My copy of the  cookbook arrived yesterday! As I browsed through the book, I was impressed by the photographs of the desserts, and by the arrangement of the content. The cookbook begins with chocolate cakes because "for many people, dessert amounts to chocolate cake."

I agree, and that is why I will be making All-in-One Chocolate Cake on page 28 as my first recipe from the book next week.

                        The Meyer Lemon Cake was eaten in 24 hours...so I think it was well-received

                        by all of my family. I am waiting for my copy of the New York Times Dessert Cookbook

                        to arrive. I will bake the first recipe, which is a chocolate cake!

  

                  

                           After my family ate the lemon cake, they looked like this...except Steven was smiling!

                           So, be prepared to see the preparation and baking of an awesome chocolate cake  in

                           a few days.

Meyer Lemon Cake


To warm up my baking skills, I chose this recipe from Chez Panisse Cooking by Paul Bertolli with Alice Waters. You begin by squeezing fresh meyer lemons. The cake was easy, and had a wonderful slightly tart flavor, with a touch of sweetness. I made a lemon buttercream icing, which accented the lemon flavor in the cake!

butter, sugar and egg yolks

mix in fresh, squeezed lemon juice

add freshly grated lemon peel

sift flour, baking powder and salt

beat egg whites with sugar until stiff

fold egg whites into cake batter alternately with sifted flour

                                       grease and flour cake pans

                                                               

                                                                                 
                                         bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes

                                                   
                                         frost with lemon buttercream frosting

 

                                                        Happy Birthday Meghan!!

See you again later this week!

Kathy                               

Preheating the oven!

I am not really preheating my oven, at least not yet. My brother gave me a good reality check yesterday by asking how in the *&#@! will I ever be able to bake 440 recipes in 9 months. This poses a problem, and since he is an excellent baker, I asked if he would do half of the recipes. He declined the offer.

So, I will modify my plans a bit. At two recipes a week, I will be blogging about desserts for over 4 years! That is too long to sustain interest in these enticing and calorie-loaded recipes even if Julia Child herself were writing this blog!

Solution: I will choose 75 recipes that are varied, and demand different skill levels in the kitchen, and that are most representative of recipes average cooks would choose to make out of the New York Times Baking Cookbook. You, as a follow of this blog will have the opportunity to weigh-in with your comments on techniques, ingredients, and appearance of the recipes. Over time, I will give you a chance to help decide which recipes I make. I will post the choices a week in advance and give a deadline for voting. The recipe with the most votes wins. In case of a tie, I will decide on the recipe.

Stay tuned for my first baking adventure with pictures, and family reviews next week!

Kathy

Ready, Set, Bake!!

With the support of my family, I have decided to work my way through the New York Times Baking Cookbook. I will be baking every dessert in the book over the course of the next 9 months.

Why did I decide on the NY Times Baking Cookbook? Well, it has a huge number of recipes to start, and it looks challenging. In addition, Chez Panisse and Alice Waters are mentioned in the index...so it has to be good!

I will let you know what happens in Kathy's kitchen as I begin with the first recipe this week. I will also be taking pictures of the finished desserts, and some fun photos in the kitchen as each recipe is a work of art in progress. I'll also share the reactions to each dessert from my family members.

Check back to this blog in the next few days to read about my adventures!