Along the Sorrentine Peninsula, which includes the Amalfi Coast on it southern side, lemons are a major crop and are used in many dishes from pasta sauce to desserts to limoncello liqueur. Lemon cakes are a very popular dessert.
In searching for a lemon cake recipe, I found a winner in Dolce di Limone, by Mamma Agata, a renowned cook from the beautiful town of Ravello. I made two of these cakes in the past two weeks, and I was very pleased with the results. The end product is a moist cake completely infused with lemon flavor. It takes a bit of work, but I believe it's worth the effort for a special dinner.
I found a version of Mamma Agata's recipe at https://mykitchenmemories.com/2014/08/10/lemon-cake-mamma-agatas-dolce-al-limone/. I have changed the instructions to reflect my own experiences. There is also a YouTube video with instructions at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb_xnWj1kSE.
You might want to check out Mamma Agata's web site:http://www.mammaagata.com/.
This recipe serves 10, unless you taste it and decide you might want to consume the whole thing.
Ingredients
A. Cake Dough
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 sticks of butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
- 4 eggs
- grated zest pf 3 large lemons or 5-6 small ones
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 cups "00" flour or white pastry flour. I used King Arthur unbleached cake flour. Do not use all-purpose flour or bread flour.
- 4 1/4 tsp of baking powder. (This sounds like a lot, but is the perfect amount.
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped (optional)
B. Lemonade Mixture to Infuse into Dough after Baking
- 1 1/4 cups water
- juice of the 3 large or 5-6 small lemons you zested
- 8 Tbsp sugar
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Butter a non-stick Bundt pan and coat lightly with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Make sure to butter the Bundt pan liberally with butter to help prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.
3. Mix the butter in a mixing bowl on high speed for at least 2 minutes. (If the sticks of butter are too cold and not at room temperature, the sticks could fly out of the bowl when you begin mixing.)
4. Add the sugar and continue to whip until a soft cream mixture forms.
5. Mix the baking powder into the flour and set aside.
6. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture and blend. Then add the salt and grated lemon zest.
7. Alternate adding and blending a little of the flour mixture and the milk into the mixing bowl until all is used up and blended into the batter.
8. Mix the ingredients on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the batter has a light and airy consistency similar to a mousse.
9. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. While the cake is baking, do not open the oven door to peek or the cake will not rise properly.
10. While the cake is baking, prepare the lemonade mixture. Squeeze the lemons into a pitcher. Add the sugar to the lemon juice and stir until dissolved. Add the water and stir well.
11. Once the cake is finished baking, let it sit for 2 hours outside the oven until it is at room temperature.
12. Before starting to add the lemonade, make sure the cake does not stick to the pan. Hold a dish towel firmly on top of the cake and carefully turn the pan upside down. If the cake does not easily separate from the pan, do not force it, or the cake may come apart. If the cake does not easily come out of the pan, place it back into the oven at 350 degrees for several minutes. This will warm up the butter and allow it to release. If it still does not release, you can insert something very thin between the sides of the cake and the pan to try to separate them.
13. Once the cake comes nicely out of the pan, gently place it back into the pan so you can begin pouring the lemonade. Over the course of 30 minutes, pour some lemonade over the entire exposed part of the cake every 10 minutes. This allows the cake to absorb the lemonade. Make sure you have some lemonade left after the 3 ours. After the cake has absorbed the third pour, gently tip the cake out of the pan onto the serving dish you plan to use. Add the remaining lemonade to the top of the cake, distributing it evenly, and let it absorb for at least 10 minutes.
14. Garnish the cake with the chopped hazelnuts or sprinkle confectioners sugar on top.
You could serve it with limoncello.
I wanted to make some shortbread to go with a Lemon-Lime Satin Cream I was making for dessert. I found this excellent recipe at: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/shortbread-recipe. It is very flexible. The King Arthur site has a number of suggestions for serving it, including drizzling it with caramel, or spreading melted chocolate on top and decorating it with nuts. It has only five ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at cool room temperature. (It needs to be soft enough to mix with the other ingredients, but still solid. Do not melt it.) King Arthur suggests using a top-quality butter because the butter is such a critical ingredient for this recipe.
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract - optional. Or use another flavor of your choice, like eggnog flavor.
- 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Lightly grease two round 9" cake pans. If you worry about the shortbread sticking to the pans, line them with parchment paper and grease the parchment. (I used parchment.)
2. In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Then beat in the flour. The mixture may seem a little dry at first. Keep beating until it comes together. (It took a while for me to do this, but I think it's because the butter was too firm. I used a wooden spoon to beat these ingredients.) If it absolutely won't come together, dribble in up to 1 tablespoon of water until it does. This is a stiff dough.
3. Divide the dough in half. (If you have a kitchen scale, each half will weigh about 10 & 1/2 ounces.) Press each half of the dough into one of the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with your fingers or a mini rolling pin. (I used a mini rolling pin.)
4. Use a fork to prick the dough all over. This allows any steam to escape and prevents the shortbread from bubbling as it bakes. Prick the dough in a random pattern, but it looks nicer pricked with some kind of symmetry.
5. Bake the shortbread until it's light golden brown across the surface, and a deeper golden brown around the edges, about 35 minutes.
6. Remove it from the oven and immediately turn each shortbread round out onto a clean surface.
7. Using a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut each round into 12 wedges. (Do this while the shortbread is still warm. If you wait until it's cool, it won't cut easily.) Transfer the shortbread wedges to a rack to cool. (I recommend using a spatula to transfer the wedges so they're not likely to break.)
8. Serve as is or decorate.
For a recent dinner with friends, I was in a mood for a citrus-flavored dessert. I found this tasty and easy New York Times Lemon-Lime Satin Cream recipe at http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/5595-lemon-lime-satin-creams. It has only five ingredients. I served it with a homemade shortbread, whose recipe I'll post separately. It serves six. I made the mix two days ahead of time until I was ready to cook it in the oven.
Ingredients
- Finely grated zest and juice of two lemons
- Finely grated zest and juice of one lime
- 1 & 1/2 cups superfine sugar. (Our Publix does not sell superfine sugar. I processed regular sugar in a small electric food chopper. I've done this before when I've needed superfine sugar. It works great.)
- 6 large eggs
- 1 & 1/4 cups heavy cream
Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the lemon and the lime zest and juice, the sugar, and the eggs. Whisk until smooth. Add cream, and whisk again. Transfer to a large pitcher. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate from 2 hours to 2 days, the longer, the better to bring out the fullest flavor.
2. When ready to bake, heat oven to 300 degrees. Heat a kettle of water until just steaming. DO NOT BOIL.
3. Place six 1-cup ramekins into a roasting pan and pour cream mixture into them. Pour hot water into the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until cream is just set - 30 to 35 minutes. (I did it for 35 minutes.) The cream will still wobble, but it will firm up as it cools.
4. Remove ramekins from water and allow to cool. Serve at room temperature, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Serve with shortbread, or plain, crisp cookies. (It was great with the shortbread.)
I found this delicious and easy Levantine-flavored ice cream on a Nestle's web site that lists many delicious-sounding Middle Eastern desserts. http://www.nestle-family.com/recipes/english/arabic-desserts-recipes.aspx
The page for this specific recipe is: https://www.nestledessertsarabia.com/en/honey-and-dates-ice-cream-recipe-14653
For some reason, they titled this recipe, "Honey and Dates Ice Cream," even though it contains no honey.
This recipe would probably serve 10 people. It can be made several days in advance. It is made with an electric mixer, rather than with an ice cream maker. It's very similar to Italian semifreddo.
While the recipe calls for the ingredients to be put in a 9" x 5" baking dish, the ingredients are almost enough to fill two such dishes. I filled the second one about two thirds of the way to the top.
Ingredients
- 1 14-oz. can Nestle's sweet condensed milk
- 3 cups whipping cream
- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla powder (I did not have the powder so I used 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract)
- 1.5 cups toasted almonds
- 1 cup pistachios
- 1 cup dried dates (I chopped them)
- 1/4 cup date syrup (I found this at a Sarasota Middle Eastern - South Asian grocery store called Bismallah. Oasis Cafe said they could get it for me. It's also available on Amazon. It's delicious.)
Directions
1. Combine the Nestle Sweetened Condensed Milk, liquid whipping cream, and vanilla powder / extract in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until thick and creamy.
2. Carefully fold in almonds, pistachios, and dates.
3. Pour half of the cream mixture into a foil-lined 9" x 5" loaf pan or dish.
4. Gently sprinkle with date syrup over the cream mixture in the loaf pan. Then spoon the rest of the cream mixture into the loaf pan.
5. Cover with cling film, and freeze for 12 hours until set.
6. When ready to serve, remove from freezer and cut into thin slices.
This delicious recipe serves 10 and takes a bit of work, but it is well worth it. One nice thing about it is that it can be made a couple of days ahead of time. It is a nice, different dessert to add to an Italian meal.
The recipe below started with a recipe I found at http://www.bakersroyale.com/raspberry-and-chocolate-ripple-semifreddo/ I changed it by adding a couple of ingredients that I use in a Frances Mayes semifreddo that I love and have described in a previous post. I also added instructions and changed some instructions, on the basis of my own experience and the additional ingredients.
The ingredients I added to the original recipe were Mascarpone cheese, milk, and additional raspberries.
Semifreddo is a type of soft Italian ice cream. The name means, "half cold."
Ingredients
- 4 oz. dark chocolate morsels
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 oz. raspberries - 8 oz. for puree and 4 oz. of whole raspberries to top when serving. (Raspberries at our Publix come in 6 oz. containers.)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1/2 cup of Mascarpone cheese
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 & 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla exract
Directions
1. Line a 9" x 5" loaf pan or dish with plastic wrap, leaving a 2" overhang on each side. The purpose of the plastic wrap is to allow you to easily remove the frozen semifreddo from the pan.
2. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until melted and everything is combined. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Place 8 oz. raspberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender or food processor, and pulse until pureed. When the puree is finished, push it through a sieve into a bowl. This will remove the raspberry seeds from the puree. Scrape the bottom of the sieve with a small spoon to get additional puree into the bowl. Set aside.
4. This next step is one that requires a bit of care to avoid cooking the eggs. Place eggs, egg yolk, milk, and remaining sugar in a bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture for 10-15 minutes until it is pale or thick, or until the mixture thickens and forms trailing ribbons. Then remove from the heat and either cool the mixture by placing the bowl in an ice bath or continue stirring for 4-5 minutes to let the mixture cool. (When I was stirring the mixture over the simmering water, it only thickened slightly after about 15 minutes. This may have been due to my adding the milk.) If you see the slightest sign that the eggs are starting to harden and cook when stirring over the simmering water, immediately remove from the heat and keep stirring. After a minute or two, place the bowl back over the simmering water, and stir until mixture thickens.
5. When the egg mixture is finished, let it cook in the refrigerator for about an hour and a half. When the mixture has cooled, stir in the Mascarpone cheese.
6. Place the heavy cream in a mixing bowl and use a mixer to mix it until it thickens and soft peaks form. Then add the vanilla and mix to combine. (Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer to whip the cream.)
7. Now use a spatula to fold the egg-Mascarpone and the whipped cream mixtures together.
To Assemble
Pour a 1/2 cup or more of the semifreddo mixture into the loaf pan, and spoon stripes of raspberry puree and chocolate on top. Continue to layer until all the ingredients are combined. (I reserved a bit of the puree to spoon on top of each serving at serving time.)
Place in the freezer for 4-6 hours or until set.
When ready to serve, turn the loaf pan upside down over a cutting board, and remove the semifreddo. Slice, and top with puree and fresh raspberries.
I really enjoyed this easy strawberry dessert, but my wife was not wild about it. I found it at the Eating Well web site:(http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/strawberries_lemon_ricotta.html) It serves 4.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
3 tablespoons honey, or more to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch of salt
3 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
2 cups part-skim, creamy ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest ( will probably take 2 lemons)
Directions
1. If using vanilla bean, halve lengthwise. Using the tip of a small knife, scrape the seeds from the pod into a medium bowl. Otherwise, put the vanilla extract in the bowl. Add the honey, lemon juice, and salt to the bowl. Whisk until well combined. Add strawberries and stir to combine. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Just before serving, combine ricotta and lemon zest in another bowl.
3.Taste strawberry mixture. If it's too tart, add a little more honey.
4. To serve, spoon 1/2 cup of the ricotta into each of four dessert bowls. Top each with about 1/3 cup of the strawberries. Serve immediately.
This is a delicious, fast, and easy strawberry dessert. I saw several varieties. Most of the one I used was from food.com (http://www.food.com/recipe/strawberries-romanoff-taste-just-like-la-madeleine-copycat-92461). However, I modified it slightly with an ingredient from an Emeril Lagasse version on foodnetwork.com (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/strawberries-romanoff-recipe/index.html). There are other Emeril ingredients worth considering, like vanilla ice cream and chocolate shavings.
Aside from cutting up the strawberries, preparing this recipe is very fast.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup Grand Marnier (This is from the Emeril recipe. The food.com recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of brandy or 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 4 cups fresh strawberries
Directions
1. Mix sour cream, brown sugar, and brandy in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whip cream until it starts to thicken. Add sugar, and whip until thick.
3. Fold cream into sour cream mixture, and blend well.
4. Serve mixture atop fresh strawberries.
Strawberries with Orange Juice (Fragole all'Arancia) is a simple and tasty dessert which I found in the huge Italian cookbook - Silver Spoon (Il Cucchiaio d'Argento), which has been around for years and which is available in English. This recipe has only three ingredients - strawberries, orange juice, and sugar. A portion of the three ingredients is used to create a purée, in which the remaining strawberries are set.
Ingredients
- 6 1/2 cups of strawberries
- 3/4 cup of superfine sugar
- 3/4 cup orange juice, strained
For the sweet strawberries I used, 3/4 cup of sugar was too much. I used less than 1/2 cup. If you don't have superfine sugar, you can create your own by processing granulated sugar in something like a Black & Decker Handy Chopper.
Preparation
- Put 2&1/4 cups of strawberries in a food processor and purée
- Add half the sugar and all the orange juice, and process briefly until mixed.
- Pour the mixture into a dish, and arrange the remaining strawberries on top.
- Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
- Cover and chill until ready to serve.
It might be nice to serve with biscotti.