TWD: Breakfast in Rome Lemon Cake

it has been a very long time since I had breakfast in Rome. Maybe I’ll do it again sometime. But until then I can enjoy this cake from Dorie Greenspan. It is a luscious lemon sponge cake. Very light, very tasty, and very enjoyable.

I added blueberries to mine, but as you can see, they all sank to the bottom of the cake. It doesn’t matter. It was still delicious. I took it to church, and there was only one piece left and everybody said that they enjoyed it. That’s enough for me. I had a half a slice and I thought it was delicious.

This is a sponge cake so you have to whip the egg whites until stiff and then fold them into a very thick cake batter. While it takes time to do all of this, it is well worth the trouble. You should try this one.

The recipe is on page 76 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking with Dorie: sweet, salty, and simple.
See what the other Bakers made this week at Tuesdays with Dorie

 

TWD: Parisian Custard Tart

These days I don’t bake much. Not because I don’t want to but because I don’t need to.

Not that anyone really needs an excuse to bake but because we just don’t eat a lot of sugar.
But I made an exception for this week’s TWD. I HAD to make this tart.
Puff Pastry and vanilla custard. How could you pass that up? So I didn’t.

Puff Pastry is square when it comes out of the box so putting it in a square springform pan just seemed to make sense.

It did take some time. Making the custard is always a challenge to me. I’ve had them curdle on me too often. But I got lucky this time. It came out quite nicely and it was tasty, too. We could have used rum but I chose to use vanilla. And added in some coconut extract as well.

This week we had a choice of this tart or a lemon cake. Next time — the cake.

Who made what this week? Check it out at Tuesdays with Dorie. We are baking from Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty, and Simple by Dorie Greenspan. (p 292).

 

TWD: Apple Season

This is apple season in the NE and other areas of the US. And the apples are delicious, available, and affordable. Perfect for making Dorie’s Caramel Apple Crisp. And it was super easy.

There are three parts to this recipe.

The Caramel Sauce. I could drink this easily!!

The Topping.

The apple prep.

Put those three together and you have a wonderful, not real sweet, and DELICIOUS!!!

It’s wonderful with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream!

The recipe is on page 250 of Dorie’s Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple

Visit Tuesdays with Dorie for more Crisps or see if they made the other choice: Blue Cheese Bites.

 

TWD: ICE CREAM!

When I tell you it has been HOT outside I mean it’s been HOT outside. The heat index has been in the low 100 degrees for the last two weeks. And the rain keeps going around us. I don’t remember it EVER being this hot at this time of the year for so long. And I’m 70+ years old!

I am sure the ice cream companies have been selling a lot of the cold stuff. I was glad I made the coffee cake as my first TWD choice two weeks ago because Dorie’s S’Mores Ice Cream Cake has been real popular for the last two weeks. I wish it had lasted longer.

This cake is layers of three types of ice cream (Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, and Oreo Cookie), fudge sauce, and Peanut Butter Fluff filling. There is a graham cracker crust on the bottom and toasted marshmallows on the top. I had to pull out my little torch for this one.

It does take a long time to put together because it has be frozen between putting the layers together. And then it has to freeze for about 6 hours. But, believe me, it is worth it!

With the heat I bet a lot of the bakers with TWD made the ice cream cake. You can check them out HERE

 

TWD: Coffee Cake

June was just not a baking month for me. So trying to get back into it for July. Starting with Dorie’s Crumb-Topped Ricotta Coffee Cake. It is not real sweet and that is perfect. The blueberries added a little tartness and the crumb topping…oh that crumb topping…adds just the right amount of sweet crunch

It came together very quickly once the crumb topping had been chilled for a while. The addition of the brown sugar to the topping and the cornmeal is what makes it different from other crumb toppings. It was my favorite part of the cake. I even saved some to sprinkle over some ice cream.

And the cake was great with ice cream melted on top.

This is definitely a keeper.

For more coffee cakes visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

 

Cook the Books Friday: Cornmeal cake.

It has been a slow baking month for Tea and Scones. It has just been to hot to cook. With Highs in the lower 100s and Heat Indices in the 105 area turning on the oven just did not seem like a good idea. Unless I wanted to bake really early in the morning. THAT wasn’t going to happen!

We finally had rain today and the temps dropped. Seemed like a good evening to bake. And it seemed a good idea to start back baking with Dorie’s Cornmeal Buttermilk Loaf Cake, with or without berries.

Instead of the loaf I used Dorie’s idea of a skillet cake. Same ingredients. Shorter baking time.

B is a big fan of cornbread. Sweet cornbread. So I figured he would like this cake.

I used Strawberries on his half …

…and blueberries on my half.

This was very good. Not real sweet. I topped with vanilla ice cream or sweet whipped cream.

The recipe is on page 264 of Dorie Greenspan’s Everyday Dorie.

You can find more Cornmeal Cakes at Cook the Books Friday

 

TWD: Lemon-Asparagus Quiche

Tuesdays with Dorie (Greenspan) means something delicious is cooking in the kitchen. This Tuesday it is a quiche. One of my favorite lunch meals. I love a good rich and creamy quiche.

I have to admit I wasn’t sure about this particular recipe. Only because of one ingredient – Lemon. I just wasn’t sure if I would like the lemon in it. But I went with my mantra – Trust Dorie! Trust Dorie!

I only made one change for the recipe. I made the quiche crustless. I’m trying to be ok low carb and still eat delicious foods.

First, you cannot taste the lemon. Second, you couldn’t taste the asparagus. Maybe that was because I put TOO much herb in the dish. Overall I had to say I wasn’t impressed with this one. Sorry, Dorie.

The quiche is on page 332 of Dorie’s Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty and Simple.

This week we had a choice of the Quiche or the Mochaccino Muffins ( I made these for the last TWD for May.)

For more of these treats visit the two lists of comments. (May 10 or May 22)

 

TWD/BWD: Biscuits

Is there anything better than a fresh hot biscuit? Any day? Any occasion? Nope! Nothing!

And trust Dorie to come up with a biscuit with just a little twang to the taste. Cottage Cheese Biscuits.

I am not a fan of cottage cheese. I’ve tried it. Several times. Just cannot like it. But in these biscuits..

I only made 1/2 of the recipe which gave me 5 2.5″ biscuits. I didn’t know if we (or The Man) would like them so I didn’t want to make a whole bunch. That will change next time I make these.

The recipe is on page 46 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking with Dorie Sweet Salty and Simple. I also found the recipe HERE but with added herbs which would be delicious!

How did the other Tuesdays with Dorie Bakers like these biscuits? Check them out!

Next up – French Riviera Lemon Tart!! YUM!!

 

TWD: Cinnamon Puffs

I have been somewhat lax about Tuesdays with Dorie. It is hard to keep baking while trying to lose weight with KETO. Most recipes are NOT Keto friendly and adapting them would not be fair to Dorie and her heavenly creations. But this week I have two teas and wanted a little something extra to serve the ladies who are attending. These One Bite Cinnamon Puffs looked perfect. And they were.

The puffs are made from a simple Pâte à Choux dough. The dough is then puffed onto a baking sheet and baked til they are nice and brown. These are supposed to be sprinkled with some pearl or sanding sugar but I was out so after they were done I used a simple simple cinnamon glaze to finish them off.

The recipe is not published but if you want some step by step photos you should visit Ulrike.

If you want the recipe it is on page 220 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking with Dorie. Just another wonderful baking cookbook from my favorite baker.

This recipe was a February choice but I just didn’t have time. Check out all the other bakers posts on TWD.

 

TWD: Bundt is Better.

As is true with TWD now we have two choices during the month from Baking with Dorie and the choice of what date we make and post which. I didn’t quite make it for the first posting in March but was determined to make the second posting. After all, what is better than a bundt cake. And not just any bundt cake but Dorie’s Swirled, Spiced Source Cream Bundt Cake.

Dorie said she tweaked her original sour cream bundt and added whole wheat flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. She also added more allspice. What she did was make her cake even BETTAH!

I didn’t swirl the cake as much as I should and I didn’t have quite enough nuts but it was still tasty. Nuts and chocolate! How can you go wrong with that?

Eventually I will make the the Glenorchy Flapjacks. They sound delicious.

This cake is on page 105 of Dorie’s Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty and Simple

For more cakes – Tuesdays with Dorie.