Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Lemon Pound Cake

Yum! I could not wait to make this delish cake, but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it until last night. Sorry that I am one day late....and I should let you know that I haven't yet been able to take a picture - so hopefully there will be some left by tomorrow so I can upload some shots.

What an easy recipe and simply yummy. I baked the cake for 55 minutes and it was done to perfection. I made no modifications. With a little whipped cream and some strawberries....delish!

Can anyone tell me what they did with their lemons? I'd hate to throw them away....

Until next week beauties, happy baking!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Boca Negra

So, I have determined that I have an unequipped kitchen. Tina, the professional chef probably would have told you this many years ago. However, I thought that I had enough stuff to get me by. However, since starting this "challenge" I have come to realize that I need to go to Caynes to buy some much needed kitchen items.


This challenge requires a cake pan and a roasting pan, both of which I don't own. So, I used my spring form pan which was 9.5 inches. The only other item that I owned which this pan would fit into was a baking sheet - not quite high enough for water to be of any significance. Plus, when I attempted to put water in it - it just leaked through my pan -disaster number one. Luckily I had some foresight and hadn't added the cake mixture into my pan.

My arms were extremely sore from stirring, stirring and more stirring. I thought that the butter pieces would never end. I exchanged Canadian Club for bourbon, since we didn't have any on hand. The syrup was nice and fragrant and added a nice touch to the end result.

I decided not to make the white-chocolate cream, I thought it would be a little too sweet and would make whipped cream instead. Plus I am not a huge fan of white chocolate.


I placed my pan in the oven with a pot of water in the rack below. I had called Tina for some advice since I didn't have the necessary equipment. Tina assured me the water was needed for moisture. I baked for 30 minutes. After checking it - my instinct told me I needed to wait a little longer - so I baked it for about 5 more minutes or so as I did not want to over bake this dessert. I knew that this cake was to be somewhat of a brownie consistency. I followed Julia's instructions to a tee. When I attempted to flip it over - disaster #2....the cake was raw inside. So, not wanting to waste and after working so hard - I placed the mixture in dish and placed in the oven for at least another 20 minutes.
My plan was to bring this dish to a friend's house on Saturday afternoon, but the end result looked so ugly, I could not bear to do so. That is also why I did not include a picture of the cake on the blog, I am just too embarrassed. I am looking forward to next weeks lemon loaf!
Until next week, happy baking ladies!
P.S. I am trying to convince my friend Stephanie to join us - she is an excellent cook and baker....

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Brownies

I have a soft spot for brownies, I LOVE them! I started making them on my last maternity leave. I had a fantastic recipe that I always used and never had to try any others. So, even though it was Julia Child I never thought that it would compare.





Yes, Julia's recipe is a little more labour intensive, but the results are DIVINE. I had to cook mine a little longer than suggested. I also could not find bittersweet chocolate, so I used semi-sweet instead. I will say that I will make this recipe again and again. However, I may add some chopped nuts next time. YUM.



Until next time Happy Baking!