Baby Shower Cake

Pink Swirl Cake
Cake:

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 cups of sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon rum extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup 1% milk
• 1/2 cups sugar, divided
• 2/3 cups Nesquik strawberry milk mix
• 6 tablespoons water
• 2 TB strawberry jam

Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup Nesquik strawberry milk mix
• 1/4 cup 1% milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a bundt cake pan.
   
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
3. In a separate medium bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar, strawberry milk powder, and water, whisking until everything is combined and smooth.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour the melted butter and sugar in, and beat on medium high speed for a minute until butter and sugar are well blended. Add in vanilla, rum and almond extract and beat until combined. Then add the eggs in one at a time, mix well after each addition. Once all eggs are added beat mixture until batter is pale yellow.
5. Turn the mixer to low and add the flour in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions and mixing just until blended.
6. Scoop out 2 cups of the batter and add it to the strawberry milk mixture, whisking until the batter is pink and everything is combined.
7. Using a large spoon, pour several scoops of the white cake batter in the the bundt pan. Then scoop one layer of of strawberry batter on top of the white batter. Keep going this way until all the batter is in the pan.
8. Bake the cake for 65 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert cake on to wire rack and cool completely.
10. Stir all the ingredients of the glaze and drizzle over the cake.

Hiking Peaked Mountain

We finally have a nice stretch of weather, all bets are off and summery things are done. With a spectacular view from Peaked Mountain (aka wrongly Chick Hill).

Lemon Almond Teacakes (GF)

Within 2 weeks we went from 4 feet of snow and freezing temperature to summer. Yesterday it was so warm, people had lunch at the tables on the sidewalk. I put the patio chairs and the first umbrella on the deck, and cleared out the garden from winter debris, uncovering the first herbs. It was so warm it was time to wear shorts. Life is good.

For the first patio Saturday afternoon coffee and cake get-together, I made individualized GF lemon almond cakes and coconut rum cakes.

The first cakes were inspired by the still ripening Meyer Lemons. One of them I had used in a wonderful lemon asparagus risotto. The zest would be wonderful in these tea cakes to infuse them with lemon aroma.

The second batch was inspired by coconut and rum --- a similar base dough but with different flavors. The texture of both is wonderful fluffy, not too sweet and slightly caramelized on the outside.

Individual cakes are a really good idea because not all of the cake might be eaten with a small group of friends, and the rest can easily be frozen for another time. Perfect to partition. The slightly bigger cakes are great to share for 2 people.

Lemon Almond Tea Cakes (glutenfree)

special equipment: Nordic Ware Garland bundt pan

• 5 TB softened unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup blond cane sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
• zest of 1 organic Meyer Lemon
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 2/3 cup glutenfree all-purpose flour (King Arthur)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Fleur de sel

Preheat your oven at 350 F. Spray your mold generously with a baking spray.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and Fleur de sel; and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one after the other, incorporated well before adding the second egg. Add the lemon zest, the lemon juice, and the almond milk.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until homogeneous.

Fill the molds 3/4 full and bake the teacakes for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out dry. Let cool for 10 minutes before unmolding (important! they are kind of soft and will fall apart otherwise), leaving them to completely cool on a rack.

Coconut Rum Tea Mini Cakes (glutenfree)

special equipment: Nordicware rosebud platinum pan

• 5 TB softened unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup blond cane sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 TB almond milk
• 3 TB dried unsweetended coconut
• 1/4 ts of coconut extract
• 1/4 ts of rum extract
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 1/3 cup glutenfree all-purpose flour (King Arthur)
• 1/3 cup quinoa flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Fleur de sel

Preheat your oven at 350 F. Spray your mold generously with a baking spray.

In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and Fleur de sel; and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one after the other, incorporated well before adding the second egg. Add the almond milk, extracts, and coconut, and mix well.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until homogeneous.

Fill the molds 3/4 full and bake the teacakes for about 30 minutes, or until the toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes comes out dry. Let cool for 10 minutes before unmolding (important! they are kind of soft and will fall apart otherwise), leaving them to completely cool on a rack.

Calamondin Jam

The Calamondins in my potted indoor plant have been plentiful in their first season. Suddenly, they seemed to all be ripe, too many to add to salads. --- Time to cook citrus jam.

Calamondin are similar to kumquats, however, they lack the bitter quality of kumquats although they are about the same size. They just throw a puckery punch of orange flavor, and can be eaten with skin and flesh. They are so puckery that the best way to use them is… in a jam. A calamondin infused vodka would rival a limoncello.

I plucked them, washed them with a bit of baking soda and hot water, rinsed them, and sliced them up, removing the seeds and making sure to preserve all the juice they’d loose when cut up. They are cooked barely covered with water ‘until soft’.  In my case, I cooked them about 20 min, and then let them chill overnight. Since the calamondin membranes are a natural pectin and marmelade thickener, this ‘gel-ing’ happens in the wait period. Today, I measure the amount of base jam I had, equaled it with sugar, and cooked it for another 20 min.  Many tiny mason jars were filled (great gifts!) and 2 large ones for me. The cooking spoon taste taste says: insanely good! ---

They would be fabulous with raincoast crackers and soft goat cheese.

How to make calamondin jam?

1. one pound of calamondin
2. water
3. large bottom heavy pot
4. 3-4 cups sugar
5. 1/2 cup orange juice

For preparation, sprinkle the calamondin with about 1 TB of baking soda, and cover with boiling water for about 3 min. Wash thoroughly under warm, then cold water.

With a sharp knife, slice calamondin into small slivers, and removed the seeds. Cut on a plate to make sure to capture the juice (if this is taking too long, you can also chop them in a food processor and work with the pulb, however, the thin slivers of calamondin skin look a lot prettier).

Place all the sliced calamondin in a large, bottom heavy pot, and cover barely with water.

Simmer under gentle heat until calamondin are soft (ca. 15 min). Remove from heat, and chill in fridge for 24h (I did about 18h).

The pectin in the calamondin develops, and thickens the jam.

Add the orange juice, stir, and measure the amount of base jam you have (I had exactly 4 cups). Then, add that much sugar.

Under much stirring and gentle heat do simmer for another 20 min (max). The jam changes its consistency, the sugar melts and the mixtures becomes dark and candy like.

Prepare mason jars by sterilizing them (and the lids) in boiling water for 10min.

Fill mason jar with jam, close the lids, and turn jars on their head to make sure they are sealed through the hot jam.

After 10 min, turn mason jar around. Let cool and set.  Enjoy!

 

Flavorful Vegetable Broth inspired by Ottolenghi

Flavorful vegetable broth (for 4 people);
2 medium onions, peeled and cut into large pieces
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
6 sticks celery, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 inch ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
Vegetable oil
2 lemongrass stalks, very roughly chopped
8 prunes
1 red chili, roughly chopped
2 star anise
2 tbsp soy sauce
In a large pan, char the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and ginger in a tiny amount of oil. Cook for five minutes, or until the edges begin to colour. Add 2 quarts of water, the lemongrass, prunes, chillies, star anise, soy, lime leaves and coriander root. Cook on a low simmer for at least 45 minutes, to infuse. Strain the stock, and discard vegetable. Fill in a container and chill.


For a Thai soup (1 serving)
2 enoki mushrooms
5 shitake mushroom
handful rice noodles
1/4 red bell pepper, cut in thin stripes
a few edamame
Toasted sesame oil, to finish

Bring 2-3 laddles of the stock to a low simmer.  Add the enoki and sbitake mushrooms and the rice noodles and cook for 3 minute. Add the remaining ingredients apart from the sesame oil, and heat through for a minute. Taste, adjust the seasoning as needed, and ladle into warm bowls. Finish with sesame oil, not more than a few drops in each bowl, and coriander leaves.

Land of Lemon

About exactly a year ago I bought a Meyer Lemon container tree, in a beloved store in Belfast, ME. I removed all my table top photography set up from the biggest window and move the Meyer lemon tree there instead. With the good care of plenty of light, water, organic fish fertilizer feed, it blossomed soon with the most fragrant, intensely sweet, perfumed blossoms.

In the summer, the Meyer Lemon tree enjoyed a warm, fertilized, sunny life outside on the deck and the tiny blossomes developed into tiny green lemons, which grew and grew over the summer.

By October the remaining lemons had grown all the way to industrial strength lemons and could be take for super limes.

They moved back inside the house for the winter, and since have been spending again at a place in the light and close to the woodstove. Over the months, they turned from green to yellow. I’ve heard you know when you walk into the house and you can smell them then they are ripe. So, far I am waiting and enjoying the splendid sight of my Meyer Lemon land of lemon in the middle of winter in Maine,

(Don’t mind me kissing the lemons.)

Gnocchi with tomato feta sauce

Well, this is almost vegan, besides  a sliver of feta. Definitely got me out of the vegan rut. Gnocchi, simmered in a flavorful sauce of tomatoes, anchovies, garlic, kalamata olives, baby spinach and garlic.

Gnocchi with tomato feta sauce (1 serving)

• 1/2 –1 cup gnocchi
• 1/3 onion, diced
• 1 ts olive oli
• 4-5 kalamata olives, quartered
• 2-3 anchovy filets
• 1 cup of fresh or canned  tomatoes, pureed
• 1 garlic clove, microplaned
• handful baby spinach
• 1/2 inch slice sheep milk feta
• 2 TB of feta brine (or salt to taste).

In a small hot, heat 1/2 quart of water and heat the gnocchi.

In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and fry the onion until browned. Add garlic and sautee until fragrant. Add anchovies and melt into the sauce (1-2 Min). Add the tomatoes, baby spinach, gnocchi and feta plus brine. Simmer on medium for about 10 min. Serve!

Winter berry cake

The winter holidays are the time for fruit cakes, often dried fruit cakes. But with the invention of ice boxes, there is an option of winter frozen  fruit cake. This is one came out really well, especially complimented by its sides of a tangy cinnamon cream cheese frosting with a hot berry compote.

Winter Berry Cake

Cake

• 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
• 2 sticks  (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped

Powder Sugar Frosting (on cake):

• 1 cup powdered or confections’ sugar
• 2 TB of milk
• 1/2 ts vanilla extract
  

Cream Cheese Frosting (as side): (ca 4-6 servings)

• 1 8oz package cream cheese
• 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• zest of 1/2 orange
• 2 TB fresh pressed orange juice

Hot berry compote  (as side): (ca 4-6 servings)

• 1 cup frozen fruit
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 TB red currant jelly (or orange marmelade)
• 1 TB powdered sugar
• 1 TB brandy or rum (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, either with butter or a nonstick spray. Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk or sift 2 1/2 cups flour (leaving 2 tablespoons back), baking powder and salt together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until light, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then, with the mixer on a lower speed, add your eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla, too. Add 1/3 flour mixture to batter, beating until just combined, followed by half the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and remaining flour mixture. 

Prepare the berries: if the berries are too big, shortly chop them in a food processor or cut them with a knife into smaller pieces. Also, chop the fresh cranberries in the food processor, rather finely. In the bowl where you’d mixed your dry ingredients, toss the fresh and frozen chopped berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. With a silicon spatula, gently fold the berries into the cake batter (I actually used the stand mixer, and the cake turned rather pink, which I did not mind).

Plop the cake batter in large spoonfuls into the pan, because it’s so thick — in the prepared baking pan and spread the top smooth. Bake for  60 to 65 minutes. The cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean of batter.

Set cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, before inverting the cake onto a serving platter to cool the rest of the way. Cool completely. 

 

Cake frosting: whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla, until smooth. Drip over the cooled cake.

Sides to cake: With a hand mixer, whisk together the cream cheese and its frosting ingredients (powdered sugar, orange zest, orange juice and powder sugar) until fluffy.

In a pan, heat the berries until hot, but not boiling. Add the sugar, jelly and rum (optional), mix to combine and keep warm until serving.