Lemony Yogurt Cake and Lemon Curd

Although I am not one of the blogroll members of Tuesdays with Dorie, I do follow their adventures for inspiration. I am also influenced by the blogs of my cooking friends--their quest for the best is infectious. This week my incentive for baking was sparked by TWD's French Yogurt Cake, as featured by HoneyB, and LadyJayPee's Meyer Lemon Curd.

HoneyB gave the French Yogurt Cake an "eh", but her hubby, Grumpy, liked it. In spite of my respect for HoneyB's assessment, I know she does not have the carbo-sweet tooth that I do, and if Grumpy likes it, it must be good.

The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours, and I located the recipe using Amazon's Click-to-Look-Inside feature. My only change was to reduce the oil to 1/3 cup. I loved the instruction to "rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is moist and aromatic" and would highly recommend incorporating this step into any recipe with sugar and zest. The aroma is heavenly.


The cake baked for the full amount of time, and the only flaw was a very slightly deflated center--probably due to my opening the oven door too often to check on it!


HoneyB found the cake to be a bit too sweet (is there such a thing?) with her special icing, and I did not have lemon marmalade to make the glaze specified by the recipe, so I decided to brush on Tart Lemon Glaze, recipe found on the Sunkist website. The glaze is wonderful, but the cake is perfect unadorned.


I would recommend eating this cake the day after baking. The first day it was a bit dry, and the predominant taste was of baking powder. However, today is another matter. Overnight, the baking powder flavor mellowed out, moistness has spread throughout, and it has become, as my Daddy used to say, "good cake". The texture is a mix of sponge cake, pound cake, and quickbread, with a medium crumb that will be perfect for strawberries and whipped cream. The sweetness is subtle, and the loaf-shape makes it entirely too easy to keep cutting small pieces to snack on.


To add another lemony dimension to my day, I made lemon curd from the Eating, Etc blog. I juiced a lemon and a lime to compensate for not finding Meyer lemons in my area, and I used Plugra butter. I followed Lady JayPee's instructions to the letter, even pulling out my Mom's old double boiler.


The curd came together perfectly, and after cooling it for a total of 30 seconds I tasted it--it was eyes-rolling-back good! After cooling, it thickened beautifully and became perfect for filling or eating with a spoon. It is delicious on the Yogurt Cake.


Here is the recipe for the cake, with my modifications:

French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze
1-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup lemon marmalade, strained
1 teaspoon water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter 8-1/2 X 4-1/2 inch loaf pan and place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Put sugar and zest in mixing bowl; rub zest into the sugar till sugar is moist and aromatic. Add yogurt, eggs and vanilla and whisk vigorously till mixture is very well blended. Still whisking, add dry ingredients; fold in oil with spatula, blending very well until oil is incorporated. Batter will be thick and smooth. Scrape batter into pan and smooth top.

Bake for 50-55 minutes or until cake begins to come away from sides of pan—should be golden brown and cake tester inserted will come out clean. Transfer pan to rack and cool for 5 minutes, then remove. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, right side up.

Lemon Marmalade Glaze:
Put marmalade in small saucepan and stir in teaspoon of water. Heat till jelly is hot and liquefied. Using pastry brush, brush cake with glaze.

Crumb Cake Scones

In spite of my love of cookbooks and my collecting addiction, I had not found a true favorite in several years until I purchased A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman.

One of the many things I love about this cookbook is the fact that her mouth-watering pictures are not sterile, crumb-free renditions of her recipes but instead reveal all the nooks and crannies and non-perfect edges that "normal" bakers achieve. Her photos scream "freshly made" with drips of icing and those moist-looking crumbs that you like to mash with your thumb and eat. She also includes photos of step-by-step techniques for her easy to follow recipe instructions. The introductory "Baking Secrets" is a great read--I felt an immediate affinity with her unpretentious modus operandi.


Each month, I bake variations of one of her scone recipes for a customer, and this past week I dreamed up crumb cake scones.


Here is the recipe:

Crumb Cake Scones

Basic Scones
3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 cup cold unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks), cut into small cubes

2 large eggs, slightly whisked
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup flour

In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients. Blend with fork or pastry blender to cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Whisk eggs slightly, add vanilla and cream. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add flour, sugar, salt and baking powder to a food processor and process briefly. Add butter and pulse till mixture has little lumps the size of peas. Put mixture into large bowl and make a well in the center. Mix together whisked eggs, vanilla & cream and add to flour mixture; mix lightly, adding cream if necessary, to make a soft but firm dough, (I use my hands for this). Knead lightly and briefly. Dough will be like a nice cookie dough.

Divide dough into 2 parts. Place one part on floured board & pat into rectangle approximately 12 inches long by 5 inches wide. Sprinkle on half of crumb topping, pressing lightly into dough. On another floured surface, pat remaining half of dough into same size rectangle. Carefully lift with floured hands and floured spatula or baker’s bench knife and place on top of crumb-topped half. Lightly pinch edges to seal. Sprinkle on remaining crumb topping and very lightly press into dough.

To form scones, cut dough in half (I measure and use a baker’s bench knife). Divide each half into thirds and cut each third diagonally to make 12 scones. Carefully lift each scone with floured spatula or bench knife and place 6 scones on each baking sheet, making sure edges are together.

Bake till lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes, switching pans from top to bottom halfway during baking time.

Carefully remove scones to wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes, then finish with a glaze made from powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, or use this recipe.

Bread Stalker

A few months ago, I became a follower of The Spiced Life. Laura shares stories of her life as a backdrop to some very appealing recipes, but it is her bread recipes that I stalk, and I've tried two of them with great success.

When I first bit into Maple Oatmeal Bread it immediately became one of the finest breads on the planet. The dough rises cooperatively high. The texture is tender, plumped with whole oats. The taste is slightly sweet and the fragrance hints of syrup--it makes my kitchen smell like pancakes. The recipe lists maple syrup as the signature ingredient, but maple syrup is more expensive than gold here in Oklahoma, so I substitute Griffin's Waffle Syrup. I would like to try this recipe with real maple syrup to see how it affects the flavor. I made a loaf of bread and rolls.


Buttermilk Cheddar Bread is the bread I made yesterday, and it was perfect for roast beef sandwiches. With one and one-half cups of cheese and one and one-fourth cups of buttermilk, the tanginess is what makes this bread special. The flecks of cheese in the dough baked into an attractive dark brown crust that is irresistibly cheddary.

My substitutions were honey for the sugar and a three-cheese blend instead of sharp cheddar. I used King Arthur Flour's SAF Gold Instant Yeast for the first time. The yeast, designed to give a "long, strong, steady rise", did just that, yielding a nicely textured loaf, which sliced easily and held up well to sandwich ingredients.

Here are the recipes with my modifications:

MAPLE OAT BREAD
I made a loaf and about one dozen rolls

2-1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
3/4 cup pancake syrup
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 cups unbleached flour

In large mixing bowl pour boiling water over oats. Let sit 30 minutes. Add syrup, salt, and butter, and stir. Cool to lukewarm, add dry yeast and whole wheat flour. Beat on medium speed two minutes, until well combined.

Add flour slowly until dough forms a rough, shaggy mass. Let sit 20 minutes then switch to dough hook and add flour until dough clears sides of bowl or until smooth and elastic. Transfer dough to large oiled bowl and cover; let rise one hour or until doubled.

Grease a 9" x 5" pan. Divide dough in half and shape each half into loaf. Place in bread pans, cover, and let rise 45 minutes or until dough has risen above edges of pan. When dough is close to risen, preheat oven to 350 degrees.


BUTTERMILK CHEESE BREAD
Makes one 9" X 5" loaf

3-1/2 - 4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons yeast
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup hot water (120 to 130 degrees)
1-1/4 cups buttermilk, room temperature
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
1 tablespoon salted butter

In mixing bowl whisk 1 cup unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, baking powder, and salt. Mix hot water, honey, and buttermilk, add to flour, and beat 3 minutes until smooth. Scrape down the sides of bowl and stir in cheese. Add remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough forms a rough mass; switch to dough hook and mix until dough clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise about 1 hour, or until doubled.

Shape dough into loaf and place in prepared pan. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375, then place pan on low shelf to keep bread from browning too quickly. Loaves are done when deep brown and pull away from sides of pan, about 40 minutes.

When bread is done, brush with melted butter. After 5 minutes loosen sides and turn onto wire rack to cool.

For Goodness Sake Cupcakes

Here are some of the cupcakes I made for customers this week.



These are Sweet Bites Cupcakes in Vanilla Bean Cream and Chocolate Fudge, for a baby shower. The colors were blue, brown and white.


These are for a "pink cowgirl"-themed shower. My customer sent a jpg of the shower invitation so I could see the colors of pink and brown.


I decorated Vanilla Bean Cream cupcakes to match the wrapped present.


Chocolate Fudge represented a brown skirt with pink dots and denim lace.

Scouting Out the Competition - Kupcakz

Yesterday I was in Tulsa, OK, which in spite of being about 15 miles from my hometown remains one of my very favorite places to visit. Wherever I am, I love to check out my "competition" in bakeries to glean tips for my own bakery and to learn from their best practices. This time I chose a relatively new cupcake bakery on the east side of Tulsa, Kupcakz.I spoke at length to the very friendly young woman behind the counter as she enthusiastically shared information about the bakery. I was pleasantly surprised to find a bakery that prescribes to my own baking ethics: bake with only the freshest and most natural ingredients. Kupcakz are baked fresh daily, are never refrigerated or frozen, and are baked with real butter, imported Valrhona chocolate, and from-scratch ingredients. From-scratch? Yes, that includes roasting peanuts to make their own peanut butter, making pastry cream for fillings, making candied pecans, sweetening and toasting coconut. No wonder they are baking cupcakes at 1:30 a.m.


Cupcakes are $2.50 each, $14.50 for a six pack; and $28 for a dozen. I purchased one dozen, for research and development purposes, of course.

I was more than impressed with Kupcakz. With my first bite of Cheeky Monkey, my eyes rolled back in an Oh-my-god moment. It is composed of not-to-sweet yellow cake with real bits of banana, very creamy, non-grainy buttercream, a drizzle of homemade caramel, and whole, crunchy, candied pecans atop the buttercream. The pecans were so good I got goosebumps.

You may find a list of Kupcakz's flavors on this page of their website. I purchased My Peanut Buttercup (the frosting tastes exactly like a peanut butter cup), Lemon Drop, Cheeky Monkey, Boston Dreamer, Sooner than Later (red velvet), Peppermint Maddy, Pretty in Pink, Not a Carrot in the World, Tropical Bliss, and January's Flavor of the Month--Bring on the Heath, which was milk chocolate cake filled with caramel, topped with milk chocolate ganache and homemade toffee, and drizzled with caramel. My husband, who claims to not like cupcakes, ate that one in about 5 bites, declaring it "very good".

Among the lessons I learned from my visit to Kupcakz: using the finest, freshest and from-scratch ingredients is well worth the indulgence, both in customer and personal satisfaction. Although I would offer my Strawberry Bliss, Sweet Pumpkin Bliss, Chocolate Dip Bliss, and Vanilla Bean Cream cupcakes in a throwdown with Kupcakz, I am quite happy that Kupcakz is 100 miles away from For Goodness Sake bakery!

Super Bowl Sunday--It's All About the Food

Although my favorite football season is now over and my team lost, there is still an upcoming sports event which will again capture my undivided attention. And even though I have little interest in the teams that are playing, I'm looking forward to the Super Bowl! Because, you see, it's all about the food on Super Bowl Sunday!

I have been scouring the internet and blogsites (I love cookbooks, but they have sadly taken a back seat to internet and blog recipes) for menu ideas. Here are just a few of the recipes I am considering for our little party.

Beverages
White Wine Citrus Sangria

Noble Pig's Peach Margaritas

Hot Chocolate Martini

Pomegranate Margarita (make mine frozen!)

and for gluten-free cooks, recommendations for gluten-free beers

Savory
Absolute givens: My daughter's Gameday Cajun Chicken Nachos and her Yummy Taco Soup, which I would dip with Tostitos; and my husbands' Pimento Cheese Dip, which is a simple concoction of low-fat, small curd cottage cheese mixed with Price's Pimento Cheese Spread, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and served with Fritos.



Apricot Glazed Meatballs

Hot Sweet Onion Dip and spread on toasted Country French Bread

Holiday (And Any Other Day) Cheeseball

Salsa and Guacamole

Roasted Artichoke and Spinach Dip

Corn and Black Bean Quesadillas

More Natural Chile con Queso

Sausage Cheese Balls

A gluten-free Chili

Crockpot Italian Beef Sammies

Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings...Sort Of

Mini Burgers

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

an array of yummy salads

Sweets
White Chocolate Fruit Tart

Lower Fat Vegan Brownies

Ultimate Chocolate Cookies

And a kicked-up version of Rice Krispies treats from David Lebovitz

My biggest dilemma is narrowing the list; but I could make all of them in the name of research and development.

Triple Chocolate Brownies

A few months ago I blogged about a brownie recipe that contained (gasp!) a full pound of chocolate. Although those decadent brownies were excellent, when a recent customer requested birthday brownies for her husband, I decided to try a different recipe, and it was a big success.


Triple Chocolate Brownies

1-1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
11 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray 9 X 13 pan with nonstick spray; line with parchment paper.

Sift together flour, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso and set aside.

In a large bowl, melt butter in microwave, then add chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Add sugars and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add 3 eggs into chocolate mixture and very gently whisk until smooth. Add remaining 2 eggs and gently whisk again. Add flour mixture and gently fold with spatula, until just combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan and level batter with spatula.

Bake in center of preheated oven, rotating pan halfway through. Baking time depends on your oven--the recipe states 30 minutes; mine took almost 45. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool completely before cutting.

Although these brownies are stand-alone delicious, in order to make a nice presentation I sprinkled semisweet chocolate chips over the brownies after they had cooled a few minutes. When the brownies were completely cooled, I drizzled them with white chocolate. After the white chocolate had firmed, I cut into a dozen squares.

Sweet Dreams

Strawberry Bliss
By my estimate I baked approximately 1000 cupcakes in 2008--and what fun it was! If I wasn't baking, decorating, or eating cupcakes, I was dreaming up the next new flavor.


Shower Cupcakes and Sweet Pumpkin Bliss

When I started For Goodness Sake Bakery last year, my dream was to eventually open a cupcake bakery. I envisioned people lined up outside my shop, waiting to buy one of my cupcakes, à la Magnolia Bakery, and Martha Stewart calling me to appear on her show, just like Sprinkles owner Candace Nelson.


Scarlet Velveteen and Lemon Cream

The reality is that I am no closer to a cupcake bakery in 2009 than I was in 2008.

The reality is that I was privileged to bake approximately 140 dozen jumbo muffins, 115 dozen jumbo cinnamon rolls, as well as dozens of scones, cobblers, and pies, for a local Java Dave's.

The reality is that For Goodness Sake Bakery became For Goodness Sake Bakery and Catering as I expanded my menu to cater 12 events ranging from sack lunches to brunches to wedding cakes to full menu dinners.


Mississippi Mud and Vanilla Bean Cream


Hot Fudge Sundae and White Velvet

What have I learned from my first year in business? To listen to my family and to my gut. That I am way too hard on myself. That giving 110% is a good thing. That I need better work shoes. That too much sampling leads to weight gain. That discouragement is OK because tomorrow is another day. That creativity with new recipes takes a back seat to customer favorites. And that catering, which initially held little interest for me, is surprisingly satisfying.


Chocolate Dip Bliss and Chocolate Covered Strawberry Sweet Bites

A slightly different direction for my baking passion is anticipated for 2009, as I focus on the catering side of For Goodness Sake and experiment with gluten-free baking. My enthusiasm is building as I research recipes and prepare menus.


Sweet Bites Cupcakes and Pink Blackberry Pearl Sweet Bites

Is the cupcake bakery an unrealistic dream? Perhaps. But as long as the excitement remains, the dream is alive!

Chocolate Fudge

Christmas Gifts Bread

What to do with Christmas food gifts--a welcome dilemma I face every year.

Pecans are an annual gift, this year from Holdenville, Oklahoma--small, crisp, delicately sweet--those that aren't popped into my mouth go into pies and cookies.

My mother always orders my perennial favorite: Harry & David pears, with a texture so buttery a knife literally slides through a slice--impossibly juicy, ambrosially sweet--and those that aren't eaten out of hand (over the sink, with juice running down to my elbow) go into breads or cakes.


This year, an unusual gift of artisanal Maytag blue cheese--creamy, pungent, exquisitely marbled with blue veins--I savored a small bite as soon as I received it in the mail--sharp on the tongue but mellowing to moist, velvety, tangy goodness.


With a recipe for pear bread in hand, I properly paired the cheese, pears, and pecans to create a fragrant, moist bread; baking transformed the diced pears into little pockets of melted sweetness and the cheese from sharp-flavored to mild.

Blue Cheese Pecan Pear Bread

3 cups flour
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 stick butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
2 very ripe pears, peeled, cored, and finely diced (approximately 2 cups)
1/4 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Prepare two 9 inch X 5 inch loaf pans, either with baking spray, oil, shortening, or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk eggs;, add oil, butter, vanilla, and lemon peel. Add to flour/sugar mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in pears, cheese, and pecans. Evenly spoon batter into prepared pans, lightly smoothing out top. Bake 55-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted into middle of bread comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10-15 minutes, then turn onto wire rack to cool.