Tag Archives: lemon

Blackberry Jam and Raspberry Lemon Ganache Cake (Gateau Citron avec Ganache)

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A few summers ago, we made a very special someone’s a sophisticated birthday cake. The Black Raspberry Jam Filled Lemon Cake with Ganache was worthy of a birthday and some Beatles Birthday Song chanting. It was really the pinnacle of our cake making. The rich ganache frosting covered a light, lemon cake with a layer of fruit and jam.

With such success,  we had to make this cake, with several new variations. We served our two single layer cakes with a three chocolate ice cream, dark, milk and white chocolate ice cream and a few green and pink balloons nearby. Of the two cakes, we will definitely make the blackberry jam one again. The sun ripened blackberries went so well with the lemony cake, chocolate sauce and blackberry jam.

This time around, we made two single tiered cakes and used both ruby red raspberries and fresh blackberries. Instead of black raspberry jam, we used blackberry jam. Because of the heat, a fluffy ganache frosting was just out of the question. The frosting just would not hold and would melt, so we had more of a ganache sauce. Using an all butter cake mix, we added fresh lemon zest and lemon juice to make the cake semi-homemade and cut down some preparation time.

Isn’t it lovely that some fresh picked berries can be the most simple and elegant decorations to garnish and enhance a cake? Nature’s bounty. Of the two cakes, we will definitely make the blackberry jam one again. It was a true celebration of summer and life. The sun ripened blackberries went so well with the lemony cake, chocolate sauce and blackberry jam.

Adapted from Ina Garten

  • 3/4 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (2 to 3 large lemons)
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 all butter cake mix
  • 1 cups black raspberry jam (any will do)
  • 5 cups Ganache Frosting (recipe below)
  • 1/2 pint of fresh red raspberries
  • 1/2 pint of fresh blackberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans and line with parchment paper (optional). Prepare cake mix as directed (with eggs, butter and water).

Combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, lemon zest with remainder of cake mix batter. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to 35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool 20 minutes before unmolding cakes onto a rack. Let cool completely before filling and icing.  Cover first layer with the blackberry jam and add a layer of ganache to the jam. Pile high blackberries onto the jam and ganache top and then drizzle a bit more ganache sauce.

On the next cake, spread the ganache sauce and refrigerate for 15 minutes until ganache layer is firm. With the berries decorate the top. Refridgerate  both cakes until time to enjoy.




Ganache Frosting

adapted from Alton Brown
Makes about 5 cups
  • 16 ounces semisweet chocolate
  • 16 ounces (2 cups) heavy cream
  • 1/2 stick of unsalted butter

Place the semisweet chocolate into a bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a quart-sized, over stove top begins to simmer; be careful not to allow cream to boil over. Pour the cream over the chocolate, add butter to mixture and stir until smooth. After fully incorporate, chill ganache for an hour before use.


Spicy Linguine with Clams

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We have been talking about linguine and clams for weeks now and finally came to it. Giada’s Spicy Linguine with clams has the nice kick of heat, a touch of lemon and a really nice sauce. The al dente pasta is a nice cushion for the parsley specked, briney, open-faced clams. The salt of the sea was a real taste of summer.  The sea flavored sauce coats the clam shells and pasta well. Really a keeper.

Adapted from Giada de Laurentii

  • 1 pound linguine pasta
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large or 4 small shallots, sliced
  • Kosher salt, for seasoning, plus 2 teaspoons
  • Freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning, plus 1 teaspoon
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup white wine (recommended: Pinot Grigio)
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 12 littleneck clams, cleaned
  • 12 mussels, cleaned

Pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the butter and parsley and toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Sauce: In a large skillet or saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until aromatic. Add the wine and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth, red pepper flakes, clams and mussels. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook until all the shellfish have opened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Discard any unopened shellfish.

Using tongs, remove the shellfish from the pan and reserve. Season the cooking liquid with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Pour the shellfish cooking liquid over the pasta and toss well. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange the reserved shellfish on top of the pasta and serve.

Quick and Easy Apple Tart

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I love the rustic nature of these tarts. We took a few apples, got our mandolin out, pumped up some tunes from Fiona Apple’s new cd and we were ready to slice and puff.

The puff pastry and the thinly sliced apples have a bit of tang from the lemon and are glazed in the natural apple juice and brown sugar. The extra crunch from the turbinado sugar provides another level of texture. The tart is unbelievably simple to make and really provides a wow factor at a dinner party or for tea.

Adapted from Pioneer Woman

  • 1 whole Sheet Puffed Pastry, Cut Into Half Or Thirds
  • 4 Apples, Cored, Halved, And Sliced, But Not Peeled
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • ¼ cup turbinado or sugar in the raw
  • juice of one lemon

Preheat oven to 410 degrees.

Put pastry rectangles onto a baking pan (greased with a bit of butter). Add sugar and salt to the cored and peeled apples. Squeeze juice of one lemon. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes and the sugar and juice to marinate.

Arrange apple slices on the pastry in a straight line, overlapping as you go. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the apple tart. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Cool and serve.

Barefoot Contessa and Stonewall Kitchen Lemon Angel Food and Glaze Mix

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After a fruitful trip to the Stonewall Kitchen’s Portland Company store, we went on the hunt to try another Barefoot Contessa mix. We are huge fans of Barefoot Contessa and Stonewall Kitchen’s Lemon Pound Cake and decided to try the Lemon Angel Food Cake with Glaze.

The cake was nice a fluffy, full of bright lemon flavor and a nice lemon sugar flavored glaze crust. The additional lemon juice and zest really added exponential acidity to counteract the angel food cake’s sweetness.

The juice and zest of two lemons.

Since we do not have fluted pan, we used our spring form pan, which worked well.

The lemon glaze made a nice sugary crust on top of the angel food and provided nice textural contrast.

Lemon Risotto

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I have yet to master risotto, but I decided I would take a shot at it and practice. The cheese, lemony flavor of the risotto was very tasty, however, I still have to get the texture of the rice right. This time around it was a bit chalky tasting still, so more cooking time and broth was required. I will definitely try Nigella’s lemon risotto recipe again.
Adapted from Nigella Lawson

  • 2 shallots or 2 T of onion
  • 1 rib celery
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/3 cups risotto rice
  • Approximately 1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1/2  lemon, zested and juiced
  • 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more, for garnish
  • 4 tablespoons heavy cream
  • black pepper
  • sea salt, to taste

Put the shallots (or onion) and celery into a mini food processor to finely chopped. Heat half the butter, the oil and the shallot (onion) and celery mixture in a  saucepan, and cook to soften the mixture for about 5 minutes. Mix in the rice, stirring to give it a good coating of oil and butter. Meanwhile, heat the stock in another saucepan and keep it at the simmering point.

Put a ladleful of the stock into the rice and keep stirring until the stock is absorbed. Then add another ladleful and stir again. Continue doing this until the rice is al dente.

Mix the lemon zest into the risotto, and in a small bowl mix lemon juice, Parmesan, cream and pepper.

When the risotto is ready – when the rice is no longer chalky, but still has some bite – take it off the heat and add the bowl of lemony mixture, and the remaining butter and salt, to taste..

Butter, onion, celery, oil mixture
Cream and risotto riceParmesean shreds