Farida's Zebra Cake

Zebra Cake

It has been a while since I blogged.  First, it was my three-week vacation that I extended to two and half months as we were having so much fun.  Then, the two little ones had to deal with jet lag when we returned and this was followed by my 5 year old starting kindergarten. I was more anxious about her first day then she. Just when we were getting into a routine...Ramadan started.  So although late, let me wish everyone Ramadan Kareem and also a very belated happy Onam!

During my vacation, I did absolutely nothing other than enjoy good food and time with my family.  I did jot down some new recipes to share with everyone here. With all the activities that my 5-year old is involved in, I hope to post at least one recipe a week or so.  Hopefully I can keep up.

As I was blog hopping before I went for my vacation, I came across Farida's excellent blog of Azerbaijani food - not something that I was familiar with.  I love her blog - there are some excellent recipes, photos and  some step by step instructions with photos.  The Zebra cake is from her blog.  Although she has corrected her recipe recently, I had made this cake before she had corrected and did reduce the amount of cocoa powder according to my judgement.  The cake came out perfectly and I was dying to cut it to see the zebra stripes.  I am definitely going to make this cake again; although I might experiment and tweak it a bit.  Maybe add lemon or orange zest or perhaps use almond extract instead of vanilla.  If these adjustments work out, I will surely update this post.  Until then, all I have to say is thank you Farida for posting and sharing the recipe for this beautiful cake.  

Like Farida says - Nush Olsun! Enjoy!

This photo is going to Jugalbandi for this months click event, the theme is crust

Ingredients: 

• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  
• 1 cup/8oz/250g granulated sugar
  
• 1 cup/8 fl oz/250 ml milk, at room temperature
  
• 1 cup/8 fl oz/250 ml oil 
  
• 1/3 tsp vanilla extract/powder
  
• 2 cups/10 oz /300g all purpose flour
  
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tbsps dark cocoa powder
  

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C

In a large bowl, combine eggs and sugar.  Using a hand held electric mixer or wire whisk beat until the mixture is creamy and light in color.

Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended.

Add vanilla powder/extract and baking powder to the mixture.  Gradually add the flour and beat until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are mixed well.

Divide the mixture into 2 equal parts.  Keep one portion as it is and add cocoa powder to the other and mix well.

Lightly grease the cake pan with oil/butter or PAM for baking spray.

Next is the most time consuming part, but it is worth every minute.

Start with 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoons of the cocoa batter and pour it in the center and on top of the plain batter.  Do not tilt the pan, the mixture will spread on it's own and fill the pan.  Continue this way till you finish both batters.  There are some excellent step by step pictures in Farida's AZcooking blog check them here.

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes  or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Farida says do not open the oven door at least for the first 20 minutes or the cake will shrink and not rise.

    Enjoy!

Lemon Almond Tart

Lemon Almond Tart 

I had couple of friends come over for lunch.  As I was planning the menu for lunch, I realized that one didn't like chocolate and the other didn't like anything fruity for dessert.  I was stumped - what can I make for dessert that both of them will enjoy.  None of the recipes in my extensive collection gave me any ideas.  

Then as I was strolling in the supermarket to get some inspiration, I found this lovely book on tarts.  It is called TARTS written by Sarah Banbery.  The book was on sale and is worth every penny(look at the price here). I have baked few of the tarts and they have all been magnificent. There are savory tart, fruity tarts, a mixture of first course individual and cocktail size tartlets. There are some useful tips that apply to all recipes which help make your dough success every time.  Here are the tips...

TIPS:

• Allow a little more butter and flour than the amount stated in the recipe, extra flour for rolling out the dough, and a little additional butter to grease the tart pan.
  
• Always roll out the dough and line the pan before chilling, as this will stop the dough from shrinking.  In this way you can trim the dough edges before baking to give a neat finishing edge.  Always chill dough before cooking.
  
• Keep the raw dough trimmings to plug any cracks or small holes, which may appear after baking the tart blind. Simply press a little of the raw dough into the crack and the heat of the cooked pastry will fix it in place.
  
• Preheat the oven with a heavy baking sheet in it on which the tart shell can be placed. THis will cook the dough better and makes it easier to get the tart in and out of the oven.
  
• To bake blind, use parchment paper, which you can scrunch up then smooth out to fit into the tart snugly.
  
• Use large eggs
  
• The butter and water for the dough should always be as cold as possible and the flour should always be shifted.
  
• If not using the food processor simply sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and rub in the butter by hand.

This tart has a beautiful texture that comes from the almonds.  The almonds gives a nutty flavor to this otherwise tart tart.  It is different from the classic French Tart Au Citron, which has a smooth filling.  This tart is lovely with a hot cup of tea or coffee and can be served warm or cold.

Ingredients:

Pie Dough

• 11/8 cups of all purpose flour
  
• pinch of salt
  
• 31/2oz/100g cold butter, cut into pieces
  
• 2 tbsps superfine sugar
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
• cold water
  

Filling

• 3 lemons
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1/2 cups superfine sugar
  
• 11/2 cups ground almonds
  
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
  
• 1/3 cup water
  

Method:

Lightly grease a 9 inch/22 cm loose bottom fluted tart pan.  

Sift the flour and salt into a food processor, add the butter, process until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. (I used my clean hands to do this)

Tip the mixture into a large bowl, add the sugar and egg yolk, and a little cold water, just enough to bring the dough together (most probably you won't need water, but if you do, then put only few drops at a time)

Turn out onto a counter dusted with flour and roll the dough 3 1/4 inches/8 cm larger than the pan.  Carefully lift the dough into the pan and press to fit. 

Roll the rolling pin over the pan to neaten the edges and trim the excess dough.  Fit a piece of parchment paper into the tart shell, fill with dried beans, and let chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F/190C

Remove the pastry shell from the refrigerator and bake blind for 10 minutes in the preheated oven then remove the beans and paper and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Put the juice and finely grated rind of 3 of the lemons in a large bowl and the eggs, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the ground almonds, and the cream, whisking to combine.  Pour into the pastry shell and bake for 25 minutes.  

Remove the tart from the oven.  Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.

Note:

In the recipe, the author makes a topping with lemon slices and sugar.  I didn't do this as I didn't want to add more calories to the tart.  But you can take it a step further... here is how she did it.

Ingredients for the topping:

2 Lemons,

1 cup super fine sugar.

Method:

Thinly slice the remaining 2 lemons discarding the seeds and ends.  Put the remaining sugar and water in a pan and heat until the sugar is melted.  Let simmer for 5 minutes, add the lemon slices and boil for 10 minutes.   Arrange the lemon slices over the surface in a spiral pattern.  Drizzle the remaining lemon syrup over the slices.  Serve warm or cold.

The top most picture is going for Click the food photography event hosted by Bee and Jai @ Jugalbandi.  This months theme is yellow for Bri and is a fundraiser for food blogger Bri from Figs with Bri. (See my previous post)

Also this is my last post for this month, I am going on vacation and will be back by mid July.