I’ve just wrapped up another one of those weeks that you hope not to see again
for quite some time. Three track meets with our son, Phillip, and a big ‘foodie’
function at work. It all culminated this evening and I can’t believe it is over.
Communication was a little cloudy and we thought our guests were having a
heavy appetizer bar as their ‘dinner’. Nope, only as appetizers as they were going
to a private dinner elsewhere. Therefore we had so much food left over it was
just crazy. I called a few folks and we made haste with a great amount of food
before we wrapped up the evening. I’m sitting here writing to you as I munch on
the leftover tidbits of beef tenderloin that was served on my bruschetta. Actually
we received lots of comments on the dish. I guess I should have run it this week,
but instead I’ve chosen this real easy Lemon Dream Cake.
If you have my cookbook then you may be familiar with our family ‘birthday’ cake,
which is in the dessert section of the first book, ‘Simply Yours’. This Lemon dream
cake is just a flavor twist on the same basic cake. Personally I like this cake with
absolutely no icing. It is extremely moist and the lemon flavor is just a great way
to close a summer meal as we look at the weeks ahead.
Let’s talk a bit about using emulsions instead of extracts while we are baking.
Emulsions are used by professional bakers because they don’t bake off. The other
great feature of an emulsion is the fact that you only need to use half of what you
would usually use in an extract. Just a few short weeks ago I had a guest at the
culinary school who didn’t realize that most extracts are alcohol based. I ‘think’ it
was because of religious choices, she about freaked when she realized that
extracts contained alcohol.
When you look at the cost of both of these items, it’s a no-brainer that it’s
cheaper to use emulsions over extracts. Here’s a tip for you. I found emulsions at
my Walmart store in the wedding/Wilton aisle. They carried almond, red velvet,
Madagascar vanilla and a couple of others. If you have a really big store you may
find even more. I order many of mine on line from a company called
Sugarcraft.com.
This week is all about regrouping and working on the new cookbook. I’m looking
forward to a few quiet evenings at home with the family. Maybe, just maybe I’ll
find the time to tidy my fishing gear so I can get my pole in the water during
mating season.
Whip up this easy cake, it looks great in a Bundt pan. Refreshing and quick is just
the ticket during this outstanding weather. Enjoy the week. Simply yours, The
Covered Dish. Thecovereddish.com
Lemon Dream Cake
1 (18 ounce) box lemon cake mix
1 (3 ounce) box lemon instant pudding
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon extract
Zest from (1) lemon
1/2 cup lemon juice fresh or bottled
1/2 cup oil
In my first cookbook, ‘Simply Yours’ you will find our family, ‘Chocolate Birthday
Cake’. This lemon dream cake recipe is simply a lemon twist following the same
recipe structure.
Mix all the ingredients beating about four minutes on medium speed. The batter
tends to be a bit stiff. Bake in a greased & floured Bundt pan for about an hour at
325 degrees. If I have plenty of time I like to bake this cake at 300 degrees which
renders an even lighter outer edge on this delicious cake.
‘If’ you were doing an icing I would do a simple lemon glaze or consider pairing
the cake with Persimmon Hill Farms Amaretto Blueberry Syrup. This can be
purchased through the Persimmon Hill Farms website @ persimmonhill.com
