MY SWISS MÉMÉ'S CAKE - THE RAMBLING EPICURE

What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life. And, most importantly, cookies.
- Rudolph Giuliani

Each of us had (or still has) a grandmother that holds a special place in our heart. Most people can speak about their grannies with much love and tenderness as it is impossible not to cherish someone who gave (gives) unconditional love, spoiled (spoils) them with gifts, was (is) a supportive figure in their life and had (has) a big influence on them.

Grandmothers are no less important than our mother as they are the pillar of the family and the beholders of a certain heritage. We will always remember those beautiful bonding moments we shared with them while attentively listening to them tell stories about the past, our parents' childhood, their misfortunes and youth or while baking cakes, preparing meals together and spending our holidays at their place. Those are valuable memories and indelible happy instants that we will never forget. As a matter of fact, we will certainly still continue talking about them when we reach a certain age ourselves.

"Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting."
- Author Unknown

Some people had doting grandmothers who were not afraid of showing their affection, whereas others had indifferent and teacher-like grandmothers. Unfortunately, even if mine were far from being unkind, they weren't either very close to their grandchildren. I can't recall seeing them go completely ga-ga over me and my sister. They just treated us with the same deference with which they handled non-family members, but we never got a special treatment or extra kisses and hugs.

Anyway, for somebody like me who is particularly attached the the culinary aspect of things and who was not blessed with the most demonstrative of grandmothers, you won't be surprised if I tell you that what I especially treasure are the times I spent watching my English Nana and Swiss Mémé busily bustling around the stove. I might not have been shown how to prepare many recipes with my grandmas (as a matter of fact none of them passed any of their recipes on to me), but looking at them cook has made me learn a lot and develop a passion for creating meals from scratch with natural ingredients and for eating in a responsible way. They have helped me become the seasoned home "chef" that I am now and I am very thankful that they have enlightened me with their knowledge, which has been passed on from generation to generation.

I am so proud and happy to be in possession of certain of their kitchen "secrets" hailing from a revolved era and to have been able to witness a way of living that nearly no longer exists. As I owe them a lot, I decided to rightfully commemorate those two unique beings by writing articles about both of them and spreading their gastronomic heritage as much as possible so that others can profit from it as it would be too sad to be greedy and keep it all for myself...

"In our modern world, most women choose or have to work, and countless couples don’t have the time or energy to become kitchen bees. Many people prefer buying prepackaged food and don’t see any point in spending their free time preparing homemade snacks. The majority of 21^st-century grandmothers hail from a generation of females who cut themselves off from old traditions..."
- Excerpt by me & taken from my latest article on The Rambling Epicure

So, if you are interested in reading more about my Swiss grandmother and discovering her recipe for a simple, yet versatile sheet cake named "Galette Du Pont", then please visit the The Rambling Epicure, a daily international food chronicle and online newspaper for which I am a freelance writer and ponder on the meaning as well as significance of food in everyday life. There you'll find my latest article "My Swiss Grandmother’s Cooking: The Deep Roots, Bonds and Nostalgia of Food" which I hope you'll enjoy...

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Beaucoup de mes lecteurs francophones ne comprennent pas forcément l'anglais et malheureusement peu d'entre-eux auront la chance de lire mon dernier article en date sur le site The Rambling Epicure, alors étant donné que vous m'êtes chers, je me suis permise de traduire la recette de ma grand-mère paternelle qui s'y trouve car je pense qu'elle pourra vous intéresser.

J'espère que le cake simple, humble et à usage multiple de ma Mémé, qui était originaire du canton de Vaud en Suisse Romande, vous plaira. Cette gourmandise a bercé toute mon enfance et occupe une place toute particulière dans mon coeur...

~ Galette Du Pont ~
Recette par Rosa Mayland, Mai 2011.

Pour un grand cake rectangulaire de 24x37cm.

Ingrédients:
500g de Farine blanche
3 CC de Poudre à lever
1/2 CC de Sel de mer fin
125g de Beurre non-salé
250g de Sucre cristallisé
2 CS d'Huile d'arachides (ou toute autre huile ayant un goût neutre)
2 1/2 CC d'Extrait de Vanille pure
4 Gros oeufs, à température ambiante
16-18 CS de Lait (assez afin d'obtenir une consistance de pâte à cake)

Méthode:
1. Préchauffer le four à 180° C.
2. Beurrer un moule à cake rectangulaire et tapisser le fond avec du papier sulfurisé.
3. Dans un bol moyen, mélanger ensemble la farine, la poudre à lever et le sel. Mettre de côté.
4. Dans le bol de votre robot, battre le beurre avec le sucre en crème/pommade.
5. Ajouter l'huile et la vanille. Battre à nouveau afin que ces ingrédients soient bien incorporés.
6. Ajouter les 4 oeufs, un à un et bien mélanger en nettoyant les bords à l'aide d'une spatule en caoutchouc (après chaque ajout).
7. Incorporer les ingrédients secs en alternance avec le lait et bien mélanger afin d'obtenir une pâte lisse et homogène.
8. Verser dans le moule et répartir de manière égale.
9. Cuire pendant 45 minutes ou jusqu'à ce que la pointe d'un couteau inséré à l'intérieur du cake en ressorte propre.
10. Laisser refroidir dans le moule et sur un grille.

Remarques:
Vous pouver sans problème diviser cette recette.

Idées de présentation:
Servir ce cake à l'heure du thé avec un bon café et un thé noir.
Il est délicieux lorsqu'il est servi seul (c'est comme ça que ma grand-mère nous le faisait manger) ou recouvert d'un glaçage, coupé en deux et fourré (crème au beurre, confiture de fraises, Nutella, crème pâtissière, etc…) ou encore tout simplement présenté avec des fraises et de la crème fouettée.