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A Piece of Cake
December 2008: Fourth Slice
Newsletter written by Anne Byrn December 03, 2008
A Word from Anne
It’s the first week of December and I’ve just put away the turkey platter from Thanksgiving. A fragrant Vermont balsam fir wreath from my sister has just arrived via UPS, and in slow motion I pull it from its box and hang it on our front door. There’s no stopping time. Christmas and the winter holidays are here. And whereas everyone complains the holidays will be leaner, quieter, and less hectic this year, that’s fine with me. I prefer homemade food gifts, yearn for the same heirloom ornaments hung on the tree each year, and listen to Bing Crosby music in my car. My teenage children roll their eyes at the music, but they are all over the chocolate toffee, pumpkin bread, sugar cookies, and lemon cakes that come out of our kitchen. Yes, it takes a little longer to bake your own holiday gifts, but the time spent is worth it. Time spent…perhaps our valuable time is the commodity we have the most of right now. With less time in the mall we’ve got more time in the kitchen, right? Simple glorious food brings us together with family and friends and is just the stress-reducing tonic we need. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and the spectacular Limoncello Cake recipe to serve for a special meal. Lemons are my ingredient choice of the season – simple, unaffected, and able to enliven a cake, cheesecake, pie, even a cup of tea.
Happy baking, happy holidays, and happy 2009!
Anne
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A Word from Workman
With all the parties and gatherings coming up, the holidays have us wondering “What can I bring?” more than ever. Anne’s What Can I Bring? Cookbook is filled with recipes for any get-together. For a unique dessert that transports easily, try the Lemon Icebox Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crust (p. 370) or the Cranberry Tart (p. 423). Either one is the perfect ending to a holiday meal.
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Bits & Bytes
Ten Cheap Decorating Tips
1. Pomander balls. When my girls were little we’d sit around the kitchen table and stab whole cloves into lemons and oranges. After getting sore fingers we figured out you could first poke a hole in the fruit with a toothpick, then stick in the cloves. Ours were a simple version of the classic recipe that has been around for centuries. Pomander balls are natural air fresheners, and we love their scent in the house during December. To make one, stick whole cloves all over or in a pattern around lemons or oranges, or both. When done, tie a ribbon and bow around one or two and place in a pretty glass bowl with holly sprigs. There are more complicated methods, rolling the balls in a mixture of ground cinnamon and cloves and something called orris root, which preserves them. We just take them to the woods after Christmas, our version of recycling.
2. Greenery from your yard – magnolia leaves, pine branches, holly clippings, whatever you have. Place in a bowl in the center of the table, or on the fireplace mantel, or up a staircase.
3. Vintage heirloom ornaments. Carefully place them in a pretty glass bowl on the dining room table.
4. Buy one bunch of flowers from the warehouse store, separate them into smaller bunches, trim stems leaving 3 or 4 inches of stems and place in silver cups, small glass vases, even jelly jars down the center of the table.
5. Votive candles. Invest in a dozen holders that you can use any season, and fill with the white votives, scattering them on the serving or side tables.
6. Fill tall glass vases with cranberries, greenery, pinecones, then add water to two-thirds full. Float a shallow round candle in the water and light. This is pretty with varying heights of candles and the colorful decorations inside.
7. Put candy by the door where guests will exit. Stuff candy canes into vases, pile chocolates into a silver tray, or if you are giving gifts of food, place these wrapped and ready to go on a tray by the door.
8. Think blue. It’s not only the color of Hannukah but it’s considered by many to be the color of hope. Add blue ornaments or pale blue candles to your holiday tables.
9. I love this idea from the new issue of Southern Living magazine: Pour dried black-eyed peas (or any dried bean of your choice – black would be beautiful) in a large wooden bowl. Sink large pillar candles – white, purple, green, you name it – in the dried beans. Arrange small pomegranates and artichokes around the base of the candles for color.
10. For seated dinner parties, create homemade place cards. Buy a calligraphy pen and cut squares of cardstock or construction paper from what you have in the house. Fold the square in half to make a folded rectangle. Write the name of the guest on one side of the fold. Have your children decorate the place cards by gluing on sequins and other decorations or just by coloring a border with a crayon. We did this one year and I still have those precious place cards, a sweet remembrance of days gone by.
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Recipe Swap
This fall I was a guest speaker at a benefit luncheon in Jackson, TN, called TableScapes. Libby Murphy was the organizer and right before I walked onstage to talk, Libby introduced me to her mother Josephine Murphy. Both said I needed to try Josephine’s famous “Limoncello Cake.” I don’t know if it was my lack of hearing, or my nerves, or the noise in the room, but I thought Libby said “lemon Jell-O cake.” I told her I had a cake with Jell-O in my first book. “Not Jell-O,” Libby and her mother corrected me. “Limoncello, the Italian lemon liqueur.”
Aha! I could hardly keep my mind off the thought of such a cake as I spoke to the crowd. Fortunately, Libby sent me the recipe, which follows. I’ve made a few tweaks to suit my tastes, but I have mentioned how Josephine bakes it as well. Limoncello is found where liqueurs are sold. Some brands are sweeter than others, and the Murphy ladies prefer the Danny Divito brand if you can find it. If yours is not sweet, dust a little confectioners’ sugar on top of the glazed cake before serving. Limoncello is a little pricy but you’ll have plenty left in the bottle for serving to your guests or saving for the next time you bake this cake.
Limoncello Cake
(from Josephine Murphy, Jackson, TN)
Serves 12 to 16
Prep: 25 minutes
Bake: 48 to 52 minutes
Assemble: 10 minutes
For the cake:
1 package (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix with pudding
½ cup Limoncello
½ cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 very large or 2 small lemons (for ¼ cup lemon juice and 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest)
¼ cup water
For the glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
1 very large or 2 small lemons (for ¼ cup lemon juice and 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest)
1 cup sugar
¼ cup Limoncello, or more to taste
- Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Mist and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, shake out the excess flour, and set the pan aside.
- For the cake, place the cake mix, Limoncello, oil, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest and water in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds to incorporate ingredients. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more, or until the batter is lighter in color and has thickened. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place the pan in the oven.
- Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly pressed with a finger and the top is golden brown, 48 to 52 minutes. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the cake and invert it onto a wire rack to completely cool, 30 minutes. Poke holes in the top of the cake with a wooden chopstick, spacing them one inch apart.
- For the glaze, place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it has melted, add the lemon juice and sugar, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil, and let it boil, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until it has thickened and the sugar has melted. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and Limoncello.
- Slide the cake onto a serving platter. Slowly spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, allowing it to seep into the holes. With the spoon, scrape up what glaze runs off the cake and spoon it back over the top, repeating this process until no more glaze puddles around the cake. Place the cake under a cake dome, preferably for several hours, before serving.
- Slice and serve with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Note: Josephine Murphy places 1 cup finely chopped pecans in the bottom of the Bundt pan before she pours in the lemon batter. In the glaze she uses 1 stick butter and ½ cup Limoncello.
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Next Issue: February 2009
Valentine cake and winter soup.
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