Lemon poppy seed whipped cream cake, or how to use up heavy cream in a fantastic way

Here where I live one thing happens time and time again during the holidays: heavy cream disappears from the grocery stores. Because there were years I needed heavy cream for a number of recipes and couldn’t find any, now I usually stash two bottles of the ingredient before all the craze begins, and that way I can make desserts and ice cream (it is summer here after all).

I was too greedy last time, and ended up with a lot of heavy cream to be used – really, a lot. Shame on me. I made popsicles, a tart, and also a posset, but every time I opened the fridge I had the feeling that the cream was taking over the whole thing.

Pressed for time – heavy cream doesn’t last long, unfortunately – I came up with a wonderful solution: Rose Levy’s whipped cream cake, which I’d baked before and it was delicious, but this time I added lemon zest, limoncello and poppy seeds to make it even more interesting.

Lemon poppy seed whipped cream cake
slightly adapted from the wonderful Rose's Heavenly Cakes

225g cake flour (or 200g all purpose flour + 25g corn starch)
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (225g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 ½ cups heavy cream, chilled
3 large eggs, room temperature
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons limoncello (optional) – I used homemade
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F (180°C/350°F if using a dark pan). Butter and flour a 10-cup fluted metal tube or Bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. In another bowl, rub sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip cream on low, gradually increasing speed to medium-high as cream thickens, until stiff peaks form.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla and limoncello. With the mixer on medium-high, gradually add egg mixture; beat until thickened (like mayonnaise) and well combined. Gradually add sugar, about 30 seconds.
On low speed, beat in the flour mixture until flour is dissolved and well combined. Transfer batter to prepared cake pan and smooth surface.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into cake comes out clean and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 25-35 minutes. Transfer cake pan to a wire rack and let cool 20 minutes; cake will begin to shrink from sides of pan.
Carefully unmold cake onto the rack and cool completely. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Serves 8-10

Iced berries with limoncello white chocolate sauce and "Noah"

What makes an atheist go to the movies to watch a movie based on a biblical story? In my case, Darren Aronofsky – he’s one of my favorite directors and I’ll watch anything the man does, even if it involves something I don’t believe in.

I find it incredible that Aronofsky did a movie about a character from the bible and yet he doesn’t paint it with heavy religious tones – his Noah is human, and because of that he is flawed (and played to perfection by Russell Crowe). It is interesting to see traces of Aronofsky’s previous movies in Noah, such as the visual of Noah’s dreams, the many times suffocating music and, my favorite part in the whole movie, when he tells his family about how the world was created – that was extremely beautiful and by the end of the scene I had tears in my eyes.

I don’t think Noah is Aronofsky’s best film so far and it’s definitely not my favorite – Requiem for a Dream is – but it is still much better than many films I’ve seen lately. I can trust him to make something unusual and interesting every time, even if not a favorite of mine – I know he’ll deliver something to be talked about, something to be discussed, and that’s more than I can say about many directors out there. He created something beautiful even when he had the money drastically reduced (and to think that Brad Pitt left the project to be in the insignificant Troy – how lame is that?).

The same way I can trust Aronofsky when it comes to films, I know I can trust Nigella when it comes to food – I would probably have ignored this recipe if it wasn’t for her; it might not be my all-time favorite dessert but it is certainly a good idea for unexpected, last-minute cravings (or guests).

Iced berries with limoncello white chocolate sauce
from the wonderful Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration

500g frozen mixed berries (unthawed)
4 tablespoons limoncello – I used homemade
1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
200g white chocolate, finely chopped

Take the berries out of the freezer and arrange them in a single layer in a dish or plate that has a small lip (so that the sauce doesn’t drip off later). Sprinkle with two tablespoons of limoncello and leave for five minutes – while that goes on, put the cream and the remaining two tablespoons of the limoncello in a small saucepan and heat it until just about to come to the boil, but not actually boiling. Take the pan off the heat and add the white chocolate, then swirl the pan about so that it is all submerged. Swirl the saucepan once again to make sure the chocolate melts.
Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate-cream mixture until smooth, then pour it over the berries and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6

Frangipane ripple lemon cake and directors I avoid

The posters for “Nymphomaniac” were released days ago and everyone is talking about them; I have zero interest in watching the movie because I did not like “Antichrist” and “Melancholia”. Many people I know tell me I should watch “Dancer in the Dark” because they’re sure I would love it but I really don’t feel like it – those other two movies made me quit Lars Von Trier, if not for good, for a real long time. The same happened with Michael Haneke – I felt so sick and miserable after watching “Funny Games U.S.” that up to this day I haven’t watched “Amour” yet – and several people I know have told me that the movie is great and that they’re sure I would love it, but I guess I’ll wait another couple of years to do that as I have the feeling I’ll cry my eyes out with Emmanuelle Riva.

While I’ll avoid those directors’ films like the plague, there are others whose work drawn me immediately (can’t wait to watch “Girl Gone” and “The Wolf of Wall Street”, for example). And when it comes to baking the feeling is the same: I shy away from Jamie Oliver’s baking recipes most of times (that banana bread scarred me for life), while I’ll gladly try any recipe by Martha Stewart – they work every time and taste great. Here, I’ve paired Martha’s lemon cake with another baking force’s frangipane filling, the amazing Flo Braker, and it was a match made in food heaven: the cake turned out delicious and moist. One piece of advice, though: just make sure both the bowl you’re mixing the batter in and the Bundt pan are big enough because this cake is huge. :)

Frangipane ripple lemon cake
adapted from two great sources: Martha Stewart's Cakes and Baking for All Occasions

Frangipane filling:
1/3 cup (33g) almond meal
½ cup almond paste – I used homemade, recipe here
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened

Cake:
3 cups (420g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon table salt
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 ¼ cups (450g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 3 large lemons
1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons limoncello (optional; if using, add another tablespoon of flour to the 3 cups listed on the recipe)
6 large eggs
1 cup sour cream*
confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Make the filling: in a food processor, combine the almond meal, almond paste and sugar and process until well mixed. Add the egg and butter and process until smoothly blended. Cover and refrigerate while you make the cake batter (my food processor is broken, so I made the filling using an electric mixer).

Now, the cake: preheat oven to 180°C/350°C. Butter and flour a standard 12-cup Bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar and zest on medium-high until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; mix in lemon juice, vanilla and limoncello (if using).
With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in three parts and sour cream in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).
Remove the frangipane from the refrigerator. Spoon about 2 cups of the cake batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Spoon half of the frangipane in dollops over the center of the batter, and then spread it over the cake batter avoiding the center tube and sides of the pan. Spoon half of the remaining batter evenly over the filling. Spoon the remaining frangipane over the batter, spreading it evenly. Spread the remaining batter over the top and spread evenly.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 55-60 minutes (if cake browns too quickly, tent loosely with aluminum foil). Let cake cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. (To store, wrap cake in plastic, and keep at room temperature, up to 3 days.) Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 10-12

Almond madeleines with limoncello glaze

It’s no secret I adore the Internet and to the list of great things that can be done with it I’ll add planning trips – flights, hotels, restaurant reservations, everything can be done with the computer, not to mention the travel blogs out there and their precious information about the places around the world – my dear friend Tania’s blog was a fantastic source when I was planning my trip to New York, a must-read for a foodie like me.
The hubby and I have plans to go to Paris again sometime in the future and when we do I know exactly where to go for posts not only about the City of Light but also about other destinations in Europe: my lovely and dearest friend Tina’s blog. Too bad it’s just for those who read Portuguese because she’s an amazing writer and her posts are a delight even if you’re not planning any trips.

Speaking of Paris and Europe I bring you today these madeleines: a very French treat with a delicious Italian touch provided by the limoncello.

Almond madeleines with limoncello glaze
adapted from Martha’s lemon madeleines

Madeleines:
50g all purpose flour
½ cup (50g) almond meal
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
80g granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
75g unsalted butter, melted

Glaze:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar
½ tablespoon limoncello, or more to taste – I used homemade
about 1 teaspoon water, if necessary

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and almond meal, removing any lumps. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and the salt until frothy, then whisk in the sugar. Whisk in the extracts followed by the flour mixture. Fold in the butter. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Brush twenty-four 1-tablespoon capacity madeleines molds with melted butter and refrigerate for 5 minutes. Fill each mold ¾ of its capacity and bake for 8-10 minutes or until risen, golden and springy to touch. Remove from the oven and immediately unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
Glaze: sift the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Gradually add the limoncello, stirring until you have a drizzable consistency – add more limoncello or the water if necessary. Drizzle over the cooled madeleines and set aside until glaze hardens, about 15 minutes.

Makes 24

Limoncello sheet cake

I had a lovely surprise going through my Delicious bookmarks a couple of weeks ago: I found a link I thought I’d lost forever! It was the link to a blog I used to love reading but couldn’t remember the name (my memory is no longer what it used to be, clearly). Their recipe for raspberry brownies was there, bookmarked a good three years ago. There were tons of delicious posts for me to catch up and the minute I saw this beautiful limoncello cake I knew exactly what I would bake for the weekend – the cake turned out really good, very tender and perfumed with the lemon liquor. The recipe is so easy you don’t even need an electric mixer to prepare it.

Limoncello sheet cake
slightly adapted from this beautiful blog

Cake:
1 cup plain, unsweetened yogurt
2 eggs
1/3 cup (80ml) canola oil
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
½ cup (120ml) limoncello – I used homemade
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking power
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

Glaze:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar
½-1 tablespoons lemon juice, more if necessary

Cake: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan.
In a large bowl whisk together the yogurt, eggs, canola oil, lemon zest and juice. Add vanilla, sugar and limoncello and mix well.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and stir into the yogurt mixture. Do not over mix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.

Glaze: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl and gradually add the lemon juice, mixing until you get a drizzable consistency. Pour over the cooled cake. Set aside for 20 minutes for glaze to set.

Serves 20

Limoncello & lime popsicles

Once you have a bottle of homemade limoncello in your pantry you have to use it, right? I've been adding it to lemon cakes regularly, especially when the recipe calls for lemon extract, with great results. And it went really well in these, too, which I call "popsicles for grown ups" - delicious and very easy to make.

Limoncello & lime popsicles
from the always amazing Delicious - Australia

½ cup (120ml) heavy cream, whipped until thick
1 395g can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup (60ml) limoncello – I used homemade
finely grated zest of 2 limes
½ cup (120ml) lime juice

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, folding gently to combine. Pour into twelve 1/3-cup capacity popsicle molds, then freeze for 1-2 hours until firm but not completely frozen. Insert a popsicle stick into each mould. Freeze for at least another 2 hours or overnight until firm.

Makes 12

Double limoncello poppy seed cookies + homemade limoncello

Trying to solve the boozy cookbook problem I thought that it would be nice having a bottle of limoncello at home – it seemed to be the perfect alcoholic acquisition for a person like me. Unfortunately that idea was discarded the minute I saw how much a bottle of limoncello cost. :S
Luckily for me, there was a recipe for homemade limoncello in Francine Segan’s beautiful book and it was super easy to make: the only tricky part was having to wait 4 weeks to taste the liqueur – which turned out to be quite strong and very lemony, indeed – and to make these delicious cookies as well.

Double limoncello poppy seed cookies
from the adorable The Boozy Baker: 75 Recipes for Spirited Sweets

Cookies:
½ cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
2 teaspoons limoncello
1 1/3 cups (185g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Glaze:
1 cup (140g) icing sugar
2 tablespoons limoncello
hot water, if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Cookies: beat butter and sugar together until creamy and light. Add the egg, zest and limoncello and beat until combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix in low speed just until combined. Mix in the poppy seeds.
Form 1 ½ heaping teaspoons of dough into balls and place onto prepared sheets 5cm (2in) apart. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until golden around the edges. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze: sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Gradually add the limoncello, stirring until desired consistency (add the water only if necessary). Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies and set aside until set, about 15 minutes.

Makes about 40

Homemade limoncello
from the lovely Dolci: Italy's Sweets

6 lemons
2 cups (480ml) vodka
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
3 cups (720ml) water

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the yellow zest from the lemons in long strips. Put the peels and vodka in a 1.4 to 2 liter sealable glass container and set aside in a cool, dark place for 2 weeks.
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan and stir in the sugar. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, then remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Pour the sugar syrup into the container with the zest and vodka. Seal and store for another 2 weeks in a cool place. Pour through a fine sieve and discard the peels (I did not do that - I kept the peels in the bottle).
Keep in the freezer.

Makes about 5 cups (1.2 liters)