Summer Dessert Heaven: Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream

 

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Yay for summertime!

I love summer.  Eating alfresco, cooking on the grill, and hanging by the pool.

We had a nice bash over the weekend with some friends we hadn't seen in forever...and we took that time to fire up the grill for some fresh food.  Even dessert was finished up using the grill!

So let's talk about this dessert.  Do you like lemon?  MGG loves it, it was my mom's favorite as well, and I like it mainly in baked goods such as muffins and cakes.  Pies? not so much.  In planning my menu I was sifting through an old Cook's Country magazine and had dog-eared a recipe for Meyer Lemon Pound Cake.  Say what? Lemon pound cake...ummm yes please!

Now, I know it's summer, and it's taboo to turn on the oven  but this was a serious situation here.  I had to have this pound cake.  So I got up really early and used the oven before the day got hot.  Success!!!  This cake was so easy to make. I even snuck some of the batter, so I knew it would taste outrageous.  And it did!  Everyone said so....haha!

Typically during the summer, our desserts run toward angel food cakes, trifles, pudding of some sort etc.  You know, throw it together quick and easy stuff.  So the pound cake did require more time than we usually put into our desserts but it was well worth it.  You could just as easily buy a ready made pound cake (it may not be lemon) and it would work just as well, but you really should try this lemony one.  The flavors of lemon and strawberry together are heaven.  So worth the effort.

Once the cake is made the rest is easy.  After the dinner grilling was done I grilled slices of this luscious lemon pound cake and plated them with macerated strawberries and a big ole scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Oh man, was this gobbled down by everyone.  Our long lost friends may not be so lost after eating this.  I'll bet we see them often this summer just to get more of this Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream!

Enjoy!

Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Slice Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream


Pound Cake
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest
1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 additional tablespoons
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten

Toppings: 

Macerated sliced strawberries

Vanilla Ice Cream

To make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk the sour cream and lemon juice together in a small measuring cup.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the lemon zest and sugar. Rub together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter to the bowl and beat the butter/sugar mixture on medium speed until very pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the eggs in 3 additions, beating well after each addition until the mixture is smooth (stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary). With the mixer on low, alternately add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the sour cream mixture in 2 additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Once all the ingredients have been added, scrape down the bowl then beat on low for another 30 seconds to fully combine.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top then tap the pan on your work surface to release air bubbles. Bake the cake for 55-65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted near the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out.

Once the pound cake has completely cooled, (about 2 hours) slice it into 1 inch thick slices.  Add slices to an outdoor grill, or indoor grill pan and all to toast several minutes on each side until grill marks appear.  Top with strawberries that have macerated in sugar for about 15 minutes.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve immediately.

Pound cake was adapted from Cook’s Country, April/May 2006

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

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I think I've mentioned that MGG is a rabbit.

It's true.  He eats so much salad and veggies that I know he must have been a rabbit in another life.  He's even starting to look like a rabbit to me!  haha!

The other day "said rabbit" and I were walking through Costco and he picked up a container of Poki and a container of quinoa salad.  The poki is a favorite of his, but when I saw that quinoa salad and the price tag, I had to stop him there.   "But it tastes soooo good" he says.  "Yes honey, I know it does, but I can make it for you at home for a fraction of the cost and it will taste AWESOME!"  "Trust me...."

He grudgingly put it back and off we went.  Now I was under the gun to make a totally awesome quinoa salad that compares to the likes of Costco!  No problem.

I got to work in the kitchen while he looked over my shoulder to see what I was putting in it.  (Not as if I hadn't made quinoa salad before...sheesh!)  I think he was really counting on the lemony flavor of the Costco brand.  So I put a nice big lemon in front of him and put him to work zesting and juicing it.  That seemed to satisfy him for the moment.  The real test would come when he actually took his first bite.

About 30 minutes later we sat down to lunch with this huge wonderful Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, his poki, and some fruit and he had his first taste!  He savored the flavor, and then a big smile erupted across his face.  BINGO!  I knew I had him. He leaned over and gave me a big smooch.  Oh yea! One satisfied customer.

Enjoy!!


Mediterranean Quinoa

serves 10

2 cups  multi-colored quinoa or any colored quinoa 

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 Tbls olive oil

1 tsp lemon zest   

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp sherry vinegar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup cherry tomatoes, red and yellow, halved    

1/2 cup yellow, orange and red mini bell peppers, small dice   

1/2 cup chopped English cucumber, diced  

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 tsp fresh mint, minced  

Rinse and drain quinoa in a mesh strainer.  Bring broth to a bowl over high heat in a medium saucepan.  Add quinoa and reduce to a simmer.  Cover and cook 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender.  Uncover and fluff with a fork.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile prepare the vegetables.  Add the quinoa and vegetables to a large bowl.  In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, zest, lemon juice, vinegar and salt.  Drizzle over salad and toss to combine.  Sprinkle feta cheese and mint over the top and serve.

Triple Berry Cream Cheese Spread

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

We took a little bit of time off to relax and celebrate with friends.  It was wonderful seeing good friends, playing in the pool, and eating all that great food!

It's hard to get back into the daily swing when we had such a relaxing holiday.  One way to do that is to make life simple, and to make our breakfast's simple too.  After a weekend of goodies it's time stop the baking and cooking for a little bit.  In doing so we decided to spend our last day of holiday with a quick and easy breakfast of fruits, coffee and tea, and fresh bagels. 

We are lucky to live near a Western Bagel store and so we picked up several varieties of bagels to enjoy.  My all time favorite is an egg bagel.  Soft and yummy, that's how I like them.  There's nothing better than fresh, soft bagels and Western Bagel has the best in Los Angeles. 

To go with our bagels I decided to whip up a special cream cheese spread.  I wanted to make it just a little bit fancier...just a little.  Which leads us to today's recipe, Triple Berry Cream Cheese Spread.  It's a blend of cream cheese, feta cheese and Smucker's new Fruit N' Honey fruit spreads.  Smucker's describes them as " Ripened fruit is naturally sweetened with honey for a simply delicious way to complement your breakfast or dress up your appetizers and desserts."  I found this new product at my store and decided to pick up a couple.  The one I used today was Fruit & Honey Triple Berry Fruit Spread.  Of course you could use this recipe with any jam, jelly, or fruit spread, I chose this one because I was curious to have a spread with honey in it instead of refined sugar.  

It's just the perfect additive to my cream cheese to jazz it up a bit for our breakfast.  It turned out so delicious, with little chunks of fruit mixed in.  Perfect on a bagel or a piece of toast.

So next time you have a simple breakfast, try this easy cream cheese spread.  You'll enjoy it's light and fruity taste, and make your breakfast extra special!

Enjoy!




Triple Berry Cream Cheese Spread


1/2 tub of whipped cream cheese
3 Tbls feta cheese crumbled
3-4 Tbls Triple Berry Fruit Spread (Smucker's - or your favorite fruit spread)

In a medium bowl add all the ingredients and stir until well combined.  Serve with bagels or toast.  Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator up to a week.