Oven Hard Boiled Eggs

It is earth day, and my mother wanted to have meatless Monday.  In her book, this means hard boiled eggs for lunch.  I HATE hard boiling eggs.  You wait for the water to boil, you forget to time them, the pan is messy and covered in white crap and if you are me, there are explosions.  I found a fantastic solution, curtosy of the Beekman Boys.  Preheat your oven to 325, pop in your eggs and take them out 25 minutes later.  Stick them immediately into a bowl of ice water, wait for ten and presto, perfect hard cooked eggs.  With less clean up.  Some people put them right on the oven rack, I used a muffin pan.  Peeling me was easier too.  Life changing.

Life saving frosting

There is a reason why I call this life saving frosting.  It is easy, amazing and so adaptable.  It is made with meringue powder, a Wilton product.  It is available at Joann's or at Sur La Table.  It can be cut in half and made in a ton of favors.  Add a half cup of coco powder, voila chocolate.  Mint extract? Works great.  Mocha. You bet.  Pipe it onto cupcakes and life is good.  I think it is easier to pipe than frost.  Above is vanilla and chocolate.

2/3 cup water
4 Tbs meringue powder
1 2 lb bag confectioner sugar
1 1/4 room temperature butter
Flavoring....

 whisk water and meringue powder on high speed until stiff peaks form

Slowly add powdered sugar, allowing to incorporate after each addition.  Add the sugar on low or it will go everywhere.

Add  butter and the last half of sugar.  Beat if there are any lumps.

Add flavor and enjoy.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

I first made this cake and it was.....horrible.  Bitter,  not lemony and mostly disappointing.  I was not happy.  Then for the first time this year, my mother was right.  She loved the textured and encouraged me to try it again with lighter and frankly cheaper, olive oil.  I tripled the lemon zest.  It was fan freaking tactic.  My mother has not only been eating it, but also guarding it against any other eaters.  The texture of this cake is light, like angel food cake.  It can be described as a moist sponge.  Great for the tummy and great for the lips.  I look forward to eating this all summer.

This is the improved recipe :)

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Makes one nine inch cake.

1 cup cake flour
Grated zest of three lemons
5 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Pam a nine inch pan, lining the bottom with parchment paper and spray that.  I use precut rounds, crazy handy.

In a large bowl, combined the cake flour and lemon zest.  I grate the lemon zest over the flour so the lemon oil sprays off into the flour.  Press it in with your fingers and break up lumps.

In a really large bowl, whisk the yolks with 1/2c sugar until the mixture becomes light and frothy, about three minutes.  Add olive oil and juice and whisk for another minute.

In the bowl of a mixer with a whisk attachment, whip egg whites for 30 seconds.  With the mixer running add salt and 1/4c sugar.  Increase the speed to high and beat the eggs until they make stuff peaks.  Using a spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter.  Make sure all of the egg whites are incorporated.  Pour the batter ingo the pan.

Bake for 25 minutes, rotate the pan and bake for another 25.  I have a convection oven and just leave it.  Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit in the pan for 20 minutes.  The cake will shrink and fall a little.  Pop the cake out of the pan.  Let cool.

Orange Item of the Week

My orange item this week is an attempt to embrace spring.  It is here, but I am still freezing.  So I got a mismatched manicure in an effort to usher in warmer weather.  The orange item?  My ring fingers.

Lemon poppy seed muffins

I made these for Easter...since you rest the batter the night before, not only are they relish, they are fab for company!  I got the from Bouchon, Thomas Keller's cookbook.  It is amazing and so precise.  In fact, it is in metric.  So, you have to use a food scale.  While unfamiliar, it really does make baking easier.  You just need one bowl, and then you set it to zero between ingredients.  Amazing.  I will say say with grams you will drive yourself crazy trying to get to a certain number.  I think three grains of sugar is three grams.  I have included both sets of measurements.  You use an immersion blend for this, and let me say, you feel like some sort if culinary rock star.  They also use a jumbo muffin pan, but I do not have one.  I found stand alone cups that do not quire a pan.  Amazing.  This also makes it really easy to make at some one else's house.

Lemon poppyseed muffins

Cake flour.    161grams       1 1/4 cups
Baking powder 3.4 grams  1/2+1/8 teaspoon (yeah, I rounded too)
Salt.                  1.7 grams. 1/2 teaspoon
Granulated sugar 234 grams. 1 cup+3 tablespoons
Eggs.                  170 grams. 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons
Vanilla.             4.5grams 3/4 teaspoon
Butter, melted and warm 194 grams 6.8 ounces
Lemon juice.         60 grams. 1/4 cup
Lemon zest          6 grams 1 really big tablespoon
Poppy seeds.        4 grams  1 1/2 teaspoons

This will make six jumbo muffins.  Six delicious jumbo muffins.

Sift the dry ingredients.  Combine sugar, eggs and vanilla in bowl and mix with immersion blender.  Add the dry ingredients in two additions and mix until just combined.  Then pour the butter into the batter with the blender running in a steady stream.  Add the mean juice.  Fold in th epoppy seeds and zest.  Transfer the batter into a covered container and refrigerate over night, or up to 36 hours.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Fill your muffin cups and stick in th loves.  At this time, turn it down to 325.  Bake 34-37 minutes.