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Monatsarchive: May 2008

Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake and Lemon Thyme Strawberries

Lemon Pound Cake and Lemon Thyme Strawberries-Copyright©Tartelette 2008 First of all I would like to thank all of you for leaving such kind comments and sending emails after my last post. I surely did not mean to bring your spirits down and I forwarded each piece of advice and kind notes to M. Like me, she is deeply touched by your thoughts and prayers and was truly amazed by the generosity of bloggers and anonymous alike. I tell you, you guys rock!!

Life goes on and she is fully committed to enjoy the time she has and do the things she has been postponing for too long like coming to Pilates with me or dragging me out of bed to go strawberry picking this morning…I know she enjoyed bugging me after the ab torture I made her go through yesterday!! We got caught by the rain, but like many times in May around our parts, it pours ocean for 5 minutes and then the sun shines through as if nothing happened. We picked about 10 pounds of juicy red strawberries, so flavorful I feel the urge to put my nose in the basket every couple of hours. The house has taken on the delicious smell of strawberry jam, strawberry-rhubarb cake and macerated strawberries.

Everybody who knows me a little knows that I do not have a green thumb, and that is putting it mildly since I even killed silk plants one year (a blow torch was involved, …don’t ask). However, I have been tending to mint and oregano with good results in the past month, growing stronger and bigger everytime I cut them down a bit. I am also growing salad, parsley and baby’s breath (thank you Barbara for the seeds) and we are passed the sprout stage. Yipee! Last week at the farmer’s market I picked up a lavender plant as I terribly miss the scent of my childhood in Provence, and also a lemon-thyme plant….my new addiction. I don’t know why this time around I seem to get it. B. thinks my nurturing instincts are kicking in at 30-something since we can’t have kids, and that I need to make something else grow and thrive. A little far fetched although there is truth to it. First there was Tippy the dog, then Elliot the fish…both doing very well, and now seeds, sprouts and plants.

Back to the lemon-thyme, shall we?!! It looks like lemon and citrus are going to be frequent visitors to this site during May, and not only because of SHF. Lemon-thyme is a great complement to fresh fruit salad, simple cakes like pound cakes and yogurt ones. It is does not taste like thyme at all which is not unheard of in cakes but which would be a little harder to pass on when serving dessert, it is fragrant with lemon and lime tones at the same time. I made this dessert this afternoon to take to my neighbor C. for our usual get together on Friday afternoons for tea and dessert and talk about the plans for the weekend, although we realize there can’t be a plan with the husbands and the kids adding to the pot! We almost finished the bowl of lemon thyme strawberries, happily scooping with our spoons (forget plates), while noshing on the cake at the same time. Happy happy!! What a needed moment after the weird week we’ve had (I can’t say bad because I know some have it worse).

Lemon Pound Cake And Lemon Thyme Strawberries-Copyright©Tartelette 2008
Ok, ok…I hear you…the recipe!!! Just a couple of words (yes, more!). The pound cake is my favorite ones this year, full of lemon, soaked in lemon and yet light on the palate. We eat it as a snack, I use cut slices for trifles or plated desserts, and some of you have emailed me lately that it is also one of your new favorites. I adapted it slightly from this book (from which I have been baking a lot from lately) and you can definitely halve the recipe if you don’t want to be stuck with a big cake around the house, keep it well wrapped in the fridge for a week, or freeze it for up to a month also well wrapped.

Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake With Lemon Thyme Strawberries:

Printable Recipe

For the Cake:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 TB lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300F. Butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.Cream the butter and 1 3/4 cups sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the lemon zest.Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Poke holes all over the cake with a wooden skewer.
Meanwhile, bring the lemon juice and remaining sugar to a boil over medium high heat in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Invert the cake onto a rack, positioned over a baking sheet and slowly pour the syrup over the cake, it will seep through the holes and into the cake. Let cool to room temp.

For the lemon thyme strawberries:
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup chopped lemon thyme
2 Tb lemon juice
2 Tb sugar (that is plenty to release the strawberry juices and the cake being sweet you don’t really need much more)

Mix all the ingredients together and let macerate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use. Bring back to room temp before serving.

Update on conversions:
1 stick of butter is about 112-115 gr.
For weight, volume, cups, etc…click here.

Fresh, clean, sweet but not overwhelming and no need for whipped cream!

Lemon Pound Cake And Lemon Thyme Strawberries-Copyright©Tartelette 2008
I may not be around this weekend but wanted to wish all moms out there a very very Happy Mothers' Day! My mom will have to wait for May 25th (French date for Mothers' Day) to have a her own special post, but I wanted to tell you all celebrating on Sunday that I admire your love, dedication and energy. Have I told you lately you rocked?!! Well, you do!

Lemon And Honey Tangerine Gratins

Everyday I wake up I count my blessings. Everynight I go to bed I think about the things I need to improve and realize that both my blessings and my shortcomings are numerous which makes me a standard-normal human being, and I am ok with that. What I am not ok with is being helpless when faced with death or diseases and wish I were a rocket scientist or super duper doctor working on some cure to help people. There are days I want to kick for not being a brainie and there are days I am fulfilled to focus on the things I know how to do, we all have to find our strong points and should stick to them. Being envious is a waste of time: maybe a rocket scientist can’t make as good a pie as my grandma’s?!!

Last Monday we had a couple friends of ours over for dinner, and as usual they came early in the evening so we could sit on the back porch and watch the sunset over the water (one of those blessings I am counting). We like to open a bottle of wine and get dinner ready together. He is an excellent cook and she has a personality to keep you entertained all evening. The evening started as usual until she announced she had pancreatic cancer, advanced stage. Silence fell upon us and B. went over her and just hugged her for a while, then him and finally said "Anything you guys need, anytime, day or night". I was not so quite vocal for the first couple of minutes. Flashbacks of my grandma and my brother dealing with chemo and radiation came rushing back and I kept starring at my feet. Clearly, you can’t say "it’s all going to work out", and "I’m sorry" seems so little.

She poured me another glass of wine and they started talking about their medical plans of attack. Invasive, long, painful…She talked about losing grip on the future, not knowing who she was anymore, that none of this fit in with being with their kids and grand kids. I finally broke my silence and said "Sometimes you don’t have to know the bigger picture or know for sure where you are heading. Sometimes it’s enough to know what’s next". She looked at me like I had become the Dalai Lama in the blink of an eye, then she said "So, what’s next?". The only words that came out were "Peeling tangerines for dessert". Silence again. "Oh crap, I have offended her" I thought. Everybody turned to me and bursted out laughing and she added "You have a funny and lovely way to put things in perspective"…Ah well, always count on me to put my foot in it!

I am kicking off this month Sugar High Friday with these light and refreshing Lemon tangerine Gratins. Honey tangerines are super juicy and quite flavorful and if you can’t find them where you are, feel free to substitute regular tangerines, clementines or even mandarins. We peeled the fruit and got most of the white membranes out and cut them in segments for the dish. The gratin part is sort of a cross between a custard and a creme brulee with its touch of flour and cream cheese. The original recipe called for mascarpone but the tub was being used for another purpose so cream cheese was the perfect substitute. For the top "gratin" part, I used half part brown sugar and half part white sugar and the blow torch to caramelize them but you could just as well put them under the broiler for a few minutes (keep your eyes on them though, they burn fast).

Lemon And Honey Tangerine Gratins:

Printable Recipe

Serves 4

1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup finely grated lemon zest
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch of salt
3 Tb fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
4 honey tangerines (or 8 clementines or mandarins) peeled and cut into segments
14 cup brown sugar mixed with 1/4 cup white sugar for the top.

– Bring the milk and the zest to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let stand to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
– Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale yellow in a large mixing bowl. This can be done totally by hand. Add the flour and salt and whisk until just blended. Slowly add the warm milk to the egg mixture, whisking as you go along to prevent the eggs from curdling. Return the mixture on the stove and cook, stirring constantly over medium high heat until it becomes thick. Remove from the heat as soon as you see the first boiling bubbles on the surface. Pour the custard into a bowl, stir in the lemon juice and let cool to room temperature, whisking from time to time.
– Beat the cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, add the cream cheese and whisk until both are well combines. Add the whipped cream mixture to the cooled custard and fold gently to bring both masses together.
– Divide the tangerine segment among 4 dishes. Divide the custard mixture over each gratin dish. Sprinkle all evenly with the brown sugar/white sugar mixture and use a blow torch to caramelize the tops.
– If using the oven: preheat the oven to 425F and broil the custards 2 to 4 minutes depending on the strength of your oven.


Finally I would like to dedicate this post to another wonderful lady, Bri from the wonderful blog Figs With Bri who is right now fighting for a life trying to beat cancer. Though we have never met, Bri, from the moment I started reading, you made me laugh, you made me think, we visited and cheered each other and I just want to send your way a gazillion hugs and good vibes. I keep your family and husband in my daily thoughts, counting my blessings in the morning and trying to improve on my faults at night.

Announcing Sugar High Friday #43: Citrus!


I love reading the archives of Sugar High Friday, the monthly event created by Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess . Imagine recipe upon recipe dedicated to sweets, months after months, year after year….all at the click of button. While browsing one night last February, I noticed that the blog hosting SHF citrus way back when three years ago did no longer exist. It must have been really late in the night because I found myself emailing Jennifer telling her that if she was interested in a citrus theme again, that I’d love hosting it. I had heard that the list of future hosts was close to a year long so I put that thought to rest until she emailed back later that week and offered that I host in May…this year! Yippeee!

Why "Citrus"? The simplest answer I have is that after chocolate (or right alongside), citruses are my favorite flavors. Lemons, lime, oranges, tangerines, clementines, mandarines, grapefruits, kumquats,…you name it, I dig it. I know that this does not apply to everybody and without putting citrus as the star of the show, even a touch of lemon juice or grated zest can enhance a dessert tremendously. The bright colors of the fruits and the desserts they are prepared with cannot but make you happy and ready for summer. Let’s get all zesty and let’s pucker up with citrus in May!

To participate all you have to do is make a dessert featuring any sort (or all if you feel ambitious!) of citrus. Post something that you create something specifically for the event, not from your archives. Use it as the main ingredient of a dessert or as an accent if you are somewhat "citrus hesitant". The possibilities are endless: mousses, cakes, ice creams, custards, brownies, blondies, sauces, candies,….Let your imagination and your creativity run loose!

Life is wild around here in May (I am turning a year older next week and I have lots of cakes to eat!) with celebrations and visitors so here a few guidelines I would like participants to follow to make sure I do not misplace anybody’s entry while on a work or sugar coma 🙂

– The deadline for this month SHF is May 25th. Late bloggers will have to send me a care package of sour lemon candies 🙂

– In your post, please include a link to Jennifer’s blog and mine so it is easy to track back posts that might have fallen through our careful eyes.

– Once you have posted, send me an email at sugarhighfridaycitrus AT gmail DOT com. We are all busy and I sometimes don’t check my links back for days and I might miss that you posted for the event. Please, pretty please, let’s make it hassle free by sending me an email with the following information:

  • your name
  • your blog name
  • your blog URL
  • your post title and short description is you wish
  • your post URL
  • a picture of your dessert resized to be 200 pixels wide with your blog name as your picture file name

– If you do not have a blog and wish to participate (Yes, I am looking at you Bina), send me an email at the above address with a description and picture of your creation. If you wish to provide a recipe, and I encourage you to as we can never have too many (!) I will put it on a separate page of this blog.

Now this being said: no excuse people….I want to see your citrus 🙂

Feel free to use this badge in your blog post or side bar.

Lemon Rhubarb Mascarpone Mousse Cake

Rhubarb Mousse Cake-Copyright©Tartelette 2008Yes, another rhubarb post…it’s the season and I just can’t get enough….Sorry folks! When Marcela was planning her visit, one of her wishes was to get some rhubarb and Meyer lemons so we could bake something with them. She also wanted to keep the seeds of the lemon to grow her own tree back in Argentina. We searched everywhere for both to no avail and decided to stick with our original plan to make macarons instead. She did a fabulous job with the latter and I hope that macarons have no secret for her now and I got to tell you, buttercream and dulce de leche go really really well together!!

After dropping her off at the airport, B. and I headed for the farmers' market downtown and guess what I found by the bucket….rhubarb!!! Arghhhhh…..Wish I had it growing in the backyard but one has to do with what they have, right?! I need to add that since I mentioned I had found Loquat trees everywhere downtown, one of my clients told me she had her own tree and I was most welcome to head over her house and pick what I wanted. I did this afternoon and stopped at three bags full. Do you think I have enough fruit if you add the four pounds of strawberry that Marcela and I picked at a local farm yesterday afternoon?!!! There are going to be some fruity desserts coming up!!

This is the dessert I wanted to make for her had I found rhubarb before her arrival….alas, or as B. would say "Yum, more for me", this mousse cake is going to be dessert for us tonight. So here is to you Pip, as a thank you for a wonderful time in your company and especially last night at the restaurant where I don’t recall ever laughing so hard in my life…and it involved another woman kissing my husband….

For the mousse I used the same recipe I used for the Raspberry and Mascarpone Mousse Cakes, back in March. I replaced the lime with lemon and added cooked rhubarb to the mousse base. I don’t really have a recipe to cook the rhubarb but I usually go for 1 cup of fruit to 1/3 cup sugar, cooked over low heat until the rhubarb softens and I still get chunks of fruit in there. The cake ring surrounding the mousse looks complicated and involved, but really it isn’t. It is made with an almond cake batter very similar to ones used for jelly rolls called "ribbon sheet cake" or Joconde and a tuile cookie batter (also known as tulip paste) piped onto the baking sheet before you pour in the cake batter so while baking it leaves an imprint on your cake. If it were rocket science I would not be doing it….trust me. It is not more time consuming than baking a cake and I find the whole process tremendously more fun given the end result.

I went for stripes but you can easily make squiggles, lace patterns, dots, smileys, etc….It is best to prepare both the mousse and the cake early in the day if you plan to serve this for dinner as the cake needs to cool and the mousse needs to set, and you can keep them in the freezer for a month or so if you decide to make them way in advance. For a velvety effect on top, I mix powdered sugar and cherry pink food coloring on top and dust the cakes with it right before serving. Do not do this in advance as your powdered sugar will melt and sink in the mousse due to its moisture content.

Rhubarb Mousse Cake-Copyright©Tartelette 2008
Lemon Rhubarb Mascarpone Mousse Cake:

Printable Recipe

For the tulip paste:
4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup egg whites, at room temperature
4 ounces all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 Tb cocoa powder.

Cream the butter and powdered sugar together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together and add to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Do not overmix. Use right away or store in the refrigerator, taking it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it.
Pour the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a ruler set on top of the sheet as your guide, pipe lines with the tulip paste onto the parchment paper, or any shape you desire. You can also smooth a large amount of the paste on the paper and using a ruler set on the rim of the pan, use a decorator comb to drag on the batter to form lines. When I make somewhat straight lines, this is the method I use, and I use the pastry bag method for lace patterns and others. Set the baking sheet in the freezer until the tulip paste is firm. Keep frozen until you are ready to pour the cake batter on top.

For the ribbon sheet cake:
4 ounces finely ground almonds (I used slivered)
3 ounces powdered sugar
1 ounce all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
3 egg whites
1 ounce granulated sugar
1 ounce melted unsalted butter

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the almonds, powdered sugar, flour and 2 eggs until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl with a spatula and add the remaining 2 eggs and the yolk until well combined. Set aside.
Whip the egg whites in a separate bowl until they appear foamy, add the granulated sugar in a steady stream and whip until you get a glossy meringue. Fold the meringue mixture into the egg/flour mixture. Stir in the melted butter and fold until all the ingredients are well incorporated but without deflating your meringue base.

Remove the baking sheet with the tulip paste from the freezer and pour the cake batter on top. Bake at 450F for about 6-8 minutes or until the sponge becomes to color. Remove from the oven, let cool a few minutes and invert your cake onto a piece of parchment paper. Peel the baking paper. Let cool before using. You can keep it wrapped in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for a month. Bring it back to room temperature before you fit it in the pastry rings. Line 6-8 pastry rings (depending on their size, mine are 3 inches wide) with parchment paper, cut 1.5 inches wide strips of cake and cut them to fit around the inside of your rings. Divide the mousse inside the rings and let set.

For the mousse:
1 egg, separated
2 TB sugar
2 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
75 ml. heavy cream
1 tsp. powdered gelatin (1/2 sheet) + 1 Tb water
zest and juice of one lemon
1 cup cooked rhubarb

Sprinkle the gelatin over the water, stir and let sit to bloom. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the mascarpone with the sugar, add 1 egg yolk and whisk until well incorporated. Heat the gelatin for about 10 seconds in the microwave and quickly whisk it in the mascarpone batter. Add the lemon juice and zest. Whip the egg white until stiff, fold into the mascarpone mixture. Add the cooked rhubarb. Whip the heavy cream to medium stiff peaks, and fold into the mascarpone. Divide it evenly and carefully among the pastry rings. Store in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours or overnight.

Granted it takes a tad longer than a baking brownies but it is just as fun and as good, and if you like playing with shapes, batters and let your imagination run wild, this is a good project to tackle in the kitchen. The end result is so tasty you won’t be disappointed!

Lemon And Yogurt Scones And Unexpected Finds

Marcela is finally here, safe and radiant from her stay in Seattle and New York, ready to chill under the Southern sun. After many late night chats on Yahoo with Lisa over the past year or so, it is a blast to finally laugh in person instead of in front of the computer and discover the many facets of Argentina through her experiences and her eyes. As the nerds that we are, we spent most of the evening of her arrival Tuesday on Google earth checking out the country with the perfect guide. Today was spent downtown Charleston with us showing her some of our favorite places, streets, parks, etc… but I will get to that a little bit later.

After my post admitting that I was a clafoutis fanatic, going as far as eating it everyday, I stumbled on a great looking scone post by Julie of A Mingling Of Tastes. Her blog is one of my regular reads where I get my fix of yummy breakfast ideas, and after many weeks of thinking I ought to make scones again, because after all we do like them, she timely tempted me with these Lemon Buttermilk Scones with Currants. With Marce coming in town I figured it was high time I baked scones again and changed the clafoutis routine a bit. I liked her recipe a great deal but I had to adapt given the raisin hater I have in the house (B. who is by the way loving having two women cooking up a storm in the kitchen right now!!) and use the supplies I accumulate and only get around to use like Goji berries and pearl sugar (regular and brown, also found as rock candy or rock sugar). He still won’t go for the Goji berries as they look too similar to raisins but the scones sprinkled with sugar are already disappearing 3 at a time. If I catch him in the jar of dulce the leche that Marcela brought me….arghhhh!

For the scones I used a mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour and replaced the buttermilk with yogurt, same tang and creamier texture. I like to pat, roll and cut dough a lot so I went for round scones instead of wedges, plus there is more space for jam to be spread (or my dulce de leche). We fell in love with these and I may not need to attend a 12 step program for my clafoutis habit after all, although I feel it won’t be long before we can have a plum or a peach one for breakfast soon.

Lemon And Yogurt Scones, various toppings and add-ins:

Printable Recipe

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 Tb granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1 large egg

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1/3 cup goji berries (optional, use raisins if desired)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to blend. Add the chilled butter, cut in small chunks and pulse until the mixture resembles pea size crumbs. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, yogurt and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients and the goji berries to the egg mixture and stir just until moistened. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball. Pat or roll the dough out to about 1 to 1 1/4-inch thick. With a 3 inch cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut the dough into 10 and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Brush with a little milk and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. If you use pearl or rock sugar, sprinkle that on top of the scones after the brushing of milk so they adhere to the top better.

Unexpected sightings in Charleston or when to look high and when to look low: I guess I walk the streets downtown with a purpose and never the one to just look and breathe in the scenery. Well not after today when Marcela and I found dozens of Loquat trees downtown. We met a nice English gentleman who threw his hat up on the tree and made a couple fall in our hands. We almost knock on somebody’s door to see if we could harvest theirs since they seemed to be left to rot on the tree. What a shame! Loquats are the perfect balance of sweet and sour in one bite. I have to check with a couple of people if they have one of those trees close by otherwise I am coming back at night with my ladder and basket….

The second unexpected find of the day was bushes after bushes of wild blackberries in the woods in front of our house. I gathered a few at different ripening stage just to compare and was stunned to hear B. say "Oh yeah, the twins have been gathering them like crazy and I mowed a whole row on the side of the yard"….

"You what?!!!! Malheureux (crazy fool)…do you know what blackberries cost and here they grow wild?!!"

Last but not least, above is what my eye catches when I am leisurely walking the streets downtown. Missing shutters on a house where only the hook testifies of its previous existence. Circles in the middle of intricate wrought iron gates. It is just a circle…but to me it was a circle with a day off in the company of a friend.