Anthill yogurt, lime and almond cake on an atypical day

After months without baking cakes, I felt the urge to make a new recipe, a tasty one, to brighten up the rainy Friday. 

In a very atypical day, I woke up with such a disposition as I hadn’t in quite a long time: got up very early, turned on the oven, prepared the cake batter and while it baked and perfumed my home I sat down and wrote down a newsletter for my Portuguese speaking readers. It was a few minutes after 06:00 and the light coming through the balcony gave me energy.

While I picked the recipes for the newsletter and wrote the text, I started feeling so good, it was like a ray of sunshine coming from within: I did not even remember when I had last felt that way, especially about food, recipes. It was such a good feeling I would have kept it in a jar if I could.

When I removed the cake from the oven, it was so beautiful and golden, I wished really hard for it to turn out delicious, not only for our coffee break in that afternoon, but also so I could share the recipes with you here on the blog. I unmolded the cake and left it cooling on the kitchen counter – hours later, I cut myself a slice and tasted it: it was really good! My mind, so tired lately, immediately started thinking about the photo, how I would photograph the cake, which colors would work well with it. I opened my cupboard and, looking at the china and silverware, pictured in my head what would please my eyes the most. I prepped everything, grabbed the camera, took the photos, and again started feeling really good. If I could, I would turn that feeling into a scented candle.

With my hear at peace, with a nice cake to go with my cup of tea and a very productive day, for a moment I felt like my old self again. I hope the Patricia from the past shows up again sometimes, I missed her so much.

Anthill yogurt, lime and almond cake

adapted from the Epicurious recipe, once again

 

180g all-purpose flour

45g almond meal/finely ground almonds

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon table salt

3 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

finely grated zest of 2 large limes

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

¾ cup (180g) plain yogurt – I used sheep’s milk yogurt

½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil – I used canola

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon Amaretto (optional)

1 tablespoon lime juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180C/350°F. Lightly brush a 6-cup capacity loaf pan with oil, line it with baking paper and then brush the paper as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the chocolate sprinkles. Set aside.

In a large bowl, rub lime zest and sugar together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Whisk in yogurt, oil, eggs, Amaretto (if using), lime juice and vanilla until smooth. Fold in reserved dry ingredients – if batter is too lumpy, whisk for a few seconds – do not overmix or the cake will become tough.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully and using the paper as a guide, remove cake from pan and transfer to the rack to cool completely.

The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Serves 8

Almond poppy seed cake to celebrate the simple things

I was thinking the other day of things that have the power of making my days better and it was sort of a surprise to acknowledge that most of them are really simple: to arrive home from work and immediately remove my shoes (especially when I am wearing heels), to take a piping hot shower in these cold days – I know it is not good for the skin, but who can resist? –, to put on my pyjamas and relax at the couch with a mug of hot chocolate… Some days can be really difficult and it amazes me how much comfort can be found in small things like these (or maybe I am easy to please, who knows?). :)

As I was cooking lunch last Saturday, it suddenly hit me: I hadn’t baked a cake in a long time – and baking cakes is something that really makes me happy: it falls into the category of simple things that can brighten up my day, the ones I mentioned on the beginning of my post. And there is always the advantage of reaching out for a slice of freshly baked cake between meals when you are half hungry/half craving something sweet and a fruit just won’t do.

This is a recipe I baked a couple of times in the past and like the things I describe on this post it is very simple and yet very good: moist and flavorsome. It goes well on its own, with tea or coffee, but I had such pretty and sweet strawberries in my fridge that I served the cake with them and some whipped cream on the side. Still simple, still good and comforting – like being barefoot after a day on top of stilettos. :)

Almond poppy seed cake
own recipe

¾ cup (105g) all purpose flour
1 cup (100g) almond meal
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1/8 taspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons Amaretto
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (130g) plain yogurt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a round 20cm (8in) cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of baking paper. Butter the paper as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, rub sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Add the butter and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and the Amaretto.

On slow speed, beat in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the yogurt in two additions (start and end with the dry ingredients). Beat just until incorporated. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cake is golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Unmold carefully, peel off the paper and transfer cake to a serving plate.

Serves 8

Almond gingerbread puffs

I work for a Swiss company, and some of my coworkers have discovered how much I love sweets – every now and then I get Lindt chocolates, which make my days a lot sweeter. :)

I have to say that I love getting food as gifts – I believe that food = love, and I love giving food as gifts, too, especially at this time of the year. Cookies are easy to make and to package, most people like them therefore they are the perfect present. These almond puffs taste delicious and they get more intense as days go by, especially if kept in an airtight container, but they might not last that long. :)

Almond gingerbread puffs
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Delicious magazine

1 cup minus 1 tablespoon (140g) almond meal
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
generous pinch of ground cloves
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Amaretto (optional)
about 3 tablespoons icing sugar, for dusting the cookies

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together almond meal, flour, spices and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and honey until light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla and the Amaretto. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix just until a dough forms – it mixture is too dry, add 1 teaspoon of water and mix again.

Using leveled 2 tablespoons of dough per cookies, roll balls and place them onto prepared baking sheets 2.5cm (1in) apart. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Sift icing sugar over the cookies and return them to the oven for 2 more minutes. Cool on sheets over a wire rack.

The cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes about 30

Almond, lemon and buckwheat tea cake and weekend plans

I think you guys should know that I managed to keep the plans I’d made for the weekend: I watched more than just one movie (one of them probably for the tenth time) and I also baked and cooked a bit – the cold days are a great excuse to keep the oven on. :)

I find it almost impossible to switch channels when some of my favorite movies are on, and yesterday one of the channels had a Godfather marathon: all the three movies were being aired in a row. I don’t care for the third movie, but I love The Godfather and The Godfather II and ended up watching the first movie once again (a couple of glasses of wine kept me from watching the second one). :)

Another thing I find almost impossible to do is to resist the urge to bake lemon cakes: as much as I try to vary – and sometimes I succeed, you know that – I always bookmark the lemon cakes in the cookbooks I buy, and this beauty was no exception: there are tons of wonderful recipes there and the first recipe I tried from it was a recipe for cookies, but after those I could not wait to take the lemony route, and here it is.

I used buckwheat flour instead of all purpose flour and loved the result – it’s not a very tall cake (mine turned out just as the one on the photo of the book) but it’s packed with flavor (and gluten free).

Almond, lemon and buckwheat tea cake
slightly adapted from the oh, so beautiful The Baking Collection (The Australian Women's Weekly)

½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
125g unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (35g) buckwheat flour
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
120g ground almonds
2 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
2 tablespoons flaked almonds
2 tablespoons pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 180°/350°F. Lightly butter a 5-cup loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a large bowl, rub sugar and zest together until fragrant. Add butter and using an electric mixer beat the ingredients together light and creamy. Add the three eggs and the vanilla, then beat until incorporated – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Sift the buckwheat flour, salt and baking powder over the mixture, add the almond meal and milk and stir to combine. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smooth the top and sprinkle with the almonds and pine nuts.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely, then peel off the paper.

Serves 6-8