Citrus Rice Pudding

I have a thing for homemade pudding (not out of the box either). So I have been trying out a few different methods, and I think this is the one I will be sticking with and working out the kinks until it gets to exactly the way I want it. If you like rice pudding at all, then you need to try this method; baking it slowly in the oven as opposed to over the stove top lends to and amazing consistency where the rice just melts in your mouth, and the citrus peel infuses itself throughout and absorbs the sugar so it is easily edible. Next time I think I might try making it with coconut milk.

Citrus Rice Pudding
adapted from More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin

2 citrus fruits of a different variety (lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, lime, etc)
1/2 cup white rice, jasmine or Basmati
4 cups whole milk
7 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs pure vanilla extract
2 Tbs rum (optional)

Preheat the oven to 250F. Peel the citrus with a vegetable peeler and cut the peel into very fine short strips. Be sure not to get any of the pith with the peel, otherwise it will make the pudding somewhat bitter. As you can see I accidentally got a little pith in mine.


Mix the peel, rice, sugar, milk, vanilla, and rum (optional) in an ovenproof dish. Put in the oven and cook uncovered for about 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 45 minutes or so. By the way, it will make your kitchen smell heavenly. If you use skim or low fat milk, you may want to keep it in there longer.

It will thicken considerably as it cools. It's great straight out of the oven, or cooled in the fridge.

I used skim milk in the recipe because that's what I happened to have and it turned out a bit more runny than I would have liked. I think next time I will use a milk with a higher percentage of fat (or coconut milk like I already mentioned). My citrus strips were a bit too thick for my liking, so I ended up picking out a lot of the big ones. I wonder how zest would work instead of the peel. Cinnamon might be a nice addition to the recipe as well, but the flavor is great simply as it is. Let me know if you try this out and tell me what works for you!

Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Chips

I have been wanting to make this cake for a while now, it just sounds so interesting. Olive oil in a cake? One time when I was in high school a friend of mine and I wanted to make chocolate chip cookies but we didn't have any regular vegetable or canola oil. We did have olive oil however, so we used that instead. Needless to say the cookies turned out....interesting. I tried one bite and couldn't bring myself to eat anymore (ick!). For some reason, olive oil works very well in this cake and is the star ingredient along with the lemon. The recipe is adapted from Gourmet magazine. It is a very rustic, light, and airy cake; just barely sweet enough to be considered dessert.



Lemon Olive Oil Cake with Chocolate Chips
serves 8

Ingredients:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 cup flour (use cake flour if you have it)
5 egg yolks
4 egg whites
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 1/2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F, making sure the rack is in the middle position of the oven. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan, or a 9 cake inch cake pan.

Whisk together lemon zest, salt and flour. Set aside.

Beat together egg yolks and 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large bowl until thick and pale, about three minutes. Drizzle in olive oil and lemon juice while slowly stirring just until combined, the mixture will appear to be slightly separated. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture just until combined (do not beat).

Beat egg whites in a large bowl until foamy. Add 1/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, and beat until mixture just begins to hold soft peaks.

Gently fold in one third of whites into yolk mixture. Then fold in rest of egg whites and chocolate chips very gently.

Pour batter into greased pan and gently rap against the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle top with remaining sugar. Bake 45 minutes or until puffed and golden and a knife or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove. Cool cake to room temperature. At this point you can top the cake however you like- powdered sugar, berries, lemon curd, frosting, or leave it plain. I chose to spread some lemon curd I had from Trader Joe's and then sprinkled powdered sugar on top.

Enjoy with tea, as breakfast, snack, or dessert!

Lemon Ginger Cake

A dear friend of mine had a birthday recently, and there is little I love more than making a cake for someone, especially a friend who has seen me through a lot of life's ups and downs. She doesn't have a huge sweet tooth, and is known for passing up the dessert tray at a restaurant and opting for buffalo wings instead. I am not sure how it's possible that we are still great friends given this disparity of respective weaknesses, but we are. Truth is stranger than fiction, folks. That said, she actually liked this cake (or so she said).
(BTW- we are only letting her pretend she is still 27, don't tell her we know)

The cake itself is not terribly sweet, but very good. The frosting is quite tangy and sweet, and I will probably keep it up my sleeve as a trusty go-to frosting.

Lemon Ginger Cake

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 Tbs. lemon zest
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, grated
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest and ginger. Beat for one minute.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

Divide batter between two round cake pans, don't forget to grease or spray the pans with cooking spray first. There will be batter left over which is great for making cupcakes (see cupcake photo at the end of this post). Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Cool completely at room temperature.

Lemon Ginger Frosting:

2 tsp. lemon zest
4 Tbs. melted butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp. salt

Whisk together lemon zest, butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, lemon juice, ginger and salt until the mixture starts to stiffen. Add more powdered sugar until the frosting seems thick enough to stick to the cake.

After the cake has cooled completely, top one of the cake rounds with frosting. Place other cake round on top, and then frost the rest of the cake. I decorated mine with candied ginger and fruit jellies from Trader Joe's.


Here is a picture of the cupcakes. I took these to work, and there wasn't a crumb left after 11 AM.