my mom's challah bread!

Photo credit: My mom, Debby

For me, the holidays have always been about meaningful gatherings and food. Ever since I was a little kid we would host our family and friends. My grandparents, great-aunt, and cousins would come over and everyone would get dressed up. The leaves outside would be turning colors, cooler air would come through the open windows, and the house smelled great. It was my favorite time of year. 

Since moving to Denver three years ago, we have been working hard at building our community, and by that I mean inviting our friends and neighbors over (regardless of their ethnicity or background) to share in a few of our traditions (tradition!). We've hosted some interesting Passover seders (too much wine drinking, too little afikomen finding), lit Chanukah candles, consumed potato latkes, and invited guests over to dip apples and challah in honey which is the way we start Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. 

This New Year has been hard, as it's the first round of holidays without my father who passed away in May. I was feeling a bit withdrawn and I wasn't even sure I wanted to do anything to mark the holidays. But then, about 2 weeks ago, a FedEx package arrived at my front door. In the parcel was a plastic bag which contained 2 perfectly round challah, wrapped in my mother's signature packaging of choice- aluminum foil. I didn't even have to look at the return address to know who sent them; I knew immediately. It made my day, and it served as a reminder that traditions carry on despite the difficult losses we suffer along the way.

Photo credit: My mom!

I put the challah in the freezer (because without preservatives they don't last long) and took them out to thaw a few hours before they were to be served. Moments before our neighbors arrived, I popped them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. The entire house smelled like home; not my current home, but my childhood home. It's incredible how a tickle of the olfactory nerve can conjure up years gone by. Anyway, I cut a few slices of challah, and we dipped it in some outstanding local honey. Then we made a few toastsM. ay this be a year filled with love, health, happiness, peace, compassion, prosperity and understanding. Happy 5775!

From My Mom: 

Throughout the year, the traditional Sabbath bread, the Challah, is usually made by braiding strands of dough.  At this time of year, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, as well as the other High Holidays, it is customary to use round challahs.  Some say it points to the cyclical nature of the year.  It is also traditional to dip the challah (as well as apples and various other items) in honey which symbolizes wishes for sweetness in the days to come, and along those lines, round challahs usually have raisins baked inside.

I recently graduated to using a bread machine to get the dough started. 
Here is my recipe:

CHALLAH BREAD

Ingredients

1 cup very warm water

¼ cup oil

1 egg + 1 for top, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour + more as kneaded

½ cup sugar

1 package yeast

Raisins, as needed

Check out your raisins before you begin. If they don’t seem plump enough when you open the bag or box, place in a bowl, pour some boiling water to cover, and let them sit.  The water will absorb and fluff out your raisins and make them sweeter, too.

Place all ingredients except raisins into bread machine and select ‘dough only’ cycle.  Take the egg for shine on top out of refrigerator; if it is too cold it may inhibit the dough from further rising.

When the ‘dough only’ cycle completes, remove dough to a large, floured bowl.  If you want to make braided challah, you will then need to work on a large, flat surface.  If baking round challah, you can shape them straight from the bowl. 

Knead the dough till all air bubbles are out, maybe 10 -15 minutes.  Add flour to your hands as you knead, to avoid sticky dough getting glued to your hands.  Divide the dough into an equal number of portions, continuing to eliminate air bubbles and minimize stickiness.   This is the appropriate time to add raisins.  Tuck 2 or 3 at a time into a portion of dough, knead some more, add a few more raisins, trying to space them out.

Shape the challahs, either in pans or on cookie sheets.  Let rise about 1 ½ hours, possibly covered with slightly moist towel.  If your oven has a ‘proof’ cycle, that works wonders at this point. “Line” the top with egg to give the finished product a nice shine. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 35 minutes or until challahs appear done.

If you will be baking challahs often, you might want to ‘cheat.’  Go to www.thekoshercook.com and look for their varied sized challah baking pans.  They are easy to use and turn out professional-looking challah without braiding.

love + chocolate molten cake

It’s been 5 ½ years since my husband, Matt, proposed to me on Calder Hill at the Storm King Sculpture Garden in Upstate New York. About a week after the proposal, we were legally married at City Hall in Manhattan (which is also the same building where my husband’s grandfather used to work as a condemnation lawyer for the city- just a fun fact!). We filled out the marriage certificate, repeated a few phrases, there was perma-smile, laughter and a few tears of joy. And in an instant we were legally wed. In that moment my husband gave me two of the most valuable gifts of all: his commitment to our love…and health insurance.

Our legal marriage was followed by a religious ceremony in my parent’s backyard near the roses. It was important to them since they are observant and religious people. There was a ketuba, a rabbi, mumblings in Hebrew...and just like that, our union was sanctioned by the Lord (and though my husband and I are both agnostics and our interest in Jewish culture boils down to customs that revolve around food- it was important to our loved ones, so we did it).

By the time our third wedding came around, this one at Wave Hill in NYC in early November, all of the legal and religious requirements had been satisfied, so we could really just have a party and do things our way. We wanted the celebration to feel like “us”- so we asked our friend Rigsy to assemble a four piece Jazz Band - which we knew would set the tone we wanted. We walked down the aisle to Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World and concluded the ceremony with Down by the Riverside- which admittedly is a baptismal song with Gospel roots, but it’s a song that we’ve always loved and reminded us of our time in the Big Easy, which is where we met and fell in love. We also got married next to the Hudson River, so it kind of tied together nicely.

There were speeches about love and the early parts of our union. Our dear friend Megan read Walt Whitman's poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry and my father-in-law recited a Scottish sonnet that everyone remembers loving, but no one can remember where it came from or what the title was (if you know, let me know!). 

My mother- who's a really a great orator which I attribute to her years in education- presented the sermon. She talked about doing good and honest work (at which point many of my husband's Legal Aid colleagues erupted into applause) and then she talked about the significance of the chuppah, the bridal canopy. 

Standing under the chuppah, surrounded by 160 of our closest friends and relatives, was a truly wonderful moment-- one of the best of my life to be truthful. Our chuppah was constructed of poles, linen and what seemed like a million flowers (which were later donated to the Hebrew Home for the Aged for crafting projects). Traditionally, the chuppah symbolizes the couple's first home together and it is also usually associated with the tent of Abraham-- since it is open on all sides. The idea is that newlywed couple should be able to build a home that is welcoming to passersby, neighbors, friends and family.

When we bought our home in Denver, it was our hope that it would be filled with a never-ending stream of loved ones and neighbors. And in that sense, our hope has come true. For almost nine weeks straight, family and friends came to stay with us- beginning in July and ending in the early fall. Friends who were road-tripping across the country, friends who were making Denver a pit stop on a larger trip to explore national parks, and friends who just wanted to see where we finally landed (and missed us!) all made their way to our new abode in Congress Park. My parents, my brother, in-laws, aunts and cousins came too. We all cooked together, ate together, drank together, and sat outside on the porch talking and laughing. There was warmth and love…and somehow, in our fair city by the mountains, we managed to create our own little chuppah-- where the door is always open…and if you come and visit you'll be greeted by something warm coming out of the oven…maybe, even, this chocolate molten cake.  

See you all soon! 

xo, 

Batya
Wedding photography by: Courtney Davidson Photography

Last month Matt and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. To celebrate the milestone I made Chocolate Molten Cake, which was the dessert served at our wedding! This recipe comes from a former law school classmate, Laura Marasco, who like me, seems to have developed a love of cooking and baking. So thank you Laura for sending this my way. The recipe is an amalgamation from several sources and Laura cobbled it together about 10 years ago. If it is attributable to any one particular source, she can't remember. My only tip is: DO NOT over bake it! For all you Denverites out there, I suggest pulling the ramekins out of the oven at around 9 minutes!

Chocolate Molten Cakes

Ingredients

1 stick butter

2 tablespoons flour

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (Laura uses Hershey's Dark. I went with a bulk bittersweet block- label unknown)

2 tablespoons cold cream (or milk or half & half)

1/4 cup cocoa

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1/4 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Grease and flour the ramekins or mugs.

In a double boiler (or a bowl set over a pot of simmering water), melt the stick of butter with the chocolate, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat.

Whisk in the cocoa (sift it in) and cream. Sift flour over top and whisk that in too.

In a bowl, whisk together (or use a mixer) the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and salt until thick ribbons form, about 3 minutes.

Add sugar and mix until well incorporated. Mix a little of the chocolate into the eggs to temper. Add the rest gradually. 

Divide among the dishes and bake until the sides of the cake are set but the inside is still soft- about 10-12 minutes* (*Denver or altitude bakers- mine took 9 minutes). DON'T OVERBAKE!

Remove from the oven and let cool in the ramekins for 2 minutes. Then unmold (or you can serve in the baking dishes) onto dessert plates. 

Serve with a little coffee gelato or fresh whipped cream. I served it with a tiny bit of powdered sugar and berries.

Enjoy! 
Makes 4

Home Sweet Home (with Giada's Almond Citrus Olive Oil Cake)

If I've done my math correctly, I sold my home in New Orleans about 2,892 days ago. Since then, and for the better part of a decade, we hopped from place to place. At last count, Omar (our trusty Rottweiler) had lived in 8 places and Otis has had 4 addresses since his birth...and he's only 3 1/2. Nomads, vagabonds, drifters. No, we were renters. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I longed for a place to call my own, a place where I could plant perennials and actually see them bloom the following year. A place where I could put up shelves, frames and anchor a mirror. I wanted a home.

When my 6-year stint in New Orleans came to an end, I moved back to my parent's home in the Riverdale section of New York City. After two months of sleeping in my childhood bed, my then-boyfriend (now-husband) and I moved to Carroll Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The apartment was fine, despite being a bit run down. It was well-lit and spacious by New York standards (just under 600 square feet). But then construction started on the lot next door and it was time to move. No one likes waking up to what feels like a seismic occurrence and our walls began to crack. Omar was also a nervous wreck...or was that me?

Next we rented an apartment in a turn-of-the-century Brownstone. That's where Otis spent his first year of life. We lived in Prospect Heights on a beautiful tree-lined street that was quintessential Brooklyn. But we were outgrowing the space, Omar could no longer take the stairs, and then I found out I was pregnant with Theodore. On the move again.

Our fourth space was a remodeled apartment that was about 625 square feet. Cramped yes, but it felt clean and relatively safe. Then the beeping started. Unfortunately we signed a lease for an apartment directly across from a bread factory that operated around the clock, yes 24-hours. There were beeps and honks from machinery of all sorts, fork-lifts, 18-wheelers, garbage trucks at 2 a.m.-- nothing but noise and pollution. It was a total disaster. And that's what tipped the scales for us: we'd had enough and we moved west...to Colorado.

With Otis, Theo (who was 6 weeks old at the time), and Omar, we rented a lovely, albeit quirky, home in the Highlands section of Denver. Unfortunately for us, after a year of renting, it went on the market and sold within a few days. The home was slated for demolition, so we got a 6 month rental on the edge of Denver's city line. It was a generic townhouse that could have been in anywhere-U.S.A and there was no walkability to speak of, but it served its purpose.

Then it was time to take the plunge; it was time to do some serious house hunting. 

Have you ever read 'The Hunt' in the Real Estate section of The New York Times? It was kind of like that. 

No. 1: A beautiful, old Victorian in Congress Park, a neighborhood we were pretty much set on living in. But after an investigation turned up liens and judgements against the property, we walked. 

No. 2: A bid was submitted on a 1920s stunner in Park Hill, but systemic foundation issues surfaced after our structural engineer did the inspection. We wanted it fixed one way, but the sellers weren't interested. Our inspection objections were rejected, so that house was done. Back to Congress Park. 

No. 3: Our home! We fell in love with an old, historic home built in 1895, the year Grover Cleveland was President. We closed in March...

Writing this post means that we're settled, that we're anchored, that we've bought a home. I have a long-standing tradition of bringing olive oil cakes to house warming parties, and here I am making an olive oil cake for our family...in our very own house. It's been a long, long (long) road.

Happy baking! 

xo
Batya

Giada's Almond Citrus Olive Oil Cake (Adapted slightly from this recipe)
Ingredients
Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (to compensate for altitude I added 1 3/4 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup whole milk, plus 1 tablespoon for altitude
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted, finely chopped (original recipe suggests coarsley crumbled)
Powdered sugar, for sifting

Citrus Compote:
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
3/4-1 teaspoon orange blossom water, optional though I'd use it.
3 oranges, segmented
2 pink grapefruits, segmented

Directions
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8-inch-diameter cake pan. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs, and zests in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the milk. Gradually beat in the oil. Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in the almonds. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Place cake pan on baking pan to collect any possible spills. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 15 minutes. Remove cake and place on serving platter, top side up. Sift powdered sugar over the cake.

To make the citrus compote: Stir the orange peel, blossom water, and 2 tablespoons of accumulated juices from the segmented fruit in a small bowl to blend. Arrange the orange and grapefruit segments decoratively in a wide shallow bowl. Pour the blossom water mixture over. Cover and let stand 15 minutes for the flavors to blend.

You can cut the cake into wedges and spoon the citrus compote alongside or place the compote on top and slice.

Baking Nigel Slater's Chocolate Muscovado Banana Cake with My Boys

About three weeks before Otis was born, I made a list of all the things I thought I would accomplish once I became a full-time mother and left the workforce. I was leaving a job with incredibly demanding hours (a position which typically required 55-60 hours per week and where I was called "part-timer" when I left at 9 p.m.), so I though I would have (oh) so much time on my hands. I mean other than changing dirty diapers, singing ABC and 123 songs, going to early morning reading classes, putting the baby to sleep as many times as he needed, I'd have plenty of time left to spend ruminating on philosophy, reading Ulysses, Anna Karenina and War and Peace, teaching myself how to knit, actually completing the NYT crossword puzzle, and mastering Arabic...right?
Wrong. Though the first few months were relatively smooth (this early period of infancy is like a "fourth trimester" since the baby usually "wakes up" around month 4), I kind of overlooked the fact that I wouldn't really be sleeping at all during this early stage. Nope, not at all.   
I looked back at my "Things I Will Do Once the Baby is Born" list and realized that I was totally delusional and unprepared. It turns out that when you are a first-time mother, time really isn't on your side.
But after I got into the swing of motherhood (that took about a year), and I got a handle on our new sleeping routine(s), I was able to carve out a little bit of time to learn about food, how to prepare it and document my forays in the kitchen and our transition to life in Colorado in the form of this blog. 
I still find that one of the most challenging parts of motherhood is that you don't really have your own time, and when your interests/needs compete with that of your child(ren), well, that's when the problems start.
I save all my pinning, Facebooking, and blogging for the kids' nap time (or for when they are otherwise entertaining themselves). But when I want to bake and cook, well, I just have them do it with me. This is a case of "everyone wins." I get to try different recipes, photograph food and eat new things; they get to have fun making a mess, writing their names in flour, and eating food that they helped make. Yes, if you want to cook and bake with your kids there are some frustrations, more to clean up, and sometimes a broken dish or two. But you're building memories,  spending quality time and baking together. 

Since you can never have too many banana bread/cake recipes, here's a new one I tried last week. It's made with muscovado sugar (also called "Barbados sugar"), and like other dark brown sugars, it's basically white sugar with molasses added back in...but this one is darker and stickier than most brown sugars. Muscovado sugar is commonly used in baking recipes and making rum, so I took that as my cue to add a little splash of rum in the batter. If you aren't keen on rum, just omit it. 
I saw this great photo on The Kitchn which illustrates how much darker the muscavado sugar is from the commonly used "light" and "dark" sugars. (Image credit: Dana Velden)

Hope you enjoy this banana cake as much as we did. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start working on my crossword puzzle, while I enjoy a slice of cake and some hot tea (you guessed it, the kids are napping)...
Happy weekend, 
xo,
Batya

Chocolate Muscovado Banana Cake (Adapted slightly from Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries II and converted, to the best of my ability, from The Wednesday Chef)
Makes 1 loaf cake
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder (Denverites and other high-altitude bakers, I adjusted the recipe to 1 3/4 teaspoons)
9 tablespoons softened unsalted butter (1 stick, plus 1 tablespoon)
1 1/3 cup, plus 1-2 tablespoons, of muscovado or dark brown sugar
3 to 4 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3.5 ounces of (100 grams) dark chocolate
Optional: Since muscovado sugar pairs really well with rum, I added a splash. Chopped walnuts would work too. 
Preparation
1. Heat the oven to 350F. Line a standard-sized loaf pan with parchment paper. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs into the butter and sugar one at a time until fully incorporated.
3. Peel the bananas and mash them with a fork in a small bowl. When you are done, the bananas should still be slightly lumpy and not entirely puréed. Stir the vanilla extract into the bananas.
4. Chop the chocolate finely and and fold it, along with the bananas, into the butter and sugar mixture. Gently mix the flour and baking powder into the banana batter.
5. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and bake in the oven for 50 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the cake is browned and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Remove the cake from the oven and let sit on a rack for 15 minutes. Then, using the parchment paper as a sling, remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely on the rack. When the cake has fully cooled, peel off the paper and use a serrated knife to slice.

Winter Citrus: Deb's Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake and Ina's Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake (plus trial-and-error baking at altitude)

I'll be honest, I'm glad 2012 is over. Though there were some pretty spectacular moments, there was a good deal of stress and heartache too. Our nuclear family was separated for almost 7 months while my husband flew back-and-forth between Denver and Brooklyn. And my father had a massive heart attack at the end of the summer, just 3 days after visiting us in Colorado. There were emergency flights back home, lots of tears and the fear of what would come next but we survived. There were births, engagements, weddings and promotions so it wasn't all bad, but there were some very tough at times and I'm hoping that it's smooth sailing ahead with the trying times behind us. 

Unfortunately 2012 wanted to have the last laugh. In the final and penultimate day(s) of the year, I got hit with the plague. And it left me feeling pretty crummy. Flu-like symptoms, sinus pressure, a pounding headache, and fever kept me in bed and under the covers. Our friend's New Year celebration was cancelled because they too were under the weather. So we spent a quiet New Year's Eve, watching the ball drop/fireworks on television and thinking about all the (hopefully) good things to come in the year ahead. Then I went back to bed.

I was feeling much better by January, 2nd and I was really back on my feet by the 3rd, thanks in no small part to: 4 bowls of Pho, 3 bowls of matzo ball soup, 2 boxes of Kleenex, 1 box of Sudafed, a handful of Ibuprofen and some nighttime sleep aids. After all that, I was right as rain. Though my New Year's resolutions aren't terribly ambitious or lengthy (send out postcards on a regular basis, write down family recipes, learn to snow shoe, read short stories, blog/internet stuff Monday through Friday-- take the weekends off, be kind, channel the Dalai Lama, etc.), I added one thing to my list now that I am post-plague. Namely, infuse my diet with lots of vitamin C. That brings me to winter citrus and some really great pound cakes...

Most people probably think of summertime and lemonade when they think of citrus. But there are a few varieties that pop with flavor over the winter months, and while they aren't locally grown, they taste great because they are seasonal. Meyer lemons, blood oranges, ruby red grapefruits, satsumas and kumquats come to mind. 

I've been making Ina's Classic Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Glaze for several years, and I usually find myself craving it in the early winter months. There is something about cake ingredients that include lemon, oil and glaze that work for me when it's cold outside. 

I'd thought about substituting grapefruit for lemon, but never actually got around to experimenting. Then I saw Deb Perelman's Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake-- she'd done it! Her version is inspired by Ina's Lemon Cake (see recipe way below) and Martha Stewart's rendition. Melissa Clark also interpreted the now-famous cake, as have some great bloggers that I follow regularly. My point is this cake is making the rounds. 

I made the grapefruit cake for our friends Beth and Philip, who were in town visiting family over the holidays. They dropped by our house for wine and dessert, and since they were coming over a bit later in the evening, I thought a light citrus cake would do the trick.

The cake tasted great, but it looked rather sad. It basically collapsed right down the middle. I've come to learn that pound cakes in particular, can take a beating at altitude. So I posted my issue on the Culinary Content Network FB page. The solutions came pouring in. 

I now know that there is less atmospheric pressure the higher up you go in elevation. Chef Tom wrote, "What typically happens is your baked goods get over leavened, meaning they rise faster than the wheat can hold the bubbles, and it falls. The trick: reduce the amount of baking powder (I live at 5000 ft and reduce it by half), and/or add 3 tbs flour per cake..." Another commenter told me to "add a little water" and Ruth Tobias directed me to this site. 

When I made the cake the second time (but with only half the glaze because I ran out of confectioners' sugar), it came out perfectly! I subtracted 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder, put in an extra tablespoon of flour and I added an extra tablespoon of both yogurt and olive oil. The verdict? It tasted delicious AND it didn't sink. The pound cake had a perfect dome and I was finally getting around those pesky altitude problems. 

I decided to post Deb's recipe as it's written in her cookbook, with my adaptations for altitude (and some changes I made on my second go-around) in parenthesis. 

Hope you enjoy both of these winter citrus cakes. Serve with a side of tea and stay warm.

xo,

-Batya

Grapefruit Olive Oil Pound Cake 

Adapted ever-so-slightly from Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman, and inspired by A Good Appetite by Melissa Clark. 

Note: Most of my adaptations were made in order to compensate for problems that can surface when you bake pound cake at high altitude (in my case, Colorado). Increasing liquids and decreasing leavening agents are noted in {parens}.

Yield: 1 loaf

Serves: 6-8 (Deb says 12. Not the case in our house.)

the Cake

Butter for pan

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour {Altitude: I added 1 extra tablespoon} 

2 tablespoons freshly grated grapefruit zest, from 2 large grapefruits

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup raw or turbinado sugar (I use raw sugar in these Belgian Sugar Waffles. You can use granulated if you can't find the raw variety)

1/2 cup olive oil {Altitude: I added 1 extra tablespoon}

2 large eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon baking powder {Altitude: I reduced the baking powder by 1/4 teaspoon}

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice (I used ruby red) 

1/3 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt {I went with Noosa's Plain Yoghurt with Honey. It was wonderful in this recipe. I've also made the cake with buttermilk. Both work well. Add 1 extra tablespoon of buttermilk or yogurt, to compensate for altitude. You could probably also add 1 teaspoon of honey.}

the Syrup

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/3 cup freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice

the Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed grapefruit juice

Pinch of salt

Preparations

make the cake: Heat the over to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, rub the grapefruit zest into the sugars with your fingertips. This will bruise it and help release as much grapefruit essence as possible. Whisk in the oil until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, and whisk until combined. Scrape down the bowl.


Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a second bowl. In a liquid measuring cup, combine 2 tablespoons of  grapefruit juice and buttermilk/or yogurt. Add the flour and buttermilk/or yogurt mixtures, alternating between them, to the oil-and-sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour.


Spread the batter in the pan, smooth the top, and rap the pan on the counter a few times to ensure there are no air bubbles trapped. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

make the grapefruit syrup: Combine 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1/3 cup grapefruit juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves.


When the cake is finished, let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then invert it onto a rack set over a tray. Poke holes in the cake with a skewer or toothpick, then spoon or brush the grapefruit syrup over the cake. Let the cake cool completely while it absorbs the syrup.

make the glaze: Combine the confectioners' sugar, grapefruit juice, and pinch of salt in a bowl, whisking until smooth. Pour the glaze over the top of cooled cake, and allow glaze to drizzle decoratively down the sides.

* * *

Lemon Yogurt Cake with Lemon Glaze (Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa At Home)

Note: Follow the general guidelines for baking at altitude stated above.

Cook Time: 50 min


Yield: 1 loaf


Ingredients

For the cake: 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


2 teaspoons baking powder


1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt


1 1/3 cups sugar, divided


3 extra-large eggs


2 heaping teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)


1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1/2 cup vegetable oil


1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice


For the glaze:


1 cup confectioners' sugar


2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

•   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

•   Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

•   Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

•   When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.