Well hello there summer!

Welcome back! I know you’ve been around for a few days already but I thought I’d give you a proper welcome.

With lemons.

With ricotta.

With pretty flowers.

With moist, sweet cake bursting with the brightness of lemons and the fragrance of Fiori di Sicilia.

I hope you stay with us for awhile, Summer.

And I hope you bring us many bright days and many warm and delicious nights.

Ciao!

Lemon Ricotta Cake
Based on a recipe from BBC Good Food.
Serves 8 to 10.

Note: I love this cake. I adore it. I would bake it everyday if not for the fact that I would eat the whole thing everyday by myself. I have a kitchen scale so I weigh the ingredients for this recipe as in the original. Fortunately, self-rising flour is readily available in Toronto but if you can’t find it, you can use all-purpose flour. Simply use the same amount of all-purpose flour as self-rising flour but add 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt for each cup.

I love to use Fiori di Sicilia in this cake. Fiori di Sicilia is an essence availabe from King Arthur Flour. It’s like heaven in a bottle. It has a strong citrus flavour that settles into baked goods and somehow enhances them without overpowering them. It’s delicious. Fiori di Sicilia translated means “flowers of Sicily” and honestly, if I could imagine the scent of Sicilian flowers then this would be it. Be careful, though, as a little goes a very long way. If you can’t find this product, then simply follow the original recipe and use the full amount of lemon zest (or use orange zest).

The original recipe uses caster sugar and I like to use superfine sugar. It’s also labelled as quick-disolving sugar. If you can’t find it, simply put some granulated sugar in a food processor and process for a few minutes until very fine.

If you have a small springform pan (i.e. 7-inches in diameter), use it as you will end up with a very high cake. I use an 8-inch springform pan as it’s the smallest that I have.

150 grams unsalted butter, softened
150 grams superfine sugar (also known as quick-dissolving)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia
3 large eggs, separated
1/8 teaspon salt
250 grams ricotta (if the ricotta is fresh, be sure to drain it or your batter will be too liquidy)
125 grams self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour your springform pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes at high speed. The butter should be pale in colour and very creamy.

Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and Fiori di Sicilia and beat for one minute on medium speed.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each yolk is added. Add the ricotta and mix at low speed until combined.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until you have stiff peaks (I use a separate bowl with a handheld mixer but you can also beat the egg whites by hand if you’ve got the elbow grease).

With a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Immediately fold in the flour and baking powder. Be gentle as you mix so as not to deflate the mixture too much.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Check to see if the cake is done by inserting a cake tester or toothpick in the centre of the cake. It should come out clean. If not, bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the cake is done.

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before releasing the cake from the springform.

Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Life is tough, sometimes, isn’t it?

Making it through the work week. Paying the bills. Taking care of the family. Mowing the lawn. Scrubbing the toilet (blech).

But you know what?

For all the not-so-fun things we have to do, there’s lots of things that make up for it.

Watching the garden grow. Taking a walk. Visiting a friend. Eating some cherries.

Baking a Happy Cake.

A Happy Cake is any cake that makes you smile and makes you feel happy.

I have many Happy Cakes but this week my Happy Cake is this one.

I’ve made my Happy Cake a little happier with the addition of rum. (But that can be our little secret.)

Bake a Happy Cake. Have a Happy Weekend.

Ciao!

Happy Cake (with Cream Cheese Frosting and Sprinkles)
Based on Ina Garten’s Flag Cake.

Note: You can bake this cake in a variety of pans but if you have a sheet pan that’s at least 18 inches by 12 inches, that’s the easiest way to bake the cake. Do as Ina Garten does and seve it directly from the baking sheet.

For the Cake:

1-1/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

For the rum glaze:

1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons, unsalted butter
1/4 cup rum

For the frosting:

2 cups unsalted butter, softened
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 pound icing sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour your baking pan really well.

In a the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes on high speed. The mixture should be fluffy. Reduce the speed to medium and carefully add the eggs, two at a time. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the sour cream and the vanilla and almond extracts. Mix for another minute on medium speed.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.

With the mixer on low speed, carefully add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes. Check to see if the cake is done by inserting a toothpick into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, bake for another five minutes or until the cake is done. Remove the cake to a wire rack.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the rum glaze. Place the water, sugar and butter in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiled, remove from the heat and add the rum. Stir to combine.

Using a thin knife or a skewer, poke holes over the top of the warm cake. Carefully brush with as much of the rum glaze as the cake will take. Let the cake cool completely.

To make the icing, place the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat at high speed for four minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract. Refrigerate the frosting until ready to use.

Once the cake has cooled completely, pile on the frosting spreading it evenly with a spatula. Top the frosting with decorative sprinkles and serve.

Enjoy!

I shall be back to baking!

Ciao!

Note: Pictured above is a Marbled Bundt Cake from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I am a four-season child.

By that I mean I have to live somewhere that has four distinct seasons. I can appreciate the allure of a place that is sunny and warm all year long, perhaps I might even visit said place for some rest or relaxation, but to live there permanently?

Don’t think so.

Spring is pretty. I love watching as nature wakes itself up from its long sleep, but after a few weeks I become impatient for the summer heat that means our garden’s bounty will soon be ready.

And while I love eating the fruits of that garden, in the midst of Toronto’s hazy, humid summer heat, I need to know that soon the trees will explode in colour and that I will wake up every morning to a crystal blanket of frost on our lawn.

And when the beauty of Autumn turns into the incessant rainy weather of November, I need to know that the bone-chilling cold, wake-you-up-no-matter-what, freeze-your-toes cold is around the corner. You may not like the winter but I would argue that there is very little as beautiful in life as stepping out your front door on a frigid winter morning with snow everywhere, a blue sky and brilliant sun. That’s a breathtaking sight.

The best part of that cold is the knowledge that you can seek warmth at any moment. You can run inside, kick off your boots, and curl up under your favourite blankie with a cup of hot chocolate.

Or, in my case, you can bake a cake.

In the middle of winter, I bake cakes.

Not just because I love to eat them, but also because I love to imagine crawling into them.

While it is shockingly cold outside, I can imagine myself crawling into a layer of the most beautiful, warm thing in the world made of butter and sugar and flour and spices.

And I would just nestle there, in my sweet, sweet bed, and be perfectly happy.

My companion in this lovely dream has been Lauren Chattman’s spectacular Cake Keeper Cakes: 100 Simple Recipes for Extraordinary Bundt Cakes, Pound Cakes, Snacking Cakes and Other Good-To-The-Last-Crumb Treats. Proof that beautiful things do come in small packages, this precious little book is filled with recipes for cakes that make you ask yourself, “Why don’t I bake more often?”

Simple cakes. Pleasing cakes. Cakes for people who are bakers at heart. Cakes that come together in the blink of an eye. Cakes that make you happy. Cakes you can put in a cake keeper (if you have one).

You may already be familiar with this book as it was featured in the October 2009 Food & Wine issue which highlighted the Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake. (I blogged about it here.)

I feel so lucky to have been given the chance to have this book and to write about it. Take my word for it. You’ll love it.

Everyone else may dream of heading south this cold winter, but not me. I’m dreaming of being wrapped in warm, puffy, just-baked cake.

How delicious.

Ciao!

Note: Besides the fabulous Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake, I tried the World’s Quickest Yeasted Coffee Cake on p. 39 (pictured above). Heaven!

On the second day of the 12 Days of Cookbooks, I give you Baking for All Occasions.

December 27, 2008.

That’s the day that I purchased Flo Braker’s brilliant baking book.

I pretty much worship at the altar of Flo Braker, who is a stunningly accomplished baker, teacher and food author.

This book was published in 2008 and I’ve owned it for almost a year, but I only started baking from it about a month or so ago.

If there is a baker in your life that you know and love, then be nice and go buy a copy of this book and put it under the tree for him or her.

Stunning, all the way around, this is what I call a serious baking book in that it starts by giving the reader a strong foundation in baking and then builds on the foundation with block after block of worthwhile recipes.

The Baking Primer is full of important information and tips. As I tell all budding bakers, read the section because the author has put it there for a reason.

The Baking Primer is followed by dazzling recipes that range from timeless classics to more modern renditions of what sweet teeth want to eat.

I love it from cover to cover.

Some of the recipes can be time-consuming, but as I mentioned above, this is a book for people who love to bake. The instructions are detailed, but never confusing. I think my favourite part is the names of the recipes like “Be My Valentine” Heartwiches or Sunshine Orange Semifreddo.

Love.

I’ve made a couple of recipes recently, both of which were winners in every sense. For starters, I made the Eggnog Pound Cake with Crystal Rum Glaze.

I wish I could actually tell you that I tasted it myself but I did not. Before I could barely finish taking the lid off the cake container it was completely gone.

Every. Single. Crumb.

Judging by the smiles from all those that ate it, I’m guessing it was pretty good. The cake uses store-bought eggnog so it’s definitely an opportunity to splurge on some really top-notch eggnog, but evidently it’s also well worth it.

The other recipe I tried was Peanut Butter Crunch Cake, Squared.

Now this one I actually managed to eat and my goodness it was perfect. The cake base is a buttermilk cake that is just divine. The cake is layered with the most delicous peanut butter and white chocolate ganache and the whole creation is topped with my new favourite thing in the world: peanut butter crunch made with salted peanuts and sesame seeds.

Hands down, this is a tremendous cookbook and I consider myself lucky to own it. Thank you, Flo Braker.

Now go make the baker in your life happy and give him or her this book for Christmas!

Ciao!

I believe birthday cake is most important.

I would go so far as to say that choosing a birthday cake is one of the most important decisions you can make. For me, the choice of a birthday cake is the establishment of a theme, a mood, a rhythm for your birthday.

I start auditioning cakes well in advance of my birthday. Sometimes I don’t go for cakes at all. Sometimes I bake the cake myself. Many times Mamma Cream Puff bakes it for me.

This year, I wanted something spicy and yet familiar. What I got was a warm cake filled with love. I got a cake that was part Canada and part Italy (thanks to the chestnut flour). It was a simple, beautiful, deeply touching cake. It’s exactly what I wanted.

When someone asks me to bake a cake for their birthday, I take this request very seriously because just as I want to set the tone for my birthday, I want to make sure that I bake the right cake for the right person.

Think what you want.

But I firmly believe that there’s a right moment in time very every cake. Or cookie. Or pie. And you should bake what’s right when it’s right.

Last week, I was asked by a coworker if I would bake a cake to the celebrate the 50th birthday of another coworker.

Of course I would!

And then I promptly went home and spent an entire evening looking at cakes. I covered the couch from end to end with baking books. I had stacks of cake books on the floor and I even brought one or two to bed with me.

Some cakes seemed sort of right. Some were completely wrong. But I knew that the right cake would reveal itself and it did: Tiramisu’ Cake from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne.

The woman celebrating her special day is someone I’ve gotten to know fairly well over the past few years. She told me once about how she grew up baking and cooking and how much she wished she had the time to pursue those activities as much as she did when she was younger. She also told me about how as a student, she’d spent time in Italy, which she looks back upon so fondly.

Knowing how much she loved her time in Italy and what an impression it left on her, when I saw the recipe for this cake, it just popped right out at me and said, “I’m it. Bake me.”

So I made three layers of genoise and I bathed them in espresso-rum syrup. I made a zabaglione cream that I had to literally force myself not to eat. I soaked cake layers, piled on cream, stacked other layers and piled on more cream. Then I showered it all in ground chocolate and built a beautiful crown of chocolate curls.

And because every cake you bake is an opportunity, I took this opportunity to learn how to wrap a cake in ribbon.

It was a lovely cake not just because it tasted good (sorry, no pics of the sliced cake) but mostly because it was right.

If there is a religion of baking, then I like to think that a birthday cake is like a blessing of sorts.

It’s a wish.

Make it count.

Ciao!

Today is the day that I count birthday candles. Although I must say counting the candles isn’t quite what it used to be…

I prefer to count my blessings. I have a beautiful family, some truly amazing friends, my blog and all of you!

While every year presents both its challenges and its opportunities, I’m always secure in the knowledge that there’s a lot of love and strength and laughter around me. Where would we be without the humour in life?!

And luckily, thankfully, blessedly, there’s always lots of baking.

Mamma Cream Puff made me an early birthday present this year with this lovely Chestnut Spice Cake with Mascarpone Cream from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchenby Gina De Palma. She used chestnut flour that we bought while we were in Italy this past summer. And while the mascarpone cream is not pictured here, I can assure you I will be coated in it at some point later tonight.

I can’t have a piece yet because the cake is for after my birthday dinner (I’m having cannelloni!!!), but until then, thanks to everyone I love for making this a good year!

Ciao!

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah they were all yellow …

- Coldplay

While I was in Italy, the incredible Barbara of winosandfoodies.com announced the details of the 2009 LiveSTRONG With a Taste of Yellow event. This is an event that Barbara created as a way of supporting Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG Foundation. This year, LIVESTRONG DAY is on October 2nd.

Every year, when Barbara announces the details of her event, I am reminded of the importance of being united. With the simplest of gestures, by cooking or baking something yellow, we can all stand together in the fight against cancer.

It’s a powerful thing that Barbara does.

I’m honoured that I can take part.

For this year’s contribution to Barbara’s event, I’m submitting these little cakes that I actually made awhile ago using an ingredient that I tried for the very first time: Meyer lemons.

As you can imagine, Meyer lemons are difficult to source in Toronto. But one day, quite by surprise, I found some beautiful ones at my local grocery store so I loaded up on them.

Before I baked with them, I decided to taste them and was surprosed by their taste. I found the lemons to be a bit sweeter than regular lemons with less sourness. They seemed less acidic as well.

Happy with my purchase, I couldn’t wait to bake with them. I chose to try the Meyer Lemon Cake recipe from Chez Panisse Cooking by Paul Bertolli. Instead of making a 9-inch cake, I used a mini-bundt pan and made ten baby cakes.

The cakes were so pretty and the lemon flavour was very subtle. I glazed them and added a bit of lemon zest and some sweetened whipped cream when I served them.

If you have a moment on October 2nd, 2009, take some time to celebrate LIVESTRONG DAY and Barbara, for her incredible accomplishments.

Ciao!

Here are some Meyer lemon recipes that you might enjoy:

The Best Damn Meyer Lemon Cake
Meyer Lemon Cake with Lavender Cream
Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake

Hello, blog! Hello, food world! I’ve missed you ever so much!

I had a spectacular vacation in Italy but now I am ready to get back to baking, blogging and all my cookbooks (it seems someone has come into my house and brought more cookbooks for me to look at … I hate it when that happens!).

Before I get into my first Magazine Mondays post in awhile, I’d like to thank Wandering Coyote of ReTorte who very graciously hosted MM for me for the past month. She’s a trooper!

I have loads of bookmarked magazine recipes to try and many of them are years old so it may seem a bit unfair that this week’s offering is a brand spanking new recipe from the October 2009 issue of Food & Wine. But sometimes, jumping the queue is acceptable and in this case it’s more than acceptable. I introduce you to the Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake. The recipe, while featured in the magazine, is actually from a book called Cake Keeper Cakes: 100 Simple Recipes for Extraordinary Bundt Cakes, Pound Cakes, Snacking Cakes and Other Good-To-The-Last-Crumb Treatsby Lauren Chattman.

People, I beg you, go buy a jar of Nutella and make this cake.

It’s a pound cake with Nutella layers and it’s … like … the best cake ever. Like. For real.

In the last week I’ve made it about five times and each time the cake disappears faster than I can slice it.

Go. Bake. This. Cake.

This week, the following dedicated MMers have reduced their magazine piles:

Wandering Coyote of ReTorte made a Chocolate Walnut Tart from Tase of Home.

Margaret of Tea and Scones made Chicken Marsala from Woman’s World Magazine.

Remember, if you post a magazine recipe just send me an e-mail (creampuffsinvenice{@}gmail{dot}com) and I’ll link to it in my next MM post.

Have a wonderful Nutella-filled week, everyone!

Ciao!

A few months ago, I shared with you the fact that when I want to order a special a cake (and don’t feel like baking it myself), I turn to Rahier Pâtisserie, Toronto’s premiere pastry shop (in my opinion).

Well I had to share another example of the shop’s brilliance with the Gâteau St. Honoré you see pictured above. You have to special order the gâteau (call at least 48 hours in advance) and if ordering it in the summer, the trip home can be a bit dicey depending on how hot it is in your car (you may notice a bit of melted caramel off to the side), but despite all of that I cannot stress enough how worth it this dessert is.

We always have a Canada Day barbecue for the family at our house. It’s been a particularly busy time for me and because of the late arrival of summer in these parts, we’re still not seeing an abundance of local fresh fruit. On a whim, I decided to order a cake and because of a conversation with a good friend of mine, I had Gâteau St. Honoré on my mind.

If you’re ever in Toronto I urge you stop by Rahier for a coffee and a pastry (the pâtisserie is in a cute neighbourhood with lots of nice shops) and if you are a Toronto resident, I urge you to visit the shop and try their goods.

You will not be disappointed.

Cream Puff’s honour!

Ciao!

In May 2007, the Daring Bakers made Gâteau St. Honoré. Ah, the good ol’ days!