Tag: desserts (Page 4 of 8)

Lovely Lemon Cake

December 9, 2016 / Jenny / 19 Comments

This lemon cake is a rich, moist yellow cake infused with the invigorating flavor of lemon, frosted with a luscious, lemony butter frosting. If you like the flavor of lemon, then this cake is for you!

I love baking with lemons at this time of the year because the smell is so cheerful and uplifting. If I am feeling worn out from all the holiday running around, a whiff of the scent of lemon wakes me up and pulls me into the present moment. Grating the lemon peel and squeezing the juice is pleasant work because it smells so good!

This is the cake my daughter requests every year for her birthday. The recipe is adapted from one I found in my reliable Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, tenth ring-bound edition. I have been making it for years, and though it tastes just as good as a single layer cake in a 9 x 13 inch pan, it looks so pretty as a double layer cake like in the photos here.

I am always amazed that such basic ingredients can create such a delicious and beautiful treat. Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and in this case lemons–that’s all it takes to make something special. Baking is an act of creation, generosity, and creativity, and with it you can give something special and memorable to someone. Cake does not last long, and it is definitely not a necessity, but the making of it and the sharing of it will live on for a long time in memories. Sometimes we need to let the people we see every day know they are special. Everybody needs an extra hug or some encouraging words from time to time–or a lemon cake!

I hope you all have a great weekend, and take the time to breathe and enjoy this special time of year. We have fresh snow today, making it look like the trees are all decorated with this lemon frosting! Drive safely and stay warm! I look forward to sharing this cake with Angie and the other bloggers at Fiesta Friday, co-hosted this week by Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Sandhya @ Indfused.

Lovely Lemon Cake

Servings: 12
Time: about 30 minutes of hands-on time, about 30 minutes of baking time, and a couple hours of cooling time
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Ingredients:

for the cake:

3 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups of sugar
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of finely shredded or grated lemon peel
1 and 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
2 eggs

for the frosting:

1/3 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cups of fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (or you can use vanilla extract if you prefer)

Directions:

for the cake:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour two 9 x 1 and 1/2 inch round baking pans.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and lemon zest. Add the milk, butter, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed (carefully, so you don’t spread flour all over your kitchen!) until combined into a batter. Then beat on high speed for two minutes. Add the eggs and beat on high for two more minutes. Pour the batter into your two prepared baking pans, distributing the batter evenly. Bake in your 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove the cake from the pans. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.

for the frosting:

While the cake is cooling, prepare the frosting. In a medium or large bowl, beat the butter until soft and fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating carefully to combine. Slowly beat in the 1/4 cup of lemon juice and the almond extract (or vanilla extract if you prefer). Gradually and slowly beat in the remaining powdered sugar. Beat in more lemon juice, a little by little, if needed, until you reach the consistency you want for your frosting. Once you reach your desired moisture balance, beat the frosting till it is smooth and fluffy.

Place the first layer of cake on a large plate and spread the top evenly with frosting. Place the second layer on top of the first and then frost the top and sides with frosting, spreading and distributing it as evenly as possible. Be as fancy or as basic as you want to be with the frosting spreading and design. Carefully transfer the cake to a cake stand or leave it on the plate. Slice and serve. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, tenth ring-bound edition.

Cherry-Cranberry Crisp

November 23, 2016 / Jenny / 4 Comments

A radiant cherry and cranberry filling, mixed with a classic crisp topping of oats, graham cracker crumbs, and brown sugar, makes this cherry-cranberry crisp burst with flavor and color. If you are looking for a festive and delicious holiday dessert that is easy and doesn’t involve making a pie crust, then this is a great option! Don’t get me wrong, I love to make pies–in fact I will be making one this evening–but…sometimes it’s nice to throw a dessert together quickly and without much fuss. And the gorgeous colors and many health benefits of tart cherries and cranberries are an added bonus!

I used frozen Montmorency red tart cherries and frozen cranberries for this recipe. I have written in a previous post about my love for this particular type of cherry (Michigan is known for them), but any tart cherry would work fine. I made the filling for this crisp before assembling it and baking it, so I could make sure I had the level of sweetness that I wanted. Everybody has a different threshold for tartness, and this way you can adjust the sweetness before you bake the crisp.

Also, it helps to make sure you mix the cherries and cranberries well while they are cooking in the filling, because the cherries are sweeter than the cranberries, and if someone ends up with a spoonful of mainly cranberries, they may be in for a very tart surprise! However, when mixed up, the cherries and cranberries make a delightful burst of sweet-tartness, and I am so pleased with this very bright flavor and color, and the antioxidants inside it all.

The crisp topping is very simple. My aim with this crisp is to make it as flavorful and at the same time as easy as possible, so it can be a recipe you can turn to when you are a bit pinched for time, but still want a beautiful dessert. It is a crisp topping I use all fall for apple crisp, and it is simply four ingredients–old fashioned rolled oats, graham crackers, brown sugar, and a bit of butter.

I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is tomorrow already, in addition to it being my husband’s birthday! And my daughter’s birthday is a few days after that. Busy times, and yet I am trying to focus on what is most important, and one of those things continues to be gratitude. In these times when there are pressures about holiday shopping, I try to remember also that time is a gift. Spending time with loved ones is a gift, especially if you can be fully present for them.

Food brings people together, bridges gaps, and expresses love. If you are celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, I hope you have a great day, and if not, I hope you have a great day, and weekend as well! I am sharing a quote that my yoga instructor shared with our class: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” ~ Melody Beattie

May you have all those things this weekend, and thank you for reading this blog!

Cherry-Cranberry Crisp

Servings: 6
Time: about 15 minutes prep time and 15-20 minutes baking time
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Ingredients:

For the filling:

4 cups of frozen tart cherries
2 cups of frozen cranberries
1 cup of sugar (or a bit more, if you desire more sweetness and less tartness)
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
1/4 tablespoon of almond extract

For the topping:

1/2 cup of old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup of graham crackers, crumbled
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Get out a 9 x 9 inch baking dish (8 x 8 inch works too).

Place the frozen cherries and cranberries in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar, cornstarch, and almond extract. Gradually bring to a boil, stirring as the mixture warms up, to combine the ingredients. When the mixture starts to boil, stir it continually for about a minute, as it starts to thicken and the fruit bursts. Turn the heat down and simmer for a couple of minutes, tasting the filling and adding more sugar if desired. (My family likes it with the 1 cup of sugar, so it’s sweet but with a hint of tartness. If you are used to more sweetness, you might want to add a bit more sugar.) Let the filling cool a bit while you make the topping.

In a small bowl, combine the oats, graham cracker crumbs, and brown sugar. Spoon the filling into the baking dish. Make sure the cherries and cranberries are mixed up, so they can complement each other, and not be in their own corners of the baking dish. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling. Dot the butter pieces on top of the filling, distributing them evenly. Bake in your 350-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the topping is golden. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired. Enjoy!

Peach and Red Plum Galette

September 9, 2016 / Jenny / 12 Comments

Indulge in fresh, ripe fruit with this peach and red plum galette! Luscious peaches and juicy red plums are baked with a touch of honey, cinnamon, walnut, and vanilla, and surrounded by a classic galette pastry. This recipe gives you rustic comfort and rich fruit flavor, all in one dish.

September is one of the best times to visit a farmers market, and this week, our town’s market had rows of fresh peaches and plums. I love to take advantage of fruit at this time of year, because it makes me feel like I’m stretching out summer and holding onto it a little longer. Fresh peaches and plums taste so good and juicy all own their own, but yesterday, I needed to bake.

Baking touches something deep in my soul. Deeper than I can really explain. To roll out dough gives me such comfort. I cannot really understand it, I can only honor this impulse. It must have something to do with my ancestors, with my genetics. Not everyone has this love of baking, though I think most everyone has something like this, something that they love to do and feel compelled to do.

I am not a fancy baker or a formally trained baker. I guess I would say I am a rustic baker. I like to make fruit pies and galettes, hearty bread, pizza. Cookies and muffins. My training comes mainly from relatives, like my mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, aunts, and a couple of friends. Stories shared, sunny afternoons in my mother’s kitchen, cozy winter afternoons in grandma’s kitchen, or in my husband’s grandma’s kitchen. I can picture these places in my memory– aprons, beautiful aprons, countertops covered in flour, dishes in the sink, laughter….

So in making this galette, besides doing it for my family, and to share this delicious recipe with you all, I did it for me. Not just to eat, though I already had a piece, and it was delicious! But for the sheer comfort of making it. The floury mess, the glorious smells of the dough and fruit baking, the texture of the dough taking shape in my hands. It has been a challenging week, with my kids and I getting over colds, and I needed to do something to ground myself to the earth. Slicing ripe peaches and plums, rolling out dough, these are things I can do and feel like I am making a positive impact on the world.

To me, at the risk of sounding a little corny, baking is part science, part art, and part entering into the mystery of the universe. Crossing the threshold of time and space and feeling connected to those I have lost or lost touch with. It helps me leave my over-active mind behind, and quiet it by working with my hands in an ancient skill.

This recipe is loosely adapted from a lovely book my daughter and husband checked out from our local library: Country Living Pies & Tarts published by Hearst Books in 2016. In my recipe, I substituted some red plums instead of using all peaches, and I used walnuts and vanilla instead of almonds and almond extract, because I did not have any almonds on hand. I can imagine that would taste great too.

I hope you all have a great weekend, and enjoy this time of year! If you have something you really like to do, something that helps give your life meaning and value, I hope you can do it. I heard we are supposed to get a break in the heat and humidity here this weekend, so I am looking forward to that! Fiesta Friday is also going on right now, co-hosted by Angie and Judi @ CookingWithAuntJuju, whose blogs have some wonderful recipes and photos!

Peach and Red Plum Galette

Servings: 8
Time: about 40 minutes prep time and about 45 minutes baking time
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Ingredients:

2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon of salt
10 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 to 5 tablespoons of cold water
1/2 cup of walnuts (raw almonds can also be used)
1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (almond extract if you are using almonds instead of walnuts)
4 medium fresh, ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
4 red fresh, ripe red plums, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter pieces, and with a pastry cutter, cut in the butter. Continue to mix with the pastry cutter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the walnuts (or almonds) and confectioners’ sugar in a blender or food processor. Blend till it is a fine meal. Add the egg yolk and vanilla (or almond extract) and blend again. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the peach slices, plum slices, honey, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 14-inch circle. Gently place it in a standard sized pie baking dish, letting the extra dough hang over the sides for now. Carefully spread the walnut (or almond) paste over the dough, including up the sides. Add the peach and plum mixture. Then fold the edges of the dough over the fruit mixture, forming a flat pie with about a 2-inch border. This is a rustic dish, so it doesn’t have to look perfect! Lightly brush the dough with water and sprinkle with some granulated sugar. Bake in your preheated oven for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and flaky, and the fruit is bubbling. Let it cool for a few minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

This recipe is loosely adapted from the book Country Living Pies &Tarts, published by Hearst Communications, 2016.