Sunday, August 3, 2008

A LONG AWAITED CAKE


I have been wanting to make this cake for years now. Literally. Every year there is some reason why I don't. I won't go into what has happened each year that has prevented me from making this cake. I will tell you that I FINALLY made it. It may have not been the same cake that inspired me in the first place but the results were amazing anyhow.

There has never been a shortage of blueberries at our house. I drive about one hour to pick at a farm that I absolutely love. I use to live near there but now that i have moved can not find a place comparable in size and price. And boy it is the land of plenty. It's Russels Blueberry Farm, North of Buffalo. I love it. It's affordable. Now with the price of gas it is actually comparable to a very expensive pick your own farm nearby. But hey look, I pick upwards of 25 pounds of blueberries. Oh yes, that was nto a typo. Blueberries turn into many things at our house. I freeze them on cookie sheets and then put them in baggies. The kids eat them half frozen, semifredo, in the middle of winter. They go into smoothies. I love to slab a tablespoon of sour cream on them when they are half frozen, it is like I am having some wicked dessert when really it is a low cal indulgence. Okay the list goes on.

Lori's Long Awaited Blueberry and Lemon Luscious Cake

Components:
Lemon Curd
Whipped Cream
Lemon Chiffon Cake (click here for original recipe)

Lemon Curd:
5 yolks
1 cup sugar
juice and zest of 4 lemons
1 stick of butter (4 oz.) cut in eight pieces

Combine yolks, sugar, juice and zest of lemons in a stainless steel bowl. Whisk until combined. Place bowl over boiling water. (You could also use a double boiler). Stir with whisk constantly. You want to heat it until it sticks to the back of a spoon. When you run your finger through it, it makes a trail. This usually takes anywhere from eight to ten minutes.

Take off the heat and whisk in pieces of butter one at a time until melted. Place in a glass or ceramic container and refrigerate. You can store this for about a week. It freezes well and defrosts rapidly.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar

In mixer, whip cream and sugar until peaks form.

Lemon Whip

Mix small amount of cream into curd to lighten it up then slowly fold the lemon curd into the cream. Refrigerate to set.

Lemon Chiffon

I used Jenyu's recipe from Use Real Butter. The only thing that I would like to say is that the batter filled 3- 9 x 3's for me. Other than that I loved everything about this cake. Divide cakes in two. I froze 1 1/2 and used the other 1 1/2.

Lay lemon cream mixture on first layer. Sprinkle about a cup of blueberries over the cream. Lay next layer on top. Repeat with all layers. The only thing that I would try next time I make this is to use cream cheese or mascarpone whipped up and then fold in the lemon cream. It would set much better. However I did like the creaminess of this lemon cream and it was a melt in your mouth experience.

6 comments:

Erin said...

This cake looks delicious! Glad you finally got to make it. I have recipes like that too- I want to make them, but for some reason it takes me a while. Don't you love picking your own blueberries? My husband's grandparents have blueberry bushes and when we visit we pick a ton to bring home. I love making all kinds of blueberry goodies!

Jayne said...

Lori - that looks wonderful. We've been picking blueberries by the ton lately (my nephew's newly-purchased property includes 16 neglected and overgrown blueberry bushes) and that cake looks like one more great use for some of the surplus!

Madam Chow said...

Two of my favorites - lemon and blueberries!

Lori, on another topic - I've responded a couple times since last week to your email about R2R - have you received them? I haven't heard back with the info. Thanks!
Madam Chow
http://www/mzkitchen.com

grace said...

lori. this cake is tremendous. i would be willing to wait all spring, winter, and fall for something so decadent. bravo!
and 25 pounds of blueberries? i'm so jealous!

giz said...

Lemon and blueberries - such a great combination. This cake looks totally like something I would want in about 2 weeks - sigh - after I finish moving. Actually, I'd like it even better if you came and brought this to my new condo as a housewarming. I'll even provide tea and/or coffee.

kat said...

YUm, that looks delicious! I can't believe you waited so long to make it.