Dutch Baby Pancakes

I made this for breakfast this morning and you should too.  My whole family practically applauded when I took this out of the oven and it was demolished within a couple of minutes.  Even my husband who is generally not a fan of sweet things was impressed. Not only was it delicious, it was stupidly easy to make.  Whip up the batter in a couple of minutes, throw it in the oven, and 20 minutes later, you are eating heaven.

At the breakfast table, we pondered the name of this dish. After a quick google search,  what it comes down to is that it has more or less nothing to do with the Dutch or babies.  It seems to have been dubbed this name by an American restaurant and the name stuck. However, it is really just a big popover, which is in turn a slightly sweetened Yorkshire pudding.

I was inspired to make this today because suddenly I kept seeing recipes for it everywhere.  Smitten Kitchen did this version in chocolate.  The Guardian had this lemony version.  My recipe is loosely based on this version.  The differences are mainly in the amount of eggs and the flavorings.  I went for a 3 egg version.  Lots of recipes have you rest the batter, but that requires more planning than I can manage and with no evidence at all, I doubt that it makes any significant difference.  Having said that, if you are the organized sort, it seems obvious that you could whip up the batter the night before, which means that in the morning you could just heat the oven and dump the batter in.  It won't save you much time since you still have to heat up the oven, but it does mean that if your brain is not yet functioning without your cup of coffee, you won't mess up with the measurements.

Eat this with whatever pancake accompaniments you might like.  I personally prefer powdered sugar and lemon.  Any kind of berries thrown on top would be delicious.  Jam and/or maple syrup are also obvious candidates.

Recipe feeds 2 to 4 persons.

Batter:
3 large eggs
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the pan:
50 grams (1/4 cup) butter

Pre-heat your oven to 210C or 450F.  Put a medium cast iron pan or oven proof dish in the middle of the oven while it preheats.  In a large bowl, whisk up all the batter ingredients, until smooth.  It can have a few small lumps of flour.

When the oven is heated, open the oven door and plop the butter in the hot pan.  Close the door and let the butter melt.  When it is melted, open the door and pull out the rack so that you have better access to the pan and swish around the butter so that it covers the bottom and sides of the pan.  Pour the batter in the pan.  Push the rack back in and close the oven door.  Bake the pancake for 18 to 25 minutes until the sides have risen high, the middle is puffy, and the whole thing is golden brown and your mouth is watering.

Right before it is ready, gather your eaters around the table.  Whisk the hot pan from the oven onto a trivet on the table.  Let everyone ooh and aah.  Take a bow.  Civilized people might cut it into pieces but my family just tore off pieces with their hands.  Sprinkle with lemon and powdered sugar or your preferred topping and devour.

Rhubarb and Red Currant Pie with a Lattice Crust

My son Gustaf is a big pie lover.  He loves it so much that he has pie every year for his birthday instead of cake. Rhubarb is one of his favorites, which is lucky since it is in season during his birthday.  At our summer house, I have planted a rhubarb on a sunny hillside where it basically grows without any care from me.  Every now and then I think about weeding it and then usually decide to do something else.  Depending on the kind of rhubarb you have, the pie filling can turn out to be a greenish shade.  To tip the filling over to red, it is traditional to add strawberries.  This year, I decided to add red currants, which I have in the garden.  This turned out to be an inspired choice because the red currants do not overpower the rhubarb flavor and they give a spectacular color. They also contain a lot of pectin which helps the filling set.

Because I made this as a birthday pie, I decided to use a lattice crust, to give it an extra special feeling.  I think you will agree, that the lattice looks gorgeous with the red fruit filling peeking through.  It is actually very easy to make a lattice crust with this method, which I show in photographs, although of course it does take more time.  I got this method from the amazing Pie by Ken Haedrick.  I highly reccomend this book if you are interested in pie.


Classic all butter pie crust 

(2 crusts)

3 cups flour (350 grams)

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks/225 grams) cold butter, cut into small pieces

½ cup (8 tablespoons) cold water

With a food processor:

Put the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse several times to mix.  Add half of the butter to the mixture and pulse 6 or so times.  Fluff up the mixture with a fork, making sure to get all around the sides.  Add the rest of the butter and pulse again about 6 times.  Fluff with a fork again.  Add about half of the water and pulse 6 times.  Fluff again.  Add the final half of the water and pulse 6 times.  When it is ready, it will be starting to form some clumps.  Don’t let it completely form a big ball, because you will over process it.  You want the butter to be in tiny pieces, not completely amalgamated.  It is the process of the butter melting and steam forming in the dough that makes the pie dough flakey.

Turn the dough out into a big bowl and knead once or twice, just so the dough comes together in a big ball.  Divide the mixture into two even sized balls.  Wrap each ball in plastic wrap, flattening them out while you wrap.  Put the balls in the refrigerator for at least one hour.  You can also freeze the dough now, if you want to save it for a later use. 

By hand:

If you do not have a word processor, you can do it by hand.  After adding the butter and shortening, use your fingers to smear the butter into the flour.  After a bit, you will find the mixture resembling a coarse crumble.  Try to work it quickly so that the butter doesn’t melt and don’t overwork the dough.  It should not be smooth and even, but have little blotches of butter in it. Add the water and mix the dough, kneading it a few times, just enough so that the dough holds together and can form a ball. Divide the mixture into two even sized balls.  Wrap each ball in plastic wrap, flattening them out while you wrap.  Put the balls in the refrigerator for at least one hour.  You can also freeze the dough now, if you want to save it for a later use. 

Rolling the crust:

Take the ball of dough out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before you want to use it to let it warm up a little bit. On a floured pastry cloth or floured piece of wax paper, roll out one of the pieces of dough, large enough to fit your pie pan.  Because the dough is cold, it will have a tendency to crack, so don't roll with too much pressure at the beginning.  If the dough is not yet malleable enough to roll, just leave out for another 10 minutes and try again.

Roll the dough over your rolling pin and lift it onto your pan.  Smooth the dough out into the pan, leaving the excess dough hanging over the edge of the pan.  Stick the prepared crust into the freezer while you prepare the filling.  Freezing the crust helps it from getting soggy in the beginning of the baking and also helps to protect the crust when you are putting the filling.

Rhubarg and Red Currant Filling:

about 700 grams of rhubarb (3 to 4 large stalks)

about 150 grams red currants (about a cup)

about 325 grams sugar (1 1/2 cup)

a teaspoon ground cardamum

a teaspoon ground cinnamon

a pinch of salt

5 tablespoons flour

Cut the rhubarb in half lengthwise or in quarters if the stalk is very thick.  Chop into dice about one centimeter wide.  Pour into a large bowl.  Add the red currants, sugar, salt and spices.  Stir until all the fruit is covered evenly with the sugar mixture.  Taste a piece of fruit. If you think it is too sour, add a bit more sugar.  Add in the flour and stir again until the flour is evenly mixed in.

Preparing the pie:

Preheat the oven to 400F(200C).  Take the crust out of the freezer and pour in the filling.

Roll out the second crust and slice into 8 even strips, about 2.5 to 3 cm wide. These will form your lattice.

1) Lay the longest strip in the center of the pie and then arrange two shorter pieces on either side, for a total of five strips.  In this picture, I forgot the middle strip and had to move my strips over to get a fifth strip in, which you will see in the next picture.




2) Pull back the two strips on either side of the center to a bit more than half way.  Lay another long strip in the center, perpendicular.  Fold the two strips back down.










3) Fold back the center strip about a third of the way and the two outside strips, and lay another strip down, perpendicular.  Fold the three strips back.  You have finished half the pie.









4) Now do the same on the other side.  Fold back the center strips and two outside strips.  Lay the last strip down and fold the three strips back.  You are done with your lattice!  Take a second to admire your work.


5) Now, trim the strips and the first crust so that there is an even overlay of about 3 cm.  Fold and roll the crust outside, tucking it underneath the bottom crust, leaving a ridge of about a cm. Crimp the crust with your fingers, or use a fork to make a pattern.  Your pie is done!

If you want to gild the lily, you can brush the crust with a beaten egg, or a bit of cream so that it will bake up shiny and nice.  I had a bit of cream in the fridge, so that is what I used.  You can be happy with that, or you can sprinkle some sugar or nuts over the crust.  I was going to use rock sugar but I didn't have any at hand, so I decided upon some sliced almonds.


Put the pie in the oven and turn down the heat to 375F (190C).  Bake for 40 minutes  and then turn the pie around 180 degrees.  Bake for a further half an hour or until the filling is bubbling thickly in the center of the pie.  It can take up to an hour and a half in total, depending on your oven. Check to make sure it is not getting too brown on the crust, if so, shield it with a piece of tinfoil.  

Let cool, ideally for a few hours so that the filling has time to thicken.  Serve with vanilla icecream.

Quintessential Mac and Cheese

Gustaf and I decided to walk the perimeter of Sodermalm a couple of weeks ago, stopping at the Hornstull Marknad for sustenance along the way.  This market is a great place to try out the latest food trucks, including some of my favorites including burritos at The Good Gringo, sliders at Flippin Burgers, and crepes at Bon Coin. On this occassion, there was a lovely couple with a table set up serving macaroni and cheese.  It was such an unlikely thing to find at a Swedish market, we had to try it.  And it was wonderful.  Really wonderful.  Cheesy and creamy but not too rich.  It had a bread crumb topping and to top it all off, they drizzled it with some truffle oil and put some grated truffled cheese on top.  It made us very happy.  So happy, that I was a bit annoyed. OK, really annoyed. Up to this point, I had felt that I made a pretty good mac and cheese.  But this mac and cheese blew mine away.  Clearly I had to up my game.

On our walk, Gustaf and I discussed the qualities that made this mac and cheese wonderful. We decided that the following items were key:
1) The pasta needed to be cooked slightly past al dente.  Not mushy but yielding.
2) For crunch, buttery toasted bread crumbs for a topping
3) The cheese sauce needed to be silky and rich tasting but still mild with a good mouth feel. How would we achieve this?  I have always used a good quality aged cheddar for my sauce.  But in fact, cheddar is not a great melting cheese.  It has a grainy quality that keeps the sauce from being silky.  Finally, we decided that if we used a combination of aged cheddar, parmesan, and plain trashy American cheese, we might hit the right flavor and mouth feel.

Here is how we did it:

Serves 4 to 6 persons

Bread crumb topping:
3 to 4 slices white bread
25 grams butter
1/4 teaspoon dried herbs (like rosemary or thyme) or 1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh herb
a pinch of salt

Cheese Sauce:
50 grams butter
5 tablespoons flour
3/4 liters milk
250 grams grated cheddar
100 grams grated parmesan
5 slices American cheese
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and peppar to taste

500 grams pasta
Truffle oil, for an optional garnish

Make the toasted crumbs:
Prepare the crumbs by putting the bread in a food processor and blitzing until you have fine crumbs.  Mix the bread crumbs and herbs and salt together.  You can toast the crumbs in the oven or in a pan on the stove.
For on the stove:  Put the butter in the pan, with the heat turned up high.  When the butter is melted, add the breadcrumb mixture and toss until the crumbs are coated with butter.  Stir the bread crumbs in the pan until they are lightly browned and toasted.
In the oven:  Melt the butter in the microwave or in a small pan on the stove and toss the butter, breadcrumbs, salt, and herbs together until all the crumbs are coated in butter.  Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet and put in the oven at the highest heat or with the broiler/grill on.  Cook, stiring occasionally, until the crumbs are a golden brown, making sure you keep a close eye so that they don't work.
Set the crumbs aside to cool.

Cook the pasta:
Put a big pot of water to boil.  When the water comes to a boil, add a generous amount of salt and the pasta.  Bring the water back to a boil and cook it for the time as directed on the pasta box.  Taste the pasta and cook it one to two minutes longer, so that it is slightly past the al dente stage.  Drain, the pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water, in case you want to thin the pasta sauce.

Making the cheese sauce:
While the pasta is cooking, you can make the sauce.  First grate all the cheeses and set aside.

With a pot on medium heat, melt the butter.  Add the flour to the butter and stir until combined.  Continue stirring for a few minutes. Add the milk and stir quickly with a whisk to get out the lumps. As you add the milk, the sauce will thicken quickly.  Just keep stirring. Don't worry if the sauce seems a bit grainy.  As you continue to stir, the sauce will become smoother.  Continue stirring until the milk comes to a boil and thickens.  I alternate between a whisk to keep the sauce smooth and a spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan.

Once the sauce starts to boil, turn down the heat to low and add the cheeses, a pinch of salt and mustard.  Whisk until the cheeses are melted.  Taste and adjust the salt and add a bit of pepper.

Pour the cheese sauce over the pasta and mix until all the pasta is coated.  If the sauce seems to thick for your taste, then it with a bit of the preserved pasta water.

To serve, scoop out some of the mac and cheese into a bowl. Sprinkle with truffle oil, if desired.  Sprinkle on a generous portion of buttered crumbs.  Eat while hot.

Classic American Brownies

Every American kid grows up eating brownies.  Lately, however, they have morphed from chewy chocolaty yumminess with a glass of milk to an adults-only super rich chocolate fudge of which you can only eat a tiny piece.  Now, I have nothing against these new-fangled brownies.  I will pretty much eat and enjoy brownies in any form, cakey, fudgey, with nuts or without.  However, in my humble opinion, a brownie should be chewy, but not fudgy; chocolatey but not overly so.  You should be able to eat a large square or two or three, happily. Moreover, it should be thin and have a crunch on the edge (my favorite part!).  It is the moist chewiness of the brownie that is the distinctive brownie quality.  If it is too cakey or fudgey, then it may be delicious, but it is not really a brownie.

These are so cute, it makes me want to scream.  Fortunately I can overcome that urge by shoving one of these into my mouth

In my quest to get back to the brownie of my childhood, I have tried many many many brownie recipes. Yes, it was hard work but I was happy to make the sacrifice. Most fall on the fudgey rich side.  Finally, I really went back to the brownie of my childhood (and probably yours, too if you are of my generation) and I used the Baker’s brownie recipe.  When I was growing up, Baker’s chocolate was the cooking chocolate of choice.  Indeed it was the only one available.  There was no Vahlrona, Giradelli’s or Scharfenberger chocolate to be had.  And voila!  There it was --the chewy, crispy brownie of remembrance past.  Below is my take on this classic.

You know you want this right now.

Now, the chocolate you use will make a huge difference in the flavor of your brownie.  If you use a very high cocoa content chocolate, then your brownie will have a richer chocolate flavor.  I was partial to Scharfenberger when I lived in Berkeley.  Here in Sweden, there is a limited selection in the normal supermarket so I just get whatever they have. Sometimes, I throw in some semi-sweet chunks of chocolate (the same chocolate I use for the brownies, but chopped into chunks with a knife), just to get in a bit more gooiness, and I also love nuts in mine.  But both are optional.

Finally, brownies go from moist and chewy to dry and overdone in a minute.   Keep on eye on your brownies and start checking about half-way through the time.  If you are using a convection oven, you definitely want to check at least half-way, if not before.  When you insert your toothpick it should come out with moist crumbs sticking to it, but not liquidy.  Much better to err on the underdone side, then overdone.

A nice shiny crust.

I have used a Nordicware pan in the above pictures that molds the brownies into little chocolate bars.  So, you are actually seeing the underside of the brownie.  If you were baking in a normal pan, then you would see the nice shiny crust.

If you have never made brownies before, then know that it is easy. Very easy.  It is so easy, that in fact, I have relinquished my brownie making duties to my 11 year old son.  Which is why I have no pictures of the actual process.

4 ounces (115 grams) semi-sweet chocolate

1 and 1/2 cups (3.5 deciliters) sugar

¾ cup (170 grams) butter

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup (2.5 deciliters) flour

1 cup chopped nuts, either pecans or walnuts, optional

3 to 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks, optional

Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with foil, so that the ends of the foil extend of the sides of the pan, and generously grease.  If you have a non-stick pan which you feel confident about, then you can skip the foil part.  Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, microwave 4 ounces of chocolate with the butter for approximately 2 minutes, until the butter is melted.  The heat of the butter will melt the chocolate. Gently stir the chocolate and butter mixture until the chocolate is completely melted.

Stir the sugar into the chocolate/butter mixture.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Add flour and mix well.  Fold in nuts and chocolate chunks, if desired.

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread batter into the corners.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it.  Start checking the batter at about 20 minutes to make sure that you don't over cook them.  Cool the brownies in the pan.  Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil on the sides as handles.  Peel off the foil and cut into squares.

Let them cool a bit so you don't burn your mouth.  And do share them with your children.  They appreciate that sort of thing. It is generally considered rude to eat the whole pan by yourself.  Especially if your kids made them.

Mom's Cheesecake

When I was in college, my best friend and I would sometimes take my scooter and ride to a little restaurant next to the beach in Aptos.  There, we would ask for one slice of cheesecake, to go.  We would take our shared treat and eat it out on the beach, savoring each precious morsel.  We couldn’t afford to each have a slice of the cake, never mind actually go to the restaurant and have a meal.  But we could, every now and then, eat a slice of that cake, slowly, thoughtfully and with great relish.

However, as good as that cheesecake was, my mother’s cheesecake is, in my view, the best one there is.  It is distinctly not in the style of NewYork cheesecake, so thick, dense, and rich.  It is instead, light and fluffy with just a hint of spice, in the buttery graham cracker crust. Dinstincly moreish.  I made this cheese cake again, not so long ago, wondering if the childhood memory of the cake was better than the actual cake.  Nope, the cheesecake was even better than I remembered!

Crust

1 cup (2.5 dl) graham cracker crumbs (or digestive biscuits—about 7 biscuits)

1/4 cup melted butter (60 grams)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Put the graham crackers or digestive biscuits in a food processor and whizz until the crumbs are fine and evenly sized.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can put the crackers in a bag and whack it with a rolling pin. Add in the melted butter, sugar and spices and mix until well combined. Pat mixture over the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan, up about 1 inch to the sides of the pan.

Filling

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream*

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tbsp flour

¼ tsp salt

1 pound cream cheese (450 grams)

Set the oven at 325 degrees F (165 C).

Take out two large bowls Separate 4 eggs, putting the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Beat egg whites until stiff with 1/4 cup sugar.  Set aside.

In the other bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and foamy, a few minutes.  You will see the yolks lighten in color and become thick. 

Add 1 cup sour cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Beat in 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tbsp flour, and 1/4 tsp salt.  Stir in bit by bit, 1 pound cream cheese.  Beat until smooth.  Fold in  a third of the eggs whites and mix well to lighten the mixture.  Carefully, fold in the remaining egg whites, mixing just enough to combine the mixture but no more.  There can be a few lumps of egg white in the batter.

Pour the cream cheese mixture into pan and use a spatula to make sure the batter fills the pan evenly and smooth the batter on top.  Bake about 1 hour until firm to the touch in the center and golden brown.  The cake will be puffed up and may have cracks in it.  When the cake cools, it will deflate. Cool and then chill in the refrigerator.  Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake before taking off the rim. It tastes great both at room temperature and chilled.

If you must, you could put some lemon zest into the filling.  You could also spread a thin layer of sweetened sourcream over the cake once it has cooled. Some fresh berries will taste wonderful with this cake.

*You can substitue yogurt for the sourcream.  If the yogurt is a thin yogurt, then add an extra tablespoon of flour.

 

Chocolate Kahlua Bundt Cake

Another rainy day here in Sweden....what we need is cake to perk up the spirits!  I seem to be in a Bundt cake phase  The shape makes even the most simplest cake more festive.  And there is no need to do anything fiddly like frosting, because the cakes look great with a simple glaze or just a dusting of powdered sugar.  This recipe is made easier by melting the butter with the cocoa on the stovetop. Without having to cream the butter, you don't even have to take out your mixer.  Just do it by hand with a whisk.

I have taken a classic chocolate Bundt cake recipe and enriched it with Kahlua, a coffee liquer. The coffee flavor justs adds  depth to the chocolate flavor, without taking over.  If you don't have Kahlua, you can substitute some strongly brewed coffee, or even a heaping teaspoon of instant espresso powder mixed with water.

To gild the lily, I have dusted the buttered bundt pan with dried coconut.  It helps the cake release from the pan smoothly, makes a pretty pattern on the cake, and gives some extra flavor.  If you don't like coconut, you can dust with cocoa powder instead.

The cake has a light, moist texture, with a medium chocolate flavor. Eat it as is, with a glass of milk.  Or serve with whipped cream and some berries for a more elegant dessert.

Serves 10
(using a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan)

226 grams (1 cup) butter

28 grams (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
256 grams ( 2 cups) flour
325 grams (1 3/4 cups) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup Kahlua or other coffee liquer
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
a handful of dried coconut

Heat your oven to 180C (350F). In a small pot, put in the butter, cocoa powder, salt and water.  Put it over a medium heat, letting the butter melt, stirring occasionally.

While the cocoa mixture is heating, take out a large bowl and put in the flour, sugar and baking soda.  Stir with a whisk to mix.

Once the butter has melted, stir the cocoa mixture until it is well combined.  Pour the cocoa mixture into the flour mixture, stirring well to combine.  Add the Kahlua and the two eggs and beat with the whisk until it is well combined.  Finally, add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until a smooth batter forms.

Butter your Bundt pan very well, making sure to get all the creases. Throw in a handful of dried coconut and shake it around the pan, making sure that the bottom and sides of the pan are well covered with an even coat.  Shake the pan and toss out any excess coconut.

Fill the pan with the batter, and bake 40 to 50 minutes until a tester comes out clean.  Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes, and then invert it onto a serving dish.

Lemon Bundt Cake for Swedish Midsummer

The Swedes love their strawberries.  And with good reason; Swedish strawberries are delicious.  They are only available in the summer and are sweet with strawberry flavor, totally unlike the industrial grown strawberries that you can get in every grocery store.  At our summer house in the countryside, we have a strawberry grower five minutes up the road.  You can go to his little stand and grab freshly picked berries, or you can even pick them yourself.  They have to be eaten the same day, or maybe you could hold out until the next day.  But after that, they will go bad because they are picked at the perfect ripeness. This is not usually a problem, as my kids attack them as soon as I get home with them.

Swedes especially love stawberries at midsummer.  Because it is early in the season, the strawberries are double the cost that they would be later in the summer, but that does not deter the Swedes as they line up at strawberry stands by the road.  Lack of sun does not deter the Swedes either, as they indulge in their traditional ritual of decorating the midsummer pole with flowers, and it is a good thing too, since a rainy midsummer celebration is par for the course.

The traditional summer cake is a light airy thing made of layers of sponge cake, whipped cream and strawberries.  It is a fine cake but this year, I felt like something a little bit different.  So, I have made a classic American lemon Bundt cake.  Drizzled with lemon syrup and served with strawberries and whipped cream, you can almost taste the sunshine that the weather is failing to bring!

Serves 10 to 12
(using 12 to 15 cup Bundt pan)

For the cake

226 grams (1 cup) butter
300 grams (2 1/2 cups) sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
384 grams ( 3 cups) flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest and juice from 2 lemons
a handful of dried coconut to dust the pan

For the syrup
zest and juice from 1 lemon
50 grams (1/2 cup) sugar

Turn on the oven to 180C (350F).  Prepare your Bundt pan by buttering it very carefully, making sure to get butter in all the creases.  Throw in a handful of dried coconut and shake it around the bank, getting an even layer. Shake out any excess. The coating helps the cake from sticking to the pan and I like to use something that will help the flavor of the cake. If you do not like coconut, you can use dried breadcrumbs, finely chopped almonds or other nuts, or just plain flour.

In a large bowl, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy.  This is easier to do if your butter is at room temperature, but if it isn't, just keep beating it and it will warm up as you are working.  Add the sugar and beat thoroughly.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating very well until incorporated.  The eggs should make the mixture become light and airy.

Add half the flour, the baking soda and salt, vanilla, and the lemon juice and zest.  Beat until just incorporated.  Then add the rest of the flour and the sour cream.  Again, beat until just incorporated but no more.  You don't want to beat out the air and lightness that you incorporated when beating the eggs.

Pour into your prepared cake pan.  Put in the oven and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, prepare the syrup.  Put the lemon juice, zest and sugar into a little pan.  Heat on the stove until the sugar is melted.  Set aside.

When the cake is finished, take a fork or wooden skewer and poke holes in the top.  Spoon 3/4 of the syrup over the cake, trying to avoid getting it down the sides of the pan.  Wait about 15 minutes and let the cake cool down a bit.  Then put your serving plate over the cake pan and flip over the cake and the plate together.  Spoon the rest of the syrup over the top of the cake and let it cool.

Serve with whipped cream and strawberries if it is midsummer!

Chili Con Carne

Chili was from a can when I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in California, served in a bowl with lots of cheese on top. The first time I ever made chili from scratch was, strangely, when I lived in London for the first time.  Made with ground beef and lots of vegetables and served on rice, it was a flavorful and relatively cheap way to serve a crowd.  It has since become a family favorite. I like mine served with some avocado and sour cream on top, the kids like it with lots of chedder cheese.  Either way, it tastes much better than the canned version.

In this recipe, I have used stewing beef, cut into small pieces.  This makes for a luxury version, but I normally just use ground beef, which makes the preparation a bit easier.  Ground chicken would also work well.

Serves 4 to 6
1 kilo stewing beef or ground beef
2 bell peppers
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
2 cans crushed tomatoes (about 500 grams each)
2 cans kidney beans (about 400 grams each)
11/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
about 1 cup water
red chili pepper, if you like

Cut the beef into bite sized pieces.  In a large pot, turn on the stove to high heat, and add oil.  Fry the meat in 3 to 4 batches, putting the meat in the pot in a single layer, browning the outside.  Put the browned meat in a bowl. If the browned bits at the bottom of the pot start to look in danger of burning, then add a few tablespoons of water in between batches. Stir and scrape the bottom of the pan so that all the browned goodness is melted into the water.  Pour the water into the bowl with the rest of the meat. Do not be tempted to add all the meat at once, this will only lead to your meat boiling instead of browning.  If you are using ground beef, use the same procedure.

While the meat is browning, prepare the vegetables.  Peel and chop the onions.  Peel and mince the garlic.  Peel and cut the carrots into bean sized pieces.  Cut the peppers into bean sized pieces, discarding the core.  Once the meat is browned, add the vegetables to the pot and pour the meat and juices back in.  Add the tomatoes and the drained canned beans. Do not be tempted to use the liquid from the beans because while it tastes fine, it is viscous in texture and will add an unpleasant mouth feel to your chili.

Add in all the spices, stir and bring to a boil with the lid on.  Let the chili cook for half an hour and then taste and check the seasoning. Cook the chili for a further half an hour or until the meat is tender.

Slow Cooker Method:  Brown the meat and then put the meat, vegetables, and spices all in the slow cooker and cook according to how long you will be away.  Adjust the seasonings before serving.

Serve hot by itself with any of the following garnishes: cheese, sourcream, chopped onion, chopped avocado, or chopped cilantro. Tortilla chips or cornbread would be delicious with the chili. Alternatively, serve the chili on a bed of rice or on big oven roasted potato wedges. Cut baking potatoes into wedges lengthwise and put on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle liberally with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake in a hot oven for about 45 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown and tender inside.

Snickerdoodles

One of my first cooking memories is of baking cookies with my mother.  Once every couple of weeks, she would tell me to go choose a cookie recipe from the cookbook and we would bake whatever I chose.  There were sugar cookies encrusted with nuts, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and a few times, we even made our own doughnuts.  These cookie journeys with my mother inspired my love of cooking.

I think cookies feature highly in the fantasies of all American children and as an adult, I still crave a warm cookie right out of the oven with a cold glass of milk.  Snickerdoodles are a classic cookie, simple and delicious. These cookies fulfill all my cookie criteria, crisp and cinnamony on the outside and soft and chewy inside, and they go perfectly with that glass of ice cold milk.  My boys love to help roll the cookies and dip them in the cinnamon topping.

Makes about 30 large cookies

Cookie Dough:

1 cup (225 grams) butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey

2 ½ teaspoons vanilla

3 ½ cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

 

Topping:

5 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large bowl, cream butter until fluffy.  Add sugar and beat until combined.  Add eggs, corn syrup and vanilla and mix together.   Mix together the dry ingredients and then beat into egg and sugar mixture.  The mixture will look dry and crumbly but will easily form a big ball.Mix together topping ingredients in a small bowl.

Take walnut sized portions of the dough and roll into a ball with your hands.  Roll the cookies into the topping mixture until it is evenly coated.  Place the balls on a cookie sheet.  Resist the temptation to press the balls down.  They will expand while they are baking.

Bake at 375ºF on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart for 10 to 12 inches until the cookies have spread out and they are golden brown. 

P.S. If you have left-over cinnamon sugar, save it to use on cinnamon toast....