A Simple Danish Sand Cake - Sandkage

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I hope you are in the mood for something a bit different. Sandkage is the Danish version of pound cake, and the one I want to share with you is unlike those you've tasted before. There are as many ways to make this cake as there are Danish grandmothers lurking in the kitchens of memory. I had the great good fortune to have my first taste of it in the kitchen of a neighbor when I was a child. The cake I'm familiar with used almond meal rather than the cornstarch that is found in most recipes for the cake. To be honest, I am not crazy about the texture of the cornstarch version of sandkage. I much prefer the slightly grainy texture of the cake when it is made with almond meal. Back in the day, there were no processors to make easy work of grinding nuts and seeds. We used a glass milk bottle to crush nuts placed in the bottom of a wooden salad bowl. It was was an inelegant but effective way to prepare the meal needed to make a genuine sandkage. Somewhere along the way, I lost my recipe for the cake, and rather than settle, I stopped making it. You can imagine my delight when I found Barbara Bordnick's recipe in The Way We Ate. It was very close to the version I remembered and I simply had to give it a try. I must tell you that I really like this cake. It is perfect with morning coffee and it makes a wonderful base for crushed and macerated fruit. The recipe is straight forward and I do hope you give it a try. While I've taken the liberty of adding almond extract to the base recipe, it is optional and you can omit it if you wish. Here is how a real sandkage is made.

Lime and White Chocolate Pound Cake

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From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a Mother's Day cake for those moms who are so sweet they need no help from outside sources. This is a delicious cake, but do be forewarned, it is tart. I love the white chocolate and lime combination and I really like this moist pound cake. I've slightly adapted a recipe I found while browsing through a blog called Sweet Kat's Kitchen. Kat has a mother lode of truly wonderful recipes that you can find, here. Do visit her when you have some time. The cake gets most of its flavor from the limes that are used to make it. The recipe calls for key lime juice which I was able to purchase from a local Mexican grocer. Chances are very slim, that I would have prepared the juice myself. I have neither the equipment or patience required to juice the tiny key limes used here. Happily, Persian limes, the type found in almost all grocery stores, can be used with excellent results. I hesitate to recommend bottled lime juice because brands very so in quality. The finished cake is very moist and will appeal to anyone who enjoys tart desserts. The cake improves in flavor and loses any trace of bitterness, if it is allowed to mellow overnight. I stored mine in the refrigerator, though I brought it to room temperature for serving. I added white chocolate to the cake batter, and while I think it makes a more interesting cake, its use and that of the lime zest is completely optional. I hope you will give this recipe a try. It makes a lovely cake. Here's how it is made.

Lime and White Chocolate Pound Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Sweet Kat's Kitchen

Ingredients:
Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2-2/3 cups granulated sugar1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 teaspoon lime zest
5 tablespoons key lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup white chocolate chips
Key Lime Glaze
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons key lime juice

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 10-inch (12 cup) bundt pan with a non-stick cooking spray that contains flour.
2) Combine flour, baking soda and salt and sift into a bowl. Sift again.
3) Combine butter and sugar in bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add lime zest, lime juice and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Add eggs,one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce mixer speed and add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix each addition just until blended. Stir in heavy cream and white chocolate chips.
4)Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan, spreading evenly. Bake for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. While cake is baking, bring glaze ingredients to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside. When cake is done, set pan on a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Invert pan on a cooling rack set over wax paper and remove cake from pan. Slowly spoon glaze over still warm cake, allowing glaze to soak into cake. Yield: 16 servings.






One  Year Ago today: Cherry and Cream Cheese Coffee Cake















Two Years Ago Today: Lemon Garlic Chicken Kabobs














Three Years Ago Today: Hot Pepper Jelly

Theme and Variation - Another Lemon Loaf Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is the other lemon cake I experimented with for the party this weekend. This cake, developed by Dorie Greenspan, is a kissin' cousin to the one that was introduced by Patricia Wells. The cakes use almost the same ingredients, but they produce very different results. The Wells' cake has an intense lemon flavor and a fine tight crumb. The Greenspan cake is more like a standard pound cake that has been enhanced with lemon zest. I've been asked to pick a favorite and I'm going to field the question because this is an instance where personal taste will dictate choice. I suspect that true lemon lovers will be more inclined to the Wells' cake, but I have a hunch that the Greenspan cake will be more popular with dessert lovers who are not lemon fanatics. Both cakes are nice. I've appended a lemon syrup to tonight's recipe. While the cake is lovely without it, it adds a tart sweetness that makes a somewhat ordinary cake special. This cake is a study in simplicity. It can be made by hand with no special equipment other than a whisk, but you will have better results if you use cake flour to make it and carefully watch your baking time. Don't over bake! I also learned a trick while gathering information about poundcakes in general. Did you know that you can guarantee a perfect crack in the center of your poundcake? The trick is to draw a butter coated knife lengthwise through the center of the cake after it has baked for 10 minutes. Now, I don't know why that works, but I tried it with this cake and had ended up with a lovely center split that would make any baker proud. I hope you'll give this cake a try. There is nothing here not to like. Here is the recipe.

Dorie Greenspan's Lemon Loaf Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:
Cake
4 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/3 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
Grated zest of 3 large lemons
1-3/4 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
5-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
Syrup
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
1) Position a rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan and dust with flour, shaking out the excess.
2) Working in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and salt for just a minute, until foamy and smoothly blended. Mixture should not thicken. Whisk in grated zest.
3) Spoon flour and baking powder into a sifter and sift about a third of dry ingredients over foamy egg mixture. Whisk flour into eggs, mixing lightly. Sift remaining flour over eggs in two more additions and whisk only until everything is incorporated. Whisk heavy cream into mixture. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently and quickly fold in the melted butter.
4) Pour and scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until center of cake crowns and cracks and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake to a cooling rack to rest for 10 minutes before unmolding and brushing with syrup.
5) While cake is baking, make lemon syrup. Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Brush warm cake with half of lemon syrup. Let cake cool to room temperature. Slice with serrated knife. Yield: 8 servings.









One Year Ago Today:  Avocado Pudding with Chocolate and Coconut















Two Years Ago Today: Peas with Onions and Mint















Three years Ago Today: Crisp Cranberry and Carrot Oatmeal Cookies













Four Years Ago Today: Farfalle with Fresh Tomato and Basil Sauce

Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is another lovely cake that's perfect to use as a base for summer berries. The recipe was develop by Piper Davis for inclusion in the Grand Central Baking Book. While the recipe, as it was originally published, appears below, I made a few changes to the cake I made for my family. It was my intention to serve the cake with blackberries, so I swapped orange zest for the lemon that was called for in the original recipe. I also eliminated the glaze that soaks into the cake when it is released from the pan. I replaced it with a loose icing that's made with a combination of confectioners' sugar and orange flavoring. The lemon version of this cake is delicious, but we've had a lot of the lemon-blueberry combination these past few weeks and I thought a little variety would be good for the soul. About this time every summer, I start to dream of naked melons and plain fruit. My tolerance for sweets, which is never very high, ebbs at this time of year. It's temporary, I know, but I can't wait to taste those Oregon melons and the first of the summer apples. In the meantime, I'm surrounded by folks who really enjoy sweet things and I aim to please. This is a lovely cake that I know will bring lemon lovers to their knees. If your tastes run to the tart-sweet, you'll love this cake. I hope you'll give it a try. Here's the recipe.

Glazed Lemon Pound Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Grand Central Baking Book

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour (1 lb. 4 oz.)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 stick unsalted butter room temperature
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs room temperature
1-1/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon zest finely chopped

Glaze

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons water

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour a 10-inch tube pan.
Measure dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.
2) Using a stand mixture with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium high seed until mixture is very light in color (almost white) and texture is fluffy, about 6 minutes. Scrape bottom and sides of mixing bowl several times to ensure butter is evenly incorporated.
3) Crack eggs into a liquid measuring cup and, with mixer on low speed, slowly add eggs,letting them fall into the bowl one at a time and incorporating each egg completely before adding the next. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl.
4) Measure buttermilk and lemon juice into a liquid measure and stir in lemon zest. With mixer on low speed, add one-third of dry ingredients, then half of buttermilk mixture, mixing just until combined after each addition. Repeat, using half of remaining dry ingredients and all of remaining buttermilk. Add remaining dry ingredients and stop mixing before fully incorporated. Finish mixing by hand, using a sturdy spatula and being sure to scrape up from bottom of bowl.
4) Scrape batter into prepared tube pan and use spatula to smooth surface of batter. Run a paring knife through batter in one smooth motion, 1-inch from the edge of the pan to help cake rise evenly. Bake 45 minutes, rotate pan and reduce temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake 30 to 35 more minutes. The cake is ready when it pulls away from edges of the pan slightly and springs back when pressed lightly in center. The top will probably split. Use a cake tester to check doneness.
5) While the cake is baking prepare glaze. Combine granulated sugar, lemon juice and water in a small pan set over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer until glaze thickens and becomes syrupy, about 4 to 5 minutes.
6) Remove cake from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Loosen sides and around tube with a knife. Invert cake onto rack and quickly turn it over so top side of cake is facing up. Using a skewer, poke holes in top of cake. Slowly pour glaze over top of cake. When glaze has been absorbed transfer cake to a serving plate. Cool completely before serving. Yield: 15 to 16 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Prawn Curry

Two Years Ago Today: Sweet Potato Biscuits

Three Years Ago Today: Chicken and Rice Salad Veracruz

Cold Oven Pound Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This was a bit of an experiment for me. Cold oven pound cakes have been around for years, but despite my age, I've never made one. Thoughts of shortcake and an abundance of strawberries convinced me it was time to remedy that, so, I decided to give this old, old cake a try. I'm told that recipes for it first appeared in advertising campaigns designed to entice homemakers into replacing wood-fired ovens with the gas stoves that were being introduced to market. Our grandmothers, seduced by cooler kitchens, were probably not interested in the chemistry of the cold oven pound cake, but I'm not going to let you off that easily. The method works for a specific reason. Ovens are preheated in order to give cakes a burst of hot air that allows them to rise. As it turns out, pound cakes are so dense that they don't rise much anyway, so, that initial blast of hot air just isn't necessary. Chemistry aside, when the temperature of the cake batter is allowed to rise along with the oven temperature, it develops a wonderful crust and the interior of the cake will cook completely without burning the outer rim. From the abundance of available recipes, I decided to use the one that had been developed for Cook's Country Magazine. It's an easy recipe and I know from experience that their recipes work. This was no exception and I loved the cake. It was a bit lighter than most pound cakes and it had a wonderful crumb that was more than a match for the delicious crust the recipe produced. I hope all of you will try this cake. It is a keeper. Here's how it is made.

Cold Oven Pound Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Cook's Country Magazine

Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs

Directions:
1) Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Grease and flour 16-cup tube pan. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Whisk milk and vanilla in measuring cup.
2) With electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of milk mixture. Mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds. Use rubber spatula to give batter final stir.
3) Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Place cake in cold oven. Adjust oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake, without opening oven door, until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 65 to 80 minutes.
4) Cool cake in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Serve. (Cooled cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.)Yield: 12 servings.

One Year Ago Today: Fresh Salmon Salad with Homemade Boiled Dressings

Two Years Ago Today: Swedish Strawberry Cream Cake

Three Years Ago Today: Watermelon, Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Brown Butter and Bourbon Pound Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This cake will go down in family annuls as one that nearly rent years of  marital bliss. It is a brown butter pound cake that is made with a copious amount of bourbon. It was made for a derby day party that we, in the end,  could not attend, but for which I had committed a dessert. I decided to make this cake because it was unusual, mercifully easy to make, and its use of bourbon would connect it to Derby Day and the state of Kentucky. Now, before I go any further, I must tell you that I don't know a lot about hard liqueur. Bourbon is bourbon as far as I'm concerned, so, in the course of making this cake, I grabbed the first bottle I found in the pantry and went about my work. It turns out I grabbed a bottle of special "sippin' whiskey" that the Silver Fox keeps on hand for a friend who visits us sporadically. I was glibly pouring a cup and a half of something called Jefferson's Presidential Select into the cakes, when my beloved walked into the kitchen and did the guy version of nearly fainting. Apparently, I was using the champagne  of bourbons in my pound cakes. Who knew?  Were the cakes worth it?  The brown butter gives the cake a unique richness and nutty flavor. The bourbon keeps it really moist and its flavor blends nicely with the butter.  The cake lacks eye appeal, so, for the party, I decided to use it as a base for peach shortcake. It would also make a wonderful trifle, but I don't think it works as a stand alone dessert. If you decide to try this cake, make it a full 24 hours before you plan to serve it. The recipe makes way more syrup than is needed for one cake, so you can safely cut the quantities for the syrup in half.  If you like the flavor of brown butter you will enjoy this cake. Here's the recipe.

Brown Butter and Bourbon Pound Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of  R.J. Cooper and the James Beard Foundation

Ingredients:

Cake

1-1/4 cup (2-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup bourbon
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Syrup

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 vanilla bean split
1/4 cup bourbon

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and lightly flour an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan.
2) Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat until milk solids on bottom are a dark chocolate brown and butter smells nutty. Transfer to a shallow bowl and place in freezer to cool until just congealed. (Butter should be somewhat solid for mixing stage.)
3) Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
4) Beat congealed brown butter, bourbon, and sugars with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
5) Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Smooth out top and rap pan on counter to settle batter. Bake until cake is golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, about an hour.
6) Meanwhile, to make syrup: Combine sugar, water, and vanilla bean in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in bourbon.
7) When cake is done, remove from oven and let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Invert cake onto a rack and let cool completely, right side up, for an hour, brushing the pound cake with the syrup every 5 minutes.
Yield: 1 loaf.

One Year Ago Today: Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Cake

Two Years Ago Today: Finnish Strawberry Yogurt Pie

Three Years Ago Today: Kaiser Rolls

Yiaourtopita - Greek Lemon and Yogurt Pound Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We've been sharing Turkish meze (appetizers) with friends who also enjoy large meals made from a variety of small plate dishes. I'm by nature a grazer and love the variety that's possible when meals are built this way, but I always have a problem deciding how to end them. The classic dessert choices would be fresh fruit or pudding, but local fruit is in short supply at this time of year and not all our guests would appreciate pudding at the end of a meal. While trying to puzzle what I'd serve, I came across a recipe for a Greek pound cake that was developed by Lynn Livanos Athan. It sounded delicious and I thought it would be a perfect finale to our meze plate supper. The cake is kissed with lemon and made with yogurt, so I thought it would be moist and tender as well as tasty. Fortunately, it did not disappoint. The cake comes together quickly and the only caution I have to share with you involves the yogurt used to prepare it. Use full fat Greek yogurt and drain it for at least 30 minutes before adding it to the batter. That precaution will help prevent the cake from becoming gummy. While the cake can be served with fresh fruit, it also works well as a stand-alone. If you are looking for a new recipe for pound cake you might want to give this version a try. It's very nice and I think you will enjoy it. Here's the recipe.

Yiaourtopita - Greek Lemon and Yogurt Pound Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Lynn Livanos Athan

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 whites
2 cups plain yogurt (preferably Greek-style strained yogurt)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 large lemon
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Directions:
1) Measure 2 cups yogurt into a fine mesh strainer. Allow to drain for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.
2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter a 12 cup bundt or tube pan.
3) Sift flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl and set aside.
4) Using a mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add sugar and continue to mix for about 5 minutes longer. Add whole eggs and egg whites and continue beating at medium speed until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
5) With mixer on low speed , add flour and yogurt to batter, alternating between each. As soon as the flour and yogurt are completely mixed in, turn off the mixer. Over mixing will cause cake to be tough. Stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
6) Lower oven heat to 350 degrees F. Bake cake for about 45 to 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting on to a plate. When cool, dust with confectioners' sugar. Yield: 12 to 16 servings.







One Year Ago Today: Pumpkin Pancakes with Orange Caramel Sauce













Two Years Ago Today: Budapest Coffee Cake

Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Cake - Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to some of the bravest women I know.



From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've always viewed life as an experiment and cooking is certainly is part of it. Save for the people in my life, I am bored with theme and variation and will go out of my way to find and test something new. So, it should come as no surprise, that I decided to make a cake rather than the standard pie for Derby Day. I had a special cake in mind and decided to make it without a test run. After all, how bad can a cake made with bourbon and crème de menthe be? I'm happy to report that it wasn't half bad. The cake was delicious and the glaze was fine. I must admit to being disappointed with the frosting and next time I make the cake I'll use a mint or milk chocolate ganache to top it. This is an easy cake to make and I think those of you who try it will really like it. The recipe appears below.

I also want to wish all of you a Happy Mother's Day. I've been really blessed with the women in my life. I include all of you in that number. Those of you who are regular readers have met the wonderful women who helped raise and form me. They are especially close to me today, as is my mother who appears in the pictures below. She was an extraordinary woman who mental illness took from us long before age called her to the grave. It is wonderful to see her here when her world was still new and full of promise. One of these photos also appears in Brodie's Album, a retrospective of aviation pioneers that is kept in the Smithsonian Museum. She has a place there because she was one of the first stewardesses on a commercial airlines. The man in the second photo is my dad who was a public relations agent for the same airline.



Kentucky Derby Mint Julep Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Peggy Trowbridge Filippone
Ingredients:
Cake
3 cups cake flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
Bourbon Butter Sauce
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup butter
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons Bourbon whiskey
Mint Frosting
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) white chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 teaspoon white creme de menthe liqueur or 1/2 tsp mint extract

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan or a 9 x 13-inch baking pan..
2) To make the cake: Whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. In a separate smaller bowl, combine buttermilk, butter, vanilla extract, and eggs. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture. Beat at low speed for 1 minute, then increase to medium speed for 3 more minutes. Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly around pan. If using a bundt pan, bake for 50 minutes. If using a baking pan, bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. Ten minutes before cake is done, prepare Bourbon Butter Sauce.
3) To make bourbon butter sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1/3 cup butter, and 3 tablespoons water. Stir until melted and combined. Do not boil. Remove from heat, continuing to stir for 2 minutes. Then stir in bourbon.
4) When cake is done and still warm from the oven, use a skewer to poke holes around the top of the cake. Pour bourbon butter sauce evenly over top of the cake. Let cake cool to room temperature in the pan before removing.
5) To make mint frosting: Melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk in heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until chips are melted. Remove from heat and stir in creme de menthe liqueur (or mint extract). Let cool for 10 minutes, then spread evenly over cooled cake. Garnish with fresh mint leaves. Chill to set chocolate ganache. Take cake out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before cutting to serve. Yield: 12 to 18 servings.







One Year Ago Today: Strawberry Yogurt Pie (Mansikkapiiris)















Two Years Ago Today: Kaiser Rolls









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Vanilla Pound Cake with Interesting Flours - Cookie Madness
Chocolate Pound Cake with Tofu - Chef in You
Sour Cream Citrus Pound Cake - The Apron Archives
Brown Sugar Pound Cake - Heidi Bakes
Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake with Strawberry Coulis - Good Thymes and Good Food
Ricotta Orange Pound Cake with Strawberries - A Spoonful of Thyme
Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake - Sweet Sensations
Key Lime Pound Cake - A Foodie and Her Family
Chocolate Truffle Pound Cake - Piece of Cake
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Lemon Pound Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a lovely cake, but to my great surprise, I haven't been able to find it on other blogs or recipe sites. It was developed for Gourmet magazine ages ago, and, while this gorgeous pound cake should be manna for lemon lovers, it seems to have fallen into obscurity. Pound cakes were traditionally made with a pound of each of flour, butter, eggs and sugar. Nowadays, ratio, rather than weight, defines this classic, and any cake made with ingredients in a 1:1:1:1 ratio is considered to be a pound cake, regardless of its component weight. If you are interested, more detailed information about this type of cake can be found here. Pound or butter cakes get their lift from a combination of butter, eggs and baking powder. They are heavier and richer than sponge cakes and they are also easier to make. They are not foolproof, but if you measure your ingredients carefully you should have a lovely cake to serve your family. We'd all have better and more consistent luck with our baked goods if we weighed our ingredients. Unfortunately, most of us do not yet do that. When I prepare dry ingredients for baking, I spoon rather than scoop them into a measuring cup. I also level the content of the cup with the back of a knife rather than my fingers. When you look at the ingredient list for this cake, you will undoubtedly notice that it calls for 1/4 cup lemon zest. That is not a mistake. Five large lemons will yield that amount of zest, but a caution must be issued here. Make sure you avoid the white pith when you zest the lemons. The pith will make the cake bitter and its after taste can be downright unpleasant. Your cake will probably need more time in the oven than the recipe suggests. Mine required an hour to bake. This is a wonderful cake for lemon lovers and it makes a perfect base for macerated fruit. When the recipe was published, it was suggested that the cake be served with strawberries. While it's delicious served that way, I actually prefer to serve it with a blueberry or blackberry compote. Perhaps that's an unconscious homage to the state of Oregon. I hope you'll try this recipe. I love this intensely lemon-flavored cake. I think you will, too. Here's the recipe.

Lemon Pound Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients:
Cake
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup finely grated lemon zest
6 large eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Glaze
1 cup + 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
1) Move a rack to the middle of oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a kugelhopf or other 2-quart bundt plan. Set aside.
2) Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3) Using paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric stand mixer at medium speed, until pale and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each additin. Beat in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low. In three batches beginning and ending with flour, add flour, alternately with milk and lemon juice, and beat just until combined.
4) Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake unil cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in several placed comes out clean, about 45 to 55 minutes.
Cool cake in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.
5) While cake cools, whisk confectioners' sugar into lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and thick.
6) When cake is cool, set rack over a baking sheet or waxed paper. Drizzle glaze over cake, letting it drip down sides. Serve cake with fruit if desired. Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
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Lemon Cakes - Pastry Studio
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Cookie Carnival: Lemon Ricotta Cookies - How to Eat a Cupcake
Lemon Swiss Roll - The English Kitchen
Lemon Cream Filled Cake - Cookie Madness
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins - Sweet Bites
Old-Fashioned Lemon Pudding - One Perfect Bite
Lemon Cloud: A Creamy Tofu Dessert - One Perfect Bite
Lemon Buttermilk Ice Cream - One Perfect Bite

Apple Cider Quatre Quarts Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm told this cake comes from the orchard regions of Quebec. Those who speak French call cakes of this type quatre quart, which literally means 4 fourths. The rest of us call them pound cake because they were originally made with a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. This is a seasonal version of the cake and it may not be to everyone's liking. It is lightly spiced and flavored with an apple cider reduction. Those who enjoy cider donuts will love this cake, others probably not so much. I must admit the cake grew on me and I liked it better on day three than I did on one. It was moist and fragrant , but it certainly was not as light or tender as I had been told it would be. For what it's worth, were I to make this again, and I probably won't, I'd used a mulled cider reduction for stronger flavor. The cake, with current spicing, offers the promise of cider season but really does not deliver. It was a disappointment. Here's the recipe.

Apple Cider Quatre Quarts Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of about.com

Ingredients:
3 cups apple cider
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1) Bring apple cider to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil cider for 25 to 35 minutes, or until it has reduced to slightly less than 1 cup. Remove cider from heat and add maple syrup. Set aside.; set the mixture aside.
2) Preheat and oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 10-inch bundt cake pan and set it aside.
3) Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, to mixture, beating for a few seconds after each addition. Stir together remaining dry ingredients (flour, spices, baking powder, and salt) and then add half to creamed butter-egg mixture and beat until most of flour is incorporated.
4) Add cooled apple cider-maple syrup reduction to batter, beat it for 30 seconds, and then beat in remainder of dry ingredients. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
5) Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Shake it from side to side to loosen cake from pan (you should hear and feel a light thumping), and use a small rubber spatula to loosen any stubborn sides. Place a serving platter over top of cake and invert it, removing pan to allow cake to cool completely. Yield: 12 to 14 servings.

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Baby Jesus Birthday Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It began as an effort to introduce our children to people from places and economic backgrounds different than their own. To that end, our chosen place of worship was a mission parish that was home to a community of Haitian and Korean immigrants and disparate white folk like ourselves. The congregation was small, so those of us who could were asked to teach and serve in ways we never imagined. That's how I - an Assembler programmer at the time - came to write the Christmas pageant. There was a moment in "my" pageant when the church went dark and the tape recorded cry of a newborn could be heard; then borrowed flood lights, focused only on the manger, came on and washed it a sea of light as a deep, sonorous voice boomed, "This is my beloved son." It was also at that precise moment that our tiny Mary stood up, grabbed her crotch and ran down the aisle squealing, "I gotta pee". Hollywood never called and I went back to writing Assembler programs, but my children have memories they won't let me forget. The focus of another Christmas memory is a Three Kings Cake that we called the Baby Jesus Birthday Cake. This began when my children were really small and I wanted to make Christmas a less secular affair. On Christmas Eve we'd have a birthday party with a cake that contained a magical clove (meant to represent the gifts of the Magi) that would bring good luck to the person who found it. Today's recipe is the one I first used to make the cake. I must, however, admit that there were many years when the birthday cake came from a mix into which I'd stuck a clove. Time, all those years ago, was my enemy and it often trumped intent, but in one form or another we always had the cake. That would include the year I forgot the clove and had to work it into the bottom of the cake with a skewer in order to save the day. Despite all those false starts and hurdles, I've been blessed to see the tradition of the cake continued in the Christmas celebrations of my adult children. My grandsons now search for that illusive clove on Christmas Eve. Oh, and for the record, I never ask if the cake is homemade, but I always ask who got the clove. I like to "hang" with lucky people.

Baby Jesus Birthday Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
8 egg whites, room temperature
3 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar, divided use
2 cups butter
8 egg yolks
3 tablespoons fresh orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice
1 whole clove
Confectioner's sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and lightly flour 10 inch tube or bundt pan. Sift flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.
2) With electric mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating after each addition. Continue beating until soft peaks form when beater is slowly raised. Turn into medium bowl.
3) In same bowl, at high speed, cream butter with remaining 1 cup sugar. Add egg yolks and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, Add orange juice and zest and beat until smooth. Divide flour mixture into thirds; using low speed blend in flour 1/3 at a time, just until combined, about 1 minute.
4) At low speed, beat in egg white mixture, half at a time, just until blended.
5) Turn into prepared pan. Press clove into batter. Bake 60 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.
6) Let cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Loosen around edge of pan with spatula. Turn cake out of pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
7) Transfer to a cake plate. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar lightly over top. Slice thinly with sharp, thin-bladed knife. Yield: 12 to 16 slices.