World On A Plate

IMBB 8 -Torta di Limoncello

After the stress of switching over to a non-blog URL I thought I'd reward all who were patient with the process with a recipe that is by far one of my most popular, statistically speaking, around the world.  Originally published back in September this cake is best made a day ahead.  Enjoy.

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Here we are again, this time it's IMBB #8 but only #2 for me. This go round is hosted by Donna via her blog, There's A Chef in My Kitchen The challenge, "Lift Your Spirits High" is cooking or in my case, baking with a wine or spirit.

I choose to prepare a Limoncello Cake. I dug out a recipe that I had filed away in the "Cakes To Be Made" category that came from a 2003 issue of Italian Cooking and Living magazine. This bimonthly publication is all about Italy and Italian cooking. It's a part of Italian Culinary Institute and is also affiliated with the Italian Culinary Center in New York City.

Limoncello reminds me of the Amalfi coast Italy where I first tasted it. According to resources, the spirit accounts for 35% of total liqueur consumption in Italy. It's defined as a liqueur made by infusing grain spirits with the juice and peel of lemons from Italy's sunny southern Amalfi coast. I choose to use Caravella Limoncello.

There are many spirited desserts out there that I could have chosen: the Caribbean Tortuga Rum Cake, bananas foster, Crepes Suzette, amaretto cheesecake, bread pudding with hard sauce (brandy), there's also a Jack Daniels Tipsy Carrot Cake, or The Cheesecake Factory's Kahlua Almond Cheesecake.

However I wanted something special. And this cake is just that--a light 3-layered sponge cake wrapped with a fresh whipped cream frosting. Delicate as a cloud and not overly sweet. However, alcohol-based cakes aren't to everyone's liking. Last night I learned that when my friend S. stated, "This cake is 'boozy'.

This cake is not for the impatient or novice. It involves a lot of time and bowls. There's the separating of eggs, whipping of whites for the cake; the whipping of cream for the filling and frosting. And there's the assembly and the frosting of the cake. My kitchen is still a wreck. But as you can see it is pretty has a pleasing taste. The simpler idea would be to brush limoncello over the outside of a lemon or plain pound cake before slicing. But of course I didn't go that way and discovered an unexpected cake for a special occasion.

Food Fit for a Queen

Over the weekend I went to the annual Fancy Food Gourmet Sale, sassily called 'Food Fit for a Queen' sponsored by Under One Roof. The non-profit organization, based in San Francisco is focused on raising money for over 37 AIDS service organizations such as PAWS, Visual Aid and Project Inform.  Every year donated gourmet food products are donated to the organization by participants of the Fancy Food Show--over 30 pallets of food.

The event was held in an empty and small storefront in the Castro. The volunteers keep on stocking everyday.  There is excitement in the air.  One man was shopping for his wife via his cell phone--"do you need 2 liters of raspberry syrup?"  Another woman was back for day two/round two.  "Did you get to the jams yet? No? Could I help out by stocking them?" There's cookies, oils, spices, chocolate, syrups, jams, sauces, crackers, soups and beverages. I definitely got carried away by the selection and made the mistake of not enforcing a budget on myself.  Of course knowing that all proceeds went back to the service organizations lessened the anxiety.

I've had a chance to taste test a few of the products.  I picked up two new dessert sauces from Charlie Trotter's line, Bartlett pear and caramel, the other a bittersweet chocolate-Kona coffee ($2.50 each).  I served the pear sauce over a Cuban coconut almond pound cake for Sunday dinner's dessert.  Dee-lightful.   

However the best food treasure that I found was a hand-made yellow porcelain bottle of Spanish olive oil produced by the Nuñez de Prado family ($8.00). Since the late 1700s this nectar has been Spain's finest olive oil.  According to their distributor, it is hand-crafted in a unique process, whereby the oil is extracted from the crush before the first cold pressing to preserve the "flor del aceite" (flower of the oil). This effort results in extraordinarily low oleic acidity. The unfiltered oil carries notes of green apple, almonds, and burnt orange.  So besides the great price and beautiful bottle why was I excited?  It retails for $45.

Mark your calendars for next year's sale. 

continue on for the CUBAN COCONUT POUND CAKE recipe

SHF #2- Cider House Rules

The challenge for me with today’s Sugar High Friday was not to bake an apple pie.  I worried that I would distinguish myself from the crowd.  So I took another route with apples and sugar with Apple Cider Pound Cake. A great fall interpretation of a kitchen classic.  Thanks for hosting Domestic Goddess!

Real cider, the dark fragrant kind—not the pale you-can-see-through-to-the-bottom-of-the-glass kind is fall personified.  I found it curious recently when I read a research statistic from, The NPD Group Inc, that stated that only 1.5 of Americans drink apple cider.  Some of my most vivid food memories growing up in New England are centered around crisp afternoons driving to apple orchards and of pressing fresh cider at Drumlin Farms. 

For the most part, apple “juice” is clear, amber-colored, filtered and pasteurized –it is found on the supermarket shelf. It does not need to be refrigerated before opening.  Apple cider is the cloudy, caramel-colored, and unfiltered pressed juice of apples. Also, all apple juice sold today as cider isn't necessarily "fresh" cider.  Most juice sold in supermarkets is pasteurized, or heat-treated to destroy bacteria. Untreated juice is required to have a label saying so.

Countries producing cider fall into the temperate regions of the world. By the beginning of the ninth century, cider drinking was well established in Europe. Normandy, Brittany, Wiesbaden, the Basque region of Spain, Ireland and Britain introduced the craft of producing cider to America, Canada, Australia to name a few.