Lemon-Raspberry Cake

I made this cake a few weeks ago for my birthday. I made Randal a chocolate truffle cake for his birthday, so I thought why not make Sarabeth's lemon raspberry cake.

I loved making this cake, but then I always enjoy cakes that involve many steps and I finally got the chance to make lemon curd for this cake.  This is such a lovely cake, not too sweet which is great for me, as I really am not a fan of heavy sweet cakes with lots of frosting.

Vanilla Genoise:
5 tbsp unsalted butter
5 large eggs
5 large egg yolks
1 cup superfine sugar
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
1 cup cake flour

Lemon Curd:
4 lemons
10 large egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened

Lemon Buttercream:
5 sticks unsalted butter
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
seeds from 1 plumped vanilla bean
1 1/2 tbsp lemon curd

Simple Syrup:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water

Two 6 oz containers of fresh raspberries

To make the vanilla genoise, preheat oven to 350. Grease a half sheet pan.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, transfer to a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes, until tepid.

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Bring a large pan of water to simmer over high heat, reduce heat to low and place the mixer bowl over the water.  Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is about 118 degrees.

Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Add the vanilla and beat on high speed until quadrupled in volume and very pale yellow, will take around 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer. In four equal additions, sift the flour over the egg mixture and use a balloon whisk to fold it in.  transfer a quarter of the batter into a medium bowl and add the butter and fold together with the balloon whisk.  Pour this mixture back into the remaining batter and fold together.

Pour the batter into the half sheet pan and smooth it evenly with an offset spatula. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

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To make the lemon curd, zest the lemons, set aside the zest then cut the lemons in half and juice them.  There should be around 2/3 cup of lemon juice.

In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest.  Place over a saucepan of simmering water, cook the curd and stir often until it thickens and reaches 185 degrees, will take about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl.  Gradually whisk in the butter a tablespoon at a time.  Press a piece of cling film directly over the curd, pierce a few holes in it to allow steam to escape and leave to cool.  Once the curd has cooled transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate.

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To make the simple syrup, place the water and sugar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, let boil for a couple of minutes then turn off the heat and leave to cool.

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To make the buttercream, add one inch of water to a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and place over the simmering water.  Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches around 160 degrees, should take about 5 minutes. Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed until the meringue is cool, could take up to 10 minutes.

With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Once all the butter has been mixed in, add the vanilla and the lemon curd and beat for another minute.

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To assemble the cake, split each raspberry in half and place on a paper towel lined sheet pan.

Using an 8 by 3 inch entremet ring, cut two rounds from opposite corners of the genoise. Cut out two half rounds from the remaining cake. 

Insert an 8 inch cardboard round into an 8 by 3 inch entremet ring.  Place a whole cake round into the ring and brush with 1/4 cup of the simple syrup. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the circumference of the cake.  Spread 1/2 cup of the lemon curd up to the ring of buttercream and layer half of the raspberries cut side down on the lemon curd.  Top with the two half rounds of cake, using the scraps of cake left for filling any gaps and repeat with the simple syrup, piped buttercream, lemon curd and raspberries.  Place the final cake layer and brush with the remaining syrup.  Place one cup of buttercream onto the cake and using a large offset spatula spread so that it is even with the top of the ring.  Carefully lift off the metal ring, refrigerate for 1 hour.

Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the cake, refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Apply the final layer of frosting to the cake, top with raspberries and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Linked to:
A Pinch of Joy
Create With Joy 

I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Addicted to Recipes
Inside BruCrew Life
Love Bakes Good Cakes
Nap Time Creations
Our Delightful Home

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Quinoa, black bean and corn tacos for me, regular beef tacos for Randal and spanish rice

Tuesday: Chicken korma, jasmine rice, poppadoms and mango chutney

Wednesday: Nonna's handkerchiefs, salad (still haven't made this)

Thursday: Cherry glazed ribs, corn on the cob, sugar snap peas

Friday: Eating out
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie

Zucchini Boats

I was under no illusion that Randal would actually eat these, so I planned to make them on a night I was making Randal a dinner that I don't really like. So while Randal enjoyed his roasted Italian sausages and spaghetti, I enjoyed these stuffed zucchini (or courgettes as I call them) boats from Proud Italian Cook.

2 large zucchini
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 garlic clove, crushed
12 cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 375. In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, dried herbs and garlic.

Cut the zucchini in half and scoop out the middle, brush with the olive oil and herb mixture. Cut the tomatoes in half and place in the zucchini boats.  Sprinkle with the panko and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with the grated cheese, bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers

We had some really good deli roast beef from my favourite grocery store Central Market that I needed to use up. I remembered I had pinned this recipe from Quick'n Easy Recipes and as Randal loves stuffed peppers and roast beef, I thought this would be a great dinner for him.

8 oz roast beef
8 slices provolone cheese
2 green peppers
1 onion, sliced
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400. Slice the peppers in half and remove the seeds.

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large pan.  Add the onions and mushrooms, cook for about 10 minutes.  Add in the garlic and season with salt and pepper.

Add in the chopped roast beef and mix together.

Place a slice of cheese in the bottom of each pepper.  Divide the beef mixture between the peppers and top with another slice of cheese.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Persian Jeweled Rice

I pinned this rice dish from the view from the great island a long time ago.  I kept looking at the recipe saying that one day I would make it, but I never seemed to have all the ingredients for it or I would change my mind and just make plain jasmine rice instead.  It looked so pretty though that I eventually just had to try it.  We both really loved this, although we increased the amount of spices because we tend to like really strong flavours.

1 1/2 cups rice
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp saffron threads
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 tbsp butter
2 bay leaves
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup pistachios
seeds from 1 pomegranate

Place the saffron in 2 1/2 cups of hot water.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the fennel seeds and cumin seeds and fry for a minute or two.  Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the rice and fry for a few minutes.  Add in the cinnamon, allspice and cardamom, bay leaves, lemon zest and the saffron water.  Season with salt and pepper, add in the dried fruit and bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender.

To serve, remove the bay leaves and top with the almonds, pistachios and pomegranate.

Mediterranean Chef salad

One of the best things about grocery shopping at HEB are all the food samples they give out. We have found so many great recipes through samples at HEB, and as soon as I tasted this salad last week I made Randal go back and ask for the recipe card. I had everything in my cart that this salad needed anyway, except for the turkey, so I changed my lunch plans for the week so I could make this.

1 lb extra lean ground turkey
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1 head romaine lettuce
1 bag baby lettuce medley
1 large tomato
1 large avocado
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
3 tbsp fresh mint
1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat the oil in a large pan.  Add the turkey and cook for 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute, season with salt and pepper and add the kidney beans and cook for another minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the spring onions.

To make the dressing, finely chop the mint and stir it into the yogurt and add the lemon juice.

Tear romaine into bite sized pieces and place onto a serving platter.  Top with the lettuce mix.  Spoon the turkey mixture over the lettuce, add the tomato and avocado and drizzle with the dressing.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Herb roasted chicken with green beans and red potatoes

Tuesday: Cheesesteak stuffed bell peppers, salad

Wednesday: Nonna's handkerchiefs, salad (still haven't made this)

Thursday:Italian sausage spaghetti for Randal, zucchini boats for me and salad

Friday: Spicy mint beef and jasmine rice
  
See other menu plans over at Organizing Junkie