Archive for the 'Dessert' Category

Meyer lemon icebox cake

Published
by
marc
on April 1, 2008
in Dessert
. 5 Comments

Lemon icebox cake

Last week I posted a recipe for Lemon icebox cake ice cream. I gave it that name, not because it has anything in common with the original dessert, but because it tasted just like it. In the comments, michelle @ TNS left a note asking about the original “cake” from which it got its name, so here it is:-)

I love recipes with some history and this one dates back to the 1920’s when the National Biscuit Company (a.k.a. Nabisco), was looking for a way to promote their chocolate wafers. Apparently their marketing worked and this dessert became quite popular up through the 50’s and 60’s. I first had this in the mid 90’s at my best friend’s grandmother’s house, where I proceeded to eat about half the pan.

An icebox “cake” is actually cookies layered with cream. In this case I use lemon wafer cookies I got at Whole Foods, Meyer lemon curd, and lemon cream. Left in the fridge overnight, the wafers absorb liquid out of the creme and take on a firm cake-like texture without getting mushy. For being relatively simple, this is actually one of my favorite desserts. Here’s my take on this classic.

1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
3/4 C Meyer Lemon Curd to mix with the cream
3/4 C Meyer Lemon Curd to layer
1 box vanilla or lemon wafers

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add 3/4 cup lemon curd to the cream and fold it in gently with a rubber spatula.

In a 8 x 8 square baking dish or other suitable vessel, put down 1/3 of the cream and spread it around. Then put down a layer of wafers smearing the tops of each one with a good dollop of lemon curd. Repeat, finishing with a layer of cream.

Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

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Meyer lemon curd

Published
by
marc
on March 30, 2008
in Brunch, Dessert and Ingredients
. 10 Comments

Meyer Lemon Curd

As you probably know by now, I’m all about making simple things. If a recipe has too many ingredients, involves too much prep, or looks like I’ll get too many pots and pans dirty, I probably won’t make it. Lemon curd is the perfect example of this laziness-turned-innovation. Most recipes will have you cream the butter in an electric mixer, then do all kinds of crazy things with a double boiler.

Rather than accept such non-sense at face value, I set out to simplify this recipe. First I remembered an old trick for getting melted butter to combine with other liquids without clumping up. This eliminates the need to beat it in a mixer. Then I decided a double boiler isn’t necessary as long as you use a heavy bottomed pan over low heat. Voila, 1-pot, 1-bowl lemon curd in less than 30 minutes.

Update: I love Meyer lemons for their intense sweet lemony flavor, but they are much more delicate than regular lemons so they’re not so supermarket-friendly. If you’re in California they’re available all over the place, but for those of us in other parts of the country/world, try looking at “gourmet” groceries or at a farmer’s markets while they are in season (late winter - early spring). You could substitute for regular lemons, but you may need to increase the amount of sugar.

1 stick unsalted butter (1/4 lbs)
2-3 Meyer lemons zested
1/2 C Meyer lemon juice
3/4 C sugar
2 extra large eggs separated

Drop the whole stick of butter into a heavy bottomed saucepan over low heat and let it melt (the pan should be just warm enough to melt the butter). Once it’s mostly melted turn off the heat.

In a medium bowl, add the sugar and zest a few lemons into it. Then squeeze about 1/2 C of juice and add it to the sugar.

Separate the eggs, dropping the yolks into the pot of melted (but not hot) butter and the whites into the sugar mixture.

Whisk the yolks and butter together until well combined. Then take the whisk to the sugar mixture until well combined. Pour the sugar mixture into the pot with the butter and whisk it all together.

Turn the heat back on to low and use a heat-proof silicon spatula to constantly stir the mixture, scrapping the bottom and sides of the pan to make sure nothing burns. If you have an instant read thermometer, just get the temp up to 170 degrees and you should be golden. Otherwise, just keep stirring until the curd thickens enough to coat the spatula. Make sure you don’t over cook it!

As soon as it’s done, take it off the heat and pour it into another container.

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Pain perdu (real French toast)

Published
by
marc
on March 30, 2008
in Brunch and Dessert
. 5 Comments

Pain Perdu

I first came across this dish at Landmarc in Tribeca. It’s somewhere between “French” toast and bread pudding and with a caramelized buttery exterior and a custardy interior it makes for a sinful Sunday morning brunch.

I used some good sandwich bread this morning (pictured), but this really works best with a crusty baguette. If custard dipped, butter fried bread isn’t quite rich enough for you, try putting some crisp bacon on top and drizzle maple syrup over that during its last few minutes in the oven.

2 pieces of baguette or other firm bread about 4″ x 3″ x 2″ each

3/4 C whole milk
1/4 C cream
1/4 C sugar
1 extra large egg
1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbs butter

The night before you want to eat this, whisk the milk, cream, sugar, egg and vanilla together until smooth. Put the bread in a large ziplock bag and pour in the custard mixture. Make sure the bread is well coated then squeeze out as much of the air from the bag as you can (without squashing the bread) and seal the bag. Put it in the fridge and turn it over once after a few hours.

The next morning, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Then heat an oven proof pan large enough to accommodate both pieces of bread over medium heat. Drop the butter in and let it melt.

Take the bread out of the bag and place it in the pan. Once it’s brown on that side, turn it to another side. Depending on how many sides your bread has, repeat until all flat surfaces of your bread is browned.

Pop it in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the middle of the bread reads 170 degrees. You can also tell if it’s done or not by cutting a little slit into the middle of the bread and squeezing, if liquid custard mixture comes out it’s not done.

Give it an ample dusting of powdered sugar and serve with a wedge of lemon or some maple syrup.

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Lemon icebox cake ice cream

Published
by
marc
on March 26, 2008
in Dessert
. 5 Comments

Lemon icebox cake ice cream

Since the strawberry buttermilk ice cream turned out so well, I thought I’d try the concept with some different ingredients. I picked up a few pounds of Meyer lemons from Whole Foods the other day, so that got me wondering what Meyer lemon ice cream would taste like. Then I started thinking about lemon icebox cake and it struck me that I had some lemon pound cake sitting around.

Like the strawberry buttermilk ice cream, this recipe uses no eggs or cream and does not need to be cooked. You just whisk it all together and dump it in an ice cream maker.

2 C buttermilk
2/3 C sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbs sugar
zest of 1 Meyer lemon
juice of 1 Meyer lemon

1/2 cup pound cake cut into little cubes

Whisk the buttermilk, condensed milk, sugar and lemon zest+juice together. Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Once it’s nice and cold, dump it into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacture’s directions. Once the ice cream is done, take it out of the ice cream maker and mix in the pound cake. Serve soft, or put it in the freezer for a bit to set up.

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Strawberry buttermilk ice cream

Published
by
marc
on March 20, 2008
in Dessert
. 6 Comments

Strawberry buttermilk ice cream

Strawberry buttermilk ice creamCraving desert, but with no eggs or milk and not enough strawberries to make a sorbet, I thought I might just have to be healthy tonight… Then I spotted a carton of buttermilk! I’ve also been meaning to try using sweetened condensed milk in an ice cream to make it extra creamy, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It didn’t quite turn out how I thought it would taste, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some interaction between the sweetened condensed milk and the buttermilk makes this a dead ringer for strawberry cheesecake. I might even try adding some graham crackers next time:-)

2 C buttermilk
1/2 C sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 C strawberries diced

2 Tbs sweetened condensed milk

Whisk the first 4 ingredients together and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Dump it into an ice cream maker following the manufactures directions.

When the ice cream is done, swirl in 2 Tbs sweetened condensed milk. Serve soft or throw it in the freezer for 30 minutes to set up more like store bought ice cream.

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