I used some of my precious flour this weekend to bake us an Italian Lemon Cream Cake. I had a lemon that was close to spilling over to unusable and some cream which was also close to being unusable as well.
I hate it when that happens.
Several months ago, I am ashamed to say . . . losing such things wouldn't really have bothered me overly much, although I have always tried to use everything.
Over the last few years, I have probably not been as diligent as I could have been. Not proud of that.
These days I am much more aware of waste and shortages. Flour (for one thing) and sugar are in short supply and I don't have regular access to fresh ingredients either.
For as long as we are bothered by this Covid 19 pandemic my days of simply popping to the shops or sending Todd when I need something are over, and in fact I am not sure if I will ever live like that again.
Did you know you can keep flour in the freezer indefinitely. Actually, you can keep it in your refrigerator for up to two years before it will go rancid.
So long as they are stored in airtight containers, that is. A timely tip there!
I had recently been sent some lovely Italian flour by an online supplier of authentic Italian foods, Cibilia. I have been storing it in my freezer and decided to use some of it today. There was a semolina flour and 2 types of soft wheat flours, both perfect to make things like shortbreads, scones, biscuits, cookies and so on.
The flour has been produced by Zilletta Di Brancia - Apulian Stone Mill, which is the only artisan stone mill existing in all the Tavoliere delle Puglie. It is also a family owned mill. For this Cake I used TIPO 1 which is an Organic all purpose flour.
As you can see I had beautiful results. Look at the beautiful crumb which resulted after baking! I was so impressed.
That crumb is the sign of a good cake. And good flour helps to create a great crumb.
The cake itself is a very simple cake. It is light and beautifully flavoured and as you can see has a very light crumb and is very moist.
I love simple cakes. They are my favourites.
You beat three large free range eggs together with an additional large free range egg yolk, lemon zest and a quantity of confectioners sugar to make a light and fluffy mixture.
This mixture almost doubles in volume. This is a part of what adds to that beautiful texture of the cake.
Once you have done that you fold in a mix of the flour and some baking powder, alternating with heavy cream . . . rich and moist . . .
A quantity of melted and cooled butter gets folded in at the end along with some vanilla, melted butter, and lemon juice . . . creating a beautiful cake.
You need to be careful when you are folding it in so that you don't knock out much of the air that you have beaten into it.
I baked it in my 9 1/2 inch bundt tin. Do make sure you grease the tin really well and dust it with flour. I thought I had done a really good job of that, but my cake still stuck in a few places.
I needed to use a knife to run down the sides to loosen it and I really hate doing that with my bundt tins. I absolutely dread scratching them.
In any case if you are looking for a lovely simple cake that is moist and delicious, delicately flavoured with lemon with a beautiful crumb . . . this is YOUR cake!
Italian Lemon Cream Cake
Yield: 10
A moist and delicious cake with a delicate crumb. Flavoured with Lemon. Tthis cake is wonderful on its own but would be equally as delicious served with some fresh berries in berry season.
Ingredients:
- 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled (7 TBS)
- 280g plain flour (I used a TIPO1 Italian flour) (2 cups)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 large free range eggs
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 230g icing sugar (1 3/4 cups) sifted
- 160ml double cream (2/3 cup heavy cream)
- the zest of one unwaxed lemon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 TBS lemon juice
- Icing sugar to dust on finished cake
Instructions:
How to cook Italian Lemon Cream Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Grease a 9 1/2 inch bundt tin and flour it well, tapping out any excess flour.
- Melt the butter and allow it to cool completely.
- Measure the sugar, lemon zest and eggs, plus egg yolk into a bowl. Beat with an electric whisk unti it becomes very light in colour and doubles in volume.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Gently fold into the creamed mixure, alternating with the cream, until thoroughly blended in. Gently fold in the lemon juice, vanilla and melted butter. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate and allowing to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
I simply dusted it with some icing sugar, and then decorated it with a couple of viola blooms and some fresh mint leaves. I thought it was quite pretty. You can't get much prettier than Mother Nature I don't think!
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When it comes to pasta, its all about the sauce for me. I could eat a good pasta sauce by the spoonful. If your sauce is lacking in substance and flavour, your whole dish is lacking as far as I am concerned.
The sauce I am sharing with you today is one of my favourite sauces. It is totally low maintenance. It basically cooks itself. All you need to do is to dump a few ingredients into a baking dish and then let the oven do all the work.
The only work basically that you will need to do is to cook the pasta and for this sauce I recommend something with long strands that the sauce can cling to. Today I used Bucatini.
Bucatini is kind of like macaroni. It has a hole in the centre just like macaroni, but its long like spaghetti. It goes perfectly with this lush sauce. I adapted the recipe from one found in Bon Appetit.
Of course when tomatoes are the main focus of a sauce, you want to make sure you use really good ones if you have them. Today I used Buonassai Pomodoro Pelato,
Bio in Salsa. These are fabulously delicious Italian tomatoes.
This was my last jar of them, so boo hoo . . . I will just have to settle for the other kinds I have in the house until I am able to get some more. When I tell you these tomatoes are fabulous, I mean it. Just like eating fresh Italian sunshine.
As I said, this sauce basically cooks itself in the oven.
You use some good peeled plum tomatoes which you crush with your hands in a baking dish . . . okay a tiny bit of work there . . .
Into that you add peeled and crushed cloves of garlic and a couple of anchovy fillets, preserved in oil. If you are not fond of anchovies you can leave them out . . .
Salt, pepper and some crushed red pepper flakes provide some seasoning and heat. Do beware that if you are using anchovies, they are salty so be judicious with the salt.
Also all of the ingredients are going to be roasted together and condensed . . . so the flavours will be condensed also . . .
Butter is dotted over the top before roasting and then you simply roast the whole mess in a hot oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, giving it a stir halfway through the cook time.
What you end up with at the end of the roasting time is a very thick, jam-like substance with beautiful concentrated flavours.
You mash it up with a potato mashed to break up the tomatoes and spread that roasted garlic flavour throughout.
Thick and delicious you will tell yourself, this is too thick for a pasta sauce and you would be right. You will need to add some of your pasta cooking water to it to thin it out a bit. How much kind of depends on the pasta you are using.
Use only enough to give you a sauce which coats the strands of your pasta perfectly . . . .
You can also make the sauce 24 hours in advance of when you need it. So dinner can be on the table in as long as it takes to cook your pasta.
Simply throw the prepared sauce into the saucepan with the cooked pasta and pasta water and heat through.
This sauce isn't just good on pasta however . . . its also great spread onto pizzas and baguettes, or tucked into egg dishes. A layer of it on the bottom of a cheese Quiche adds a special something.
Thin it out with some vegetable stock and add some cooked rice and you have a really delicious tomato and rice soup . . .
But of course my favourite way to enjoy it is on pasta . . . put simply, it is nothing less than delicious.
Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce
Yield: 4
This sauce is fabulous. Roasting tinned tomatoes in the oven with a few ingredients really heightens their delicious flavours. Serve with your favourite pasta for a taste sensation!
Ingredients:
- 2 (400g) tins/jars of whole peeled plum tomatoes (2-14oz) undrained
- 8 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 anchovy fillets packed in oil
- 60g unsalted butter, cubed (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 120ml pasta cooking water (1/2 cup)
To serve:
- 3/4 pound of dry pasta, cooked
- finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
How to cook Butter Roasted Tomato Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Dump your tomatoes into a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Crush them with your hands and then stir in the garlic, anchovies and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Remember that anchovies are salty, also this sauce will be condensing and so do be judicious with the salt.) Dot the butter over top.
- Roast for 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Toss everything and return to the oven for a further 15 to 20 minutes, at which time the sauce will be quite thick and jam-like. Mash with a potato masher lightly.
- Cook your pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving some of the pasta water. Return the pasta to the saucepan along with the reserved water and roasted tomato sauce. Heat, tossing together until the sauce coats the pasta. Serve hot in bowls and pass the Parmesan Cheese.
This is also a great store-cupboard recipe. Simple ingredients put together in a very delicious way. You can't beat this kind of cooking. All you need on the side is a salad perhaps and some garlic bread. Mama mia!
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