Can we all agree that we’re having a real summer? It has been hot to an extreme that keeps my oven off and my desire to spend time in the kitchen low. When it’s 95° and humid, I’m simply not cooking. Salads, fruit and yogurt do the trick for me without my breaking a sweat.
The recent weather, complete with cool mornings and more moderate afternoons, prompted my interest in getting reacquainted with my kitchen. This relenting in temperature was well timed and coincided with a birthday that needed celebrating, giving me the opportunity to actually try a couple of recipes that I had tucked into my NYT Recipe Box.
First up was Chez Panisse’s Blueberry Cobbler. I mean, you can’t go wrong with seasonal fruit and it is most certainly blueberry season around these parts. I essentially followed the recipe but, after reading the comments (you read those too, right?) I swapped out the heavy cream for buttermilk because I just have a lot more uses for leftover buttermilk than I do for heavy cream. I also added a dusting of lemon zest to the berries for brightness.
As you can see, my “biscuit” blobs baked together making a top crust of sorts, but that did not detract from the flavor whatsoever. The pastry was light, baked through and provided the ideal support for scoops of Stewie’s Philly Vanilly. The recipe says that it serves 4-6 and we were 6, including my 3 sons who are, shall we say, good eaters. Despite their best efforts, we had one extra serving which was sent home with one of the lucky Lilly lads.
Just like my boys, this recipe is a keeper and can easily be modified to take advantage of whatever fruit is at its finest. If we could score some good local peaches, I’d give this another go in a heartbeat. I think I’ll use brown sugar with the fruit and maybe 1/2 t of powdered ginger to zhuzh it up a wee bit.
My second baking experiment was this heavenly Lemon Pudding Cake. I’ve always been a fan of lemon treats and will forever miss my mother-in-law’s Thanksgiving lemon meringue pie, made especially for me. This cake, though, rivals any lemon pie, bar or tart that I’ve ever made personally and, since I generally have all the necessary ingredients on hand, I can see this becoming my signature dessert.
Again, I followed the general directions, just decreasing the sugar a tad, and was very pleased with the results. I went with a deep water bath for baking to maximize the pudding texture and found the results to be stellar. Creamy, tart and light it was the perfect dessert for a late afternoon gathering on a friend’s lake house deck. Next time I put this together, I might toss a handful of berries on the top for the last 10 minutes or so of baking. A sprinkling of powdered sugar would only make this prettier.
So, friends, what have you been up to in your kitchens?
DelSo 