Summer Salted Pound Cake with Lavender Lemon Curd

Summer is officially here and the heat is definitely on.

I love the colors of summer...

The flowers, the ocean, the playful mood that the extra shot of sunshine and vitamin D puts us in.

Hanging at the beach, barbeques, family gatherings and hearing all of the kids in the neighborhood playing outside...

and cold frosty things that melt in the summer heat before I can finish them.

And fresh lemons pulled straight off the tree.

Here is a rich and tart dessert that makes a great addition to an afternoon tea or a lovely end to a summer dinner.

Happy summertime!

Enjoy!

For the lemon curd, follow the recipe here and add 1 tablespoon of dried lavender blossoms along with the zest and follow the recipe as directed. Strain the mixture to remove the blossoms and then chill.

Salted Pound Cake

INGREDIENTS
1 pound (4 sticks) butter, plus more for the pans
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust the pans
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, plus a little extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
With an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and vanilla together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with milk. Pour into greased and floured pans ( I used a jumbo muffin tin which makes 6 cakes and 3 mini loaf pans, but you could use 2 standard loaf pans too), sprinkle tops with a pinch or two of the salt and bake for 45-50 minutes for the mini loaf tins and muffin size and 1-1 1/4 hour for the standard loafs or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Serve slices of pound cake topped with a spoonful of lemon curd and fresh berries.

Almond & Lemon Curd Torta Capri

Like Limoncello, this torta reigns from southern Italy. It is simple and satisfying as a dessert served with a dollop of lemon curd on the side or afternoon treat served with a spot of iced or hot tea.

Almond & Lemon Curd Torta

For the lemon curd:

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
3 large organic eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large lemons, juiced (a little less than 1/2 cup)
Zest from 2 lemons (1 heaping tablespoon)
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk together sugar, eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice and zest over low to medium heat. Keep whisking while the mixture heats for about 3-5 minutes until it begins to thicken. Turn off heat and add cold butter in by the tablespoon while continuing to whisk until all of the butter is incorporated.

Place the curd into a glass bowl or container and cover.* Chill for least 4 hours or overnight.

* Do not cover with plastic wrap allowing wrap to touch the curd. While this practice recommended in many recipes, it contaminates the curd with chemicals from the wrap. Simply cover the container with lid, parchment, or foil and allow the curd to form a “skin” as it cools and then remove the thin top layer before using.

To make the Torta:

INGREDIENTS
1 1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 cup blanched almonds, lightly toasted
2 cup organic all-purpose flour ( I like King Arthur Organic Unbleached Flour)
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 sticks of organic unsalted butter, room temperature (16 tablespoons)
2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
6 large organic eggs, room temperature
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter the bottom of a 9-inch round springform pan and line the bottom with a circle of baking parchment and butter the paper. Sprinkle and gently press half the sliced almonds against the bottom and sides of the pan. Put the pan in the freezer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In the food processor combine the blanched toasted almonds, flour, baking powder and salt. Process for 15-20 seconds, until finely chopped.
In a medium bowl beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract for about 2-3 minutes, until creamy and light colored.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs with the mixer for 5 minutes until thick and frothy.

With a fork mix the almond and flour mixture into the butter mixture until blended. Add beaten eggs and stir until just smooth.

Transfer into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Spoon 1/2 of the lemon curd on top of the batter to about 1/2-inch from the side of the pan in an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining sliced almonds over the top of the batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes until the cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Cool in the pan until warm to the touch. Before removing from pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the sides. Peel off the parchment paper from the bottom and dust the torta with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Serve with the remaining lemon curd.

Abraham and his Yogurt Maker

Yogurt...I wondered if I could make it without all of the gadgets, making it the old fashion way. Let's face it, back in 1500 BC they weren't making yogurt with electric yogurt makers.

I remembered my mother making it back in the seventies and I recalled the taste being much milder than the store-bought brands.

We know it is good for us, even ancient Indian records mention the combination of yogurt and honey, calling the two, "the food of the gods", and Persian traditions hold that "Abraham owed his fecundity and longevity to the regular ingestion of yogurt".

So I kept it simple and took 4 cups of organic 2% milk, heated it in a saucepan until it reached 180 degrees fahrenheit and then let it cool until it was warm to the touch. I then added 1/3 cup of plain yogurt with live bacteria, gave it a good whisk and then poured it into clean French canning jars.

I placed the jars into the barely warm oven* (the heat from the pilot light was enough) and let it culture for 5 hours. I chilled it in the fridge overnight and then this morning, voila, lovely yogurt that I scooped on top of my Bob's Red Mill muesli, adding some freshly cut plums, lemon zest and a drizzle of local honey over it all.

Yum!

* If you have an electric oven, while the milk is cooling, heat the oven to the lowest setting for a two or three minutes. The temperature should be warm but not hot. If it seems too hot, leave the door open for a few minutes. Place the yogurt in the oven, close the door and check back in 4 hours. If it is cool in the oven at that point, take the yogurt out, heat it up again and then place the yogurt back inside the oven for a couple more hours.

Serendipity and a Spoonful of Bread Pudding

ser·en·dip·i·ty: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.

Serendipity. It’s all over the place, at least that’s how I see it. I have "an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident". Call them coincidences, chance or kizmit, those moments in life when the planets all seem to align in just the right way and the universe offers up a delicious course of events.

al·che·my: the process of taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary, sometimes in a way that cannot be explained.

This morning I had such a moment. It felt a little surreal while it was happening as I was so aware, almost like watching myself in a movie...cue the woman walking down the street and the guy in the elevator, both whom I was meant to run into at the exact instant I did and at at just the right place.  Suddenly I realized that life was taking an unexpected turn and the trajectory had been altered, if even by only a bit, it was significant.

When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else.~ Joseph Campbell

I believe in the magical nature of life and I'm often inspired and amused by the synchronization of events. Complex little collaborations between time and destiny that produce something a little mystical and that's the true alchemy of life.

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. ~ Joseph Campbell

Last weekend I made a wonderful Challah bread pudding and used  some fresh organic berries from Driscoll's to make a warm sauce to pour over the pudding and it was scrumptious.

Challah Bread Pudding with Warm Berry Sauce

6 cups of Challah bread cut into 1-inch cubes
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 quart half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter four 4-inch ramekins or four 6-7 ounce porcelain teacups. Fill the ramekins with the bread cubes.

Beat the eggs lightly and add the sugar, salt, half and half and vanilla. Pour over the bread and let stand for 20 minutes. You can sprinkle the tops with a little sugar and dot them with a few cut pieces of butter to give them even more flavor and richness and then place in a bain-marie (water bath) in the oven.

Using a deep glass casserole dish or a roasting pan placed on you oven rack, set the ramekins in the dish and then pour boiling water around the ramekins so that it is approximately half way up the sides of the ramekins.

Note: You can make these without the bain-marie, but the water bath helps the custard to cook without curdling and keeps the puddings moist.

Bake in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes. If they begin to get too brown, cover with foil.  Serve warm with fresh berries or with a warm berry sauce.

Warm Berry Sauce

2 cups mixed berries
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup water

In a small saucepan heat the berries, sugar and water to the boiling point and then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes until fruit is soft.

If you prefer a thickened sauce, you can add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of water and then whisk into the sauce and continue to cook for a few minutes while it thickens.

Cool sauce a bit and serve warm.