I grew up eating the Sara Lee stuff and can probably still eat an entire loaf by myself. This ingredient ratio comes from Cooks Illustrated and becomes a pretty tasty dessert bread for guests who enjoy a more lemony than sweet flavor to this classic cake. The magazine would have you poke holes with a toothpick or skewer into the top side of the cake before drizzling on their lemon glaze, which really isn't quite a glaze at all but more like a lemon syrup. For a real glaze, you'd probably have to swap out the real granulated sugar with powdered sugar so that it sets up like a crust when it hardens.
If you don't stock cake flour, simply combine 1 cup all-purpose flour (minus 2 tbsp) with 2 tbsp cornstarch.
Ingredients: Cake
1 1/2 c. cake flour
1 c. (2 sticks; 16 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, diced
1 c. organic cane sugar
4 large eggs
2 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
Optional additions to step 4:
For lemon poppy seed pound cake, stir in 1/2 c. poppy seeds, or
For lavender pound cake, stir in 1 1/2 tbsp dried lavender flowers
Ingredients: Lemon Glaze
1/2 c. powdered sugar
juice of a lemon
lemon zest (optional)
Bring sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a small pot, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let cool and set aside until ready to use.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Prepare a 9" x 5" loaf pan by using unsalted butter or olive oil to grease the pan, dust it with some flour, and tap out the excess.
2. In a food processor, pulse together sugar and lemon zest. Add lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla extract. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
3. In the same food processor, pulse together flour, baking powder, salt, and butter.
4. Gently whisk flour mixture into wet ingredients. Pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees F and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes until the surface is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool on a rack before storing or serving.
Pomelo Marmalade
Wikipedia tells us that "marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits, boiled with sugar and water." The very statement suggests, no wait.. encourages, that any citrus fruit could be used as the added peel to a jam recipe. Say for example, a pomelo.
Why a pomelo? The fruit is very common to Chinese food festivals such as New Year's Day, the real one (Jan 23, 2012). I saw a pomelo recently and thought about what else one could do with a pomelo besides eating it like a grapefruit. I read a few grapefruit recipes and have cobbled this particular one together.
Here's how it would go down...
1 large pomelo
2 Meyer lemons
2 oranges (1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice)
2 c. water
4 c. granulated sugar
a pinch of Mexican saffron, optional (for color)
Some citrus peels have a high pectin content. This is what makes marmalade gel without added pectin.
1. Fill canner (or a very large pot) with water and bring it to a boil. Wash jars and lids. Put jars on a cookie sheet in the oven at 150 degrees until ready to use them. Put the lids in a bowl and cover with boiling water.
2. Wash fruits thoroughly.
3. Peel pomelo, lemons, and oranges with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Be sure to just remove the skin of the fruit, not the white pith. Julienne the pomelo, lemon, and orange rind into strips.
4. Separate the fruit from the membrane and discard the membrane and seeds. Chop the fruit wedges into small pieces and put them into a heavy bottomed pot.
5. Simmer rind, chopped fruit, saffron, fruit juices and water over high heat for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover pot and let it cool overnight.
6. Next day, add sugar to pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir occassionally until the candy thermometer reads 215-220 degrees F. At 215 degrees F, the sugar syrup may be pulled into brittle threads between the fingers. I'm not sure why you'd want to test it this way since the sugar is very hot. At 220 degrees F, when a cool metal spoon is dipped into the syrup then raised, the syrup runs off in drops which merge to form a sheet. (Read more about the various boiling stages of sugar syrup).
7. Remove from heat. Skim foam off and ladle into sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4" inch head space. Wipe rims, seal jars, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
8. Remove jars from water bath. Let cool for 12 hours. Label and store in a cool, dark place.
Makes 4 half-pint jars.
Apple Coffee Cake
This particular recipe ratio is one of Emeril's and it is a good coffee cake recipe when you use a baking pan that allows the cake to bake evenly. I didn't make the brown sugar glaze since the streusel (crumb) topping was enough. I also managed to not do the ratio in order, but the recipe seemed to be very forgiving on that note. I added the butter last because I forgot to add it to the flour earlier. You can use any variety of apple for this. There is enough sugar to compensate for tart apples. Onto the recipe.
The cake:
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 c. braeburn and ginger gold apples, peeled/cored/chopped
1 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. plain whole milk yogurt (can substitute sour cream)
2 large eggs
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened (or melted, if you forget)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Crumb topping:
1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Directions
1. In a food prep, pulse to combine dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon) and butter.
2. Add to food prep: yogurt, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
3. Pour out into a bowl and stir in chopped apples. Or, add the apples to everything in the food prep and pulse a few times. I did the latter because the food prep is fun to use.
4. Pour cake mixture into prepared (buttered) pans. For this ghastly experiment, I used a loaf pan (didn't cook through in the allotted time) and a round ring pan.
5. For the crumb topping, combine all the crumb topping ingredients in a mini food prep and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle on top of cake mixture evenly. If you like nuts, you can add a half cup of chopped nuts to this step.
Emeril's recipe calls for a 9" x 13" baking pan and a cooking time of 35-40 minutes.
I used an 8" round coffee cake pan which cooked evenly in 40 minutes. Since the crumb topping was browning faster than I liked for the 9" x 5" loaf pan, I turned the heat down to 325 degrees F and baked the loaf pan for an additional 20 minutes.
Reheat for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees F.
The cake:
2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 c. braeburn and ginger gold apples, peeled/cored/chopped
1 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 c. plain whole milk yogurt (can substitute sour cream)
2 large eggs
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened (or melted, if you forget)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Crumb topping:
1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
4 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Directions
1. In a food prep, pulse to combine dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon) and butter.
2. Add to food prep: yogurt, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
3. Pour out into a bowl and stir in chopped apples. Or, add the apples to everything in the food prep and pulse a few times. I did the latter because the food prep is fun to use.
4. Pour cake mixture into prepared (buttered) pans. For this ghastly experiment, I used a loaf pan (didn't cook through in the allotted time) and a round ring pan.
5. For the crumb topping, combine all the crumb topping ingredients in a mini food prep and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle on top of cake mixture evenly. If you like nuts, you can add a half cup of chopped nuts to this step.
Emeril's recipe calls for a 9" x 13" baking pan and a cooking time of 35-40 minutes.
I used an 8" round coffee cake pan which cooked evenly in 40 minutes. Since the crumb topping was browning faster than I liked for the 9" x 5" loaf pan, I turned the heat down to 325 degrees F and baked the loaf pan for an additional 20 minutes.
Reheat for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Kitchen Note: Subtitutions
Most substitutions that are of the same food category are pretty decent. For example, yogurt instead of sour cream or buttermilk, soured milk (regular milk + lemon juice) instead of buttermilk, low fat milk instead of whole milk, milk and butter instead of half and half, etc.
There are some substitutions of dissimilar categories that work pretty well, such as apple sauce, tofu, or yogurt in place of vegetable oil in baked desserts.
There is a substitution, however, for lemon juice which calls for an equal amount of vinegar. I'm sure that the type of vinegar used impacts the taste quite a lot. I tried a more mild tasting vinegar (apple cider vinegar) as a substitute and well, the eggplant dip which relies on lemon juice to marry the flavors of the eggplant and tahini together came out tasting terrible.
Note to future self: do not use vinegar in place of lemon juice when making baba ganoush. Ugh, what a disaster.
There are some substitutions of dissimilar categories that work pretty well, such as apple sauce, tofu, or yogurt in place of vegetable oil in baked desserts.
There is a substitution, however, for lemon juice which calls for an equal amount of vinegar. I'm sure that the type of vinegar used impacts the taste quite a lot. I tried a more mild tasting vinegar (apple cider vinegar) as a substitute and well, the eggplant dip which relies on lemon juice to marry the flavors of the eggplant and tahini together came out tasting terrible.
Note to future self: do not use vinegar in place of lemon juice when making baba ganoush. Ugh, what a disaster.
Pumpkin Potage
"Potage (from Old French pottage; "potted dish") is a category of thick soups, stews, or porridges, in some of which meat and vegetables are boiled together with water until they form into a thick mush." --Wikipedia
This recipe comes from the Cooking with Dog video series on YouTube. It can be made in just under an hour, prep and cooking time; and it is really easy to make. I used a whole kabocha squash that was just under a pound. I also used turkey broth since it was available that day; you can also use chicken broth, water + a chicken bouillon cube, or vegetable stock.
Also called: kabocha squash soup
Ingredients
One medium kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and diced
One yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp unsalted butter
sea salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 c. broth
3/4 c. whole organic milk
2-3 tbsp heavy cream
Directions
1. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Carefully peel the green rind from the kabocha squash using a sharp knife and vegetable peeler. Cut squash into chunks.
2. In a skillet, add butter, onions, and squash. Sauté over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are about to caramelize. Add broth and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
3. When the squash is fork-tender, use an immersion blender to blend the squash and onion into a thick mixture. Add milk. Blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Bring potage up to a boil over medium heat. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream.
Serve while hot.
This recipe comes from the Cooking with Dog video series on YouTube. It can be made in just under an hour, prep and cooking time; and it is really easy to make. I used a whole kabocha squash that was just under a pound. I also used turkey broth since it was available that day; you can also use chicken broth, water + a chicken bouillon cube, or vegetable stock.
Also called: kabocha squash soup
Ingredients
One medium kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and diced
One yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tbsp unsalted butter
sea salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 c. broth
3/4 c. whole organic milk
2-3 tbsp heavy cream
Directions
1. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds with a spoon. Carefully peel the green rind from the kabocha squash using a sharp knife and vegetable peeler. Cut squash into chunks.
2. In a skillet, add butter, onions, and squash. Sauté over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until the onions are about to caramelize. Add broth and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
3. When the squash is fork-tender, use an immersion blender to blend the squash and onion into a thick mixture. Add milk. Blend until smooth and creamy.
4. Bring potage up to a boil over medium heat. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove from heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream.
Serve while hot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)