LEMON SOUR CREAM CAKE

Easiest.  Cake.  Ever.
Perfect for brunch, afternoon tea, summer picnics or for no reason at all!

LEMON SOUR CREAM CAKE
Taken right off the page from Donna Hay / Entertaining.  

4 oz butter, room temp.
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 TBLS grated lemon rind
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups plain AP flour (sifted)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8 x 8 pan.
Place butter, sugar and lemon rind in a stand up mixer and beat until light and creamy.
Add eggs and beat well.
Fold in flour, baking powder, sour cream and lemon juice.
Immediately place into cake pan and bake for 40 minutes or until cake is fully cooked when tested with skewer.
Dust with either super fine castor sugar or powdered sugar and serve warm with cream.

Ina Garden's Pear and Apple Crisp

Let me start by saying that I rarely make dessert unless we are having friends over for dinner, or a holiday comes poking around.  This is partly due to my insecurities of baking and also the reality of only having fleeting moments of a desire for sweets.  But, recently,  I had this unbelievable craving for a fruit crisp and wasn't satisfied until I had a whole 9 x 13 baking pan FULL of crisp siting on the counter staring back at me saying, "I'm here for you, whenever you need me".  Like a really good friend.
There is no baking prowess required to make this, a fruit crisp is literally "desserts 101", but this one especially will impress any and all food snobs alike.  Simply because it is good,  damn good, all thanks to Ina Garden and her wild abandon use of butter and all things naughty.

Easy Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies and Christmas! There are millions of sugar cookie recipes out there, all basically the same, with small tweaks here and there.  I tried this recipe out from The Food Network with great success, with much help from the readers comments who mention how hard and crumbly the dough becomes after resting in the fridge, making it nearly impossible to roll out and work with.  So after I made the dough, I went ahead and rolled it out, cut my shapes and then put them on the sheet pans which went into the fridge for about an hour.  Once I removed them from the fridge, they were firm and solid.  Brilliant!  They baked evenly and did not spread.  This is the way to go.

BOO!

I've been meaning to make these little guys for 2 years now and I finally remembered to do it before Halloween!  I am DYING over their cuteness and the simplicity of this recipe.  It's an ideally spooky kitchen activity for you and your little chefs OR for the little trick - or - treater inside all of us.
If you can spare 2 egg whites, some powdered sugar, cream of tartar, and a few hours of waiting for these ghosts to emerge out of a barely - on oven, then this is for you - get started!  Halloween is ALMOST here!!!
Do yourself a favor and read the post from 101cookbooks about this recipe, Heidi goes into this with fine detail and great cooking tips. Also, amazingly CUTE photos!

Hot Toddy Pudding Cake with Tupelo Honey

Gourmet Magazine (RIP) is/was a huge source of inspiration for me and every so often, I flip through an old issue until something interesting jumps out at me, then it's off to the market, with a mission.  There's not much to this recipe, and you might actually already have all the ingredients in your pantry. (I did, right down to the Scotch).  And what's even better than not having to make a special trip to the grocery store is that this is really, really good.  It comes out of the oven and takes your breath away - simply gorgeous.  Perfect for a winter night, (I know, but it's summer!).  I happened to have a top-shelf, fancy Scotch in the liquor cabinet (Glen Rothes - husband b-day gift), and it definitely added to the depth of this dessert, its fruity and spicy undertones were very noticeable and appreciated.

HAPPY BDAY, NK!

In celebration of my husband's birthday, I made - per his request - angel food cake with chocolate frosting.  He told me his grandmother used to make it for him, Awwww!  Since I wasn't there to ever taste his nana's cake, I can pretty much say with certainty, her cake was better - it always is - however, this came out just fine.  (Maybe it's me, I'm not a lover of angel food cake to begin with, oh the things we do for love...) Anyway, the chocolate frosting is every bit as good as you'd expect with butter as the main ingredient, it's a stand-up frosting recipe to keep on file.

I usually only feature food on this site which reflects my personal eating and cooking style, that being, local, seasonal and organic.  The only way that this cake fits into that type of classification is that it is seasonal in so far as it is a birthday cake and we celebrated a birthday. (OK, the ingredients were all organic, too).  Other than that, this one is the anomaly for this blog and I am posting it with love and the fact that we all deserve a little b-day cake every now and then!

Strawberry Semifreddo

Delicious, red, ripe strawberries are all over the markets now and boy are they good!  Sweet, juicy and sold on the side of any country road, they are the true sign that summer has arrived.  If you find yourself with a few pints of sun-ripened strawberries, give this a shot for your next large group get together, (July 4th BBQ, anyone??).

Hot Buttered Cherries with Vanilla Ice Cream

I love everything about the title of this post.  "HOT, BUTTERED CHERRIES... VANILLA ICE CREAM", is that not an amazing group of words? I made this last night, right around midnight.  Nothing better than a late night dessert shared with friends over an intense game of UNO.  With cherries at the peak of the season, there is no reason why you shouldn't make this right NOW!  Deliciously plump and warm cherries on top of creamy vanilla ice cream is one hell of a way to end the night.  What's better?  Leave the pits in and stems attached to make for an even easier and more beautiful presentation..

Jamie Oliver's Orange Spiced Doughnuts

"Doughnuts. Is there anything they can't do?"

-Homer Simpson

These take a few hours, and require your attention, but if you are ready to take on the challenge, frying and all, then this are a great doughnut recipe. My suggestion is to make the full recipe if you are having a bunch of friends over - as this yields a large amount. If you happen to be doing this for just a few (two) people, cut this in half. (I did). They won't keep for long, so it's best to fry 'em up and eat 'em warm.

Doughnuts With Old English Spice

From Cook With Jamie

1 1/4 oz packet active dry yeast

1/3 cup super fine sugar

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBLS whole milk (warmed until tepid)

zest of 2 lemons

zest of 1 orange

5 1/2 TBLS butter, softened and cubed

1 3/4 pints vegetable oil

For flavored sugar:

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp all-spice

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

1 vanilla bean, scored lengthwise, seeds removed

Put the yeast in a bowl with a TBLS of sugar and a TBLS of flour and mix in the warm milk. Put in a warm spot until mixture is frothy.

Put the rest of the sugar, flour, butter and zest into a bowl and add add yeast mixture. Bring together with a spoon and form a ball. Use your clean hands to form a nice ball and knead dough for about 5 minutes, or until soft and silky.

Place ball into a bowl, and place a damp towel over it and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Meanwhile, make the flavored sugar by mixing all ingredients in a bowl and set it aside.

When the dough had doubled in size, knock it back by pushing or punching the air out of the dough. This will allow the dough to rise again and the doughnuts will be light and fluffy.

On a floured surface, roll the dough out until it's about 1/2 inch thick.

Cutout about 25 little holes with a glass rim or cookie cutter- about 2" in diameter. Place on greased cookie sheet and place damp cloth on top and allow to double in size, about 45 minutes.

Once they have doubled in size, use a chop stick to pop into the middle of each blob to form a hole.

Time to fry - BE CAREFUL!!! Heat oil in a deep, heavy sauce pan. Check oil temp by dropping a small piece of left over dough into the oil. If it drops and pops back up right away and turns golden after about 1 minute, the oil is hot enough.

Fry doughnuts in batches, about 2 minutes, removing them with a slotted spoon, and setting on paper napkins to drain.

While still hot, dust with flavored sugar and eat warm.

No. Boxed. Mixes.

I was at the market, in the baking isle, and I saw brownies, mmm, brownies... They looked so good, so chocolate-y, so easy. I instantly grabbed a box and tossed it to my cart. It was with me for quite a while, staring up at me, we were very happy together. This box stayed with me a long while, making it all the way to the checkout line and almost onto the belt, when I realized what I was doing... STOP! I grabbed the box just before it was scanned, and ran it back to the baking isle, right where I had found it. Sorry, I can't do this...it's not you, it's me. I had committed a minor sin in the culinary world... Even when it seems so much more convenient, so much easier, you must stay strong and repeat after me: NO. BOXED. MIXES.

I promise you, these brownies are really simple, quick to mix and it's so much more rewarding to make something this good from scratch. I try to always have dark chocolate, butter, flour, and eggs stocked and ready. If you are well prepared, then this brownie heaven can be yours, too!

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Adapted from Donna Hay, Entertaining.

8 oz. butter (2 sticks)

8 oz. dark chocolate

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Fleur De Sel to sprinkle on top before baking.

Preheat oven to 350.

Place butter and chocolate in a sauce pan over very low heat and melt, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.

Beat eggs and sugar in a bowl until light and thick. Fold the egg mixture with the melted butter and chocolate.

Add flour and baking powder and gently fold through.

Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 8 pan ( I line my pans with parchment after I butter the pan).

Sprinkle some Fleur de Sel on top of wet mix.

Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes, or until set.

Allow to cool and dust with either cocoa powder or powdered sugar.

Makes about 1 dozen squares.

No chocolate for you, Auggie : )

Rainy Day Cookies

Whenever it rains in LA, (which is hardly EVER), I find myself strangely happy, holed up at home, with a hot oven and big appetite. Lucky for me, I was ready for this first round of what will be a week of wet, windy, simply wonderful weather. I had my plan of attack so that I could sit down, mid storm and indulge in freshly baked cookies. This all sounds pretty simple and easy - however, there has been a major shake-up in the world of chocolate chip cookie making. See, these days, you can no longer think of chocolate chip cookies one minute and have them the next - Ooooh nooooo! It's all about patience and foresight. (And a lot of self - control!)

The secret is allowing the dough to rest in the fridge for, ideally, 36 (long) hours until popping into the oven. By doing this, three things happen to create cookie magic: The gluten is given time to relax, causing a less rubbery, but more crisp cookie. Second, the butter, which has been warmed to room temp, can cool and thus won't spread into the other cookies while baking. And finally, the rested flour is given more time to absorb liquids resulting in a crisper, more fully-flavored cookie. (See an interesting NYT article here.). To be honest, I haven't tried the full 36 hour fridge test - however, I did freeze the dough overnight and baked half today and was very happy with the result - a crisp, brown sugary wafer-like cookie. Not bad! In fact, a giant improvement from all those years of making the dough and immediately popping them into the oven, which now appears to be a mortal cookie sin. So, there I was, awaiting the storm, with cookie dough freezing, ready to make it's debut. Just like the much anticipated rain.

Not to overload you with this cookie revelation, BUT, there is another part to this sweet story... I have always baked cookies with all-purpose flour, which yields a more cake-like, fatter cookie. Which is lovely. However, my preference is for a crisper, more wafer-like cookie and to get this result is to use pastry flour. It's worth a shot, give it a try and see which you prefer.

Freeze your dough into a log and store. Simply take out and slice whenever the craving strikes you. As for me, with a magnificent, but brief, break in the weather, I'm happy to know there lies another batch in my freezer awaiting the next go-around.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

Stir flour with baking soda and salt and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugars - don't over cream the butter.

Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mix until incorporated.

Gradually combine the dry and wet ingredients.

Add chocolate chips and combine thoroughly.

Divide dough into two.

Take one half of dough and lay onto a long piece of plastic wrap.

Form a log and twist the ends for freezer , repeat with 2nd half of dough.

Freeze, or refrigerate for up to 36 hours. (If freezing, you can store for up to 6 months)

Whenever your ready to bake, heat oven to 375.

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice from frozen log - each piece should be about 1/4 inch thick.

Bake for 7-10 minutes.

Yields roughly 2 dozen cookies.

Orange and Oat Scones

Tomorrow marks the day when I (try to) learn how to tickle the keys of my Quickbooks program (bleh), as I have hired an actual real-life book-keeper to come over and show me the ropes. Now, let me tell you, there is a reason I veered towards a career in food rather than one involving addition and subtraction, so this should be interesting! In an effort to woo my teacher, I decided to make these scones to offer her while she shows me where the plus and minus keys are on located on this very keyboard. So I paid a visit to one of my most favorite food blogs, 101cookbooks, to see what Heidi had to offer. Low and behold, these Orange and Oat scones appeared right before my eyes. And now they have appeared on my kitchen counter! If only accounting was so easy! A simple, easy recipe - give it a try.

The original recipe calls for currants, I substituted raisins.

Orange and Oat Scones

From Heidi Swanson, 101cookbooks.com

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose, or half of each)

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch or two of salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cubed

2 cups rolled oats

zest of one orange

2/3 cups dried currants, or raisins

sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt and pulse to combine.

Add butter and pulse about 20 times, until mixture looks like sandy pearls.

Transfer the dough into a bowl and add oats and zest. Stir to combine.

Add buttermilk and currants - stir until just moistened.

Bring the dough together with your hands - add a splash of buttermilk if too dry- avoid over mixing.

Form roundish balls and place on baking sheet.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until just turning golden.

Makes about 1 dozen

Brioche with Chocolate Centers

There is really only one cookbook that truly gets me inspired to step out of my comfort-zone, dig in and try something new. Maybe it's the amazing photos or the simplicity in her recipe writing, but either way, Donna Hay has my number and my kitchen is much better for that! Each time I flip through one of her books or magazines, something inevitably jumps out at me and I'll do whatever it takes to make it as soon as possible. In this case, it was driving to the local grocery this morning, practically in my pjs, to get some butter.

I am no great baker and have never made brioche. But something about tiny little brioche tins and a thought of melted chocolate in the center of eggy, doughy bread got me out of bed earlier than usual today...

Brioche with Chocolate Centers

From Donna Hay, Entertaining, 2003.

Makes 8

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

1/2 cup warm milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 TBLS sugar

2 egg yolks

4 oz butter, chopped and softened to room temp

8 large chunks dark chocolate, about 1/2 oz each, ( I used Valrhona)

Place the four and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Place the milk, vanilla and sugar in a separate bowl and mix until combined.

Add the milk mixture and the egg yolks to the flour mixture and beat on med speed until dough forms a smooth ball.

Continue beating, adding butter a little at a time, until incorporated and well beaten.

Cover the dough and set aside for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

ALTERNATIVE METHOD (my method)

Mix flour mixture and milk mixture in a bowl until a soft dough forms.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

Add butter, a few pieces at a time, and knead until combined.

Cover the dough and set aside for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, or until it has doubled in size.

Once dough had doubled in size, knead on lightly floured surface until soft and elastic.

Divide into 8 equal sized pieces and flatten slightly in your hand.

Place a piece of chocolate in the center of each piece and fold over dough to enclose.

Place the brioche in 8 greased and well - floured brioche tins.

Cover and set aside for 1 hour, or until the dough had doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the brioche are golden brown.

Serve warmmmmmmm.

Vanilla Sugar

I recently hit the mother-load, finding an unusually large amount of vanilla beans hiding in the back of my spice drawer, I must have gone through a weird stock-pile obsession and then forgotten about them. With too many now to know what to do with, my wheels started turning. Making my own vanilla infused vodka was my first experiment, which went exceedingly well, it is simply delicious, and I am now on my 2nd batch. Here, I decided to split the bean and stick in into a jar of sugar. Amazingly, little vanilla seeds fleck the sugar and impart a subtle, but unmistakable vanilla note. Use as you would in any recipe which calls for sugar. Or add to your morning coffee. I must mention, this could make a sweet little sugary gift - (I am all about coming up with different DIY gifts) - the tiny black dots scattered in pure white sugar is quite intriguing and looks really beautiful.

Give it a try, take one vanilla bean (per 2 cups of sugar, roughly), split it lengthwise, and add it to sugar. Mix it well, best to use a jar and shake it to loosen the seeds from the bean. Store in an air tight container with the bean still in the sugar.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

Can I tell you - I just discovered the most delicious, sublime chocolate dessert that took about 15 minutes to make. And it's like biting into a piece of smooth, sophisticated, grown-up chocolate super - heaven. I broke my own rule though, the one where I urge you not to try something new right before you have people coming over for dinner. I thought I could let it slide, after all, it's only dessert, it's not like totally necessary to serve a dessert, so if you mess it up, it could go virtually unnoticed... Right?, (long pause..) Yikes!!! That's so NOT cool, man! Dessert is, at least in my book, the best part of dinner and when I'm lucky enough to be somewhere that it is being offered, it makes my heart skip.

So, after all this reconfiguring of my priorities, I am pleased that even though this time I broke my own rule - it was ok - and dessert was served and received decidedly well. I guess that speaks for the simplicity of this chocolate-mousse cake, it's quite easy, low maintenance and decadent. Even if it has to be made one day in advance, and then sit on your counter, (for a very long and painful 24 hours), it's well worth the wait : )

Chocolate Mousse Cake

From Eating and Living, John Pawson and Annie Bell

Serves 6

1 lb good quality bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces

4 oz. unsalted butter

2 heaping spoons sugar

4 organic eggs

1 TBLS all-purpose flour

cocoa powder, for dusting

1/2 lb berries

Preheat oven 425. Butter an 8" springform pan, (I used a 10" and so my cake is thinner), with removable base. Put chocolate, butter, and half the sugar in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of boiling water, stirring occasionally.

Put the eggs and remaining sugar in a bowl in a food processor and whiz for 10 minutes until mixture has increased in volumes several times over and pale, almost white. (My eggs never got whitish, more pale yellow). Transfer to a large bowl and carefully fold into the flour. Then gently fold melted chocolate into mixture.

If you are using a chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa, the mixture may break, or curdle, in which case, whisk in 2-3 tbls of water to emulsify it. At this point, the mixture will still be runny. It will partially set as it cooks and further when it cools.

Pour the mixture into the cake pan and cook for 6 minutes. The rim should have just set and the center will still appear to be liquid.

Allow the cake to cool, then cover with plastic wrap and leave in a cool place (not the fridge), overnight.

To serve, run a knife around the edge of the pan and remove it. Dust the surface with cocoa powder and serve with scattered berries.

Ice Pops

Leave it to Martha Stewart to come up with these incredible pops that will make you one very happy person.  It's a grown up ice pop which will let you feel like a kid again.

Honeydew and Cream Ice Pops with Pistachios

Martha Stewart Living, June 2009.

1 honeydew melon (3 lbs), halved, seeded and cut in to 1 - inch chunks

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios, roughly chopped

Working on batches, puree melon in a blender until smooth.  You should have about 4 cups puree.  Add honey and cream and stir to combine.

Sprinkle about 1 tsp chopped pistachios into each ice-pop mold.  Pour melon mixture into molds. Freeze until slushy, about 2 hours, add pop sticks and continue freezing until completely frozen, about 6 hours, or overnight.