montcarte

Okay, this will be the last pumpkin post for the next little while (though I still have something pumpkiny on the backburner!), and it’s probably something everyone has a favourite recipe for: pumpkin spice loaf.

However, I have yet to find my favourite version, so I keep trying ones that sound perfectly spiced and full of pumpkin flavour. This one, from Chowtimes, comes pretty close. I knew I wanted to have fresh cranberries in there, and I thought all the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in this recipe would stand up to all the cranberry. They certainly did, though next time I would increase the spice amounts just a bit.

I made two different types of loaf. In one I added chocolate chips and in the other, chopped walnuts. I definitely preferred the chocolate chip one, as the dark chocolate was perfect against the cranberry and meshed nicely with the cinnamon and pumpkin. The walnut was good, but would’ve been even better with a drizzle of cinnamon frosting or something to sweeten it up a little.

Both loaved baked up wonderfully, making the kitchen smell nice and spicy! They were moist and the pumpkin flavour wasn’t overpowering. All in all, this is a great go-to recipe whenever you’ve got some pumpkin puree on hand and an itch for a pumpkin spice bread.

Pumpkin Spice Cranberry Bread with Walnuts and/or Chocolate Chips
adapted from Chowtimes
makes 2 loaves

1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (or 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/2 cup apple sauce)
3 large eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup chopped walnuts
and/or
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour two 9×5×3 inch loaf pans.

2. Beat sugar and oil in a large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin.

3. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.

4. Mix in cranberries, walnuts and /or chocolate chips.

5. Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Using a spatula, loosen the edge around the loaves. Turn the loaves out onto racks and cool completely.

If you like this, you might also like:

Lemon-Drenched Lemon Cake
Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze
Orange-Spice Pumpkin Bars with Browned Butter Frosting

This past weekend, Soli and I walked up to the Jean-Talon market here to take advantage of all the fresh and in-season produce available. With armloads full of plump, sweet tomatoes, basil, corn, cucumbers, radishes, red peppers, carrots and eggplant, we had to take a taxi back home. Once at home, Soli went right to work making a chicken stock, using the carcass of a beautiful chicken he had roasted himself the night before. We’ll be eating a fantastic vegetable-chicken soup for days now!

But that’s besides the point. While he was preparing his stock, I was scouring my bookmarks, looking for a dish I could prepare that used some of this fresh, amazing produce. I found this, on Simmer Till Done’s site…What better fits the bill than an upside down tomato-basil bread, peppery dough spirals filled with basil, parmesan, red pepper flakes and olive oil baked on top of fresh tomatoes to create an upside-down bread that is spicy, salty, cheesy and filled with the sweetness of tomatoes. It pulls apart easily, almost like monkey bread and is the perfect side for any autumn meal.

The original recipe called for one tablespoon of black pepper in the dough, and I found the bread much too peppery with that amount, so I made the change to one teaspoon. Additionally, the original recipe asked for 1/2 cup of olive oil in the filling mixture, but when I rolled the dough up like a jelly roll, most of the oil just squished out onto the cutting board, so I cut the amount by half. Everything else, I would keep the same! It’s such a savory bread, packed with flavours that all complement each other wonderfully. I really adore this bread and will definitely make it again.

Tomato-Basil Upside Down Bread
adapted from Simmer Till Done

DOUGH
2 1/2 teaspoons (or 1 package) active dry yeast
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons warm water
4 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (or three-pepper mix)

BASIL PARMESAN FILLING
4 – 5 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped (basil from store produce pkg, about 1 oz)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper (or three-pepper mix)
fresh-ground red pepper flakes, to your more hot/less hot taste -or- 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

TOMATO TOPPING
3 large or 4 small-medium tomatoes (or about 12 plum tomatoes)
optional for sprinkling: 1/4 teaspoon each: sea salt, sugar, red pepper flakes (which I didn’t add, as it seemed the bread and filling would be salty and peppery enough as is)

BREAD DOUGH
1. Using mixer: Stir the yeast into warm water in mixer bowl; let stand about 10 minutes, until yeast looks bubbled and creamy. Fit mixer with dough hook.

2. Stir in olive oil first, combining with yeast, then mix in flour, Parmesan cheese, sea salt, ground black pepper and hot pepper flakes. Start mixing on low and increase to medium speed, kneading about 5 minutes, until dough is combined, soft and elastic.

(If dough looks too dry: add water while mixer kneads, few drops at a time, until dough just combines. If dough looks too wet: add tiny dashes of flour while mixer kneads, sparingly, until sides of bowl look clean and dough combines.)

3. Place dough in lightly oiled bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap, then dish towel. Set aside and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. Dough should feel very smooth, moist and soft.

While dough rises, make filling & tomato topping.

BASIL PARMESAN FILLING
1. In small bowl, place chopped fresh basil, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, sea salt, ground pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well, and set aside.

TOMATO TOPPING
Remove cores and chop tomatoes to small, rough pieces. Place in bowl (without accumulated liquid) and set aside.

ASSEMBLE TOMATO BASIL BREAD
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2. Lightly oil (with olive oil) bottom and sides of 10″ round cake or springform pan (can also use 9 x 13 metal pan, Pyrex dish, or similar). Drain any excess juices from chopped tomatoes, then spread evenly over bottom of pan. Set aside.

3. Turn risen bread dough out on lightly floured surface. Gently pull and stretch dough to a rough rectangle, approximately 11″ x 24″. Using spatula, gently spread Filling evenly across dough to cover, reaching edges. Starting at long edge, roll dough up jelly roll style, as for cinnamon rolls. Try to roll evenly and without air gaps. With seam side facing down, make sure filled roll is solid and combined by patting sides and edges.

4. Using a thin, sharp knife (serrated is best) cut 1″ slices from dough roll. Arrange slices, spiral side down, on top of chopped tomatoes in prepared pan. In a 10″ round pan, you will have little to no room between slices (if using a larger pan, arrange slices barely touching, with small amounts of space between them.) Cover lightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise slightly, about 20 minutes.

5. Place filled pan on wider sheet pan or foil (important – to catch drips!) Bake on lower rack 40 – 45 minutes, until top rolls are medium brown, feel hollow when tapped, and tomato juices have bubbled and thickened. Remove from oven and cool on rack for 5 minutes.

6. To unmold & serve: Have a platter or cake stand ready that is wider than the bread pan. Cover browned top of rolls with platter or stand (pan will still be warm, use oven mitt.) Holding platter to pan together, turn over in one motion until pan is upside down. Use a knife to carefully lift pan from bread, releasing steam slowly. After releasing initial steam, lift pan off completely, revealing tomato-topped bread. Serve immediately.

7. If you’d like darker edges and more caramelization – it’s beautiful and delicious that way – preheat the broiler. When hot, mix together optional sea salt, sugar and red pepper flakes. Slide whole bread onto a sheet pan, then sprinkle salt mixture over tomato topping. Place under broiler for 1 – 2 minutes, watching carefully, until tomatoes sizzle and edges blacken. Remove and serve.

If you like this, you might also like:

Tomato Tart (or Tarte à la tomate)
Cottage Cheese Dill Bread
Tomato Soup with Rice

It’s difficult to make a bad banana bread. They’re a very forgiving quickbread, but that doesn’t mean they’re always excellent. This one, however, is. It’s my banana bread go-to recipe.

The original recipe asks for pecans, which I have used, and loved! They become crunchy and almost candylike in the bread. This time, I had some leftover hazelnuts, so I used those instead. Pretty much any nut, dried fruit or chocolate can be thrown in here, and the end result will be fantastic.

My favourite thing about this recipe is how some of the bananas are barley mashed, so they’re still quite lumpy. Then they’re added at the end, so it gives the bread chunks of moist bananas throughout.

Banana Bread with Hazelnuts
adapted from Tyler Florence’s Banana Bread with Pecans
Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled (I used 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup vegetable oil)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup hazelnuts, finely chopped (the original recipe calls for pecans, which I also love!)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

4. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don’t get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that’s no mistake, it’s typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

5. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. Toast the slices of banana bread, dust with confectioners’ sugar, and serve.

Do you have a favourite banana bread recipe? I’d love to put another good one on the banana-roster!

Oh! And don’t forget the giveway, one post down. Just two more days!

I saw this recipe on two of my favourite food blogs – I figured if both of them liked it, I was bound to love it. And love it, I did.

It’s no secret that I love citrus desserts…so when I heard rave reviews from star bakers, and since I’ve loved everything that I’ve made from Dorie’s cookbook so far, this recipe climbed the top of my must-bake charts. And thank goodness it did!

I tried the rum drench on a different cake I made, and wasn’t entirely impressed. This entire recipe, due to that, would’ve been stricken from my bake-list, but on faith, I gave the entire (lemon version) a go.

This is a divine and grown-up cake. Its texture is perfect – airy, with a bit of sophisticated crumb, and a dense, chewy top (due to the lemon syrup). The cake itself wasn’t super-lemony (even after I changed the recipe a bit to include lemon juice in the cake itself), but lightly lemony. Combined with the tart lemon glaze on top, it makes for a fantastic, light cake with bits of dense tartness. Just perfect!

If I am to judge desserts by the Soli-proclaimed non-dessert lover Soli, then we have a winner. He ate half of a loaf in one sitting!

And I will eat the other half.
In half a sitting. Or less…

Lemon Drenched Lemon Cakes
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

CAKES
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
2 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 plump, moist vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved, or 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
2/3 cups heavy cream
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of two lemons, finely grated
1 stick, plus 7 Tablespoons (15 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

SYRUP
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
juice of two lemons

CAKES
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8 1/2-4 1/2-inch loaf pans, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Even if the pans are nonstick, it’s a good idea to butter and flour them. Place the pans on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular sheets stacked one on top of the other.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Put the sugar and the lemon zest in a large bowl, working with your fingers, rub them together until the sugar is moist and thoroughly imbued with the fragrance of lemon. Add the vanilla bean seeds and work them into the sugar. If you are using vanilla extract, add it later, after you have added the eggs.

4. Add the eggs and whisk them into the sugar, beating until they are thoroughly incorporated. Whisk in the extract (if using), then whisk in the cream, followed by the lemon juice. Continuing with the whisk, or switching to a large rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions; the batter will be smooth and thick. Finish by folding in the melted butter in 2 or 3 additions. Pour the batter into the pans, smoothing with a rubber spatula.

5. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. As soon as the cake goes into the oven, make the syrup. After about 30 minutes in the oven, check the cakes for color- if they are browning too quickly, cover them lightly with foil tents.

SYRUP
1. Making the syrup: Stir the water, two strips of lemon zest and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil.

2. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.

1. When the cakes test done, transfer them to a wire rack to cool for 5 (the first one stuck – I suggest leaving them until completely cooled…) minutes before unmolding them and turning them right side up on the rack. Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and, using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-bladed sharp knife, poke holes all over the cakes.

2. Brush the cakes all over with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up. Leave the cakes on the rack to cool to room temperature.

I am not a formally trained chef. Actually, I think the only things I’ve formally learned regarding food came from a Home Economics class back in High School. Would you like to eat a firm scone in crookedly collared sweatshirt? I learned out of necessity (no surprise if you know me at all). I remember… hungry, young, broke or lazy or both… and all I’ve got is a zucchini and a tomato. What to do?

Each and every “hungry, young, broke or lazy or both” challenge brought me closer to understanding the nature of flavor locked inside every morsel of complied energy available in and around my kitchen (um i.e. zucchini).

Enter the sandwich… a complication of the “now”:

Fancy Sandwich
1 French baguette
1 zucchini
1 bunch asparagus
1 tomato
4 eggs
2 green (spring) onions
½ cup of cheese (your choice)
butter
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1 tbs hot mustard
1 tbs polish mayo (sweeter than regular)
salt
pepper

Ok, take the zucchini and asparagus and slice, snap, and roast (350F 10 minutes). Take the tomato and onions, slice and dice, and mix with mustard, mayo, salt and pepper (add salt and pepper everywhere as you move through all these ingredients). Crack and whisk your eggs, add the cheese (grated), and cook in melted butter. Rremember, less in more when it comes to heat and eggs (I understand that an egg can be slow poached for hour or more!).

Cut the baguette in half, brush with the olive, and toast at 225F for 5-7 minutes (I slightly over baked mine – crispity crush). Remove from the over and rub with a garlic glove.

The flavors of this sandwich were exquisite. Very delicate and moist. The zucchini and asparagus marry very well. The “salad” bridges the profile by refreshing the palate and carrying the flavor of the rich, cheesy egg across the entire spectrum… t’was impossible to stop eating

Plate it on a tea towel as one big bad-ass sandwich; take a picture; write a post.

I hate eggs. Can’t stand them, especially perfectly poached, atop a crispy French baked starch, delicate, slightly sweet, partial to the moment, and often impossible to resurrect. Who wants that?

No, no, love them…

I only recently learned that you can take a pound of mushrooms, cook them, and eat them, so mushroom duxelle is becoming my Marmite, only delicious (kidding, actually sorta like Marmite).

Mushroom Duxelle
1 lbs mushrooms (your choice)
2 tbs butter
salt
pepper
¼ cup wine or 2 ounces of vodka (optional as this is breakfast)

Heat skillet; add very clean, finely chopped mushrooms, salt, and butter (the butter, seeing as the mushrooms won’t stick in the beginning, can be added at the end). Give it 10 -15 with some good heat behind it. Add a good splash of wine and move it around until it reduces.

I’ve reviewed poaching eggs before, try Eggs if you need to follow up.

The croutons… don’t know what happened, by a stroke of tasty genius hit me. These are, by far, the best crouton ever! But they are somewhat rich, so maybe they won’t fly in all crouton-ish applications.

Fried Croutons
French Baguette (in France them just call them baguettes)
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

So cut up your fresh baguette into pieces the size you like, but not too small. We are going to need a bit of moisture and a small piece would dry out too quickly. Melt the butter in a bowl large enough to hold all your croutons. Add the oil, salt, and pepper, and whisk it up. Toss your croutons in the quasi-emulsion. Bake in an toaster over (or oven) at 350F for about 15 minutes.

Using this method, the croutons fry while toasting. I can’t say I’m sure, but it seems the butter adds a light nutty flavor and nice kind of crispy browning while the olive oil goes the distance in adding a firm chewiness.

Plate up! and DO NOT go back to bed; common problem I have – rich sleepy weekend breakfasts that insist Monday race itself back. This dish is light and breezy. Out the door and off to market

ADD: Omitted from this post was the drizzle of truffle oil to finish. Truffle oil is the best money you can spend, if you think you like truffles. Dizzle here, teaspoon there, infusions, finisher, starter, star and support, pfft… anyway. I hate to know there is none in the kitch.

Lemon loaves and cakes are among my favourite desserts, so I decided to prepare the lemon bread recipe I like best. However, I soon discovered I seriously misplaced the cookbook the recipe exists in. I opted to give another recipe a try, and this one is as good as the other one I know and love (and lost).

The recipe is just for a lemon loaf, but I wanted to make it a bit more dynamic, so I added a whole of of blueberries to it. Lemon loaf without blueberries is great. Lemon loaf with blueberries is even better! My favourite part of this loaf is the glaze, and I wouldn’t do without it. I like my glaze a bit tarter, so I added some extra lemon juice to the mixture.

The resulting bread is excellent. Wonderfully moist, with light lemon flavour and blueberry bursts. It’s simple to prepare, and I love it.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze
adapted from Grandma’s Touch

LOAF
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp grated lemon rind (I probably added about 3 tbsp)
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups blueberries, lightly tossed in flour (I used almost 2 cups)

GLAZE
3 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

LOAF
1. Cream butter. Gradually blend in sugar and eggs. Beat until light and fluffy.

2. In a separate bowl, blend together flour, baking powder, salt and lemon rind.

3. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with milk.

4. Gently stir in blueberries.

5. Turn batter into a greased 5 x 9″ loaf pan.

6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 – 60 minutes or until loaf springs back when lightly touched. Cool on cake ack for 5 minutes.

GLAZE
1. Combine sugar and lemon juice. Pierce loaf all over with a skewer and pour lemon mixture over the hot loaf.

When cool, remove loaf from pan.

I love making sweet quickbreads, and I love eating them. Banana, lemon, gingerbread, cherry…I’ll make and eat any loaf that comes my way. And I think I’ve found my new favourite – Dorie Greenspan’s Fresh Mango Bread.

Since mangoes are in season right now and especially delicious, I thought it was time to give this recipe a try. Am I ever glad I did! This is definitely more along the lines of a sweet loaf than a bread; moist, bursting with flavour and filled with mango chunks. The crust of the loaf gets wonderfully crisp, giving it a crunchy, gingerbready feel, and the centre of the loaf is dense and moist – it’s a great combination of textures, as well as flavours. The mangoes stand out brightly, the raisins give little bursts of sweetness, and the ginger complements both fruits perfectly.

I did make some changes to the recipe, but they were very minor. I used vegetable oil, freshly grated ginger instead of ground, and didn’t use lime zest (because I didn’t have any – next time, I definitely will, as I think it must add a lot to the bread). Next time, I may use some of mango-applesauce to replace some of the oil.

Without further ado – the recipe for this mouth-watering bread.

Fresh Mango Bread
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

3 large eggs
3/4 cup flavourless oil, such as canola or safflower oil (I used vegetable)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (I used the same amount of freshly grated ginger)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 cups diced mango
3/4 cup golden raisins
grated zest of 1/2 a lime

1. Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350′. Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

2. Whisk the eggs and oil together.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in.

4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to s sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended. The batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come together.

5. Stir in the mango, raisins and zest. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

6. Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. (If the bread looks as if it’s getting too brown as it bakes, cover it loosely with a foil tent.)

7. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool 5 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

This past weekend, I was in charge of making my aunt’s birthday cake. I chose what I thought would be a relatively simple one that would be perfect for a spring birthday: Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake. Though I did hit some snags with the cake along the way, it ended out being a great choice. Very light, and bright the the flavour of lemon. I am a fan of all lemon desserts, and this one did not disappoint. The cake is buttery and slightly crunchy with all the poppy seeds, the filling tart, and the icing absolutely wonderful. In fact, the lemon frosting was my favourite part, and I know I will be using the frosting recipe over and over for a variety of desserts.

So – where did it all go wrong?

First of all, the cakes didn’t really rise enough to cut into half. This was okay though – a two layer cake is fine with me. Perhaps next time I’ll make a third cake layer and turn this into a three-layer cake, but it did work with the two. Besides for the not rising thing, the cakes were fantastically moist and flavourful.

Second, the recipe suggests greasing and flouring the cake pan. Well, I did this, and the first cake (thankfully I only have one 9″ pan, so I was making one cake at a time) stuck to the bottom, making it completely impossible to remove. I had to make a third cake, and this time, lined the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. The cakes popped right out that way.

Third, the lemon filling was more of a glaze – it didn’t thicken enough. It wasn’t awful – it soaked through the bottom layer of the cake, making it quite moist and lemony. Not a problem! Next time, I would use a recipe for a more successful lemon curd, or I would use this filling as a glaze and then spread some frosting on top of it.

The cake was enjoyed by all, and I fell in love with the frosting. I had leftover “filling,” so I drizzled a tablespoon over each slice of cake as well.

Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake
adapted from Robin Hood’s Baking Festival

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Two 9″ round cake pans, greased and floured (I greased the pans and lined the bottoms with parchment paper)

CAKE
2 cups all-purpose flour (or 2 ¼ cups cake-and-pastry flour)
1 tbsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 1/3 cups butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp vanilla
4 eggs
½ cup milk
¼ cup poppy seeds

FILLING
2 eggs
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup butter, softened

FROSTING
½ cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ cup light (10%) cream

CAKE
1. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Cream butter in a large bowl on medium speed of an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add dry ingredients alternately with the milk, mixing lightly just to blend. Fold in poppy seeds
4. Spread batter evenly in prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely.

FILLING
1. Beat together eggs, lemon zest, juice and sugar in small saucepan. Add butter
2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Cool Completely. Mixture will thicken upon cooling. (Prepare several days ahead, if desired. Refrigerate until using)

FROSTING
1. Beat together all ingredients until smooth and creamy (I had to add some extra lemon juice to bring it to a spreadable consistency)

ASSEMBLY
1. Cut cake layers in half horizontally to make four layers.
2. Place on layer on serving plate. Spread half of the filling on top of it.
3. Place second cake layer over filling and spread that one with some frosting.
4. Place third cake layer on top of frosting and spread the remaining filling.
5. Top with the last cake layer. Cover sides and top of cake with the frosting.

Enough desserts!

Okay, not really…I doubt there can ever be too much dessert. But just so we put out the appearance of being well-balanced people who eat a variety of foods, I’m going to step away from the sugar-loaded posts for a minute.

One of my favourite kitchen appliances is my bread machine. Perhaps bakers who insist on baking bread the traditional way shudder at the thought, but it really is great to get home from work, throw some flour and yeast into my bread machine, and four hours later, be munching on fresh bread.

I have lots and lots of favourite recipes I use in my machine, and this one is in the top five. Slightly tangy, a little sweet, and with a nice, light texture, it makes a great sandwich bread.

Cottage Cheese Dill Bread
(makes a 2lb loaf)

1 1/3 cups water
½ cup low-fat cottage cheese (try to choose a creamy or small-curd cheese)
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp shortening
3 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (or bread flour, in the US)
2 tbsp snipped fresh dill
1 ¼ tsp bread machine yeast

1. Measure ingredients into baking pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

2. Insert pan into the oven chamber.

3. Select Basic Cycle

So easy, and this bread comes out great every time!