Fresh lemon pound cake

Babies are cute and adorable but they’re also a handful – their moms usually do not have time for anything else but them. A very good friend of mine is the mother of a beautiful baby boy and when she invited me to first visit her son I knew I could not go empty handed: besides a present for the baby I brought a freshly baked cake for her, too (which she told me later made a wonderful breakfast). :)

Loaf cakes are easy to package and carry around – to me they are the perfect picnic fare – and this recipe turned out to be a great choice for the occasion: not only because the cake was delicious and very, very tender but also because the recipe yielded two loaves – one got sent to my friend and the other was enjoyed by yours truly. :D

Fresh lemon pound cake
from the wonderful and delicious Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe

Cake:
1 ¾ sticks (198g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups (350g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 3 lemons
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup sour cream*
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice

Glaze:
2 cups (280g) icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice, more if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter two 20x10x5cm (8x4x2in) loaf pans, line them with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the yolks, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt over the bowl, add the sour cream and lemon juice and fold together by hand. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until the cakes are golden and risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans over a wire rack for 10-15 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Peel off the paper. Cool completely.
Make the glaze: sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl, add the lemon juice gradually, mixing until desire consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cakes.

* 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)

Makes 2 loaves (serves 6 each)

Carrot muffins (with spelt flour)

One of my favorite cookbooks is Kim Boyce’s wonderful “Good to the Grain” – I have baked delicious things from it (her rhubarb tartlets are unforgettable and so are the whole wheat chocolate chip cookies), but unfortunately I cannot find certain types of flour here in Brazil.

A dear friend of mine spent glorious days in Italy and brought me a bag of spelt flour; these tender muffins were my choice to first use the precious gift – the spelt flour is used both in the topping and in the batter. Delicious, but unlike other muffins I have baked I found these a little on the heavier side once they cooled down – a problem quickly solved by reheating the muffins in a preheated oven for a couple of minutes.

Carrot muffins (with spelt flour)
slightly adapted from the wonderful Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours

Streusel topping:
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (55g) spelt flour
2 tablespoons rolled oats
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons (42g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 6mm (¼in) pieces

Muffins:
1 cup (140g) spelt flour
¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup (29g) rolled oats
1/3 cup (58g) dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups coarsely grated carrots, about 2 medium
¼ cup (56g/½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk*
1 large egg

Make the streusel topping: place the flour, oats, sugars, and salt in a small bowl. Add the butter to the dry mixture. Rub the butter between your fingers, breaking it into smaller bits. Continue rubbing until the mixture feels coarse, like cornmeal. Place in the refrigerator while you make the muffin batter.

Muffins: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a twelve cup muffin pan (1/3 cup capacity each cavity).
Sift the flours, allspice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the oats and sugars. Stir the carrots into the dry ingredients.
In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla and whisk until thoroughly combined. Using a spatula, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, using a spoon or an ice cream scoop. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the mounds of batter and press it into the batter slightly to adhere.
Bake the muffins for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The muffins are ready to come out when they smell nutty and their bottoms are a dark golden-brown (twist a single muffin out of the pan to check). Cool the muffins in the pan for 5-8 minutes then carefully unmold and transfer to a wire rack.
These are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day. They can also be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or frozen and reheated.

*homemade buttermilk: to make 1 cup buttermilk place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk (room temperature). Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken slightly, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 12

Chickpea and artichoke paella - and Pinterest, again

Thank you for all your comments about the Pinterest issue!
Jeanette left me a comment with this link and after following Tresa’s instructions I believe the problem is now solved – would you please tell me if the pinning is working?

I like seafood but can’t eat if very often (let’s say my body and seafood don’t see eye to eye) therefore I had never made a paella in my entire life; the minute I saw Donna Hay’s chickpea and artichoke paella I knew I had to try it – no seafood involved and I had all the ingredients in my pantry/fridge, including some really good homemade tomato sauce. The paella tasted great and was really easy and quick to put together – now I’m ready to try other vegetarian versions of this dish, and I know exactly where to go for the recipes.

Chickpea and artichoke paella
slightly adapted from the always beautiful and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g arborio rice
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup (60ml) white wine
1 1/3 cups tomato sauce
2 ½ cups (600ml) chicken or vegetable stock
300g store bought marinated artichoke hearts, drained and halved
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
handful of basil leaves

Heat the oil in a 4-liter capacity frying pan over high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the rice and chickpeas and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until absorbed. Stir through the tomato sauce and the stock, season with black pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes without stirring. Remove the paella from the heat, top with the artichoke, cover with foil and set aside to rest for 15-18 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Top with the lemon zest and basil and serve.

Serves 4

Lemon crumble tart - and Pinterest

I’d like to start this post by telling you that I adore Pinterest: it’s a great way to keep track of interesting things and I usually find my morning humor dose there. Some of you have written to me asking me not to block my photos from being posted on Pinterest, and I tell you: I haven’t done that, and wouldn’t do it. I see no problem in my recipes getting pinned by you, much to the contrary. Therefore, I do not know what happened and why you’re no longer able to pin the photos – if anyone knows how to fix the problem I’m all ears. :)

***

This lemon tart is a variation of the easiest tart ever and despite not being equally easy – there’s a lemon curd to be made here – it’s just as delicious.

Lemon crumble tart
from the great The Grand Central Baking Book

Crust:
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (226g/2sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon curd:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 3 lemons, divided use
4 egg yolks
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 25cm (10in) springform pan*.
Dough: whisk the flour and salt together. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until creamy and light in color. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the speed to low, add the dry ingredients and stop mixing when the ingredients are fully incorporated but the dough is still crumbly – this happens quickly; don’t overmix, otherwise you’ll end up with a ball of dough. Set aside 1 cup of the dough and refrigerate. Sprinkle the remaining dough onto the prepared pan, distributing it evenly. Bring the dough slightly up the sides of the pan (to hold the lemon curd), then press it onto the pan to hold it in place. Prick the dough all over with a fork, then bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

While the crust bakes, make the lemon curd: combine the sugar, half the lemon zest and yolks in a heatproof bowl and whisk together immediately; if you delay, the mixture will coagulate. Put the bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water whisk continuously until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice and, still whisking continuously, cook for about 5 minutes. Add the butter and salt, then use a spatula to stir constantly until the mixture has thickened, 6-7 minutes (is should be the consistency of sour cream).
Strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in the remaining zest. Spoon the curd into the crust and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of dough over the curd.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. The topping should be slightly brown, and the curd will begin to caramelize on top.
Cool slightly before unmolding.

* I made the exact recipe above using a shallow 24cm tart pan with a removable bottom; I used 1 ½ cups of dough for the topping.

Serves 8

Dark chocolate, pear and pistachio cake

A long time ago I told you that I was addicted to IMDb’s movie trivia – I still am, therefore it was a joy for me to find Gabrielle Wee’s gorgeous Tumblr: just be careful because you’ll probably lose track of time reading it (I speak of personal experience). :D

On that same post I also told you how much I loved browsing Gourmet Traveller’s recipes – I still do, and this delicious cake comes exactly from that magazine: I was so intrigued by the combination of pear, chocolate and pistachio in cake form that I had to try it – it was amazing.

Dark chocolate, pear and pistachio cake
slightly adapted from the always beautiful and delicious Australian Gourmet Traveller

Cake:
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
½ cup (65g) unsalted pistachios
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Packham pear, cored and coarsely chopped

Chocolate ganache:
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
handful of pistachios, for decorating

Cake: preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 22cm (9in) springform cake pan*, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Process chocolate and pistachios in a food processor until coarse crumbs form, set aside. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating until well combined, then beat in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture, followed by the pistachio and chocolate mixture and the pear. Pour into prepared pan and bake until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 30-40 minutes. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Cool completely.

Chocolate ganache: Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat to just below boiling, add chocolate, stand until chocolate melts (3-5 minutes), then stir until smooth. Set aside until slightly thickened (5-10 minutes). Pour ganache over the cake, scatter with pistachios, set aside to set (20-30 minutes), then serve. Cake will keep, stored in an airtight container, for 3 days.

* I made the exact same recipe using a 20cm (8in) cake pan (with a removable bottom)

Serves 10