One of my favorite people came to visit last weekend!
My aunt Sara came in from San Francisco with
my uncle Marty and my cousin Grady.
I
met Sara when I was 15 – she and Marty invited me to SF for a week and I had an
absolute blast! They helped teach me to drive, took me to the Blue Man Group and Sara even taught me to make pasta from scratch.
She and I have
shared recipes and food stories from the beginning and I’ve learned quite a bit
from her inside and outside of the kitchen.
This weekend, Sean and I joined Sara’s family for dinner
with my aunt Mary Catherine and uncle Peter at a “fresh” restaurant called True
Food. I’ll be honest – I thought it was
going to be a rough dinner because I’d heard you could only order raw food. But, it ended up being delicious! Everyone at the table enjoyed their
meal. I had a roasted corn and kale
pizza that I’d order again in a heartbeat.
The reason we chose this restaurant is because Sara cannot eat any gluten. The
restaurant offered many options and we had a splendid time.
The next day, Sean and I met with Sara again and this time
we baked together! Sara brought one of
her favorite gluten-free recipes and Mary Catherine was kind enough to offer
her kitchen. It was so nice and relaxing
to just hang in the kitchen and chat over food.
And I learned quite a bit about special flour combinations and a
gluten-free diet in general.
We made gluten-free lemon pound cake. It was great! The cake was light and soft. It reminded me of sugar cookies with a hint
of lemon. Not your normal
cloyingly sweet cake drenched in frosting, this cake was divine. This recipe comes from the cookbook, The Blackbird Bakery
Gluten Free 75 Recipes for Irresistible Gluten-Free Desserts and Pastries* by Karen Morgan.
Thank you for everything Sara!
1 C. Sorghum flour
½ C. Tapioca flour
½ C. Cornstarch
½ t. baking powder
¼ t. kosher salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1 C. plus 2 T. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 ¼ C. sugar
4 large eggs
2 ½ t. pure vanilla extract
Position an oven rack in the center
of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325
degrees (F). Butter a 5-by-9-inch loaf
pan.
In a medium
bowl, combine both flours, the cornstarch, baking powder and salt and stir with
a whisk to blend. Add the lemon zest to
the dry ingredients.
In a stand
mixer, cream the butter and sugar on high speed for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat for a
full minute after each addition stopping once or twice to beat for a full
minute after each addition, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of
the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to
medium and add the dry ingredients all at once.
Beat for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan, smooth the top
and bake for 60-75 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden brown and a
wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Check the cake after the first 25 minutes of
baking; if it has begun to darken, loosely cover with aluminum foil and resume
baking.
Remove from
the oven and let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and
unmold the cake a cutting board. Cut
into slices to serve.
Sara, Sean and I ate our pound cake with fresh fruit and
peach and cherry sauces. Yumm!
