Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

When the travails of traveling on a motorcyle throughout the Pacific Northwest get you down, there is no better respite than a stop at a magical place called Pondside.  Situated between two limpid ponds with an American ( in our honor ) flag drapped entrance gate, we immediately felt welcomed by my blogging friend Pondside and her husband The Great Dane.  Reading her blog I have always been entranced by her gentle style and great wisdom.  We bloggers sometimes “know” each other without ever being formally introduced.

When I blogged about our trip to Alaska and trip south through Vancouver, Pondside graciously invited us to lunch.  Who could resist?   What a treat it was.  I was hesitant to show up with a camera around my neck and the typical blogger mentality of snapping pictures of everything in sight, so I missed photographing her lovely pasta salad with smoked salmon and asparagus that she credits to  Cathy of Wives With Knives, another great blogger.   It was delicious and will go in my file of favorite recipes.  Thank you Cathy.  David especially enjoyed it because he has had a hard time finding salmon on this trip in spite of the fact that the salmon are running and we saw thousands of them in a river in Alaska.  Here is Cathy’s picture.

Pondside made a dessert of Eton Mess that was just perfect to round out our meal.  I don’t have her specific recipe but it was a mixture of  broken up meringues, whipped cream and Cointreau marinated strawberries.  You can check out Ina’s recipe here.   We chatted over dessert and coffee and found so much in common.  I never thought I would find another fabric junkie like me.  We are even reading the same paperback author right now.

The day turned drizzly for a brief time and we walked around the property to see the ponds and the chickens and ducks.

My visit with Pondside was a delight.

And I love her umbrellas too!  Thank you H and GD for opening your world to us.  We are so much the better for it.

I have been without internet access for the past week or so and am just catching up on my blogs about our trip.  I am home now, but have at least two more posts that I want to share with you.  Also I need to catch up with all of your posts.  Again thank you Pondside for a delightful interlude in our trip.

Remember this post picture of my first clafoutis pictured below?  What a mess!

The new version looks so much better, even though I cooked it a little too long.  Experimentation is a good thing.  My thanks go out to both Barbara of Moveable Feasts and Susan of Schnitzel and The Trout for alerting me to this recipe which appeared first on Smitten Kitchen’s blog, then on Barbara’s blog, then on Susan’s blog.

The major difference between the two recipes is in the amount of flour.  The recipe I followed originally had only 1/2 cup of flour.  Barbara’s recipe had 1 cup of flour, which gave a more cake-like consistancy to the clafoutis.  She also used fresh cherries.  Since I now can find cherries in the market, I used them instead of the frozen cherries I used in the first recipe.  Barbara did not pit her cherries because in an authentic clafoutis the pits are left in to give a nice almond flavor to the batter.  I pitted my cherries and substituted 2 teaspoons of Kirsch (Cherry Liqueur) for the 2 teaspoons of rum suggested.  I think the Kirsch gave that almond flavor the pits would have and it makes the clafoutis so much easier to eat.

Now I feel much better about making this dessert ahead of time for my Provencal dinner.  Bloggers to the rescue.  Thanks all!

CHERRY CLAFOUTIS

2 Cups Cherries, pitted
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup flour
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons Kirsch

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Butter a glass pie pan, round baking dish, large cake pan or oven proof skillet.  Scatter the cherries (with or without pitts) evenly over the bottom.

Beat the eggs and sugar with a whisk until lighter in color.  Gradually add the melted butter, beating to incorporate.  Add the flour all at once and whisk until the batter is well mixed.  Slowly add the milk a little at a time.  Then the vanilla and the Kirsch if using.  The batter should be smooth and very shiny.

Pour the batter slowly over the cherries and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until slightly browned and almost set in the middle.  Allow to cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

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I am working on this one.  How hard can it be to cook a simple cherry pudding that has it’s roots in the South of France?  It is important that I master this recipe because I have donated a Provencal dinner to a recipient at a local fundraiser held here in Lake Lure recently.  It was purchased during the silent auction part of the event.  Here is my menu.

The problem with a clafoutis is that it is best served straight from the oven.  We had this one for breakfast this morning.  After all, a clafoutis is nothing more than a baked pancake with fruit.  It puffs up beautifully, but deflates quickly.  My recipe needs adjustment and I need a larger (10-inch) quiche pan to make it cook properly.  The center of mine was not cooked.  Also the cherries ( I used frozen ) bled into the custard after a few hours.  So I am analyzing my recipe and trying to figure out a way to cook it at least an hour before I deliver it and still have it looking good and ready to be gently re-heated in the oven.  I will keep experimenting, because we loved this recipe.  Any suggestions would be welcomed.

CLAFOUTIS

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 to 16 ounce package frozen pitted sweet cherries
1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
4 eggs
small pinch of salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup Kirsch
extra confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a shallow 10-inch porcelain oven dish with1/4 inch sides with 1 tablespoon of the butter.

Spread the cherries in a tight layer in the bottom of the dish.  In a mixing bowl whisk together the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the eggs and salt until well blended.  Sift in the flour, stirring at the same time with the whisk.  Whisk in the milk and kirsch.  Pour the mixture over the cherries.  Cut the remaining 1 tablespoon butter into shavings and scatter over the surface.  Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons confectioners’sugar.

Place in the oven and bake until the surface is golden, about 40 minutes (less in 10-inch pan).  Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with additional confectioners’ sugar.  Serve lukewarm.

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The advantages of planning ahead pay off in big ways.  Earlier in the month when I was planning the pool party that will not happen this year, I made this apple spice cake just like the one served at Spice Kitchen + Bar.  I stuck it in the freezer and forgot about it.  Now with my family coming to visit, I have instant dessert at the ready.  I’ve got to remember to do things like this more often.

The recipe was in an old issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.  My Mother used to make an apple cake that we all loved and this reminded me of her cake.  It is loaded with spices and will go well with scoops of vanilla ice cream.  A bundt cake is good when serving a crowd of people because it is so easy to slice and looks pretty sitting on a cake stand.

I snuck a piece with a glass of milk last night, just to be sure that it was worth blogging about.  It was. The things I do for all of you are unbelievable. If you need the best butter, you can have a peek here and get the best quality butter.

APPLE SPICE CAKE WITH BROWN SUGAR GLAZE

Cake:
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 3/4 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, coarsely grated

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Glaze:
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

For Cake:  Postion rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.  Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray.  Sift flour and next 6 ingredients into medium bowl.  Drain grated apples in strainer.  Using hands or kitchen towel, squeeze out excess liquid from apples.  Measure 2 cups grated apples.

Using electric mixer, beat butter, both sugars, and lemon peel in large bowl until fluffy.  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time.  Mix in vanilla and lemon juice.  Beat in flour mixture.  Mix in grated apples.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour.  Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare glaze:  Stir all ingredients in small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to boil. Reduce heat to medium; whisk until glaze is smooth, about 1 minute.  Remove from heat.

Invert cake onto rack set over baking sheet.  Using small skewer, pierce holes all ove top of warm cake.  Pour glaze over top, allowing it to be absorbed before adding more.  Cool cake 30 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

I decided that I wouldn’t make a chocolate dessert this year for Valentine’s Day.  Instead I was drawn to the idea of something with fruit.  The Barefoot Contessa made this plum cake a few weeks ago and I printed the recipe.  Plums have not been in the market for a while, but while shopping two days ago a new crop had just come in.  Aha!  Just the thing.  Red- hued plums in a rich cake with a caramelized sugar top.  It is similar to a pineapple upside down cake.

Ina Garten’s recipes are usually fool proof.  This one is too.  The fool is me.  I don’t have a candy thermometer here in Florida so I winged it.  You are supposed to boil sugar and water until it is a warm amber color and 360 degrees on the candy thermometer.  This is poured over the halved plums in the pie plate before the cake batter is added.  I kind of knew when I poured it over the plums that it had not reduced enough.  There was just too much liquid.  But it was too late.  I poured the batter over it and hoped for the best.  The resulting cake was very liquid when I flipped it onto the serving plate and there was not much caramelization on the plums, but in spite of that it was good.  Just imagine how good this would have been if I had had the proper equipment.

Follow this recipe to the letter and I am sure you will have great results.

PLUM CAKE “TATIN’

10 to 12 purple “prune” plums, cut in half and pitted
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Generously butter a 9-inch deep dish pie plate.  Arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.

Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees F on a candy thermometer.  Swirl the pan but don’t stir.  Pour evenly over the plums.

Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3/4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy.  Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one a time.  Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture.  Mix only until combined.

Pour the cake batter evely over the plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate.  If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in the desigh on the top of the cake.  Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners’ sugar.

For more treats for Valentine’s Day check out Lisa’s Sweet as Sugar blog which is linking lots of blogs for Sweets For Saturday.

Food and cooking aside, I have to tell you that our family is receiving the best Valentine present that anyone could receive.  Our Son Michael, DIL Kristen and Granddaughter Rachel are welcoming into our family a beautiful little boy.  He will be delivered on Valentine’s Day.  Our hearts are full.

Lots of love to all of you.  I will be busy for the next week, but promise to share pictures.

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