Swedish Visiting Cake

One of my retirement goals I have fallen short on so far over the past 3 months is trying a new recipe once a week.  It's not that I have been idle, because I certainly haven't.  I just haven't felt inspired to spend time in the kitchen.  So many other things to explore with all my new found freedom, with walking regularly at the top of my list.


Today I made soup to take over to my BFF's for lunch and along with the soup (cabbage and potato in case you were wondering), I bought a loaf of wonderful, crusty French bread and I made a new cake recipe.  It is from one of my favorite cookbook writers, Dorie Greenspan and it's from her Baking book.  Anyone who loves to bake should check out this very complete and detailed book with recipes ranging from cookies to breads, cakes, pies, and all things yummy.


This particular cake recipe was so easy which is why it appealed to me this morning.  It is a one bowl cake, requiring no electric mixer, and most people would have the basic ingredients required in their homes.  I had it made and in the oven within 10 minutes.  The end results was a lovely, subtly flavored cake perfect for after our lunch.  It would be delicious with a cup of tea or coffee for an afternoon treat.  I highly recommend this cake and I love the name of it too!

Swedish Visiting Cake

From Dorie Greenspan’s Baking Book

1 cup sugar (plus more more sprinkling on top right before baking) grated zest of one lemon
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 2 tsp of vanilla paste and opted not to use almond extract)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup flour
1 stick melted butter, cooled
1/4 cup sliced almonds

In a medium bowl, add the lemon zest to the sugar. Rub the zest and sugar in between your fingers to release the oils, the sugar will start to smell delicious.

Whisk in the eggs one at a time.

Whisk in the salt and the extracts.

Change to a spatula and stir in the flour.

Fold in the butter.

Stir until combined. This can me made in a 9-inch cast iron skillet, cake pan, or pie pan. I used a little of the melted butter to grease the pan.

Pour the batter into the pan and top with the sliced almonds and a generous sprinkling of sugar.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. It will be golden and the edges will have a nice crust.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes and then take a knife and run it around the edge of the pan.

Blackberry Skillet Cake

The beautiful berries of the Willamette Valley in Oregon are bountiful this time of year.  I am always on the lookout for a new recipe to use these plump little jewels.  Today the Triple Crown blackberries called out to me at the local Farmers Market here in Salem.  A few weeks ago I had clipped a recipe from The Oregonian newspaper and these berries fit the bill. 

This blackberry skillet cake was a nice recipe to make.  It involves using a 10 inch cast iron skillet and this happens to be the favorite pan in my kitchen.  I use it so often that I don't even put it away after each use.  Every time I wash it, I dry it well with a towel then set it on a hot burner for about 2 minutes to ensure it's thoroughly dry.  This inhibits any rust forming.  I then put a dab of canola oil in the pan and use a paper towel to wipe it around the entire pan including up the sides.  My garage sale $5.00 cast iron skillet is as good as any non-stick pan one can pay big money for in kitchen stores. 

As this cake was cooking, the house was filled with such a wonderful aroma of the cake and the blackberries.  It is delicious served slightly warm with a scoop of ice cream. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Blackberry Skillet Cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
10 Tbsp butter at room temperature (divided)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup whole milk at room temperature
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 cups blackberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat 6 Tbsp butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes.  Beat in eggs, vanilla and lemon zest until combined.  With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with milk, and beat until combined.

In an oven-proof 10 inch skillet, melt remaining 4 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Remove from heat and arrange blackberries evenly in the skillet.

Pour batter over berries and smooth top.  Bake until cake is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes, rotating halfway through.  Let cake cook in skillet on a wire rack 5 minutes.  Run a knife around edge and carefully invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Makes 8 servings.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

In honor of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee I was inspired to whip up something British to eat while watching the Boat Parade in London on the Thames this morning.  Such pageantry despite the rain.  And that Queen and her Prince Philip.  86 and 90 years old respectively, and their they stood through the whole rainy but spectacular flotilla.  Nice to catch glimpses of the handsome Princes William and Harry too.

Being of British ancestry and also loving all things English, I felt a sense of pride and thought what fun it would have been to be in London today and be a part of such a celebration.  Instead though, I nibbled on my tea cake and sipped my coffee, enjoying the festivities on the telly in my warm, dry house!

Long live the Queen!!

Blueberry-Lemon Tea Cakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, divided
2 large eggs
2 cups blueberries

Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp or more lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray 4 (5 3/4″ x 3 3/4″) loaf pans with nonstick spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine buttermilk, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a small bowl.

Beat lemon zest, butter, and 3/4 cup sugar in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture; fold in blueberries.

Divide batter evenly between loaf pans and bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. While cakes are baking, combine remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and syrup thickens, about 4 minutes.

Remove cakes from oven and transfer to a wire rack; brush tops of cakes with lemon syrup and let stand for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, and cool completely.   Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together to form a thick glaze. Spoon glaze over cooled cakes and let firm up before cutting. Store cakes in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Thank you Mother

                       Sister Peggy and Blog Author's 6th and 7th Birthday Cakes
                               (We share the same birthday a year apart!)

This blog is dedicated to my amazing mother.  I recently had a wonderful visit with her and we were discussing a project she had begun to tackle; that of organizing the zillion old family photos in many, many photo albums and shoe boxes.  I offered to take the project on and scan important photos to share with my siblings so we can all enjoy them and pass them on through the generations.

                           Sue and Peggy's Shared 7th and 8th Birthday Cake

While going through them, I found the following photos of birthday cakes my mother made for us when were were young and I was quite flabbergasted and in awe of how she was able to tackle such cooking projects in those days.  I must explain that my parents had five children with the oldest one only being five years old when the baby of the family was born.  Imagine having that many children so close in age to feed, bathe, clothe, tend to when hurt or sick, and most importantly of all, love.  She and my father did all of that and more.  I think my siblings would agree, we grew up in a pretty remarkable household. 

Sister Linda's 7th or 8th Birthday Cake

Back to the cakes.  I wanted to share these photos and also a web site called Animal Cut Up Cakes that I found.  This site shows the exact cookbook these designs came from and how to make these very cakes. It was a free advertisement cookbook from Baker's coconut, circa 1959.  These family photos are all taken in the early-mid '60's. As noted in the photos, coconut is a prominent feature on all of them.  Aren't they wonderful?  And wasn't my mother amazing?  Oh, by the way, she still is!!  Thanks Mom for all you did for us to make our birthdays so special.

Brother Frank's 5th Birthday Cake

                                          Brother Mike's 3rd birthday Cake

Berries In The Valley

It's finally berry season here in the beautiful Willamette valley. Nothing beats our strawberries, Marionberries, and raspberries.  Though we had another wet Spring and early Summer, the strawberries have been delicious. 

In honor of them, I made a Victorian Sponge Cake layered with homemade strawberry jam using the recipe featured from my blog previously. The Victorian Sponge cake is a very traditional cake in England and is often the test of a true home cook at their country fairs.  For you local readers, think Gerry Frank's Oregon State Fair Chocolate Cake Contest, without the chocolate!  It is said to have been the favorite cake of Queen Victoria.

This is a plain cake but the flavor was great and the strawberry jam, or any other preserves you like, really makes the cake.  With a slice of this cake, a cup of tea, and a vivid imagination, I was in England again!

Victorian Sponge Cake

3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup jam
Confectioner's sugar to dust the top of cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8 inch cake pans and line the bases of each with parchment paper, then spray with baking spray. 

Lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla extract.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk the butter with the sugar until the mixture is pale, light and fluffy.  Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition.  Sift the flour over the the top and fold in lightly until the mixture is smooth.

Divide the mixture between the prepared pans.  Cook for 20 minutes until golden and firm to the touch.  Leave the cakes to cool in the pans for a few minutes then carefully turn out onto a cooking rack.  Leave to cool completely.

When the cakes are cold, sandwich the two halves together with the jam.  Sift the confectioners sugar on top.

Summer Fruit Dessert

It was time to clean out the refrigerator freezer last weekend. Along with the unidentified foil packets filled with mystery meats (all of which I tossed), I found two freezer bags filled with blueberries from our backyard bushes. I knew I must put them to good use pronto as these same bushes are currently full of flowers and soon will be bearing lots more berries. 

There are such wonderful fruit desserts that have the most quaint names such as cobblers, buckles, grunts, betty's, etc. and I opted for a buckle.  This website gives great definitions for the differences in all these types of desserts. It says the buckle is similar to a crisp in that it has a streusel-like topping and when baked, it comes out with a buckled appearance.  This is a delicious, moist cake thanks to the buttermilk with a slight lemon taste which really compliments the blueberries.  It made for a wonderful brunch contribution.

Blueberry Buckle

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
dash salt
1/4 cup room temp unsalted butter, cubed

In a small bowl, sift the flour, sugar, and salt. Using a fork or your fingers, mix in the butter until pea size crumbs form. Store crumb topping in freezer.

Cake

1 1/2 plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp room temp unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups blueberries (If still frozen, allow for extra cooking time)

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, forming the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, using a stand mixer or hand held mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Add one egg at a time to the mixing bowl, mixing after each addition.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the buttermilk and vanilla. Mix.
Add another third of the dry ingredients and the final half of the butter milk. Mix.
Add the remaining third of the dry ingredients. Mix.
Fold in 1 cup of blueberries.

Spread cake batter evenly over a greased 9×9 baking container of your choice. Sprinkle the remaining cup of blueberries over top.

Remove crumb topping from freezer and spread over the berries. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes until it starts to brown.

A Coconut Cake

It has been so long since I made a cake from scratch and when I saw this recipe in Bon Appetite, I knew I had to give it a try.  I made some variations to the original recipe.  One was to add some coconut extract to both the cake and the frosting.  I read some reviews of this recipe and a common complaint was that there wasn't enough coconut flavor.  The other thing I did, just because, was to add a layer of lemon curd in the center of the cake.  You can't go wrong with a little lemon curd.

Another thing I read in the reviews was that this recipe is very similar to an Italian Cream Cake. I've heard my dear friend Warren exclaim about his Italian Cream Cake recipe, but have never tried it. I'll have to ask him if this is similar to his cake extraordinaire.

The cake was delightful and it was served to my lovely mother-in-law for a belated Mother's Day surprise.  


Coconut Cake

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups (loosely packed) sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coconut extract
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
5 large egg yolks
4 large egg whites, room temperature

Coconut Frosting
3 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup (about) sweetened flaked coconut

Preparation

Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 11/2-inch- high sides with nonstick spray; line bottom of pans with parchment paper rounds. Mix flour and coconut in medium bowl. Whisk buttermilk, coconut extract, and baking soda in small bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg yolks and beat to blend. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk mixture in 2 additions, beating just to blend after each addition. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites and 1/4 teaspoon salt in another large bowl until peaks form. Add 1/3 of egg white mixture to batter; fold into batter just to blend. Fold in remaining egg white mixture in 2 additions. Divide batter between pans.

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on racks 10 minutes. Run small sharp knife around sides of cake pans. Invert cakes onto racks. Carefully peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely.

Frosting
Using electric mixer, beat sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in large bowl until blended. Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting. Place second layer, flat side up, atop frosting. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle some of coconut over top of cake; pat more coconut on sides of cake. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.

Fall is Here, Time for Apples

It's apple time in the Pacific Northwest so it's time for a wonderful variety of apples at our local farmers markets and grocery stores.  I can't resist buying apples when they are at their peak and eating them crisp and cold from the fridge.  Occasionally though, a cooked apple dessert is just the thing for a Fall day and when I saw this recipe in the Oregonian, I knew it was a must try.

This comes from one of my favorite cookbook authors and collaborators, Dorie Greenspan who has worked with many famous chefs such as Julia Childs amongst others and has developed amazing books, including her own Baking: From My Home to Yours.  She has recently come out with her newest book called  Around My French Table and this recipe is included.  I have yet to purchase it but I have read great things and look forward to ordering it from Amazon very soon.

A little about this cake.  It is all about the apples which have a very thin  layer of cake surrounding them.  I used two varieties; Honey Crisp and Liberty to make my version but Ms. Greenspan recommends using 4 different types to get a mix of tart and sweet and a variety of textures.  It's a delicious dessert and very simple and quick to put together.

Marie Helene's Apple Cake

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 large apples

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons dark rum

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and center a rack in the oven. Butter an 8 inch springform pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the springform pan on it. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.

Peel the apples, cut them in half, and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1 to 2 inch chunks.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half of the flour mixture, when it’s incorporated, add half of the melted butter, followed by the remaining flour mixture and butter. Mix in between additions so you have a smooth, thick batter.

Fold in the apples with a rubber spatula. Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread with spatula so the batter is somewhat even.

Slide the pan in the oven and bake 50-60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for five minutes.

Run a knife around the edges of the cake and remove from the pan. Cool cake until slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the pan, wait until the cake is completely cooled. Slide a long spatula between the cake and pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving platter.

Let Them Eat Cake

Sometimes when I'm cooking Sunday dinner and I am stumped for a dessert to serve, I go to my longstanding fallback which is the Jiffy cake mix.  With just two of us in the house, baking a big box cake is ridiculous.  These Jiffy mixes are just the ticket.  It reminds me of the childhood Easy Bake oven only now I don't have to cook with a 100 watt light bulb, I get to use the big girl oven.  You just throw in an egg and a 1/2 cup of water to the mix, beat for 3-4 minutes and viola, a lovely one layer cake.

What I do with that one layer of perfectly done yellow cake is just a matter of my creativity that day.  Sometimes I split it into two layers and put a coating of cherry or raspberry preserves in the middle and dust the top with powdered sugar.  Perhaps I'm in the mood for frosting so my creativity will lean toward a new frosting such as caramel or a deep fudge.

Today pineapple upside down cake struck my fancy.  With no particular recipe to go by,  Here is what I did:

I mixed the cake mix with a combination of the pineapple juice from the can and a bit of water to equal 1/2 cup, added an egg,  then followed the box recipe for mixing it together.  In a 5 inch cast iron pan I melted 1/4 stick of butter.  On top of that I layered approximately 1/3 cup brown sugar.  I then layered 4 pineapple slices over the sugar/butter mixture.  The cake batter was then spread over all of it and into the oven it went at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes until it was golden brown and sprang back when pushed gently.

Once out of the oven I quickly went all around the pan with a thin knife and then inverted the cast iron pan over a plate and left it alone for 1/2 hour or so.  When I lifted up the pan, what delight to have it all come out in one piece!  I'm not always that lucky.  I then decorated this little lovely with some marischino cherries for the perfect old fashioned pineapple upside down cake touch.

A Peach of A Dessert

Local peaches are now available at the farmers markets around the area so I grabbed a few today and came home wondering what to do with them. Personally, I think there is nothing better than just slicing them and sprinkling a bit of powdered sugar over them and eating as is. Recently though, I found a recipe I've wanted to try for a skillet cake topped with peaches and a streusel topping that looked great. I'm sure nectarines or any type of plum would work for this recipe as well. This dessert only took about 15 minutes to throw together and it turned out very nicely. It is like a coffee cake only not quite as dense. I think this worked very well in my 8 inch cast iron skillet which is my all time favorite pan in my kitchen.

Peach Skillet Cake

Cake

4 Tbsp softened butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

3 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease well a heavy 8 or 9 inch skillet. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift together the dry ingredients. Beat half into the creamed butter mixture; beat in half of the milk, add the rest of the flour then add the rest of the milk and beat until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet and spread the batter to the edges of the pan. The batter is very thick so this step took some coaxing. Arrange the peach slices on the top of the batter. Bake for 25 minutes.Topping

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 Tbsp softened butter

Cut the butter, sugar and cinnamon with a fork until crumbly. After the cake has baked for 25 minutes, open oven and quickly crumble topping over the peaches. Bake for another 8 minutes or until cake is firm and pulls away from edges of the skillet. Serve warm, accompanied by whipped or ice cream.

Baking with Dorie Greenspan

I purchased a marvelous cookbook a few months ago called Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I have followed for many months the wonderful blogs of folks who participate in an interesting cooking experience called Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD). Each week a member selects a recipe from this comprehensive baking cookbook and they all cook the selection and post it on Tuesday. It is so interesting to see the variations for the same recipe and read people's comments on their successes and failures.

Well, reading these recipes made me decide I must purchase this book and so I did utilizing Amazon and through the used books option I was able to purchase the book brand spanking new for $7.99 plus shipping. Once received, I was so thrilled with it I turned around and had another copy shipped to my dear friend Warren, who also likes to whip up magnificent pies and cakes on occasion.

I have made a few things from the book and last weekend made the Dressy Chocolate Loaf Cake featured on page 286. It turned out to be an extremely moist, rich chocolate cake with a nice cherry jam filling and a tangy, intensely chocolate fudge-like frosting. I must admit I did have trouble getting it out of the pan, most likely due to not letting it cool enough before attempting it's release. Fortunately, the photo of the end product does not reveal this issue. Thank goodness for photo cropping!

I am not going to post the recipe but instead suggest that anyone interested in a very thorough and easy to follow cookbook on baking, run to your nearest bookstore or keyboard and purchase Dorie's book immediately. You'll be glad you did.

Jam Cakes

Sometimes it's so nice to have an individual cake just for one. I think that is why the cupcake is all the rage right now. I came across this recipe for individual jam cakes and they are just delightful. The nice thing about this recipe is that it is versatile. Instead of orange zest, lemon would work fine. As well, the variety of jams or jellies one could use are endless. I opted for blackberry jelly and it was a wonderful compliment to the ever so slight orange flavor given by the zest in the cake and the juice in the glaze. Jam Cakes

1 stick butter at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp finely grated citrus zest (orange, lemon or lime)

2 large eggs, separated

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup milk

6 Tbsp jam or preserves

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 cup freshly squeezed citrus juice (orange, lemon or lime)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard 6 cup muffin tin and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar and zest until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time until creamy, set aside. Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Add flour mixture and milk in alternating batches to butter mixture and set aside.In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks; fold into batter. Divide half the batter into six muffin tins. Make an indentation in the middle of each; fill with 1 Tbsp of jam. Top each with remaining batter and smooth tops down. Bake until cake tester inserted in top cake layer comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Unmold cakes and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners sugar and juice. Place rack over wax paper and drizzle cakes with glaze. Makes 6 individual cakes.