Lemon Pudding Cake

I hadn't heard of Pudding Cake until I found a Lemon recipe in "Entertainment," the new Cook's Illustrated magazine I have mentioned previously. I originally thought the name meant I would make pudding and somehow have it in cake, perhaps in layers. Further investigation revealed that it is actually custard components with flour and beaten egg whites that separate into pudding (or really more of a custard) and a super fluffy cake top as it bakes! Baking is like science magic once again!


The prospect of beating egg whites has never thrilled me. You really do need a mixer as it would take forever by hand. Using my cheap Target bought mixer the lowest speed seems like a really fast speed but it did really take several minutes to get the egg whites to from foamy to stiff peaks. You can add a little bit of sugar to help speed up the process without endangering yourself of going into the realm of over beaten egg whites (in other words, clumps) . Don't be intimidated by egg whites! You can always make more even if you mess up and believe me, the results were superb!


Recipe:


2 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened, plus extra to grease the pan
1/2 cup granulated sugar , plus 2 tablespoons
1/8 teaspoon table salt
3 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 - 3 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice , strained, from 1 to 2 lemons
1 cup whole milk
4 large egg whites , at room temperature

1. Lightly butter pan or baking molds of choice. You can make this cake in almost anything: custard cups, ramekins, mini souffle cups, round cake pan or what I choose, an 8" square baking dish. The baking time regardless of pan chosen will remain the same. Lay a folded dish towel in bottom of large roasting pan where you will set your pans or dish. Later you will use the large roasting pan as a water bath for the cake.

2. Meanwhile, in mixing bowl mash 2 tablespoons butter together with sugar and salt with back of wooden spoon until crumbly. Beat in yolks, then flour, mixing until smooth. Slowly beat in lemon zest and juice, then stir in milk. Set this aside in a bowl and clean mixer.

3. Before you begin the next step its a good idea to start preheating the oven to 325. You will also need to boil enough water to create a water bath for your baking dish.

4. Next, beat egg whites to stiff, moist peaks. Gently whisk whites into batter just until no large lumps remain.

5. Immediately ladle (don’t pour) batter into pan, custard cups, or ramekins. Place the large roasting pan containing your ramekins etc on the oven rack. Pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of baking pan or molds and be careful not to burn yourself.

6. Bake until pudding cake center is set and springs back when gently touched, about 25 minutes. Remove roasting pan from oven and let pan or molds continue to stand in water bath for 10 minutes. Pudding cakes can be served warm, at room temperature, or even chilled but are best served the same day as they are made. Sprinkle with powdered sugar for extra effect.

Here we couldn't resist cutting into it!

Here is the close up view of the layers

Home Made Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon Buns!

I decided to deviate from a healthy regime by making these, a recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  This picture is post baking pre-frosting but you get the idea. I did something of a poor job making them as the butter was too soft when I mixed it in. I also had the rack too low in the oven so the bottoms are a bit burnt. They still turned out pretty good and I'll attempt another (half batch this time) in the near future.

A quick break from the pumpkin madness...

Black Bean Brownies???

Dont knock it until you try it! I dont have a picture because they all got eaten!!

Pumpkin Breads

The recipe I used for pumpkin bread is my roomate's grandmother's recipe. I made two batches. One with whole wheat flour and a half splenda, half sugar mixture. The other I used it as given below but with an extra accidental amount of flour! I was trying to halve the recipe (as this makes two loaves) and I put in 3 cups of flour instead of ~1 1/2 ! This made it a bit cake-ier but whose complaining! This recipe of course calls for a 16 oz can of pumpkin puree which I replaced with an eyeballing it equivalent amount. So far I've learned that pumpkin can be a pretty subtle flavor so its worth dumping in extra if you can help it.

Nana Black's Pumpkin Bread

2/3 cup vegetable shortening ( I used butter flavor )
2 2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
16oz can of pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup nuts (optional)

Mix the shortening and the sugar until well blended. In a second bowl mix together the eggs, pumpkin and water and then blend in to first bowl until thoroughly mixed. In another bowl mix flour, baking soda, spices and nuts. Blend this dry ingredients bowl into the wet mixture. Grease 2 bread loaf pans, pour half in each and put in the oven at 350 F for 70 minutes. Let cool completely before removing.

On the left, Whole Wheat version, on the right, Regular Flour (extra on accident)

Fresh Pumpkin Puree!

Ever made pumpkin pie using a canned filling? Maybe you thought you would go from "scratch" and use canned pumpkin puree and then add your own mix of spices...


If you find pumpkin pie, or pumpkin anything, not that enjoyable then maybe it's time for a fresher main ingredient! This past weekend I cut a pumpkin in half, scraped out the stringy bits and seeds, and roasted the whole thing (skin side up) in my oven for 45 minutes at 350 F. With my kitchen smelling wonderful I started to scrap out the fleshy pumpkin parts until I realized it might be easier to just cut off the skin and chop up what was left. All of this (in many, many batches) went into a food processor until well pureed. If you didnt do a good job getting the stringy bits out you might want to put it through a fine sieve. All this is pretty simple stuff but Ill warn you that its time consuming and obviously can get a little messy... aound the holidays that is half the fun! My pumpkin was pretty huge and filled 4 quart freezer bags for about 20 cups of puree. Thankfully the puree is supposed to last a few days in the fridge and a few months in the freezer... I dont know what I would do with 20 cups!


Personally, I love the squash family. Summer squash, zucchini, butternut, acorn - you name it I probably like it. I have never really found pumpkin, however, anything to get excited about. After making my own puree I took a spoon and tried a little bit.. It had the pumpkin flavor but with that roasted squash family heartiness that I love in all squash. I figured if this is what it is supposed to taste like then there are a few recipes I should try..


I'll start off with pumpkin bread and a soup... then hopefully later Ill get to pumpkin ice cream!

Wholesome Oat Muffins and the Arrival of Fall!

I love Fall and while it will still be hot in southern California for a while yet it always feels like Fall is here when I turn the calendar to October !

Im sure the month will kick off all kinds of soups but for now I thought Id talk about my Wholesome Oat Muffins which are perfect for breakfast during the week as they are tasty but also filing enough to keep you going until lunch. The recipe is pretty much out of the South Beach Diet cookbook with a few changes.  I find that I like the baking recipes that call for use of low fat buttermilk as they tend to be healthier even if you aren't on a diet and thankfully a diet cookbook doesn't have to be all bland boring foods! All that I change is add some flax seed meal for a bit more fiber, swap sliced almonds for walnuts and add tons more cinnamon. You really cant have too much cinnamon.

I  usually start the muffins by getting out three bowls, one small, one medium and one large. In the small bowl I put in the 3/4 cup oats with a cup of low fat buttermilk. I 've just been adding about two spoonfuls of flax seed meal and similar amount of sliced almonds. After that is all stirred up I let it sit while I do everything else so the oats can soak up the buttermilk. I also make sure to get my oven going to 425 F as that can take a while to heat up.

In the medium bowl I put 1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (which thankfully is sold at Henry's by weight so I didnt have to spend a lot the first time I tried to make these), 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a pinch of salt and then 1 teaspoon cinnamon and stir it up until well mixed.

In the large bowl, I crack in an egg,  add 1/3 cup of Splenda's brown sugar substitute (even my Splenda hating roomie likes this half real sugar mix), 1/3 cup canola oil and a heaping teaspoon of vanilla extract. I usually use a whisk to really beat the egg and get the oil and sugar mixed in. Once that is done you can add the oats mixture and mix well. Lastly add the flour mixture but only mix until just combined. Over mixing will make the muffins a little dense.

You can make this into a loaf or as I like to into 12 muffins filling each cup about 2/3 of the way full. I use silicone muffin liners which help keep the heat even and make for easy clean up. If you dont use the silicone muffin liners then be sure to spray your pan with a non stick spray - preferably butter flavored! I pop that in at 425 F degrees for 12-14 minutes and let them cool for at least 5 minutes as they can get rather hot.

After two each morning I run out quickly!