Dope Lemon Cake

I made this brilliant recipe yesterday. Evidently, due to the high proportion of milk, this separates as it bakes. So you're left with lemon cake on top, and lemon pudding on the bottom. It was awesome warm from the oven, and later we'll try it cold from the fridge. I think it will be quite refreshing.

Recipe from one of my favorite sites, Joy of Baking. They call it "Lemon Sponge Pudding," but I think that sounds too gelatinous/repellent. So I am re-naming it Dope Lemon Cake.

1 cup granulated white sugar, divided

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large eggs, separated

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup whole milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter six - 1 cup (240 ml) ramekins or other heatproof bowls.

Set aside 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of the sugar to use when whipping the egg whites. Then, in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the remaining sugar and butter. Add the three egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Add the flour and salt and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, gradually pour in the lemon juice and milk. Set aside while you beat the egg whites.

In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 2 tablespoons (28 grams) of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter, in three additions, mixing only until incorporated.

Carefully pour (or use a ladle) the batter into the prepared ramekins. (The batter does not rise much during baking so you can fill the ramekins almost to the rim.) Place the ramekins in a larger baking pan (or any size pan that will fit the ramekins and leave about 1 inch (2.54 cm) around the edges).

Prepare a water bath. (A water bath is used to provide temperature protection for the eggs.) Carefully pour in enough hot water so that the water is halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until the sponge cakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean. Be careful not to insert the toothpick into the lemon sauce at the bottom of the ramekins. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and cool slightly before serving.

Power Balls

Here is the recipe for the high calorie, protein and fiber balls I've been serving up to Jack and myself.

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup instant cocoa (=2 packets) or carob powder
1 cup peanuts or soy nuts, chopped
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup toasted wheat germ
dry coconut flakes

Combine first six ingredients. Roll into balls and roll in coconut. Refrigerate if using refigerated brand of peanut butter, which is preferable (this is from cookbook, not me)

Marinated sugar

Anna's mango-oatmeal cookie post reminds me. This spring I "marinated" sugar: some with lavender, some with vanilla (a vanilla bean pod that I had already taken the seeds out of for another recipe), and some with dried orange zest. I found sugar shakers at the Container Store and I packaged them up as gifts for Veronica when Andres went to Chile. Such an inexpensive gift!

I have to admit I used some of it first. I made shortbread cookies with the lavender sugar, and they were amazing.

Mangomazing

The craziest thing just happened. I had some homemade oatmeal cookies in a baggie in the same bowl where I had a very ripe mango. I just ate a cookie and it had a distinctive mango taste!!! Quite good! We ate the mango yesterday, so I know it wasn't just the smell of it! Maybe we are on to something! Think tank?

Perfect Timing

I have been super into cooking and baking all summer. About to make some banana bread and coconut macaroons. Mom once told me you could freeze browning bananas for bread, so that's a little guilt put to rest. Here's the banana bread recipe - I am going to add walnuts, a little fiber powder, and use omega enriched canola. Macaroon recipe to come - they are SO yummy!

Pretty low point banana bread
Ingredients
1 1/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup(s) unpacked brown sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp canola oil
1 large egg(s), beaten
2 medium egg white(s), beaten
3 large banana(s), ripe
1 cup(s) uncooked old fashioned oats
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add oil and eggs; mix thoroughly.
• In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add bananas and oatmeal to batter.
• Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is firm to touch, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Flip out and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes.

A Little Sugar Goes a Long Way

I had an abundance of unsweetened Baker's chocolate from a grocery list misunderstanding (we bought 4 boxes), so I made brownies this afternoon to try to use it up. I used the one-bowl brownie recipe. It calls for 2 cups of sugar, and I realized I only had about 1-1/4 cup. Too lazy to walk downstairs to 7-Eleven, I decided to just see how it turned out with just a little more than half the amount.

The result: BRILLIANT.

It tastes much more like pure chocolate, and somehow less processed. I added pecans and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Dear Family,

Mom changed my entire world the other day when she told me about these microwave steamer bags that will perfectly cook an ear of corn in 4 minutes. As she told me, I was sweaty and flustered from boiling a massive pot of water that I could not drain myself, all in order to cook 4 ears of corn.

We realized we needed a better way of exchanging those kinds of tips. Also recipes and stories and anything else that comes up.

I named this "Haney Kitchen" because the idea that started it happened to be kitchen-themed, but I also thought it worked well for stories, jokes, etc., since we all have spent so much time laughing and "carrying on" as dad would say, in the kitchen over delicious food and drink.

I'm open to other suggestions though! No pressure to post here, just if you want to and you have something to say. Also, I will assign everyone admin rights so if you want to make some other change here you can. This is a public as of now, but we can make it private if you guys prefer.

This is a little different than the idea of Bottled Tiger which is why I'm starting a new interface. BT is more edgy hilariousness, and I am hereby rededicating myself to that as well.

Hope you guys are interested!
Love,
Jo