The Lemon cake : one of my favourite classics

Each one has its own recipe, its own version of that cake. More or less buttery, acid etc...

I hadn't done it in a few months and suddenly I realized it shoud be on my bog since it's a recipe I've kept in my cookbook for a while now :)

I hope you'll like it as much as I do. Its advantage is that it can be baked in different kind of mold, 

it's really easy to make and it suits all seasons.

Why don't I have an lemon or an orange tree in my garden ?

  Preparation    Easy, it takes 15 minutes to put in the oven

  Tasting    I really do love that cake :) So fresh but amost like a pound cake, delicious !

  To conclude    It's definitly a recipe that I'll keep all my life

Serves 10 to 12

   You will need :   

1 stick softened unsalted butter (4oz)

- vous pouvez arrondir à 100gr en France -

2/3 cup white sugar (4.6oz/130gr)

1 cup 1/3 +1tbsp flour (6oz/175gr)

4tbsp milk :)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 organic meyer lemon

2tsp baking powder

For the icing

2/3 cup powdered sugar (100gr)

lemon juice

Making the cake

Grate the lemon zests. Reserve

Preheat the oven at 360°F

Butter your mold with a cooking spray

Using a food processor

Mix butter and sugar, then add in eggs. Add in the milk, the vanilla. 

Add in the flour and the zests. Mix everything at least 2 minutes.

By hand

Work butter and sugar until creamy,

stir in the eggs until homogeneous.

Stir in milk, vanilla.

Stir in the flour with the baking powder and the zests.

Pour it in your mold unil 2/3 full

Bake 30 to 45 minutes

Check cooking at 30 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the cake to check the moist.

Let cool down 20 minutes before turning out.

Making the lemon icing

Mix the sugar with the lemon juice. Add the emon juice spoon by spoon. 

Stirring after each spoon. And keep adding spoons until you have the right consistency.

It must be a cream, liquid enough to be spread, but not too liquid !

Pour it on your cake when it's out of the oven

Sweet and tender muffins with cranberries and nuts

I replaced nuts by praline :)

Awsome muffin recipe :3 It's the Cook's Illustrated recipe " Very good pecan cranberrie muffins recipe"

Yvonne Ruperti has worked on this recipe and did a great job ! I haven't done the streusel this time :) 

They are gorgeous, I strongly recommand them !

I wanted to get a subscription but they just accept credit cards... 

- Ami ? -

For twenty small muffins, or a dozen big ones

   You will need :    

For the muffin

1 3/4 cup of flour (6.3oz/180gr)

1 cup of white sugar (7oz/200gr)

6 tbsp of melted and cooled softely butter (2.5oz/70gr)

1,5 tsp of baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup of milk (4.2 fl oz/12,5cL)

- whole milk is better -

1 1/4 cup of pecan halves toasted and cooled (3.5oz/100gr)

- 7 minutes in the oven at 350°F,  stir every 3 minutes -

1tsp of salt

For the cranberries

2 cups of fresh cranberries (7oz/200gr) or frozen, or dry...

- You can replace by other red fruits, or dry grapes... -

1tbsp of confectioner's sugar

- powdered -

For the streusel

3tbsp of flour

4tsp of white sugar

1tbsp of light brown sugar

2tbsp of unsalted sugar, softened (20gr)

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of pecan halves (40gr) 

Making the streusel

Turn the oven on at 425°F

Put sugars, flour, salt and diced butter in the food processor until mixture resembles coarse sand 

OR

use your hands :-)

- 4 or 5 pulse -

Add the pecan halves in the food processor and pulse it 3 or 4 times until coarsely chopped.

Set aside in a bowl.

Prepare your fruits 

If you are using dry ones, pour boiled water on them, real warm water and let them soak in 5 minutes.

If they are frozen, use the microwave to unfreeze-them and dry them out.

Baking the muffins

Butter and flour your molds

Whisk flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.

Chop coarsely nuts and sugar until mixture resembles coarse sand

- 10 to 15 secondes in the food processor -

Put that sugar in a bowl, pour the eggs in and whisk it together. 

Then, add the butter mix with a whisk, and the milk.

Finally pour the flour mix little by little

- 1 : eggs and sugar-nuts // 2 : After adding butter and milk // 3 : After adding the flour mix -

Set it aside 30 minutes

Chop cranberries with confectioner's sugar and the salt in the food processor until coarsely chopped. Pour it in your muffin dough.

Use an ice scoop to fill equally your muffin-tin

Try to get the center of the muffin a bit higher.

Spray some streusel on it and press gently with your fingers so it wil stick on the dough.

Bake 17 to 18 minutes, until golden and just firm, don't overbake.

Rotate muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking.

Let them cool 10 minutes in their tins, and 10 more minutes on wire rack

before eating them all :)

! See all the muffins recipes !

Marbled cake

I've done all the recipes from Vovoi's book, at least, those working :) I'm back in my cookbooks !

"Exquises pâtisseries pour les Fêtes" de Christophe Felder, 

Choice was rather hard, because all the recipes seem delicious... My first pick is the marbled cake chocolate & vanilla.

I've done this one for a few years now, it must figure on my blog.

To be sure I haven't changed anything in the recipe since I've been using it, I've checked everything one more time. I hadn't changed a thing !

As good as usual, I can eat humongous piece of it !

- Creamcheese and chocolate icing -

For 1 big cake, or 2 middle sized cake (8inch by 4)

  You will need :   

for the batter

2 eggs

2cup and 1tbsp of flour (9.7 oz / 275gr)

6.1 oz of unsalted, softened butter (16tbsp / 175gr)

- sout of the fridge 1hour in advance -

1 cup 1/2 granulated sugar (13.2 oz / 375gr )

8.5 fl.oz  half & half (25cL)

1tsp of baking powder (0.2 oz/5gr)

3/4tsp  salt

flavours

4tsp unsweetened cocoa (0.9oz/25gr) de cacao amer en poudre

1tbsp vanilla extract

Turn your oven on at 375°C

In his recipe, Christophe Felder says to mix everything in a robot with a tool for working dough...

I don't have any, so here is what I've done :

Stir by hand, with a wooden spoon doing fluid but quick moves, rising the dough. the butter with sugar and salt to have a creamy batter

Add the eggs and stir until homogeneous

Finally stir in the flour with the baking powder

You have a soft and homogeneous batter

Divide it in two equal halves, in the first one, whisk in the cocoa.

In the other one, whisk in the vanilla

Use a whisk or a spatula by doing quick moves : cut and rise the batterMélangez au fouet ou par mouvement rapide en coupant/soulevant avec une spatule

Butter and flour your cakepan

- Christophe Felder says to spread melted butter on it and cover them with a parchment paper -

Start by pouring a thin layer with the cocoa batter (1/2inch) Do the same with the vanilla one etc...

Don't go further than 2/3 of your cakepan, it will rise a lot during baking :)

Bake it 40 minutes, without opening the oven. Depending on your cakepan, it often goes to 50 minutes.

Check the cooking by inserting a pick or a clean smooth knife in the center, 

if it comes out clean, it's baked !

Let it cool down at room temperature before turning out.

Christophe Felder gives the recipe for a chocolate icing made of "vegetaline" since I don't have any and I don't even know where to buy it in California, I will explain a Chocolate & creamcheese icing.

Chocolate & creamcheese icing

   You will need :   

1oz unsweetened chocolate

0.75 oz unsweetened cocoa

2.8 oz creamcheese

3.5oz powdered sugar

2tsp vanilla extract

3tbsp half & half  or water

2 pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate in the microwave with 2tbsp of water

Soften the creamcheese with an electric beater for 2 minutes, mix in the cocoa, the vanilla and the melted chocolate at medium speed

Mix in the sugar and the salt little by little, go on medieum/high speed.

Add in some water or half and half to obtain the perfect consistancy 

to spread on the cake.

- so good -

Cookie Therapy

How to feel better : just have a cookie !

   On this post :   

#1 

Cookie "chunk" 

Vanilla, gooey, the perfect cookie

#2 

A monster of a Cookie

chocolate and coffee cookie !

À venir :

#3 Orange and chocolate cookie

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

#1

Chocolate chunk Cookie

For 25 to 35 cookies

   You will need :   

1cup of chocolate chip or chocolate chunk (125gr)

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened (110 gr)

- out of the fridge 1h before use -

1cup of flour and 1tbsp (140gr)

1/3 cup of brown sugar (90gr)

1/4 cup of white sugar (60gr)

1 egg

- at room temperature -

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2tsp of salt

3/4tsp of baking soda

1 pinch of baking powder

Turn the oven on at 375°F
Put the flour and the baking powder in a bowl.

Stir your softened butter with sugars and salt with a wooden spoon in another bowl
After a few moves, use an electric beater at full speed for 2 minutes.

- if your butter is too hard, put it in a mold a fewminutes in the pre-heating oven to soften ir -

Stir by hand the egg and the vanilla.
Pour the flour with the baking powder and stir until smooth and homogeneous

- 1rst picture : butter and sugars // 2nd picture : after the flour -

Then, stir by hand the chocolate chunk of the chips.
On a tray covered with parchment paper,
do golf-ball size heaps with the batter, 2 inch apart.

- 1rst picture : after addind chocolate // 2nd picture : before putting in the oven -

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes

Let it cool 5 minutes on the tray, then 10 minutes on a grill

ENJOY :) 

They are really good... my husband became addict....

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

#2

A monster of a cookie

Chocolare espresso cookie (café)

Mh mh mh a sweetness to go with coffee,

 texture is lighter, less toffee than the previous one. Less butter, less sugar.

For 25 cookies or a monster big cookie cake :)

   you will need :   

1cup 1/2 of chocolate chip (6,1oz / 175gr)

- or dark chocolate chunk -

1.8 oz of unsweetened chocolate, chopped 

1/2 stick of butter 

- out 1 hour before use -

1 cup and 1tbsp of flour 

1/2 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

1tbsp fine grounded coffee

- I emptied a Nespresso  -

1tsp vanilla extract

1/4tsp of salt

4 pinch baking soda

2 pinch baking powder

Turn on the oven at 375°F

Melt the unsweetened chocolate with 1 cup of chocolate chip and 2tbsp of water 
in a pan at low heat, stir until smooth

In a bowl, mix your butter with the sugar, use an electric beater at high speed for 2 minutes, set aside

- if your butter is too hard, put it in a mold a fewminutes in the pre-heating oven to soften ir -

Beat the eggs with the coffee with the eletric beater for 1 minute,
stir them in the previous batter, and stir in the melted chocolate.
Then pour in the flour, baking soda and bowder, stir until smooth and homogeneous
Then, add the half cup of chocolate chips left.


On a cooking tray, do golf-ball size heap with the batter, spaced of 2 inch,
Flatten them a little

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, the top must be a bit cracked !

hi ho ! hi ho ! let's find chocolate chip !

Fruit Cake, just the way we love it

 

It's not the first time I'm doing this cake, I already loved it, and this time even more.

Really soft and tender, sweeter than the gingerbread.

Not much butter in it, I love to start the day with that kind of light sweetness :)

It's a breakfast or teatime cake :)

I made a few changed from Vovoï's recipe, but really small ones

For 1 cake (11inch long, 4inch wide)

   You will need :   

2.5 oz of dry raisins (brown ones) (70g)

2.5 oz of dry raisins (blond ones) (70g)

- smyrn et corynth -

2 oz of cranberries or cherries (60g)

- I used dry ones -

 Vovoï puts 3.5 oz of each raisins and 1.7 oz of fresh cherries, but cherry season is long over :)

3tbsp of rhum

1egg

5oz of white sugar (140g) and 1.8oz of brown sugar (50g)

-  she puts 7oz of white sugar -

3.5fl oz of milk (10cL)

- 1coffee cup -

1.8oz of butter (3.5tbsp / 50g)

8.8 oz of flour (250g)

1tsp and a half of baking powder 

Wash your fruits in water, dry them with a napkin 

and put them in a bowl with the rhum

Cover and let it rest for at least 1h

Turn the oven on at 370°F

Prepare your mold if needed

- if not silicone, you have to butter/flour it or put a parchment paper in it -

Beat the egg with sugars until it's lighter and foamy

Add the milk, blendAjoutez le lait et mélangez

Add the slightly melted butter

 - 20 secondes in the microwave, blend to make all the butter melt -

Blend to have a smooth and still a bit foamy cream

You can now add the flour and the baking powder, in 4 times, 

put in on the side and blend with a wooden spoon from the center

You dough is ready, you can put the raisins without drying them from the rhum,

but leave approximativly 2tbsp of the rhum in the bowl 

- you can put some flour on raisins (1 or 2 tbsp) to avoid them getting in the bottom of the mold, 

but if you put it straight in the already hot oven, you won't have this issue -

Pour quickly in the mold and put straight in the oven

My cooking time was of 55 minutes, it can be between 45 and 1h depending on your molds.

Check by inserting a smooth and clean knife in the middle of the cake, if it goes out clean, it's cooked !

Vovoï used a cookie box, with butterred paper on the inner surface, ahd she says it takes 1h to cook

but with my mold of 11inch long, 4inch wide, with a glass bottom and silicone borders,

it took me almost 1h too

PS : This squirrel is named Pynut !