Quick and Easy Meyer Lemon Sheet Cake

Years ago I took a long series of cake decorating lessons and spent many hours converting my cake, frosting and filling recipes (I don't "do" mixes) to work with all the various sized pans I might be using for different numbers of people. I had all the equipment one would need to make all sorts of beautiful cakes for any occasion, including weddings. I am so over all that! Sure, I'll still do a fancy cake once in a while, if I happen to get in the mood. Usually, I just make a layer cake (homemade, of course) frosted and filled with a buttery icing and maybe do a simple piped border.

But for days when even that is too much effort ... there's always my quick and easy feeds-a-crowd lemon sheet cake that is served right from the pan--perfect for any large casual party. The only special equipment required is an 18x13x1-inch half-sheet pan.

It is quite a flat cake, dense and velvety, and can be cut into about seven or eight dozen 1 1/2-inch squares as a quick and easy stand-in for petits fours (I don't make those anymore either!) at your next large tea party.

Meyer Lemon Sheet Cake

(Makes 18x13x1-inch half-sheet, 32 servings)

4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups buttermilk, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 packed cups (12.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
7/8 cup (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

Finely grated zest of 3 Meyer lemons

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/16 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice

1 Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 18x13x1-inch half-sheet pan with cooking spray; don’t try to make-do with a smaller pan, or the batter will overflow.

2 In medium bowl, lightly combine the eggs, 1/3 cup of the buttermilk and the vanilla.

3 In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; with electric mixer on low speed, mix for 1 minute to blend (it rather takes the place of sifting). Add the softened butter and remaining buttermilk. Mix on low speed until combined. Mix on medium-high speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Beat in the egg mixture in three batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Stir in the lemon zest by hand; otherwise, the zest gets all tangled up in the beaters.

(I often use this two-stage mixing method I first learned about from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.)

4 Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350 for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly on wire rack, about 15 minutes, before frosting. While the cake is cooling just a bit, make the frosting.

5 In large mixing bowl, beat softened butter. Gradually beat in confectioner's sugar, then salt, vanilla and lemon juice. With offset spatula, apply thinly to the slightly cooled cake. It will melt a bit into a smooth, shiny glaze. Let cool thoroughly, 3 to 4 hours, before serving.

How to Make a Proper Cup of Tea

The Delightful Repast is subtitled "A Tradition of Good Food." In my family, that tradition includes what my maternal grandmother called "a proper cup of tea." It is nearly impossible to get such a thing in the U.S. without doing it yourself. Most restaurants give you a tiny stainless steel pot of water that has been warmed, not boiled, on one of the burners of their coffee maker, along with a teabag of uncertain quality for you to dunk into the tepid water. The result is so insipid that people who have never had properly made tea think they don't like tea.

Though I enjoy many types of herbal infusions, they are not tea; they are tisanes. I sometimes enjoy a green tea or oolong or some of the specialty teas that have recently come to the fore. But when I say "a proper cup of tea," that means a good black tea, such as Darjeeling, Earl Grey or English breakfast--organic, if possible.

I usually prefer loose teas, but occasionally use teabags. I particularly like the "sachets" from Harney & Sons. Not only can you see the quality of the tea through the fabric, there is room enough for the tea leaves to unfurl properly. I had the pleasure of having afternoon tea with the charming John Harney (the Harney of Harney & Sons) last September when he gave a presentation on my favorite subject to a small group of tea aficionados. His knowledge of tea is amazing!

You will need a tea kettle and a ceramic teapot, both of a capacity to make the quantity you desire. I have a 4-quart kettle and a 3-quart teapot for large crowds, but I mostly use my nearly 30-year-old 1.8-quart white enamel-on-steel Chantal Classic tea kettle and one of my average-size teapots. Everyone loves the Chantal's two-tone Hohner harmonica whistle!

To make a proper pot of black tea, just before a kettle of freshly drawn water comes to the boil, warm the teapot with hot water, empty it, add one teaspoon of tea leaves for each 8 ounces of water. Immediately (that's why the teapot is on the stove in the photo above) pour in the freshly boiling water, let it stand for 5 minutes, stir, and then strain into cups. If you prefer to use a tea ball, be sure it is large enough to allow the tea leaves to unfurl. Serve with sugar or sugar cubes, thin slices (not wedges) of lemon and a small pitcher of milk (never cream).

A proper cup of tea and a warm scone (scone recipe) make a delightful repast!

Tea and Scones

I read a great blog the other day, "Meal Malapropism," by The Ulterior Epicure. Apparently, when he sees the misuse of the word entree, he has the same nails-on-a-blackboard reaction that I have whenever someone refers to afternoon tea as high tea. I understand why it happens. High tea sounds ever so much more "haute" than afternoon tea. But it is actually just the informal main evening meal sometimes called a meat tea.

The stylish event is called afternoon tea. While I thoroughly enjoy every delightful repast of the day, none cheers me up quite so much as afternoon tea. As Henry James wrote in The Portrait of a Lady, "Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

But on this busy Monday there's no time for an afternoon tea, so I'll just bake some scones to have with my everyday tea in the afternoon or for elevenses (British English for midmorning tea break), which I usually have around ten since I start my day so early. For an afternoon tea, I serve clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry or raspberry jam with the scones. For everyday tea, though, I'll save the calories and have them plain. But can you really call that currant-filled, orange-scented, buttery goodness plain?

Classic Scones

(Makes 16 scones)

2 packed cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Zest of one orange
1/2 cup currants or other chopped dried fruit
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 large egg*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in orange zest and dried fruit to coat and separate. Add buttermilk, egg and vanilla; pour into dry mixture and gently mix until just combined.

*If you prefer to glaze the tops of your scones (I do not), beat the egg lightly and reserve one tablespoon to mix with a teaspoon of water to brush on tops only just before baking.

2 Line a large baking sheet (I use a 14x16-inch nonstick insulated cookie sheet) with parchment and sprinkle lightly with flour. Scrape the dough onto the floured parchment and gently pat the dough, dusting with flour as needed, into two 6-inch rounds. Cut each round into 8 wedges. Pull the wedges out and space them an inch or two apart. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Now put on the kettle and make a proper cup of tea. Enjoy the delightful repast!

An Early Lesson in Mise en Place

This photo of my latest pizza-making session reminded me of an early lesson in mise en place (which is pronounced MEEZ ahn plahs, "putting in place"), a French culinary term that refers to arranging all the necessary ingredients and equipment ahead of time. My mother's friend Maggie was visiting when I decided to make spaghetti for the first time. I was 13 and had been cooking for several years, so when the subject of spaghetti came up in our discussion I was ready to dive right in.

Besides telling me how to make spaghetti, Maggie gave me a few pointers that day I've never forgotten. She said she always spread a sheet of newspaper on the counter and got out all the ingredients before she started cooking. Since I don't subscribe to a newspaper, I have to skip that step. But that day, years ago, I spread out the paper, gathered all the ingredients and equipment, then proceeded to do all my peeling and chopping with the newspaper catching all the mess. As the sauce simmered and the pasta water boiled, clean-up was a snap. It took mere seconds to fold up the newspaper and toss it.

Of course, I didn't know it was called mise en place until years later. But it's a wonderful concept! If you've ever just jumped right into making something and then had to turn off the stove and run out to the store for a missing ingredient, you can appreciate the efficiency of having everything in place ahead of time.

Enough Already with the Garlic!

Okay, I know this is going to ruffle a lot of feathers, but it must be said. Too many cooks, home and professional, think Garlic Equals Gourmet. And it just doesn't. I don't spend all this time, money and effort procuring the best ingredients I can find only to take them home and bash them over the head with a boatload of garlic.

Take my pizza recipe on this blog, for example. I make it with no garlic at all (except what is in the pepperoni), and some of the biggest garlic users I know don't even miss the garlic. They exclaim over the taste and texture of the crust and how they can really taste the tomatoes and cheese. Yes! There are other flavors in the world besides garlic, but they can only be tasted and appreciated when they are not completely overwhelmed by too much garlic.

This is not to say that I don't like garlic. I do. But when something is not the main ingredient in a dish, it should enhance the main ingredient, not steal the spotlight. And a meal should have a variety of flavors. If one dish has garlic, the others need not. I've been disappointed by many an expensive meal when everything--bread, main dish, side dishes and salad--was loaded with garlic. I want to march in and tell the chef, Don't be a Johnny One Note in the kitchen!

Many dishes that typically have garlic can be greatly improved by using less or, in some cases, no garlic. However, there are some things that even I think simply must have a little garlic. (And when I say garlic, I don't mean garlic salt or garlic powder or chopped garlic from a jar. Those are three items that need to be ... Oops, I don't want to get into one of those Oprah versus the Beef Industry things!) One of these is hummus. There is no hummus without garlic, but it only needs a tiny bit.

Hummus

(Makes 2 cups)

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup unsalted tahini
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon (1/2 small clove) minced garlic

In bowl of food processor, place all ingredients. Process until smooth. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add a little more lemon juice or olive oil. Put into serving dish and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving or overnight. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and a little finely chopped mint, flat-leaf parsley or pistachios. Serve with whole wheat pita wedges, Armenian cracker bread and raw vegetable strips.

Enjoy the delightful repast!

Make "Real" Pizza at Home, Part Three

If my friends who have raved about my pizza knew how easy it is to make, it would spoil my fun. And it takes little in the way of special equipment. My stand mixer and food processor stand idle on the counter as I stir up the dough with a big spoon and bowl, not even having to muster up the energy to knead. My Lodge Pro Logic Pizza Pan, so much easier to handle than a stone, and a rimless cookie sheet standing in for a pizza peel are all that's needed. (If you haven't done so, read Part One and Part Two.)

With the dough, sauce and toppings ready to go, just follow these final steps:

1 A half hour prior to baking time, place 14-inch round cast-iron pizza pan (or a pizza stone) in oven and preheat oven to 475 for 30 minutes.
2 Make the pizzas one at a time, starting with the dough on the rimless baking sheet. With floured hands, press the dough into 13-inch round. (Actually, since the parchment is only 12 inches wide, it will be a little out-of-round, but not noticeably so.) If the dough keeps springing back, let it rest for 5 minutes so the gluten can relax, and try again. Let stand 10 minutes before saucing and topping.
3 Leaving the edge clear, lightly top it with room-temperature sauce and then with toppings.
4 Slide the pizza (on the parchment) onto the hot cast-iron pan (or pizza stone) in the oven and close the door. Bake for about 15 minutes. After first pizza has been baking for 5 minutes, move second crust to rimless baking sheet and press it out; let stand 10 minutes before saucing and topping.
5 Remove the pizza from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Wait about 3 minutes before transferring to a cutting board for slicing and serving. Meanwhile, sauce and top second pizza and put it in oven. Makes two 13-inch medium-thick-crust pizzas.

And here's my precision plan for getting the two pizzas made and served in a timely fashion:

3:00 Remove dough from refrigerator, partially press out and let rest
5:30 Heat oven and pan to 475
5:45 Press out the first pizza crust, let stand 10 minutes
5:55 Sauce and top first pizza
6:00 Put first pizza in oven to bake 15 minutes
6:05 Press out the second pizza crust, let stand 10 minutes
6:15 Remove first pizza from oven to wire cooling rack for 5 minutes
6:15 Sauce and top second pizza
6:20 Put second pizza in oven to bake 15 minutes
6:20 Slice and serve first pizza
6:35 Remove second pizza from oven to wire cooling rack for 5 minutes
6:40 Slice and serve second pizza

Enjoy the delightful repast!

Make "Real" Pizza at Home, Part Two

On the day you plan to make the pizzas, remove the dough from the refrigerator 3 hours before you want the first one to go into the oven. Place a 14-inch-long piece of 12-inch-wide unbleached natural parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet--that's what I use for a peel--and dust lightly with flour. Place a second piece of parchment on the counter and dust lightly with flour. Place the two balls of dough on the two pieces of parchment and sprinkle them with flour; dust your hands with flour. Gently press the dough into rounds about 9 inches in diameter; sprinkle with flour and cover loosely with oil-sprayed plastic wrap. Let rest for 2 3/4 hours. In Part Three, the final episode, I'll give you my detailed timeline for getting two pizzas on the table in a timely fashion. (If you haven't already, read Part One.)

In the meantime, make your sauce. You only need about 2/3 cup of a fairly thick sauce for each pizza. My recipe makes just the right amount for two 13-inch pizzas.

Pizza Sauce

(Makes about 1 1/3 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup chopped onion

14.5-ounce can fire roasted crushed tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/4 teaspoon parsley

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

(That's right, no garlic. I want you to taste the tomatoes. If you must have garlic, use just 1/8 teaspoon of finely minced fresh garlic. No garlic powder, no garlic salt, no chopped garlic from a jar. But do try it without garlic. I think you'll be surprised.)

In 1-quart saucepan, heat oil and cook onion for a few minutes until soft. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, loosely covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Let cool to room temperature.

Then get the cheeses and other toppings ready. I think where most home cooks go wrong with pizza is in using too much sauce and too much in the way of toppings. To avoid having a soggy pizza, use much less of everything than you think you need.

For each pizza, add these ingredients, in order, to just-sauced crust:

1/4 cup shredded parmesan
4 ounces shredded mozzarella or mozzarella-provolone combination
1/2 3.5-ounce package pepperoni, microwaved in single layer between paper towels for 30 seconds
1/2 2.25-ounce can sliced black olives, drained and patted dry
3 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely julienned red bell pepper, squeezed dry with paper towel

Of course, you can use any toppings you like. These are just our favorites, and this gives you some idea of the quantities to be used--the more toppings, the less of each.

I'll be back tomorrow with the third and final episode of Make "Real" Pizza at Home.

Make "Real" Pizza at Home, Part One

It was about this time last year when I got on my pizza kick. Before then I was making pizza once, maybe twice, a year. But for some reason I became obsessed with perfecting my dough and sauce. My little yellow kitchen became a laboratory, the countertops and refrigerator lined with bowls of dough in various stages of fermentation. I’m never happier than when I’m developing new recipes, and my husband was never happier than when I was developing my ultimate pizza recipe. He could have gone on for many months having pizza four times a week. I, on the other hand, was thrilled to be able to move on to my next obsession.

The dough recipe, pretty much the same one I’ve been making for decades, doesn’t sound like anything special—no “secret” ingredient. But it makes just the right amount of dough to make two pizzas of the perfect size and thickness to serve 4 or 5 people. And the three days in the refrigerator gives the rather wet dough the perfect texture as well as the most wonderful flavor. If there is a “secret” to it, I suppose it’s in the baking. I’ve tried all kinds of pizza pans, with decent results. But I was determined to find the ultimate pan or baking stone or whatever.

Not a huge fan of unwieldy pizza stones, I racked my brain till I came up with the perfect solution—cast iron. Searching for a 13- to 14-inch round cast iron griddle, I found that Lodge actually makes exactly what I had in mind and calls it the Lodge Pro Logic Pizza Pan. Unfortunately, the recipes included with the pan did not make the best use of the pan. They called for using it as, well, just a pan. What I had in mind, on the other hand, was to use it as a pizza stone! Believe me, if you want to make “real” pizza at home without any other special equipment, you need to get this pan!

So go ahead and stir up the dough, and I’ll be back within three days (the dough is made three days ahead) with the rest of the story.

Pizza Dough

(Makes two 18-ounce crusts for two 13-inch pizzas)


4 packed cups (20 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, room temperature

1 In large bowl, stir together 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and instant yeast. With dough whisk or wooden spoon, stir in the oil and water until thoroughly combined. Stir for a minute. Stir in remaining flour a half cup at a time. The finished dough will be elastic and sticky.
2 Oil two 1.5-quart lidded bowls and their lids; set aside. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Cut the dough into 2 equal (18-ounce) pieces. Sprinkle flour over the dough. With floured hands, gently round each piece into a ball.
3 Dip each dough ball into one of the oiled bowls, rolling the dough in the oil, and then put the lid on. Rest the dough in the refrigerator for three days.