Cornmeal Almond Cake With Berries And Cream

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Contrary to what you may think, this is not a Southern recipe, but one adapted from an Italian cook you know very well, Giada de Laurentis.   I published the recipe awhile back in my country blog which is really a recipe box for recipes that appeal to me from all sources.  Some of them I have tried, others I have not.  I don't know what took me so long to try this one.  It is the best almond cake I have ever had and it is by far the best accompaniment I have ever found for fresh berries.  That includes shortcake.

As a bonus, you will also note it has very little flour, perfect for those of you cutting back on wheat.  This is really what prompted me to try it this weekend and boy, am I glad I did.  Wheat or no wheat, this is a keeper.

Since it seems like ages that I last posted a dessert, I decided to push back the  recipe I had planned for today and share this one with you.  It was enjoyed by all over the long weekend.

On another note, you may have noticed that the latest two posts require you to click to another page to view the recipe.  This is being done for a reason, a good one!  Bear with me for awhile longer and you will see what's in store.....I am sure you will like it!

Glazed Lemon Tea Cake With Berries and Cream

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When Citarella opened in New York City I used to stop by on weekends and buy their lemon pound cake.  I don't know if they still have it or if it's made by the same people, but I have never had one like theirs.  It was soft and moist and terribly lemony.  Luckily, it came in small individual loafs, enough for two rounds of afternoon tea.

For years, I have tried unsuccessfully to replicate that pound cake.   The texture was never quite right or the flavor not as lemony.  The catalyst this weekend was the gorgeous strawberries at the farmers market.  All I could think of on the way home was pound cake with berries and whipped cream for dessert! We did have a guest for dinner, the perfect excuse...so the quest started for a recipe to complement the loot and satisfy the craving.  I think this time I finally succeeded.

Because of its long and flat shape, I call this a tea cake and as an alternative, would serve it alone for afternoon tea.  It freezes well so once it's completely cooled,  wrap half and stick it in the freezer for unexpected occasions.  My daughter likes a thicker lemon glaze on top so I have included an optional glaze from one of the recipes I worked with.

The recipe is a blend of Martha Stewart's and Ina Garten's lemon pound cake.  I have found that although buttermilk (Ina's) sounds great in a cake, it makes for a very tight crumb.  I much prefer the texture you get from whole milk, something I have learned the hard way.

Martha Stewart's Lemon Pound Cake

I used Martha's recipe primarily and added a few things from Ina's such as the thicker lemon glaze on top and the 1/4 tsp of baking powder to make the cake slightly less dense.  What neither of them said to do was to make a few holes in the cake with a toothpick, while still hot ,and immediately pour the glaze.   

Serve this for dessert with your choice of berries and cream or alone for afternoon tea.  Either way it's to die for!

8/22/11 If you want an unforgetable experience, cut a slice of the frozen poundcake, stick it in a preheated toaster ovem set to toast and cook 12 minutes.  Let cool....Yummmmmyyyyyyyyyyy!

Serves 8

Ingredients

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan

3/4 cup, plus 4 tablespoons sugar, plus more for dusting

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus finely grated zest of 2 lemons, plus more for garnish (optional)

1/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

Glaze (optional)

1 Cup confectioners sugar

2-3 TB fresh lemon juice

2 pints of strawberries

1 pint of blueberries or blackberries

Whipped heavy cream

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Dust with sugar, and tap out excess; set aside. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir together 1 tablespoon lemon juice and the milk.

2.Put butter and 3/4 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in eggs and zest. Working in two batches, alternate mixing in flour mixture and milk mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

3.Meanwhile, stir together remaining 4 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons lemon juice. In a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.  Upon removing cake from oven, take a toothpick and make about 10 holes in the pound cake.  Immediately brush with 2/3 of lemon glaze until all is absorbed. Let cake cool in pan 10 minutes. Add the rest of the glaze. Unmold cake. Garnish with zest.

Combine strawberries, and blueberries or blackberries, and  1/3 cup sugar in small bowl and toss gently to blend. Add fresh mint if desired. Let stand until juices form, at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Cut cake crosswise into slices. Serve with berries and whipped cream or ice cream.

Optional:  If you want a heavier glaze on top, reduce step #3 to 3 tbs  sugar and 2 tbs. lemon juice.  Pour over the cake while still hot. Then combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar with  2 - 3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cake and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

Also check out Lindaraxa's Signature Pound Cake 

Photo: Randy Major, Jan Gautro

Fourth Of July 2011...The Menu

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Unlike last year when we had a full house of adults, young people and dogs, this weekend should be a fairly quiet one.  By that I don't mean dull.  Starting this Thursday, the houses around us will be rocking with weekend guests and the lake will be full of activity, culminating in the Fourth of July Fireworks at Lake Lanier Islands.  It is a madhouse, only fit for the young at heart and the masochist.  On holidays like this, it is a blessing to be on a cove and be able to swim off our dock!

On the home front, there will be only two couples to take care of, my brother and sister in law and some friends of my daughter.  A breeze compared to other summer holidays.  I am planning a casual menu for eight on the 4th, early enough for a leisurely meal with plenty of time for those going to the fireworks to get there by boat.  This is one time when I don't bother too much with appetizers.   Chips and dips, maybe Kentucky Beer Cheese and chorizos on the grill.

The menu below is easily adaptable to a bigger crowd.

Ted's Baby Back Ribs

Cheesy Summer Squash Casserole

Creamy Cole Slaw With Caraway Seed

Tomatoes With Olive Oil, Balsamic and Basil

Easy Latticed Blueberry Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream

If you have killer home grown tomatoes from your garden, good olive oil and fresh baguettes, serve them as a first course while you are grilling.  They will go well with the grilled chorizo.

Photos # 1 Facebook #2 Everything Fabulous

Easy Latticed Blueberry Pie

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This morning when I left the house I had absolutely no intention of making a blueberry pie; but as luck would have it, when I stopped at the farmer's market to pick up tomatoes for tomorrow's lunch, I spotted the most luscious blueberries I've seen in a long time.  So after adding them to my basket, I stopped at the store to purchase a frozen crust to make my "homemade" blueberry pie.  Yes, I do cheat sometimes, (more often than not) and buy a ready made crust, but not just any ready made crust, only Mrs. Smith's.

I have never found a better recipe for blueberry pie than the one in the Joy Of Cooking, that old stalwart of my generation.  If you don't have this cookbook, I strongly recommend it.  It has everything you can think of as well as very detailed instructions on how to go about making things.  Better yet, and this is the part I like, it gives you alternatives.  Case in point, when I looked for a recipe on one of my other books it called for tapioca pudding.  Who has that in a pantry these days?! The Joy of Cooking gives you that option plus two others, flour or cornstarch,  and depending on which one you pick, it adjusts the rest of the ingredients.  In the case of blueberries you have to be careful which thickening agent you use for they can get  get quite runny when baked.

As to the crust, leave it out for about 30 minutes so that you can ply loose one of the crusts from the tinfoil.  Lay it flat on the counter and cut 1/2 inch strips with a knife or pizza cutter. Follow the instructions here on how to make a lattice top.  Easy!

If you use a ready made crust, this pie takes no time at all; and if you cut the second crust in strips for a latticed pie no one can tell  it was not home made.  I had to swear on my grandchildren three times before my daughter  believed I had made it from scratch!

Tips from "Joy of Cooking"

•A 9-inch fruit or berry pie needs about 4 cups of fresh fruit or 3 cups of cooked fruit.

•Each type of fruit requires its own quota of sweetening. For example, 4 cups of gooseberries need about 1 3/4 cups of sugar, while blueberries may need no more than 1/2 cup plus lemon juice to heighten the flavor.

•Acidic fruits should be thickened with tapioca starch, cornstarch or arrowroot starch because the acidity of the fruit may neutralize the thickening power of the flour.

Instructions:

1. Line a 9-inch pie pan with  dough. I used Mrs. Smith frozen pie shell.

2. Prepare by picking over and hulling:

4 cups fresh berries

3.Combine: 

2/3 to 1 cup or more sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I recommend 1/2 if fruit is very juicy)

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I used Cinnamon)

4. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the berries and stir gently until well blended. Let stand for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).

5.Turn the fruit into the pie shell. Dot with:

1 to 2 tablespoons butter

6 .Cover the pie with a well-pricked top or with a lattice*. Bake the pie at 450°F (230°C) for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F (175°C) and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown * watch after 30 minutes, mine only took 35 mins.

* for a lattice top, use the second pie shell.  Let it come to room temperature, separate from tin shell, lay it out flat and with pizza cutter cut 1/2 in strips.  Follow these directions.



Fresh Wild Berries with a Sabayon Sauce

Pin It Sabayon is the French name for that Italian favorite, Zabaglione. It is usually served as an accompaniment to steamed pudding and fruit. It is also a fairly simple sauce to make and makes for a quick and easy summer dessert when combined with berries.

I saw Tyler Florence tackle this recipe last week, but did not much care for the sabayon in his recipe. Although this sauce is very simple, it can blow up in your face if you don't use the right proportions and measurements. For that reason, I decided instead to use one from my old friend, Julia Child, which has never failed me.

Take advantage or all the berries that are in season and of the mint, which is finally spreading in pots. This is a nice dessert to serve with last week's shish kabobs, grilled lambchops or any other dinner on the grill.


Yield

8 Servings


Ingredients

6 cups mixed berries of your choice (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, boysenberries)

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

For the Sabayon

6 egg yolks

1 cup sweet Marsala wine or port, sherry, or Madeira

1/3 cup sugar, plus more to taste

Drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional)


Directions

Fill a 1 quart bowl with water, boil and bring to a simmer.

Whisk to blend the yolks, Marsala, and sugar in the stainless-steel bowl. Rest the bowl in the saucepan over hot water. Whisk constantly for 4 to 5 minutes or more to cook the sauce, until it has the consistency of lightly whipped cream. Clear the bottom of the bowl constantly with the whisk so that the eggs do not scramble, and adjust the heat as needed.

Taste the sauce — the sabayon should never get so hot that you can't stick your very clean finger in it — and whisk drops of lemon juice or more sugar if you want. When thick, foamy, and tripled in volume, remove from heat. It can be served hot as is, tepid, or cool. If you want to serve it hot, make it before you are ready to serve.

Serve in a bowl, place fresh berries on top, dust with powdered sugar and garnish with fresh mint.

Peaches, Raspberries and Blueberries with Prosecco

Pin It If you went to the farmers market yesterday and came back loaded with peaches and berries, here's a delightful recipe for a Sunday dessert.

Ingredients

2 pounds peaches, preferably the aromatic white-fleshed variety

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups Prosecco or other young, fruity, dry white wine

1/2 pint raspberries

1/2 pint blueberries

Zest of 1 lemon

Directions

Wash the peaches, peel them, pit them, and cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick. Put the peaches in a serving bowl, add the sugar and wine, and stir thoroughly. Wash the raspberries and blueberries and add them to the peaches.

Grate the thin, yellow skin of half a lemon, being careful not to dig into the bitter white pith beneath, and add it to the bowl. Turn over the bowl's contents several times. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving, or even as far ahead as early morning of the day in which you intend to serve the fruit.

Recipe Courtesy of Marcella Hazan

Photo Flickr bonnerphotographic

Fourth of July Barbecue...The Menu

Pin It A special friend has asked me for a menu for his Fourth of July barbecue that should have a recipe for kids not involving beef. What a dilemma! To me the Fourth of July is hamburgers or ribs on the grill or if I am by the seashore, a clam bake.

Sometimes we are presented with these situations where a guest cannot or will not eat beef or fish and what do we do? All I can say is that a good hostess should be able to accommodate everyone's tastes, allergies etc. while at the same time not sacrifice the majority for a few. In this situation, since we are going to be cooking on the grill, it's not a big problem to throw a few chicken pieces on the grill for those who don't like meat and that is what i have done. Drummettes are easy for little kids to handle and they also make great appetizers for the adults. Serve them for the grownups while you are having cocktails and save a few for the kids while the others are having hamburgers. That way everyone gets what they were expecting and you come out looking like a princess. Problem solved!


Fourth of July Barbecue

Clam Dip with Potato Chips

Grilled Chicken Drummettes

Grilled Double Cheese Hamburgers with Vidalia & Horseradish Mustard

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Dill Butter

My Mother's Potato Salad

Beefsteak Tomatoes, with Balsamic Vinegar, Basil & Olive Oil

Peach Blueberry Crumble

Tinto de Verano


I am posting the menu early so you can start salivating and making plans! The recipes will be posted by tomorrow evening at the latest! The clam dip and Tinto de Verano have been previously posted on the blog. Just click on them or do a search on the Google box.

Just so you know, I will be making my brother's secret hamburger recipe with a new twist. If you are going to buy the hamburger meat early, get half ground sirloin and half ground chuck. That is part of the SECRET!!!

Peach Blueberry Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream

Pin It The good thing about a crumble is that you can assemble it in the morning, put it in the refrigerator and bake it late in the day. Then you can warm it in the oven as you are grilling your hamburgers and leave until ready to eat. Make sure you have some good vanilla ice cream to go on top!

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 pounds peaches (6-8 peaches) cut in 1/2, peeled, pitted, and cut in 1-inch wedges
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus extra for sprinkling

Vanilla Ice Cream


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the sliced peaches, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the flour, and the orange juice and toss well. Add the blueberries and toss lightly. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

For the topping, place the remaining 1 cup of flour, the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it's in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well.

Spread the topping evenly over the peaches, making sure the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with some extra almonds. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Blueberry Lemon Tart...Yes You Can!

Pin It I love cakes, cookies, pies, tarts and anything sweet. In that respect I am truly Cuban at heart...but as I mentioned earlier on in our relationship, I can't bake. Actually, I can bake, I just don't like to. The baker in the family is my daughter Christina who luckly inherited this skill from her paternal grandmother. When she lived with me while I was going through chemotherapy, our house was always filled with delicious cookies, but now that she lives away, we only get them by mail, on ocassion. The beneficiary of this is my son and his family who live nearby, and her coworkers.

I don't believe you can be a good cook and a good baker. The two are so diametrically opposed. Cooking is creative, you can always improvise and add a little of this or that; baking is precise...and I mean Precise with a capital P. Mess around with a crust recipe and you will be very, very sorry. If you have the talent for one, it is difficult to excel at the other. For that reason, when it comes to making desserts I avoid baking like the plague and try to find recipes that don't involve making a crust. My solution for pies are crumbles which are really a pie without a crust.

Every once in a while I find a pie or tart recipe that doesn't involve a complicated crust and when I do, I am in heaven. This tart is from Tyler Florence who is quickly becoming one of my favorite network food stars, together with Bobby Flay, Ina Garten and Giadda de Laurentis. Three of my favorites, Ming Tsai, Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich have moved on and I sorely miss them!

The tart in this recipe is really a no brainer...I can make this! It doesn't involve all that rolling and folding that I see in pie recipes. It is really easy and to the point, so I encourage you to try it! The results will be very rewarding.

I know I have recently posted another recipe with blueberries, the Jordan Marsh muffins, but I firmly believe in taking advantage of what is fresh and in season and summer to me is all about berries, fresh lemons, melons and very soon, peaches! Peaches and blueberries are the quintessential summer dessert and pretty soon I will be posting my crumble. So hang in there...blueberry season has a long way to go!


Ingredients

Pastry

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

Pinch kosher salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, in chunks

1 large egg, separated

2 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 5 lemons)

1/4 cup heavy cream

Zest of 1 lemon

Pinch kosher salt

1 pint blueberries

Instructions

To make the pastry, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the dough resembles cornmeal. Add the egg yolk and ice water and pulse again until the dough pulls together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Roll the dough up onto the pin and lay it inside a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into the edges of the pan and fold the excess dough inside to reinforce the rim. Cover the tart pan with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator for another 30 minutes to rest.

To bake the shell, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Cover the shell with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brush it onto the bottom and sides of the tart shell; set aside to cool.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, cream, zest, and salt. Add the blueberries to the cooled tart shell and pour the filling over the blueberries. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The curd should jiggle slightly when done. Cool to room temperature, remove from the tart ring, and serve.

Say You Are Sorry With Blueberry Muffins..Thank You, Jordan Marsh

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Whenever I want to get back in my Mother's good graces, I cook her something she really likes. I know... what is a woman like me, a mother and grandmother, doing coddling up to her mother at my age? Well, if you have to ask the question, you don't know about mothers, particularly Cuban mothers.

The art of the guilt trip is something that is practiced and perfected and passed on from mother to daughter and from generation to generation. I have never mastered the skill... believe me, I have always wanted to.... it works sooo well...but I guess I'm just missing THE gene. Or maybe I hated it so much over the years I refused to work "the magic" on my daughter. As a matter of fact, often without realizing it, SHE works it on Me. I guess the gene can skip a generation.

Primarily "the guilt trip" only works on girls...boys get off scott free, they just get handled by Dad, and dads are not guilt trip oriented since they don't have the gene either. Sometimes, they too can be the recipients of the "guilt trip"! (How do you think Mom got all her jewelry!) If you think Jewish mothers have a monopoly on this art, and it IS an art, don't bet on it until you meet a Cuban mother, particularly a Catholic one..

Anyway, today I did something that got me "the guilt trip", big time. I must admit I deserved it...maybe just a little...so on the way home all I could think of was how to do damage control.. and then I remembered the blueberries in the refrigerator and her favorite muffins, Jordan Marsh's Blueberry Muffins.

For those of you too young to remember, Jordan Marsh and Burdine's were THE department stores here in Miami. Two or three times a year in the 1950s we came to Miami to shop and load up on goodies to take back home to Havana. Both of these stores had really nice restaurants, but Jordan Marsh was famous for its blueberry muffins.

Jordan Marsh was a Boston-based department store founded in 1841 by Eben Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh. With the rise of retail conglomerates, Jordan Marsh became part of Allied Stores (1931) and then Federated Department Stores (1988), a move that renamed all stores, including the flagship store in Boston, Macy's. The Jordan Marsh flagship store was home to the legendary Enchanted Village, an elaborate holiday display which, at times, spanned an entire floor of the store in addition to its windows. Perhaps even more legendary were Jordan Marsh's bakeries. Infamous, however, were the blueberry muffins. A December 2004 Boston Globe article put it best: "For decades, any decent downtown shopping trip ended at Jordan Marsh, where the promise of a sugar-crusted blueberry muffin could make annoying children angelic."

The store closed a while back but the recipe has been passed around from generation to generation, just like "the guilt trip". Bingo!...that must have been what reminded me of it... It is my Mother's favorite muffin recipe and one that makes her smile, forgive and, hopefully, forget!
(don't bet on the latter...)



Ingredients:

- 1/2 c. butter
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 c. flour
- 1/2 c. milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 pint (2 cups) blueberries
Pinch of salt


Instructions:


Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Grease and flour a 12 cup muffin tin

Cream together shortening, and sugar.

Add baking powder and eggs and mix well.

Add flour, milk and vanilla, mix well. Add a pinch of salt.

Add blueberries - mash 1/4 a little before you add and the rest add whole

Wait 10 min., and mix again (you get bigger muffins this way)*

Fill the muffin cups to the top of the pan.

Sprinkle some sugar on top of each muffin.

Bake at 450 degrees F for 5 minutes.

Drop the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake an additional 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

Cool and remove from pan.



*this is my trick, not JM's
Last time I made 3/15/17 I baked at 450 for 10 minutes and 30 minutes at 350. If you like a crunchier top, this is it!