THE HIGH LIFE

STEVE CUMPER CELEBRATES MOTHER’S DAY WITH AN AFTERNOON TEA OF POSH NOSH.

Host a fancy Mother’s Day afternoon tea with Steve Cumper’s recipe for a fluffy passionfruit curd sponge.

I HAD ALWAYS ASSUMED high tea was the posh version of afternoon tea, but I was wrong. As it turns out, afternoon tea is the posh one. It was supposedly invented in the 1800s by an English duchess who couldn’t go without a snack between lunch and dinner, so she made the late-afternoon nibble de rigueur for fashionistas of Victorian times. High tea was the working man’s early evening meal and included substantial offerings, such as sausage rolls and pies, and probably came about because, well, they had a reason to be hungry after all that labouring. In my best Sir David Attenborough voice: “Fast forward to today and tribes of tradies, replete in high-vis gear, can be observed chomping baked goods and guzzling iced coffee at takeaways throughout the land. Is this a tribute to the origins of high tea?” Sir David may have a point, but high tea now means something entirely different. Somewhere along the line, the posh appropriated high tea, removing it from the dinner tables of the working classes and relocating it to the parlour. It’s since morphed into an extravagant feast of baked goods, pastries and sandwiches served on tiered plate stands in five-star hotels and overpriced cafés. On Mother’s Day, saving Mum from the cold dread of Lasagne Day at the retirement home and whisking her away for high tea is a duty performed by many devoted children turned adults. I recall taking my own mum to the tea rooms in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, where we feasted on finger sandwiches, scones and some very fancy chicken vol-au-vents overlooking the lake. The swans paddled, the eels slithered and my mum was happy. But you needn’t pay a fortune for a fancy afternoon tea. Just have a go at my simple recipes that allow you to celebrate Mother’s Day, or any other day, with cake! I wish my mum was still alive so I could ring her up to say g’day and, once again, hear the love in her voice. Happy Mother’s Day!

PASSIONFRUIT CURD SPONGE CAKE

Serves 4

6 eggs, separated

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup caster sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

extra, for dusting

1½ cups self-raising flour, sifted

1 cup thickened cream, whipped

pure icing sugar, for dusting

PASSIONFRUIT CURD

4 passionfruit, halved, pulp removed

2 eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup caster sugar

100g butter, chopped, softened

To make curd, combine passionfruit pulp, eggs and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring, for 15 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Gradually add butter, stirring until well combined. Transfer curd to a bowl and refrigerate until required. Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a deep 15cm round springform cake pan and dust with extra caster sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites and salt in a clean, dry bowl until firm peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, a little at a time, beating well after each addition until well combined. Add egg yolks and beat until combined. Gently fold flour into egg mixture. Spoon mixture into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed. Transfer to a wire rack lined with baking paper to cool completely. Cut cake in half crossways. Place base of cake on a cake stand. Top with curd and whipped cream. Top with remaining cake and dust with icing sugar.

FINGER SANDWICHES

Mash 3 soft-boiled eggs and 2 tablespoons whole-egg mayonnaise. Add 2 teaspoons finely chopped chives, season and stir to combine. Spread 2 slices white sandwich bread with egg mixture. Top each with another slice of bread. Trim crusts. Cut each sandwich into 3 fingers. Makes 6.

AVOCADO & CRAB TARTLETS

Mash ¼ avocado and 1 teaspoon lime juice. Season to taste. Spoon avocado mixture among 8 precooked 3cm-round savoury tart shells. Top with 30g cooked crabmeat and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika. Serves 4.

MANGO FOOL

Spoon 2 tablespoons crumbled butternut biscuits into bases of four small serving glasses. Peel 2 mangoes and cut flesh from stones. Use a fork to crush flesh of 1 mango. Whip 1 cup thickened cream, then fold through mango. Spoon over crumb in glasses. Refrigerate until firm. Whisk ½ teaspoon gelatine powder and 1 teaspoon water in a microwave-safe bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes to soften. Microwave on High for 20 seconds or until gelatine is dissolved. Cool. Puree gelatine mixture and flesh of remaining mango in a food processor. Spoon over cream mixture. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until set. Makes 4.