Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake

Sometimes there is an item that you see and for some reason, from that moment on, You cannot get it out of your mind.

This coffee cake was one of those items.
I don't even know how I found it. I think I was interested in Meyer Lemons and what to make with them, and I found this huge coffee cake. I was going to make it and then didn't.
Well, I bought more Meyer Lemons and then I did. I made this gigantic coffee cake for absolutely no reason. No reason at all.

This coffee cake has two layers of quickly boiled Meyer Lemon slices in it. It also has the most struesel topping that I have ever seen in my entire life.
And it is good. Really, really good.
The only thing I would do differently next time is to make sure that all my Meyer Lemon slices were exactly the same thickness, by using a mandoline or food processor with the slicing blade to slice them, instead of relying on my own slicing skills. Some of the slices were a little too thick and tasted just a tad bitter.

Here is the recipe for Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake from Martha Stewart
* I used low-fat buttermilk instead of sour cream
* I add 1 1/2 Tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice to the cake batter

French Fridays with Dorie- Gougeres

Today is the start of a brand new cooking group- French Fridays with Dorie. The wonderfully talented Dorie Greenspan has come out with a new cookbook, Around My French Table and Laurie, the founder of Tuesdays with Dorie, along with the help of a few other talented people, has put together a group that will be cooking our way through this gorgeous cookbook.
I feel like Dorie's recipes
have taught me so much about baking and given me the opportunity to bake things I never would have thought to make and I have TWD to thank for that. Dorie's recipes are always fantastic and delicious.

At first I was unsure as to whether I wanted to join in, simply because I like cooking and choosing for myself what I am going to make for dinner.
But, when I looked through this cookbook, I realized that joining this group and cooking through these recipes would push me to try new and fun things. I haven't ever really cooked french food, so I thought it would be an adventure. I absolutely love trying new recipes.

Plus, there are lots of things that I love in this cookbook, like lentils, beets, fish, green veggies, eggs, and of course desserts, so I decided to go for it.

Dorie chose this month's recipes and started us off with Gougeres-cheese puffs, that are made with pate a choux dough, the same dough you use to make sweet cream puffs, eclairs, or profiteroles. Dorie says that these are made everywhere in France and calls them one of France's "national treasures".

The dough comes together quickly and if you follow the recipe directions, these are a really easy thing to make. They puffed up beautifully.

My only regret is that I didn't buy the more expensive Gruyere cheese to use in these Gougeres. I used sharp cheddar because it was much more affordable, but the cheese flavor wasn't as pronounced as it should have been in these lovely cheese puffs.

The recipe makes a lot of gougeres, and Dorie said they bake up well if you freeze the little mounds of dough and bake them straight from the freezer.
I only baked up 5 of these, so that we could taste them and froze the rest for later- they would be a great appetizer at a party, filled with some sort of savory deliciousness.

If you want to see who else joined in on these tasty little cheese puffs, check out French Fridays with Dorie!

Dorie has posted this recipe HERE or you can find a pdf copy of October's recipe HERE!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

I had to get to this last Thanksgiving side dish today- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter.
I never watch tv, especially during the day. For some odd reason, one day my kids wanted to watch something and I flipped by the Food Network. I saw that Giada was making some side dishes for Thanksgiving and we decided to watch for a little bit.
I saw her whip up this gnocchi and I was astonished because it really seemed like it took her a few minutes to get it ready. I realize that since it was tv, they edited out some of the steps, but it really didn't take long.
My kids told me they wanted me to make this gnocchi.

I had some sweet potato puree left from when I roasted sweet potatoes awhile ago and I had recently defrosted it for the Candied Sweet Potato Cupcakes. I didn't use all of the sweet potato puree for the cupcakes and I thought this would be a great way to use up the sweet potato puree I had left.
It really wasn't too difficult to mix the gnocchi together. You just add whole milk ricotta, cinnamon, salt and pepper to the sweet potato puree. Then you add flour, a little bit at a time, until you get the right consistency. That was the hardest part for me, is knowing when the gnocchi dough was the ready. I didn't want to add too much flour, but also didn't want to add too little. I am sure this is something you learn the more you make gnocchi.
The next step is dividing the dough and rolling it out into a long, snake-like rope. When I saw Giada do this, I couldn't help but think about play-doh. Then you have to shape the gnocchi.
My first batch were too big and wide, they tasted good, but looked horrible.
The second batch were the right size, but I cooked them too long, so they were mushy.
Finally, on the third batch I got it right. The shape was ok- not too big and not too small, and I cooked them just the right amount of time.
So, my analysis is, that they more you make gnocchi, the easier it becomes.

The sauce, is butter, which you brown and then you add whole sage leaves, cinnamon and pure maple syrup.

I wasn't really expecting my kids to like this dish. I made it purely out of curiousity for myself, well, and partly because my kids said they wanted me to make it, but they say that about almost everything.
I guess since my kids saw the tv episode where Giada made this, they were very interested in trying it.
They all loved it. I barely even got to have any, because they were scarfing it down.
I think this would be a really good way to serve sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, with a twist.
Fairly quick and delicious.

Recipe for Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies and Toasted Coconut Shortbread turned into Ice Cream Sandwiches

The other day on Twitter, I caught wind of someone's plan to make Lemon Curd Ice Cream. I think the idea started with Nancy-who had found the recipe (check out her blog for some great ice cream recipes this week), and other bloggers were planning on joining in- Kayte, and possibly some others. I am not quite sure who all ended up making the ice cream.
I had a little bit of lime curd left from the Tiramisu Cake, so I checked out the recipe and saw that I had a little bit more than enough to make the Lemon Curd Ice Cream, but in my case Lime Curd Ice Cream- I will post more about that tomorrow.
As soon as I made the ice cream, which I must add is super delicious, smooth and has just about the perfect consistency, I decided that it was begging to be smooshed between some sort of cookie.
The first idea I had was a chewy, gingery cookie- so I thought either these Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies or these Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies. (Both are in Martha Stewart's Cookie Book and the recipe on her site is slightly different-I baked them for less than the suggested time after reading some of the comments and I am glad I did- they were chewy)
I sent out a tweet asking people what cookie would be best. Lori aka Recipe Girl suggested some sort of shortbread and also put up a link for these Coconut Sugar Cookies.
Tracey found this link for Toasted Coconut Shortbread and Jessica ended up making those too, for her beautiful TWD creation this week.

At first I thought I would be really ambitious and make 4 cookies-but the next day I realized that was too much and I decided on 1 shortbread and 1 chewy.

I really thought the gingerbread cookie would taste great with the lime because of my tasty experience with this lime cream pie with a gingersnap crust. I left the chocolate out of those cookies and they were perfectly chewy and spicy. I accidentally left the cinnamon out of the dough, so they were very gingery. We loved them. My kids really loved them.
The coconut shortbread was very delicious too. Just as a shortbread should be. Buttery, coconutty, and at the end, just a bit of a salty taste. Very delicious.

Both tasted good with the ice cream. My husband thought the gingerbread cookie overshadowed the ice cream, but I disagreed.
I rolled some of the coconut shortbread ice cream sandwiches in toasted coconut, just to use up what I had left.
Perfect summer dessert!
Yum. Come back tomorrow for the Lime Curd Ice Cream!


Recipe for Toasted Coconut Shortbread on smitten kitchen

Recipe for Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (I left out the chocolate)

One Year Ago-Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

Orange Butter Cake

I have had my eye on the above cake for over a year now. I saw it in the April 2007 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray and knew that I had to make it. I just couldn't find the right occasion. Well, today was my mom's birthday, so I decided today was the day. I changed it up a little bit, but used the cake and frosting recipe and it was delicious! I have also learned some new cake decorating skills since that issue was published so I was able to make the flowers and designed the cake just how I wanted it to be. It turned out great!

The daisies were a combination of fondant and gum paste and the little balls were just fondant.

Raspberry preserves between the layers with a delicious swiss buttercream frosting.
theht

Is that the cleanest zesting job you have ever seen? My brother skinned that orange naked! I was amazed.
The cake had a delicious orange, zesty flavor and the texture was great. The family loved the frosting and praised it for being super light.


Orange Butter Cake From Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine April 2007

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated fresh orange peel
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups flour
2 cups sour cream, at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a 9-by-3-inch round springform pan and a 6-by-3-inch round springform pan. ( I used a 6-inch and 8-inch cake pan)

2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and orange peel at high speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix at medium speed, then mix in the vanilla. Add 2 cups flour and 1 cup sour cream and mix at low speed until barely blended. Repeat with the remaining 2 cups flour and 1 cup sour cream.

3. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans, filling them about half full. Bake until the cakes are deep golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

4. Transfer the pans to a rack to cool for 20 minutes, then remove the sides of the pans and let the cakes cool completely.

Frosting

4 sticks (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 large egg whites
One 8- to 10-ounce jar raspberry preserves

1. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and vanilla. In a separate heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg whites. Place over a pan of barely simmering water, whisking, just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and beat with clean mixer blades on high speed until the mixture cools to room temperature and forms stiff peaks, about 5 minutes.

2. Lower the speed and add the creamed butter a few tablespoons at a time (the mixture will look broken and curdled). Slowly mix in the rest of the butter until combined. Beat on high until smooth, about 10 minutes. Add a drop of red food coloring(I used Wilton Sky Blue gel paste) and beat until uniform in color. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.

3. Using a long serrated knife, slice each cake horizontally into 2 even layers. Dab a bit of the preserves onto each cardboard round and place one corresponding cake layer on top. Spread the remaining preserves on the 2 bottom layers, then spread about 1/2 cup frosting over the preserves. Top with the remaining 2 cake layers. Apply a thin layer of frosting to each double-layer cake to seal in the crumbs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set slightly.

4. Cover the tops and sides of each cake with the remaining frosting, then place the small cake and its cardboard on top of the large cake. .

Asparagus-Tip Tea Sandwiches with Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

First of all, don't be scared by the sound of this treat. You will be amazed and love it! Once again, my sister (check out her blog ya'll- Bella and Piekna, for great tips about food, books, kids, plants, etc.) told me about this one and since we were doing G day, it was our green treat. It was delicious! Lucky for us, we had some fresh whole wheat bread, that we toasted up and it was great! I think this asparagus butter would be good on a wrap or with crackers or whatever. Yum! And the pics turned out great!



Asparagus-Tip Tea Sandwiches from Wondertime Magazine

16 asparagus stalks with bottoms snapped off (a great job for a kid), cooked*

1 tablespoon salted butter, softened

1 tablespoon extra- virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 slices of bread, toasted, halved (Whole Wheat Bread)

Cut off the tips (top 2 inches) of the cooked asparagus and reserve. Cut the remaining stalks into 1/2-inch pieces and put in food processor along with butter, oil, and salt. Blend until mixture is smooth and spreadable. Spread 1 tablespoon of asparagus butter on toast, then line up tips side by side on top.
* how to cook it: Boil asparagus in salted water until the stalks are just tender, about 4 minutes, then chill them.

Whole Wheat Bread from Fleischmann's Bake-n-easy Yeast Book pg. 40

5 1/2 to 6 cups unsifted white flour (used 4 cups)

2 cups unsifted whole wheat flour (I used 4 cups)

3 Tbls sugar

3 tsp salt

2 pkg Active Dry Yeast

2 cups milk

3/4 cup water

1/4 stick margarine or butter

Combine flours. In a large bowl mix 2 1/2 cups flour mixture, sugar, salt, and undissolved yeast.

Combine milk, water and butter in a saucepan. Heat over low heat until liquids are very warm. (120 degrees to 130 degrees). Butter does not need to melt. Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup of flour mixture. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping down sides. Stir in enough additional flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, then a towel. Let rest 20 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half to a 14 by 9-inch rectangle. Shape into loaves. Place in 2

greased 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pans. Brush with melted butter and cover with plastic wrap.

Refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, remove from fridge. Uncover dough carefully. Let stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Puncture any gas bubbles which may have formed with a toothpick.

Bake at 400 degrees about 40 minutes, or until done. Remove from pans and cool on racks.