So I heard from some of you about the good things you ate over the Fourth of July weekend. Some things sounded so good, I plan on making them myself this summer.
A friend and great cook, Colleen, made a lemon-blueberry cake, which we featured in the Tulsa World last week. The original recipe called for strawberries, blueberries and lemon, but Colleen kept it simple with just lemons and blueberries, increasing the amount of blueberries.
She made a simple glaze of milk and lemon juice, and then tinted it yellow. The glaze was drizzled on top of the cake, and blueberries were scattered around the bottom.
Another friend, Joan, told me about a great salad she made on the Fourth. Her Roquefort dressing recipe is one we will feature in the Tulsa World in the next couple of weeks.
A reader wrote to tell me about her post-Fourth of July feast. She had family in from out of town, so she made brunch before sending them on their way. She made a quiche with a hashbrown crust, omelettes, fresh fruit salad and blackberry-peach smoothies. That's my kind of breakfast.
I had some good food at my aunt’s Fourth of July party. She set up a burger bar, with toppings of guacamole, roasted poblano peppers, blue cheese, Swiss cheese, crumbled bacon and sautéed mushrooms. Before lunch we stuffed ourselves with cheese-stuffed olives, sweet marinated peppers and mozzarella cheese balls.
In case you missed it, here is the recipe that Colleen adapted. If you’re just using blueberries, as she did, increase the amount to 1 1/2 cups.
Red, White and Blue Lemon Cake
Serves 12
For the cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 lemons
1 cup milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
For the glaze:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk or cream
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cups fresh raspberries or strawberries
1. To make the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-cup bundt pan or tube pan (you can use a 9-by-13-inch pan if you like).
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat butter until smooth. Pour in sugar as you continue to beat until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl.
4. Grate the zest (yellow part of rind) from lemons. Add it to the bowl. Squeeze and measure lemon juice. You should have one-third cup. Add water to make up the difference if you need to.
5. Add 1/3 of the flour to the butter mixture. Stir to blend well. Add lemon juice and about 1/4 cup of the milk. Stir to blend. Repeat the additions, ending in flour, stirring well after each addition.
6. Scrape 1/3 of the batter into the pan (approximately, don't be obsessive). Sprinkle with half the blueberries.
7. Scoop a few large spoons of batter over the berries, and smooth to make a layer. Again, don't worry too much about covering every berry. Add remaining berries, then the remaining batter.
8. Bake 60 to 65 minutes until a wooden pick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Turn it out on a rack. Cool a little longer -- it can still be warm when you pour on glaze. Put it on a serving plate
9. To make glaze: Beat sugar and butter thoroughly. Mix in milk, lemon zest and juice. Add a little more juice or milk if you'd like a thinner consistency. Drizzle over cake. It will pool around the bottom. Garnish with raspberries or strawberries.
