Lime Sunflower Cake

I began this blog with a recipe from the Williams-Sonoma kitchen. I'm back there for their Lime Sunflower Cake - a recipe from Flo Braker's 'Sweet Miniatures' (Chronicle Books, 2000). This is the most beautiful cake pan ever. Be sure sure to butter and flour the mold really thoroughly before tipping the batter in to avoid the unthinkable scenario of the cake refusing to unmold itself.

Serves 16.

Ingredients

2 1⁄2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tbs dark rum
1 tsp lime oil
16 tbs (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1⁄2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Glaze:
6 tbs water
1 tbs granulated sugar
3 tbs unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tbs sifted confectioner's sugar

Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Method

Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 350ºF. Grease and flour a sunflower cake pan.

Over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the milk, rum and lime oil and stir to mix; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk mixture and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and, using a rubber spatula, spread the batter so the sides are slightly higher than the center. Bake until the center of the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the water, granulated sugar and butter. Cook, stirring, until the butter has melted and most of the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Let cool for 1 minute. Add the confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth.

Tap the pan gently on a work surface to loosen the cake. Set the rack over a sheet of waxed paper, invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Using a pastry brush, brush the warm cake with the glaze. Let the cake cool completely before serving. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

Lime Sunflower Cake in Williams-Sonoma sunflower pan

Rhubarb and Sloe Gin with Panna Cotta

This one is an eye catcher. It's really a Spring dish when the rhubarb is just coming through and last year's sloe gin has had the Winter to mature. But I'm including it this month because I just broke into a jar of rhubarb that I preserved earlier in the year.

If you don't have any rhubarb, try this with apples and berries, but halve the cooking time, or use uncooked fresh Fall raspberries sprinkled with a little powdered sugar then blended with a little water to a rough puree. If you can't get hold of sloe gin, you'll just have to make your own (my recipe is at the bottom of this post).

Serves 6

Rhubarb

2 pounds of rhubarb
1 cup sugar
8 tablespoons sloe gin
2 tablespoons water

Set the oven at Gas 4. Cut the rhubarb into short lengths, pulling off any strings as you go. Put the rhubarb into a glass, stainless steel or china dish (not aluminium as it will taint the rhubarb). Stir together the sugar, sloe gin and water then pour over the fruit.

Put the dish into the oven and bake for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on the youthfulness of your rhubarb. The toughest will take a good hour. Baste the rhubarb from time to time with the juices.
When the fruit is tender, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. I think this is best eaten warm, rather than hot, though it is very good chilled.

Panna Cotta

2 leaves gelatine
2 1/2 cups cream
1 vanilla pod, split
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp dark rum

Soak the gelatine in a bowl of ice cold water until soft. Tip the cream, vanilla pod, vanilla extract and 2/3 sugar into a heavy-based pan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Take off the heat and add the soaked gelatine (squeezed gently to remove water) and the rum. Stir thoroughly until the gelatine has dissolved fully. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug and pour from there into 6 moulds (ramekins or small glasses). Chill for at least 4 hours to set.

To serve: dip the moulds into a bowl of hot water to loosen them, then turn onto individual plates. Spoon fruit around base, drizzle juices over top.

JGH's Sloe Gin Recipe

1lb sloes

3 cups gin

1 1/2 cups sugar

Wash, dry and pick over fruit, removing stems. Freeze sloes for a couple of days (you won't need to do this if you picked your sloes after the first frost). Place fruit in a suitable, non-reactive container, add gin, shake twice a week for 4-8 weeks. Transfer most of the liquid to a clean bottle. Add the sugar to the remaining sloes. Shake twice a day until all the sugar has dissolved (about 2 weeks). Mix the sweet syrup with the bottled liquid, discarding most of the sloes but inserting a few into the bottle. Store in a dark cupboard for 3 months. Strain through muslin, reserving a few whole sloes. Taste, add sugar if a sweeter flavor required. Return to bottle with whole sloes. Allow to mature a further 6 months before using (if you can resist that long).

Amy’s Sweet Potatoes

For me this recipe has all the scent of the Fall. It is kindly provided by my friend Amy, whose family have baked this for generations.

Ingredients for 6 people

6 tbsps unsalted butter, melted
2 pounds (about 4 medium) sweet potatoes or yams
4 tbsps freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425. Pour 1 tbsp of the melted butter into an 8-inch round cake pan and brush it all over the bottom and sides with a pastry brush. Peel the potatoes and cut them into paper-thin slices. Layer one-quarter of the potato slices in concentric circles in the prepared pan, then dab on one quarter of the melted butter with the pastry brush. Mix the cheese with the nutmeg. Sprinkle on one quarter of the cheese mixture and season lightly with salt and pepper. Repeat three times, ending with the cheese mixture. The potatoes will have risen above the pan slightly; push them down with your hands to flatten. Cover the pan with foil.

(The recipe to this point may be prepared up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated. Return to room temperature before baking.)

Bake 45 minutes, then uncover and bake 30 to 40 minutes longer, or until tender. Let sit 5 minutes. Drain off any excess butter. Run a knife around the edges of the potatoes and invert onto a platter. Cut into wedges to serve.

Presenting...Red Velvet Cake

Try not to be alarmed by the High School chemistry experiment list of ingredients. This is the cake that lets you fake it as a professional patissier. To make this perfect cake even more special scatter red rose petals over it before serving.

Serves 12

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened, cocoa powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-2 oz. red food coloring
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1/2 cup prepared plain hot coffee

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and vegetable oil.
4. Mix in the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and red food coloring until combined.
5. Stir in the coffee and white vinegar.
6. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients a little at time, mixing after each addition, just until combined.
7. Generously grease and flour two round cake pans with Crisco and flour.
8. Pour the batter evenly into each pan.
9. Bake in the middle rack for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake as cake will continue to cook as it cools.
10. Let cool on a cooling rack until the pan are warm to the touch.
11. Slide a knife or offset spatula around the inside of the pans to loosen the cake from the pan.
12. Remove the cakes from the pan and let them cool.
13. Frost the cake with cream cheese frosting when the cakes have cooled completely.

Frosting

1 cup sweet butter, softened
20 oz. powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 oz. cream cheese

Cream butter and add icing sugar gradually. Mix in vanilla. Add cream cheese (do not mix cheese too much  or frosting may become watery).

The Silver Palate Pecan Squares

Julee Rosso and the late Sheila Lukins who began The Silver Palate are their own legend. They became major culinary figures in New York in the '80s, bringing new and exciting food to New Yorkers who had money and taste but little time to shop and cook. More than 6 million copies of their books have been sold, and with good reason!

I guarantee you this is the fastest, easiest sweet crust you'll ever make - and no rolling out! You can adapt this recipe for your favorite filling, but do try the pecan pie filling first, and maybe serve with my vanilla ice cream [recipe coming soon folks].

Cookies as gifts, pecan bars are top left

Ingredients

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 sticks sweet butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 12 inch baking pan. Sift sugar and flour together. Cut in butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Pat the crust into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes; remove from the oven.

Topping

2/3 cup (11 tbsps) melted sweet butter

1/2 cup honey

3 tbsps heavy cream

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 1/2 cups shelled pecans, coarsely chopped

Mix melted butter, honey, cream and brown sugar. Stir in pecans, coating them thoroughly. Spread over crust. Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes more. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Makes 36 squares.

Pasta with Pesto Sauce, Sauteed New Potatoes and Green Beans

I am planning on spending some time on the East Coast soon, and this recipe is taken from the repertoire of Bell's Tavern in Lambertville, NJ. Bell's has been a great neighborhood restaurant for meeting up with old friends and eating real Italian food since 1938, not that I've been going there that long of course!

This recipe doesn't have a cute title, but it is great comfort food and real easy to make. I love they way they make it at Bell's.

Ingredients
A few waxy potatoes cut into bite-size pieces (no need to peel)
8 oz green beans, trimmed and halved
8 oz pasta (shells or tubes for preference)
salt
Pesto sauce (see below)

Place potatoes in a pan of water and bring to the boil. Add salt, then pasta, and cook for 8 minutes or until the pasta is al dente, adding the green beans for the last couple of minutes. Drain, toss with pesto and place in a hot serving dish.

* left-over potatoes can be used instead, as long as they are waxy - fry little pieces in olive oil until brown and crispy then toss into the pasta just before serving

Adding beans to pot 2 minutes before pasta and potatoes are done

Pesto Sauce
3 generous handfuls of fresh basil leaves, removed from their stems
1/2 cup pignoli/pine nuts (toasted but still pale - take care not to darken or they'll give a bitter flavor)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
extra virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Process all pesto ingredients (except olive oil) so they are chopped but not blended - the sauce needs texture not smoothness. Stir in the best extra virgin olive oil you can get,, California Olive Ranch's Arbequina for example, and season to taste. These amounts provide four generous helpings of sauce. Scale up and store the rest in a glass jar in the refrigerator, sealed with a layer of olive oil.


Why not pair this with a glass or two of Di Majo Norante Sangiovese like they do at Bell's.

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Sea Bass with Lentils and Pancetta

I just took a great little vacation to London, England. My British friends took me to the restaurant of a fantastic Israeli chef working in Britain,, taking flavor inspiration from the Middle East and Turkey - Yotam Ottolenghi. His new book, Plenty More, is just about to be published. This is one of his recipes.

Don't worry though, just because this is a fancy restaurateur does not mean it's complicated. I promised not to tax my followers and I am keeping that promise. This recipe is real easy, folks, and it surely has that wow factor.

Ingredients for 4 people

250g puy lentils
40g unsalted butter
75ml olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
1 large onion, peeled and cut into 5mm dice
4 sticks celery, trimmed and cut into 5mm dice
300g pancetta, cut into 5mm dice
1 tbsp picked thyme leaves
¾ tsp ground turmeric
2 bay leaves
Salt and white pepper
400ml vegetable stock
150g creme fraiche
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
8 small sea bass fillets, trimmed, pin-boned and skin lightly scored
1½ tbsp lemon juice
10g picked parsley, roughly chopped

Method

Bring a medium pan of water to a boil, add the lentils and simmer for 18 minutes, till cooked but with some bite. Drain, refresh and set aside.

Put a large saute pan on medium-high heat and add the butter and two tablespoons of oil. Once the butter has melted, add the diced veg and fry for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised and soft. Add 250g pancetta, fry for five minutes more, then add the lentils, thyme, turmeric, bay and half a teaspoon of white pepper. Cook for two minutes, stir in the stock, creme fraiche and vinegar, and taste – add a quarter-teaspoon of salt, if needed (it will depend on how salty the pancetta is). Set aside in a warm spot.

Put a large frying pan on medium-high heat and add the remaining pancetta and oil. When the bacon starts to sizzle, lay in the fish fillets skin side down. Fry for three to four minutes, then flip and cook for a minute on the flesh side. Spoon the lentils into four shallow bowls and lay two fillets on top of each serving. Finish with a drizzle of lemon juice and a sprinkle of parsley.

Competing Summer Drinks from either side of the Pond

1. Long Island Iced Tea
This is my favorite way to get a party off to a fine start. There is controversy about the origins of this drink - who first mixed it, the exact ingredients, and whether it was a prohibition era invention - if it was it certainly disguises its not insignificant alcohol content well. It tastes just like a grown up soda.

The measures below are sufficient for two drinks, so if you want to make a jugful you'll need to scale up.


1 oz vodka
1 oz gin
1 oz white tequila
1 oz white rum
1/2 oz Triple Sec
a splash of cola
a dash of lemon juice

Pour ingredients over ice and serve in highball glasses.

2. Pimm's
The origins of this British potion seem more certain - invented by a London oyster bar owner as an aid to digestion in the 19th century. It is a very popular drink at Wimbledon lawn tennis. The following recipe is from the official Pimm's site - anyoneforpimms.com, but I prefer using half lemonade and half ginger ale. I also think adding a little vodka works well.

These measures are per drink, but as above it's probably safest to make a jugful.

50 ml Pimm's No 1
150 ml lemonade
mint, orange, strawberries, cucumber, ice

Pour ingredients over ice and serve in a highball glass.

Apple Cake for Labor Day

It's Labor Day, it's the end of summer, it's picnic time. So why not take off to the park with a slice of tortilla (see my last post) and some apple cake. Apples are plentiful right now, but you can also make this cake with pears, or try adding in a handful of berries in place of the sultanas and walnuts. This recipe originated in Germany. You will amaze your friends with your baking skills. This is one easy cake to make, but your secret will be safe with me.

Ingredients

1 lb cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped up fine
2 oz sultanas
1 oz chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 oz Turbinado or Demerara sugar
4 oz superfine sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 level tsp baking powder
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg, beaten

Method

Combine fruit, nuts, spices and Turbinado/Demerara sugar in a large bowl. Mix superfine sugar, flour, butter, egg and beat well. Set oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line a deep, round, loose-bottomed 8" cake tin. Spread 2/3 of the cake batter onto the base of the pan. Add the apple mixture. Spoon the remaining batter over the top. It should almost cover the fruit filling. Bake 50-60 minutes, until well risen and springy to touch. You can serve warm with custard, cream or ice cream. But remember to save some to cool for your picnic!