Lemon Bundt Cake

It has been the winter of citrus and babies.  Everyone is announcing pregnancies as ripe fruit keeps falling from full branches.  For me, they are intrinsically linked, as I run off to pick up a pound of grapefruit at 10 pm for the sixth time.

I don't think I have ever eaten so much citrus in my life, slicing them over salad, boiling them for cakes, juicing them in the morning, and scooping them straight out with a spoon for a midnight snack.  Something deep within you desires citrus in the winter, little rays of sunshine send up from the south, reminding us that it's warm somewhere, and it will be so again here.  

Lemons make people happy.  It's counter intuitive, a fruit that makes you physically grimace making you emotionally smile.  But it does.  The sour wakes up your tongue, and the scent makes the house sing.  Especially when you add sugar and bake those lemons up in a bundt cake.

Try being grumpy while eating a slice of bundt cake, drizzled in a sugary lemon glaze.  It's about as impossible as being grumpy while watching a baby smile.  And these citrusy, pregnant winters give way to juicy strawberries and spring babies, and that's really something to smile about.

Lemon Bundt Cake

Serves 6-8

 

1 c + 2 T butter

1 c sugar

pinch salt

zest of 1 lemon 

1 t vanilla

4 eggs

1 2/3 c flour

6 T cornstarch

2 t baking powder

For the glaze:

1 1/4 c powdered sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bundt pan and dust with flour.

Cream butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest, and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Gradually add eggs, and mix until combined.

Sift flour, corn starch, and baking powder together.  While mixing, add the dry ingredients to the wet.  Continue to mix until batter is smooth.

Pour batter in prepared pan, and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.  Cool in a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a smooth glaze.  Pour over cake and serve.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

When I go into a bookstore, I make a beeline for the cookbooks.  I could spend all day paging through instructions for baking the perfect cakes and tarts, braising tender meats, and sauteing fresh vegetables.  My favorites are the ones with large, glossy photographs.  I assume it's how some people feel with the latest fashion magazines.  The bright colors, the perfectly arranged dishes, just waiting for you to dig in - I soak them in.  And like the novels I read under the covers, flipping pages eagerly to see what happens next, I can't put them down.

 

So it's no wonder that Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbooks call to me from across a room.  His recipes are adorned with whimsical stories, his pictures vibrant and inviting.  You can hardly go wrong with any of his dishes, all reminiscent of his childhood in Israel.  This one comes with a tale about a cafe called Ella's in Tel Aviv and their legendary sweet potato pancakes.  If this version that Ottolengh imagined is anything like the originals, I understand the legend.  The savory and sweet cakes are are crisped up in butter, and eating them with your fingers straight out of the pan is what I imagine people must do all day in heaven.

Sweet Potato Pancakes
Serves 4

2 1/4 lbs sweet potatoes, cubed
2 t soy sauce
3/4 c flour
1 t salt
1/2 t sugar
3 T chopped scallions
1/2 t dried chili flakes
butter

Steam sweet potatoes until completely soft, about an hour.  Drain in a colander for at least another hour.

Place drained sweet potatoes in a bowl, and add the rest of the ingredients.  Mix everything together by hand; do not over mix.  Dough will be sticky.

Melt some butter in a deep frying pan.  For each cake, add a tablespoon of batter to the pan, and flatten with the back of a spoon.  Fry over medium heat for about 6 minutes on each side, or until browned.  Drain on a paper towel before serving, or gobble them up straight.

Orange-Scented Olive Oil Cake

Three and a half years ago, we had just moved into our first place together, a one-bedroom apartment in North Berkeley.  We were new to California, and we had no friends or family nearby.  I was looking for a job, and we had no income until Sarah's grad student stipend came in August.  

And then one day, we heard a knock on the door.  Anna was new to town, too, living upstairs in a studio apartment, and wanted to share the cost of our wireless internet.  Turned out she was a first year graduate student as well, had two adorable cats, and liked food as much as us.  And just like that, we had a neighbor and a friend.

Over the next year, we ate cookies and played games together, and we met Kyle when he came along.  By the next summer, we had all moved on to bigger and better living situations, but we stayed in touch.  We took hikes, ate dinner, and they watched our cat when we went to Germany.  They celebrated our marriage with us in the fall, and the next summer, we were celebrating theirs.

They recently had us over for dinner.  They made pizza, the logistics of which were somewhat complicated.  The sauce had a funny taste, and the crust would not slide into the hot over.  However, everything was delicious, and the conversation, as always, was delightful.

And I brought the cake.  A sweet winter cake with subtle orange and olive oil flavors.  A moist cake with a sugary glaze.  A cake that is the perfect ending to an evening with friends, friends who may not be your closest and with whom you may fall out of touch, but who shared your first year 3,000 miles from anywhere and with whom you'll always share your baked goods.

Orange-Scented Olive Oil Cake

Serves 8-12

2 oranges
2 1/3 c sugar
2 1/2 c four
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla
4 eggs
6 T olive oil
1/4 c fresh orange juice
1/4 c powdered sugar

Trim the tops and bottoms of the oranges.  Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot, and add the oranges.  Bring water back to a boil.  Drain, and repeat twice more.  After draining for the third time, return oranges to pot with 1 cup of sugar and 4 cups of water.  Cook, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and orange rind can be easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes.  Let cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 10 inch cake pan with butter and flour.  Whisk flour, baking powder, and baking soda together and set aside.

Remove oranges from syrup, and discard any seeds.  Pulse oranges in a food processor until you have a chunky puree.  Place puree in a large bowl, and mix in remaining sugar, flour mixture, vanilla, and eggs.  Add olive oil slowing, mixing until combined.  Pour batter into pan, and bake until the middle is cooked, about 45 minutes.  Let cool for 30 minutes.

Whisk orange juice and powdered sugar together to make a thin glaze.  Remove cake from pan and place on plate.  Pour glaze over top and sides of cake, and let cool completely before serving.