Grapefruit Pound Cake

Image from Cooking Light, Jan. 2012

Grapefruit. I love grapefruit. Grapefruits are actually hybrids, a cross made between an orange and a pummelo.   I especially love Pink and Ruby grapefruits over the White grapefruit because they are sweeter. The White grapefruit isn't bad, just more tangy and less sweet then the pink/red fleshed grapefruits.  I bought way too many grapefruits so I decided to use some and make a pound cake.   Enjoy this light and tasty recipe.

Ingredients: 2 c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, sea salt, 1 2/3 cups sugar, 6 TBSP butter, 6 oz. cream cheese, 2 eggs*, .25 c canola oil, 2 TBSPs grapefruit rind*, .5 tsp pure vanilla .5 c milk, .5 c fresh grapefruit juice, 1.25 c powdered sugar


Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 325 and coat a bundt, tube, or bread loaf pan with cooking spray. (2) Measure out flour to roughly 2 cups and level. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt to a bowl and stir well. (3) Cream sugar, butter, and cream cheese in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Beat in oil, grapefruit rind, and vanilla.  (4) Add flour mixture and milk to egg mixture alternately, ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cook on wire rack before inverting. Cool completely. (5) Place grapefruit juice in a saucepan over med-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to about 3 TBSP of sauce and cool slightly. Stir in powdered sugar and 1/8 tsp of salt and drizzle over cake.

*Room Temperature eggs work best.
*I usually add more than 2 TBSP of grated grapefruit rind and more grapefruit juice for the icing. I used ruby grapefruits over the white grapefruits.

Bread Pudding

While we were away last week, I had the most amazing piece of bread pudding. I usually do not like bread pudding. I had a small bite from Bob's plate and had to have my own. I didn't even know until after I had it that the dessert was bread pudding, that's how good it was. It just melted on your tongue and the spices used just exploded in your mouth.

Since I couldn't get the recipe off the chef, I figured I would find a recipe from one of my old cookbooks and give it a try. This recipe came from a cookbook printed by the Junior League of Baton Rouge, Inc. I've had this book forever and have often used it when I feel like making a little Southern dish.  Enjoy this recipe. The bread pudding is like a warm sticky bun drenched in butter and bourbon.

Ingredients: 3 TBSP butter, softened, 1.25 pounds of French or Italian bread*, 1 c raisins, 3 large eggs, 4 c whole milk, 2 c sugar, 2 TBSP vanilla, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, Whiskey sauce

Instructions: (1) Spread softened butter over a glass 13x9-inch baking pan/dish. (2) Cut bread into .5 inch-thick slices. Arrange slices almost upright in tightly spaced rows in dish. (3) Tuck raisins between the slices of bread. (4) Whisk until frothy the eggs. Add in milk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon and continue to whisk until incorporated. (5) Pour liquid over bread and let stand for 1 hour, pressing down the bread with a spatula to wet the top slices every now and then. (6)Preheat oven to 375F. Bake pudding until the top is puffed and lightly browned, approximately 1 hour. Cover with whiskey sauce and let cool on a rack for 30-60 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

*About 1.5-2 loafs of bread are used. You can try 1% or Fat Free milk if you want to lower some of the calories for this dessert.
*Whiskey Sauce. You need to heat in a saucepan, over low heat, 8 TBSP butter. Stir in 1 c sugar, 1/4 c bourbon or other whiskey, 2 TBSP water, 1/4 fresh grated or ground nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp salt. Cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is blended. Remove from heat.  Whisk one large egg in a bowl until light and frothy and then vigorously whisk the egg into the liquor mixture. Set sauce over medium heat and, stirring gently, bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened, about 1 min. Serve at once, set aside at room temperature for up to 8 hours, or let cool then cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat over low heat, stirring. If sauce separates, remove from the heat and whisk in a little warm water.
*If you want a milder Whiskey sauce, replace up to 1/2 of the whiskey with water. For a stronger sauce, replace the water with additional whiskey.
*Whatever you do, if you are transporting this dish by car try to put it in a Tupperware container. If you are pulled over, the cop might think you have been drinking. Just ask my friend Gwen.

Crisp Morning Air

 Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the morning in the kitchen experimenting. Outside was sunny but very cool. Fall is marching in and this time of the year has me playing around with different tastes and scents. I started the morning off with baking a batch of jumbo Blueberry Muffins with the blueberries harvested from a local grower. Instead of making Blueberry pies for the market this week, I went with the muffins instead. That way if they didn't sell, I would have easy breakfast food for the mornings.

After twelve plump and delicious smelling muffins came out of the oven, I tackled a few new breads. Orange Nut, Oatmeal Raisin, and Cranberry. The zest from the oranges filled with kitchen with that nice summer scent. I just wanted to keep zesting oranges just for the fun of it. I used locally grown cranberries just harvested from the bogs for the cranberry bread and the cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice made the oatmeal raisin bread mouth watering.

 The day was perfect for experimenting and several new customers were impressed with the breads and loved the muffins. As one customer stated "I'll take 7 muffins. They look delicious and I can see the blueberries." Not bad for a morning spent playing in the kitchen.