. Here, the basic cake recipe I make almost every week gets an upgrade, ending up being nothing but lemony. Drizzled with lemon syrup, filled with lemon curd, covered in lemon whipped cream. I wish I had a word in franglais to describe it, but in French I´d say it´s délicieux.

Cake tout citron
cake:
4 eggs (225 g)
225 g / equal amounts of butter and sugar
75 g ground blanched almonds
150 g sifted flour
1 scant tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt

Preheat oven 175°C/350°F. Melt butter in a saucepan. Leave to cool slightly.

At high speed, whisk eggs with salt and sugar until frothy and bright. At low to medium speed, add sifted flour, ground almonds, and baking powder. Add butter.

In a buttered baking tin, bake until a test knife comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

Leave to cool on a wire wrack. Then slice horizontally to end up with three layers.

lemon syrup:
juice of 2 large lemons, 100-120 ml
zest of 1 organic lemon
100 g sugar

In a saucepan, bring the ingredients to boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes until slightly thickened. While the syrup is warm, generously drizzle all three cake layers .

lemon curd (makes 1 jar, about 330 ml):
180 ml lemon juice, from 3-4 lemons
2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
90 g sugar
90 g butter
zest of 1 organic lemon
optional leaves from 1/2 bunch basil

In a saucepan, stir together all ingredients and warm over low to medium heat, stirring frequently with a hand whisk or a wooden spoon. Do not boil or the eggs will curdle. Take off the heat once the mixture has thickened to cover the back of a spoon, similar to a custard. The process will take about 5-10 minutes, depending how high the heat is. If nothing happens after that time,  just increase the heat slightly.

Strain through a sieve if using the version with basil to discard the leaves. Store in a glass jar with a lid. Keep in the fridge, use within 1-2 weeks.

to assemble the cake:
200 ml full fat cream (crème liquide) + 1 tbsp confectioner´s sugar for whipping

Place bottom layer of the cake on a serving plate. Drizzle with syrup. Spread 2 generous tbsp of lemon curd onto the cake. Repeat with the second layer. Cover with top layer, drizzle with syrup again. Place cake in the fridge and allow to sit for 1 hour or over night.

Before serving, whip up the cream with the sugar until soft peaks form. Gently fold in 2-3 tbsp of lemon curd. Cover cake with the cream, using a palette knife or a spatula.

⚜

Parlez-vous franglais? “Cake” tout citron

Franglais, zusammengesetzt aus français und anglais, das ist die schöne Bezeichnung für ein von englischen Wörtern durchsetztes Französisch, entsprechend unserem vielleicht nicht ganz so klangvollen Denglisch.  Viel häufiger, als ich dachte, haben sich angelsächsische Importe oder auch pseudo-englische Wortschöpfungen in die französische Alltagssprache eingeschlichen. Le shopping, le tramway, le weekend und le foute (von foot ball) werden schon sehr lange ganz selbstverständlich verwendet. Googliser, googeln, das macht auch jeder. Le selfie hat es, obwohl neueren Datums, sogar schon ins Wörterbuch geschafft.

Dafür gibt es auf der anderen Seite eine ganze Reihe eigener französischer Ausdrücken für Dinge, die wahrscheinlich der gesamte Rest der Welt beim englischen Namen nennt. Computer heißt ordinateur, logiciel bedeutet Software,  un courriel  ist eine Email. Bienvenue en France!

Was hat das alles mit einem Zitronenkuchen zu tun? Eine Menge, denn das Franglais kennt auch eine ansehnliche Auswahl an Begriffen zum Thema Essen & Trinken. Neben le sandwich, le beefteck, le muffin und le brownie gibt es nämlich auch: le cake.

Damit ist ein süßer oder herzhafter Rührkuchen gemeint, einfach in der Zubereitung, meistens gebacken in einer Kastenform. Ein solcher cake, den ich bestimmt einmal die Woche backe, ist das Grundrezept für diesen Zitronenkuchen. Den Namenszusatz verdient er sich durch Zitronensirup, lemon curd und Zitronensahne, die den Teigschichten auf verschiedene Arten und Weisen nahegebracht werden. Das Ergebnis ist saftig und zitronig – eben das, was ich mir unter einem Zitronenkuchen vorstelle.


Zitronenkuchen – cake tout citron:
Kuchen:
4 Eier (225 g)
225 g / gleiche Mengen and Butter und Zucker
75 g gemahlene, blanchierte Mandeln
150 g gesiebtes Mehl
1 knapper TL Backpulver
1 Prise Salz

Ofen auf 175°C vorheizen. Butter zerlassen und etwas abkühlen lassen..

Eier mit Salz und Zucker hellgelb und schaumig aufschlagen.

Das gesiebte Mehl, die gemahlenen Mandeln und das Backpulver zugeben. Die Butter unterziehen.

In einer gefetteten Backform etwa 45-50 min backen.Abkühlen lassen und zwei Mal horizontal durchschneiden, um drei Lagen zu erhalten.

Zitronensirup:
100-120 ml Zitronensaft (von 2 großen Zitronen)
Zesten einer ungespritzten Zitrone
100 g Zucker

Alle Zutaten in einem Topf zum Kochen bringen und 5-10 min lang leicht eindicken lassen. Die Kuchenlagen damit beträufeln, solange der Sirup warm ist.

Zitronencreme/lemon curd (ergibt 1 Einmachglas, ca 330 ml):
180 ml Zitronensaft, von 3-4 großen Zitronen
2 Eier + 2 Eigelb
90 g Zucker
90 g Butter
Zesten einer ungespritzten Zitrone

Variation: 10-20 Basilikumblätter

Alle Zutaten in einem Topf vermischen und bei mittlerer Hitze erwärmen, dabei häufig rühren. Nicht kochen, damit die Eier nicht gerinnen. Sobald die Mischung deutlich eingedickt ist und eine puddingartige Konsistenz hat, (das dauert 5-10 min je nach Hitzezufuhr), vom Herd nehmen.

Wenn Basilikumblätter verwendet werden, die Creme vorm Abfüllen durch ein Sieb passieren, um die Blätterreste zu entfernen. Im Kühlschrank aufbewahren und innerhalb von 1-2 Wochen aufbrauchen.

Fertigstellung des Kuchens:
200 ml Sahne + 1 EL Puderzucker

Unterste Kuchenlage auf eine Servierplatte legen, mit Sirup betrüfeln. Zwei bis drei EL Lemon curd darauf verteilen. Mit der 2. Kuchenschicht ebeno verfahren. Die oberste Kuchenschicht aufsetzen und mit Sirup beträufeln. Etwas durchziehen lassen.

Vorm Servieren Sahne mit Puderzucker aufschlagen und 2-3 EL lemon curd unterheben. Zitronensahne mit Hilfe eines Spatels auf dem ganzen Kuchen verteilen, so daß er vollständig bedeckt ist.

67 Comments

  1. This is the second lemony cake I’ve encountered on my blog feed this week, and it a.) makes me sad that the meyer lemon tree I had my eye on to get is sold out at the store I wanted to get it at and b.) maybe I need to be making some lemon-based baked good soon because these all look so freaking tasty.

    Like

    Reply

    1. having my own lemon tree – why have I never thought of that, it sounds so good and I use lemon with quite anything these days (why now? don´t´t know…)You´ll find another, Elizabeth!

      Like

      Reply

    1. merci, Amanda! Franglais is a fun part of French, I think, though French people pronouncing English words the French way can tie a foreigner a hard time ;-)!

      Like

      Reply

  5. Not so much in my part of France. My neighbour looked at me askance a while ago when I said I was about to go faire du shopping. Week-end just about works, and Parking in the big city, but not in our petit hameau (pop.5)

    Like

    Reply

    1. 😉 Hello Keith, I really wasn’t aware franglais might be a capital sort of thing! I stumble over those anglicisms all the time, that´s when I started to read about the subject. But never have I read anything about it being a local phenomenon of the Parisian area, which is so interesting to hear!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Yes, I can imagine that. The older generation might not be much connected to the English speaking world and new media, so why should they adopt anglicisms? If you´d asked older people in Germany (where I come from) about the word Denglisch, the analogous term to franglais, a fusion of Deutsch (German) and English in that case, they couldn´t tell you much about it either…

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Fein … das sieht wie ein sehr feiner Sommerkuchen aus, wird am Sonntag ausprobiert! Gar nicht “ordinateur” (witzig, diese französische Bezeichnung für so etwas ordinär langweiliges wie einen Computer.

    Like

    Reply

  9. What a lovely post! My daughters are expert at speaking Franglais and I’m finding despite having been here for years I can’t seem to shake the habit either. And that cake looks amazing, I think i’ll be making one this weekend to eat in the sunshine, thank you for a wonderful recipe.

    Like

    Reply

    1. How great you have such super-cool (is that franglais, too?) daughters! How old are they (thought I saw a boy recently on one of your photos in a recent post)? If you make the cake,I do hope you´ll like it – please let me know !

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. They are both at the lycée, there are plenty of Anglophone students there and when I walk past I hear the most amazing Franglais, teenagers seem to do it far better than anyone else! And I’ll definitely let you know about the cake, maybe I can get one of them to make it…

        Like

  10. ohhh, wie lecker!! Ich liebe dieses Zusammenspiel von leicht sauer und sahnig-süß und die Bilder sind wirklich zum Anbeißen. Danke für’s Teilen, ich werde das bestimmt nachmachen 🙂 GLG, Heike

    Like

    Reply

  11. Your blog traffic is so international, love it, 🙂 I wish I could speak French or German, but alas my High School french has gone right out the window now. What a gorgeous looking cake you’ve presented today, it’s just stunning, plain and simple ingredients = deliciousness all around. Enjoy your weekend.

    Like

    Reply

    1. How great you learned French in school, it´s not that often the case, is it? In my case, it´s a bit special , I´ve learned it for years since I was born & raised in a small region 0f Germany very close to France, but without practicing, most of my French had gone out of the window as well. Some things came back by the time we´ve moved here (about a year ago), but oh, do I make mistakes! So, so many of them in every French sentence I speak…..
      But practice makes perfect, I keep telling myself that all the time 😉

      Like

      Reply

  13. I have more lemon cake recipes than any other kind but yours’ yet another one that looks elegant and delicious. My trees are full of citrus fruit right now.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Really, so you´re a fan of lemon cakes? what´s your favorite? I LOVE lemon cakes and tarts, too! And having your my own citrus trees like you, I´d be in heaven. What kind do you have? So good to hear from you, Mary, as always!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Cumquats, lemons, oranges, lemonade, tangelo, pomelo, citron (etrog, Buddah’s hand), mandarins, limes… my favourite recipe is a little tea cake cooked with the curd in it. When I find the recipe I will post it. Since I’ve been diagnosed with diabetes I have stopped baking (once I do I can’t stop eating).

        Like

      2. The recipe sounds wonderful, I hope you´ll be able to post it so I can try! Meanwhile, I dream about your orchard, it really is the orchard of my dreams since I love citrus so much, I would´t stop foraging and baking and eating. Paradise!

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Beautiful cake. The world is such a small place it seems natural that the languages should meld. Australia is very multicultural. English, not American is smattered with words from many languages, especially when it comes to food. I learned French at school too. I find watching subtitled French film has helped keep it serviceable enough for travel.

    Like

    Reply

  15. Yes indeed, subtitled films have taught me so much, too! I can imagine Australia must be an exiting country to live with many cultures and influences mixed in food, language and all aspects of live. I struggle with language more than I´d like to admit since I´d always thought I had learnt a lot in school. But after years of not practicing, knowledge gets lost, and pronunciation is getting horrible 😉

    Like

    Reply

  16. This cake looks wonderful. I like cakes with interesting fillings. The syrup and lemon curd between the layers creates an awesome-sounding filling.

    Like

    Reply
  17. Pingback: PARLEZ-VOUS FRANGLAIS? CAKE TOUT CITRON – Chef Ceaser

  20. I love your correlation between cooking/baking and French/English. I am learning French at the Alliance Francaise in London and its a huge challenge and a blessing too. I too come up with classic Anglicisms/Franglais and faux amis… makes for lots of laughter in my classroom.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much. I love its scars, too. The lemon cake is a favorite here, hence the post –Thanks again for dropping by and leaving your lovely comment! Sabine

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment