Picnic-ready Lemon Cake

My friend, Ina*, really never fails me. I can't think of one recipe of hers that I've attempted that wasn't a delicious crowd-pleaser, and I've tried a lot of them!

This yogurt lemon cake is pretty quick, fresh & sweet, and has become my summer al fresco dining go-to dessert. The only trick to it is really keeping an eye on the baking time. In my oven, the edges get golden brown while the center is still very batter-y. I have to watch it from 45 minutes on to catch the moment when a skewer comes out clean and the edges aren't overdone. I like to bake it in a loaf pan lined with parchment paper long enough to fold over and cover the cake when it's cooled and frosted. Tie it up with baker's twine and you're good-to-go... happy picnicking!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 

Make the cake 

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ¼ x 2 ½-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into one bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.


*From Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home 

Little last-bit-of-summer

I didn't make nearly enough ice cream this summer. Maybe because it just doesn't pack well for a picnic. Or maybe because I have big fall & winter baking plans and was saving it up as a 'garnish' for many cakes... we shall see.

But with a bounty of basil, I was inspired to glean one last flavor gasp of summer: basil ice cream. And, though this may sound a bit strange, it pairs quite well with all of those perfect tomatoes right about now.

2 cups heavy cream*
3/4 cup milk (1 or 2%)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
15 to 20 basil leaves, torn or chopped into 1/8-inch pieces
5 large egg yolks

Yields about 1 quart


1. In a medium heavy saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, half of the sugar (1/4 cup), and salt.  

2. Put the pan over medium high heat. Add the basil leaves to the pan. When the milk just begins to bubble around the edges, remove from heat and cover the pan. Let steep for about 20 minutes, or until a sweet basil flavor has infused into the milk/cream. 

1. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up, and then whisk in the remaining sugar (1/4 cup). Set aside.

2. Uncover the cream mixture and put the pan over medium high heat. When the mixture approaches a bare simmer, reduce the heat to medium.

3. Temper the eggs by adding about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture and, whisking the eggs constantly, add the cream to the egg bowl.  Repeat, adding another 1/2 cup of the hot cream to the egg bowl.  Then, return to the pan of cream on the stove and stir the cream as you slowly pour the egg and cream mixture into the pan.

4. Continue to cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is thickened, coats the back of a spatula and leaves a clear mark when you run your finger across it, 1-2 minutes longer. 

5. Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer and into a clean container. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight. 

6. Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Freeze for at least 4 hours & enjoy!


*I used whole milk instead of cream and added an additional egg yolk for richness, which resulted in a less creamy, more gelato-like texture. 



Slightly adapted from Food52 

Berry bounty

  
A weekend trip up to the North Shore for a visit to Russell Orchards yielded a bounty of fresh-picked strawberries, encounters with a few ladybugs, and a fair share of cider doughnut tasting. And then, the brainstorming: what to do with all of these beautiful berries!!?

Obviously shortcakes are in order (and I'm waiting on a batch of crème fraîche to compliment that as we speak) but my immediate thought took me right back to summer at my grandparents' house on the lake where there was always a healthy stash of strawberry freezer jam made from the garden harvest. I'm pretty sure that my grandma Jane used the recipe off of the box of pectin, but I didn't have any pectin on hand and I am much too impatient when faced with a big box of berries and a few empty Weck jars to wait for time to run to the market.

So instead I went with a recipe by another favorite cooking lady, Ina Garten (aka the Barefoot Contessa). Like most of her recipes, it's so simple and so delicious!

Strawberry Jam

2 cups of sugar

1 large lemon, zested and juiced

1 1/2 pints (about 3 cups) strawberries, hulled and halved or quarted

For something a little different than traditional strawberry jam, you might adapt or vary this recipe by adding additional lemon, balsamic vinegar, or a vanilla bean.

Combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over very low heat for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and continue to cook over low heat for 20 minutes, until the strawberries release some of their juices and the mixture boils slowly. Pour carefully into 2 pint canning jars and either seal or keep refrigerated. Use immediately, can or freeze.

I found that, after cooking, my jam was still a bit juicier than I prefer. I spooned the solid bits with some of the juice into jars and then added about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the remaining liquid in the pan. After cooking that down over low heat for about 5 minutes, I bottled and refrigerated it for use as an ice cream topping or to add to salad dressings.

And, ta da... summer in a jar!

Memorials

  

Remembered on the Boston Common

A picnic a day in Boston parks: Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Pond & the Esplanade

Hot day, cool fountain... walking along the Rose Kennedy Greenway en route to Haymarket for picnic supplies!

 

Bread Winner

  

'Inexperienced  housekeepers and amateur cooks will find it a good general rule to attempt at the beginning only a few things, and learn to do those things perfectly. And these should be, not the elaborate dishes of special occasions, but the plain every-day things. Where can one better begin than with bread?

With good digestion, honest personal pride, and the grateful admiration of the family circle as rewards, surely no girl or woman who aspires to responsibilities and joys of home, will shrink from the labor of learning to make bread.'

Buffalo Cake and Indian Pudding 

circa 1887,Dr. A.W. Chase

Much like Dr. Chase's aspirational home-making girl, I recently came to the conclusion that the ability to bake a classic & crusty loaf of bread might be both a necessary and a lovely thing. Bread! The possibilities are endless! But for a weekly loaf that works just as well for breakfast toast as it does for afternoon sandwiches and as a carrier for delicious cheese, I'm hooked on Mark Bittman's wildly popular no-knead recipe and technique.

 

It's just this easy: combine 3 cups of all-purpose or bread flour*, 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 5/8 cups water. The main ingredient for this recipe is time: it does require a bit of planning ahead. After you've combined the ingredients and blended them together until it forms a slightly 'shaggy' ball, the dough should rest, covered in plastic wrap, for 12 to 18 hours in a draft-free area. I like to put the dough in an olive oil coated glass bowl covered with plastic wrap and tuck it away in the microwave (off, of course) while it rises.

*You can play around with different proportions of wheat and white, if you like. My favorite is still the all white bread flour version.

When the dough is ready, flour a work surface and your hands and fold the dough over on itself a few times. Cover it with plastic again and let it rest for about 20 minutes.

After that first little rise, form the dough into a ball and set it on a clean, floured kitchen towel. Coat another towel with a dusting of flour and cover the loaf. Let it rise for about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with an 8 quart cast iron lidded pot in the oven as it heats. Let the oven heat for at least a half hour before the loaf is ready to cook. When the loaf has nearly doubled in size and the oven is ready, carefully (very carefully!) remove the pot from the oven and place the dough, with plenty of flour or cornmeal on the bottom of the loaf, into the pan. At this point, I like to cut a short slice into the top to control the cracking and expansion of the loaf, but any pattern or no slice at all will work just as well!

Put the pan with the lid on back in the oven (again, carefully!) and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to bake for 15 to 30 minutes... in my oven, about 20 minutes with the lid off is enough time for a golden brown loaf with a crunchy crust.

Let cool on a rack for as long as you can wait before slicing into the warm, crusty delicious-ness of it!

Spring green

A recent trip to Boston's Haymarket (and a steal of a deal on a pillow sized bag of baby spinach) got me thinking outside the basil box when it comes to pesto. I love any greens once they have been thoroughly blended with olive oil, garlic, and parmesan! Arugula, parsley, or some combination of all of the above, will be just as delicious.
The measurements below are just a jumping-off point... keep adjusting to taste as it blends and you really can't go wrong!*

2 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
3-5 cloves of garlic, toasted with the skin on and peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan

If you're serving this on pasta right away, boil your noodles and add about a 1/4 cup of pasta water to thin and smooth out the pesto.

Combine the spinach, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, and lemon peel in a processor. Lightly pulse. With the machine running, gradually add the oil, blending until the mixture is creamy. Add the salt, pepper, and parmesan and pulse.

*I double this recipe, but never end up using the whole batch right away. I like to freeze about half of it in small portions for later.

Brunch Brioche

A recent Sunday brunch gave me an excuse to dive (happily) into my flour cookbook. Have I mentioned this delicious collection before? I love the bakeries. I love the book. I love brioche.
And so the recipe of choice was an obvious one: Brioche Au Chocolate!

Please don't be intimidated by things like 'brioche dough' and 'pastry cream'... it all really is more forgiving than you might think... and more delicious.

Just begin with the basic brioche (page 73 in the cookbook):

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 1/2 packages (3 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup cold water
6 eggs
1 cup plus 6 tablespoons (2 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces

In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minute, or until all of the ingredients have come together. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all of the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.

On low speed, add the butter one piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Then, continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all of the butter to be mixed thoroughly into the dough.

Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat for another 15 minutes, or until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny. It will take some time to come together. It will look shaggy and questionable at the start and then eventually it will turn smooth and silky. Then, turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it: it should stretch a bit and have a little give.

Place the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. At this point, you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week.


And for the pastry cream...

1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, scald the milk over medium-high heat. While the milk is heating, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until blended, then slowly whisk in the flour mixture. The mixture will be thick and pasty.

Remove the milk from the heat and slowly add it to the egg-flour mixture, a little at a time, whisking constantly. When all of the milk has been incorporated, return the contents of the bowl to the saucepan and place over medium heat. Whisk continuously and vigorously for about 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. At first, the mixture will be very frothy and liquid; as it cooks longer, it will slowly thicken and become more viscous. Once it thickens, stop whisking every few seconds to see if mixture has come to a boil. If it has not, keep whisking vigorously. As soon as you see if bubbling, immediately go back to whisking for just 10 seconds, and then remove the pan from the heat. Boiling the mixture will thicken it and cook out the flour taste, but if you let it boil for longer than 10 seconds, the mixture can become grainy.

Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small heat-proof bowl. Stir in the vanilla, then cover with plastic wrap, placing it directly on the surface of the cream. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until cold, or up to 3 days.

Bringing it all together...

1/2 of the basic brioche dough
pastry cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 egg

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat liners

On a floured work surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 20 by 10 inches and 1/4 inch thick. It will have the consistency of cold, damp Play-Doh and should be fairly easy to roll. Position the rectangle so a long side is facing you. Spread the pastry cream evenly over the bottom half of the rectangle. Fold the top half of the rectangle completely over the bottom half, then press down gently so the halves are smooshed together.

Use a bench scraper or a chef's knife to cut the filled dough into 10 pieces, each about 2 inches wide; each piece will be about 2 by 5 inches.

Carefully transfer the brioche to the prepared baking sheet. Cover the pastries lightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to proof for about 2 hours, or until the dough is pillowy.

Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg until blended. Gently brush the tops of the pastries with the beaten egg.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack for 20 to 30 minutes.

Best served warm or within about 4 hours of baking!

And, a little bit more on the beauty of brioche.