30 May 2012

laziness; or how raspberry mojito cake beat heat-induced insipidness

there hasn't been much fun cooking in the Reid household of late: it is all food to get some supper on the table {still delicious and all, just no time for uber creativity}, the usual standbys that I don't think necessarily rate glowing pictures and rambling blog posts. We're talking cheese steaks, steaks & fries, tossed salads with fried & spicy dry rub shrimp. Everything is tasty, but the store is way too busy for me to be willing to take the extra prep time to take pictures of foods as I prepare them.

I've been in a summer slump, too, as we've just finished two busy weekends in the store, the Formula1 season is hotting up even further, and I desperately attempt to work out a sleep schedule {seriously, someone stop me from watching cancelled television shows online. they were not meant to be watched 4 episodes at a time and are a bit too intense that way} that works with everything.

it's also difficult to muster up enough wherewithal to bake something when it's almost ninety degrees out. However, I managed yesterday with a delightful summer coffee cake of deliciousness. In fact, only deeply reserved willpower has kept me from eating this cake for a snack, breakfast, and lunch since I baked it yesterday afternoon. Most importantly, it took less than 45 minutes from recipe reading to completed baking. It's a one-bowl cake with a smattering of raspberries and just enough lime to zest up a hot afternoon.

This, plus a nice glass of chilled Moscato or Albarino or a gin and tonic, on a porch will make all of summer's sultry evenings pass by a little more delightfully. I barely adapted Smitten Kitchen's recipe, mainly substituting limed milk for buttermilk, lime zest for lemon, and seriously condensing some drawn out instructions into a single bowl. I apologize for the single Instagram pic, but once you make & taste this, you'll understand why I was in too much of a hurry to devour it.


Raspberry Mojito Cake
2/3 cup sugar
zest of 1 lime, finely chopped or grated
4 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg
vanilla
juice of 1 lime, combined with enough milk to make 1/2 cup total

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

about 1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

one bowl, one spoon:
mix the sugar and lime zest, then cream together the sugar, zest, and butter. Add the egg and vanilla, mix well, then mix in the milk and lime juice. Once all the wet ingredients have come together, add in the flour, baking powder & soda, and salt. Lightly mix the dry ingredients together on top of the wet mix, then stir it all to incorporate well.
Pour batter into a greased & floured 9 inch springform cake pan, then smooth the batter to the edges of the pan. Evenly distribute the raspberries on top, then sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool for about five minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan, then remove the outer coil. Allow the cake to cool for another ten minutes or so before inverting and separating it from the cake pan base. Return it to the correct side up on a plate and serve. A tiny bit of whipped cream would not go amiss, but is not necessary either.

"Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch." -Garrison Keillor

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