Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

Blue Ribbon Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

Blue Heron Kitchen, adapted from Melissa Clark

If you don’t have coconut oil in your larder, this is one good reason to go get some. The original recipe required extra virgin olive oil, the dominatrix of olive oils. When baking with oil, it’s generally not my fat of choice. Olive oil cakes (Mediterranean/Italian) rock. But leave the olive oil out of this one (sorry, Melissa.) If you can, purchase virgin and organic coconut oil. It's high-end, sweet and white (and pricey). Trader Joe's is a good resource in the U.S. I watch for sales. "Spectrum" brand is highly recommended. When it goes on sale, snag one! You'll be eating it out of the jar.

Everything else about Clark’s recipe is great (I tweaked the glaze and added some lemon oil. It removed that corn-starchy taste and added a nice depth.)

The viscosity of coconut oil is slightly heavier than refined oils; and I didn’t want a lemon poppy piña colada loaf, so I combined coconut and canola oils and the result was stunning.

Make sure your poppy seeds are fresh because when left out, they turn rancid pretty quickly. Once opened, store them in the freezer. Truc: Penzey’s Spices is an excellent resource. They’ve been opening shops all over the U.S. or you can order online. Their spice quality is high end, and customer service is excellent. 

Another online spice source is My Spice Sage.

You’ll need 3 to 4 lemons, depending on size and juiciness. I think it’s best to use organic lemons.

Boyajian lemon oil is a great staple to have in your fridge.

You can buy a set of three citrus oils from King Arthur Flour. Keep them in the fridge and they’ll last forever. These little bottles, when used correctly, are fantastic flavor enhancers; and they’re natural! The addition of a few drops of lemon oil removes the “cornstarch chalk”, adds depth; and makes it go “zing!”. You need the smallest amount. Order those oils now. And while you’re online at King Arthur Flour, order the fiori di sicilia too. Add it to pound cake and your pound cake will taste like a slice of harmony.

This lemon poppy seed cake will win you a blue ribbon at your county fair. The snow (in the U.S.) will end and county fairs will return. And we will rejoice!

Dairy-Free Truc: To make dairy- free "buttermilk", mix equal parts of vegan sour cream (Tofutti makes it) and water. 

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

INGREDIENTS:

Oil and flour, for greasing and flouring pan

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour,

Zest of 2 lemons, plus 1 to 2 more lemons for juice

1 c. granulated sugar

½ c. buttermilk (if you can find Kate’s, it’s fantastic!)

3 Tbsp. + 3-4 additional tsp. lemon juice for the glaze

3 eggs, size large, room temperature, slightly beaten

1 ½  tsp. baking powder

¼  tsp. baking soda

¼  tsp. Kosher salt

1/3 c. canola oil

1/3 c. coconut oil

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

½  c. confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Optional, but recommended: Boyajian pure lemon oil for glaze

Procedure:

1.Preheat oven to 350º F. Oil and flour an 8-inch loaf pan.

2. In a bowl (if using Kitchen Aid or electric mixer, use the mixer’s bowl), combine lemon zest and sugar and rub with your fingers until it looks like wet sand. Whisk in (or use paddle attachment/beater blade) buttermilk, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and eggs.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. Whisk dry ingredients into the batter, then whisk in oil and poppy seeds.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in pan until warm to the touch, then turn out onto a baking rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Turn cake right side up.

5.Whisk together remaining 4 teaspoons lemon and the confectioners’ sugar. Add just enough lemon juice to achieve desired glaze consistency. Add lemon oil, drop by drop, until desired taste is achieved. The lemon oil will mask the cornstarch taste of the confectioner’s sugar and will add a round and wonderful lemon taste to the glaze. Put a piece of waxed paper under the rack to catch drips and our the glaze over the top in thin rows. It will spread as it dissolves. Or, you can use a pastry brush to spread glaze evenly over top and sides of cake. Use an offset spatula to scoop up drippings and adhere them to sides and missed areas of the loaf.

Cool before slicing.

YIELD 8 servings (if it makes it out of the kitchen)

When life brings you poppy seeds, squeeze lemons!

peace and love,

jane

Sugar Snap (or Snow Pea) Salad with Fresh Mint and Lemon

Sugar Snap (or Snow Pea) Salad

with Fresh Mint and Lemon

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen from NoMad

A friend of mine brought this salad to me while I was recuperating from shoulder surgery. There may be no better medicine than when someone cooks for you. I don’t think I’d tasted anything as good as that salad, ever. Its curative factor may be subjective. But the crunchy, minty, sweet, lemony, peppery/salty, "yes, I'll have some more, thanks" factor - it's brilliant. 

Thank you, Rita! 

Sugar snaps aren’t peaking at the market anymore. I’ve suggested alternative “sturdy” vegetables that will stay crisp and crunchy. I adore everything about kohlrabi. 

If you don't like the pancetta part of this recipe, omit it. If you do omit the pancetta, compensate by increasing the amount of olive oil in the skillet.

The original recipe clocks this at 45 minutes to prepare. Post-op, double that.

Here is Blue Heron Kitchen's twist: 

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 pounds [sugar snap or] snow peas (If unavailable, shred a combination of cabbage, carrots and kohlrabi – one, two or all – 1 ½ lbs. This can be done in a food processor!)

1/2 c. olive oil plus ¼ tsp. lemon oil (Boyajian makes this product. You can purchase it directly from them (there's a cute trio of mini citrus oils) from King Arthur Flour or go to  Amazon.com and search there.)

2-3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (I prefer organic lemons)

Salt

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 ounces pancetta, finely diced (if you omit the pancetta, add another 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil)

½ to 3/4 cup finely diced Vidalia or other ‘sweet’ onion

1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, sliced into thin strips

Grated zest from 1 large or 2 small lemons

Salt (try fleur de sel!) and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 oz. Pecorino cheese, shaved.

Procedure:

1.Trim ends of snow peas and pull off strings. Stack about a dozen snow peas at a time on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut them at an angle into medium julienne. 

Place in a bowl of ice water.  (If you’re using julienned cabbage/carrots/kohlrabi – give them an ice bath too!)

2.In a small bowl, whisk together lemon oil, lemon juice and a teaspoon of salt, or to taste, and set aside. (If you don’t have lemon oil, grate some extra lemon zest into the dressing. Take care to only include the yellow part of the lemon, excluding the white pith, which is bitter. Organic lemons are your best bet.) N.B.: I decreased the amount of dressing and didn’t pour it all on. You’ll judge how much dressing works for you.

3.In a 12-inch skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add pancetta and cook until fat is rendered. Do not allow pancetta to brown. Add onion and cook on low until soft and transparent. Remove from heat. Drain snow peas and add to skillet. Return to medium heat and cook, stirring, just enough to warm and slightly wilt snow peas, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

4.Whisk lemon dressing and pour  as much as you feel is needed into skillet. Add lemon zest and mint and toss. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large serving dish or to shallow bowls, scatter shaved cheese on top and serve.

With a hunk of bread and with (or without)some grilled or steamed shrimp, this salad can be the main course. It’s also a great first course or side dish. Suggestion: Instead of cole slaw or potato or macaroni salad, bring this to your pot luck or picnic, and everyone'll be singing "Pass the Peas", I'm serious.





YIELD: 4 to 6 servings

sugar snap peace and love,
jane

YIELD: 4 to 6 servings

Plain Cake (The Best Plain Cake, Better)

  Plain Cake 

(The Best Plain Cake, Better)

(French Yogurt/Almond Cake)

Adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan by Blue Heron Kitchen

“The Best Plain Cake” (July, 2010, Blue Heron Kitchen) got better this year.

The tweaks: coconut oil (you can buy it at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or Fairway). Coconut oil isn’t liquid (at least my ‘organic coconut oil” isn’t). It looks to me more like coconut fat or coconut grease. That's why they call it 'oil'. To bring it to liquid, place the small amount you're adding atop your stove when your oven is preheating or just warm it ever so slightly. Here's a coconut oil truc: a tiny bit of coconut oil will stand up to high heat and add a subtle flavor to your popcorn kernels .. huzza. Lemon oil: Boyajian oils are invaluable when it comes to infusing your pastry with flavor. You can buy them through King Arthur Flour or online through Amazon. Increased vanilla (I have used Baldwin's vanilla extract for about 30 years. Once you open a bottle and take a whiff, you'll be astonished. Once you start using it in your baking, you'll never use another vanilla extract. Then I hope you'll write to me and thank me.  Here's the link. Read about Baldwin's. Then order some) oh .. and I added a little more salt. If you restrict your salt intake, then decrease the amount. I love salt and sweet together.

Wrapped well, these cakes will keep for several days, out in a cool room, up to a week in the fridge, and for a month or two in the freezer. You can make a simple jam glaze by heating up marmalade (lemon or try ginger!) and a little sugar, until liquid, straining it and then glazing the loaves when they’re cooled. Adorn or n’adorn, this is the greatest plain cake; and you can make it by hand.

Berries are a natural complement.  Sorbet, sherbet, ice cream, frozen yogurt, crème fraiche, whipped cream. Toast it!

Bob’s Red Mill’s almond meal/flour is my brand of choice. French almond flour is gorgeous and much more refined, and it’s easy to find in the supermarkets in France, but not ici.  Another place to find almond flour is Patel Brothers (a great chain of Indian supermarkets in the New York metropolitan area).

Play around with this and use other nut flours/oils/extracts; and if you’re adverse to nuts, substitute flour (try some whole wheat flour instead of the nut flour.)

You’re going to love this cake and you'll bake it all year.

 peace, love and happy summer!

jane

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup ground almonds (or, whole wheat flour or just more all-purpose flour)

2 tsp. baking powder (I use Rumford – no aluminum)

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 cup granulated sugar

Grated zest of a lemon (use organic if you can)

½ cup 2% Total Fage Greek Yogurt

3 eggs, size large, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I use Baldwin’s)

1/8 tsp. lemon oil (Boyajian’s)

1Tbsp. coconut oil

¼ c. + 3 Tbsp. flavorless vegetable oil (If you omit coconut oil: ½ cup flavorless oil)

Procedure:

Center rack in oven and preheat to 350º F.  Butter and flour, or spray release and flour medium sized loaf pan (8 ½-x-4 ½ inch) or smaller loaf molds. (If using paper molds, which are great for ‘giving’, freezing, and looking like you know what you’re doing, you don’t have to grease them.) You can also bake this in a round cake pan and then turn it into a filled layer cake!

In a medium bowl measure the sugar.  Using your Microplane Zester, being careful to not include the bitter pith (the white stuff) of the lemon, zest the rind and with your fingers or a fork or a small whisk, incorporate the rind into the sugar.  Set aside and the oils of the zest will get into the sugar and make it smell really great.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour/almond meal, baking powder and salt.

Begin with the whisk attachment of your Kitchen Aid, or by hand, a human whisk. Start with the sugar, add the yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon oil and whisk vigorously until well blended.  If mixing by hand, still whisking, add the dry ingredients, making sure to whisk until the batter is no longer lumpy. If using a Kitchen Aid, switch to the flat beater of Beater Blade and add the dry ingredients, making sure to mix until batter is no longer lumpy. Stop the machine and remove the bowl, or if doing this manually, switch to a rubber spatula.  Fold in the oil.  The batter should be smooth, shiny and thick.

Fill prepared pan(s) and bake, depending upon size of pan, anywhere from 30-50 minutes.  Cake is done when top is golden, it springs to the touch and a tester (or sharp knife) inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Transfer to a rack and cool for 5-10 minutes.  If the cake doesn’t easily release, run a knife between the cake and sides of pan.  Unmold and cool to room temperature before wrapping.