Taking the Cooking Challenge: Lemon Yogurt Cake

Do you ever feel like you cook the same exact things over...and over again?  With busy and active lives, it's easy to get in a cooking routine.  I recently "challenged" myself to cook at least one new thing a week. This week, I am trying out a recipe from a cookbook my Mother-in-Law gave me called, "Barefood Contessa at Home".  Ironically, it's a cookbook dedicated to recipes that you'll, "make over and over again".  (Oops!)

Ingredients

• 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 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.

 

*As a slight variation on the recipe, I could not find plain whole milk yogurt. Instead, I bought a 6 oz Liberte lemon yogurt and then added 2 oz of lowfat Dannon yogurt to make the full cup.

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.

 

* I am a bit of a vanilla extract snob.  My friend Lauren Morris is from Mexico. Her family owns a vanilla extract company and gifted me this bottle of pure gold two years ago and it's starting to run low (hint, hint!).

 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.

 

I HAD to test the cake out--and trust me, it is really delicious.  If you like the lemon pound cake at Starbucks, this has a similar sweet/sour taste, but a different consistency.  This cake is much, much lighter and less filling.

 

I think Ina is right... I will probably make this over and over:)

 

My First Pregnancy "Selfie"

I'll be the first to admit that accepting the physical changes to my body throughout pregnancy  has been difficult for me.  I am in awe of my friends who can willingly pose for bare-belly photo shoots during the later months of pregnancy.

Sadly, I have not fallen into this “Celebrate Gestation” camp. I regret to admit I have struggled through pregnancy, obsessing over just how large I am becoming. My body seems unrecognizable to me, changing more rapidly by the day. 

I've recently become convicted about these feelings.  I am a volunteer youth leader at my church and often have conversations with high school aged girls about body image. I try to hammer in the hearts and the minds of these girls that the body image of the world isn't real.  Yet, despite the fact that I know the truth of the scriptures-- it has been hard for me to look in the mirror during pregnancy.

I came across an article recently in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.  The newspaper carried Mary McCarty’s review of Joan Brumberg’s recent book, The Body Project. The book is about the difference between how girls saw themselves 100 years ago and how they see themselves today. Brumberg analyzes diaries of adolescent girls from the 1830’s to the 1990’s. Her conclusion, according to the reviewer: “In the 19th and early 20th centuries, girls’ diaries focused on ‘good works’ and perfecting the character. In the 1990’s, the diaries are fixated on ‘good looks,’ on perfecting the body.”

For example, one diary from 1892 says, “Resolved…to think before speaking. To work seriously. To be self-restrained in conversations and actions. To be dignified. Interesting myself more in others.” Contrast this with an entry from 1982: “I will try to make myself better in any way I possibly can with the help of my budget and babysitting money. I will lose weight, get new lenses, already got new haircut, good makeup, new clothes and accessories.”

Reading the thoughts of teenage girls makes me wonder how the thoughts of young child-bearing women have changed in the last 100 years.  Sure, women have gained more rights and freedoms. Women's roles in the household and outside the home have also shifted dramatically.  But what about deep at the core of womanhood?

I came across this quote by one of my favorite pastors, John Piper:

“You were given a visible body to make Christ visible.”

With that quote something clicked for me: our bodies are just on loan for a short time. We won’t be confined to  imperfection forever. Not only were we created in the image of God, but we were given a visible body to do His work and breathe His healing on this side of eternity. In essence, to make Christ visible.  ...... and....Wham!  I just got it.  The weight gain, the stomach...all of it... is just a visual reminder to ME, Elizabeth's mom, that motherhood is my new mission field. (click the link... great read by Christian writer Rachel Jankovic)

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."-- Psalm 127:3  Children are a blessing.  I have the privilege of passing on to Elizabeth the sense and love of God.

Now with this new perspective.... I have to deliver on the promise of my blog post...

 

**Please no comments on my appearance in this picture. Everyone has different body struggles during pregnancy. 

The Single Best Way to Re-use Sweet Potato Casserole

Thanksgiving and sweet potato casserole seems to go together like peanut butter and jelly, Jay Z and Beyoncé or Georgia football tailgates and girls with pearls.  I prepare mine the way my grandmother and great-grandmother did--the best way-- with mini marshmallows on top.

My father-in-law came into town this weekend for a visit.  A little birdy told me that his favorite side dish is sweet potato casserole. Aiming to please, I whipped up some southern-style sweet potato casserole. Of course, with only three eating the casserole, I had a lot leftover.  We're not big on leftovers at our house and the thought of eating sweet potato casserole for the next week instantly made me gain 3 pregnancy pounds.

I looked online for recipes using leftover sweet potato casserole.  I wasn't in the mood for sweet potato bread or pancakes and sweet potato candy sounded a little too old-lady for me. I want to bring muffins to my co-workers this week and started looking at sweet potato muffin recipes. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything that fit my palette. Everything was either too healthy for an office treat or WAY too buttery.

So... I took a risk.

I surveyed my kitchen cupboard and found a box of cake mix.  Score! No eggs--but I did have powdered egg whites. Score! Oh, and since I have been mildly obsessed with milk these days, I found that too.
 
Recipe for Sarah's Oooohmygoodness Muffins
(if I am going to invent a recipe, I at least get to name it something cool)

 

 

 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together the following ingredients using a mixer at a low speed:

1.Two cups of sweet potato casserole. Feel free to include and much or as little of the topping as you want.
2. One box of cake mix.  I had on hand a box of Duff Zebra cake mix (white and chocolate) but I am sure that a box of Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate would taste great.
3. I did not have any eggs so I used one heaping teaspoon of powdered egg whites.  This is equal to the whites of one egg
4. One cup of milk

I definitely recommend tasting the sweet potato + cake mix mixture before you add in your other ingredients. Yum!
Your batter will be a thick consistency.  It's OK! Take your batter and fill your cupcake tins almost full with your mixture.

Bake your muffins at 350 degrees for approximately 17 minutes. They should have a nice rise on them.  If you are planning to serve the muffins right away, consider putting a small handful of mini marshmallows on top for added texture and for a unique finish.

 

 Trust me when I say this... these muffins have an incredible consistency.  They somehow taste both light and full at the same time.  The sweet potatoes do not overpower the muffin but really give the chocolate more of a delicate but powerful flavor.

 

Enjoy!!!