Baked Sunday Mornings: Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt

MOIST AND DELICIOUS --A LIGHT SUMMERY CAKE

Every time I bake a bundt cake I am reminded of the “bundt” in the movie,  My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and I start thinking about ways to fill up the hole in the middle...can’t get it out of my mind even though it has been a year or two since I last watched the flick.  When bundts hit the table, my funny kids start acting out the movie segment and we laugh again.

MY NEW PAN WORKS WELL, AND SO DOES THIS RECIPE

I know bakers who are frightened of bundts because sometimes they don’t come cleanly out of their pans, but instead  fall out in half or without their some of their pretty top.  It’s one of those things like pie crusts, which really are not hard, but many bakers are scared of them.  I remember baking as a youngster with my mom, and we would be to the point of getting the bundt out of the pan and it was always a question, “Will we continue with our serious lack of success with unmolding this bundt?”  The pans were so pretty, but back then they were not made like the quality molds available today.  Even with oiling and flouring the pans, an occasional total success was a surprise.

I had picked up a new bundt pan with a classic, pretty shape, and for the first use,  I wondered how the pan would perform.  The old memories return as I use a pan for the first time.  But with all the wonderful finishes on pans these days, no worries were necessary.  The pan was terrific and so is the recipe.

THESE GREEN ARE ACTUALLY ORANGE ORANGES

This evening’s family-dinner-get-together was special.  It was “good-bye” to kids going off to medical school later this week; moving further away from home, which always tugs on my mother heart.  Son #2 and wife are moving only a 2 hour drive down to U of A in Tucson, but since they’ve only lived a mile away for all their university years,  it seems like they are going across the country.  

Son #2 and wife were both working toward medical school, but with different goals, when reality hit last Christmas break that they probably would not be seeing much of each other over the next 4 to 8 years, and even worse, the odds of them both being accepted into the same medical school were slim.  

Wife of #2 Son has had her life focused on becoming a doctor since childhood and she would not be happy compromising  her dreams.  At the end of high school, she won a four year academic scholarship to ASU.  For AZ state schools, scholarships are no longer available to our bright young students as a reward for years of hard work.  The state has teetered on bankruptcy for several years due to the spending habits of our previous governor. 

Son #2 has many interests and can be happy doing lots of things, so he made a drastic shift and has been accepted into the same university as wife... into a specialized photography and arts area of study that accepts only 30 students into their 4-years-beyond-university-graduation program...quite a change from all the sciences, math and lab work.  Photography and the arts have been a hobby for years.  He always has the latest equipment and actually knows how to use all the settings and extras, unlike me...I am still figuring out my I-pod while others have moved on to “pads”, and I’ll hang onto my old phone, which I’ll never know how to properly use, until it dies.  He has had his photos in magazines such as “Sunset Magazine”, has done advertising work for the Phoenix Police Department, etc...and he is very good at all the high tech computerized photography work, so that is his new focus.  I’ve often tried to talk him into taking pics of my cooking, but without success...he just likes to eat it.

We are proud of them both and to celebrate with them I made a special family dinner with the Bundt as our dessert.  It is delicious!

I had sour cream in my fridge and chose to use it in place of plain yogurt.  I added an extra ½ cup of sugar to compensate for the “sour” and to adjust for the extra fat in the “cream.”   Sugar holds moisture, and this cake was wonderfully moist.  

CAN'T GET FRESHER THAN THIS

We have a few straggler oranges still hanging on our trees so I picked a couple that have been shaded up inside a tree and never kissed by our strong Arizona sun.  Because of this they are still green, yet they are ripe and very juicy.  

When one zests a freshly picked orange the entire house is filled with the perfume from the orange oils that are released during the process.  It was such a delicious fragrance and it permeated the cake, making it extra scrumptious.  The cake took 40 minutes to bake, then I let it rest, or cool, for 10 minutes, and then it came out of the pan perfectly.  The recipe and pan are both keepers.

While the cake was just a little warm I made a glaze using the juice from the zested oranges and confectioner’s sugar.  The recipe suggests either a dusting of powdered sugar, which is preferred, or the glaze which may be too sweet with this sweet cake.  But I don’t have anything against sugar...keeps me happy.

OLIVE OIL INSTEAD OF VEGE OIL OR BUTTER IS UNUSUAL TO SOME

The recipe also suggests a special brand of olive oil.  However, I used what I have and it was very mellow and did not have any noticeable flavor in this recipe.  The sweet orange oils from the zest were the strongest flavor followed by the vanilla.  (I found myself actually telling my family that this cake is healthy...not make with butter, just healthy olive oil...ha!  Who am I trying to kid?)

JUST OUT OF THE OVEN

Hubby especially enjoyed the cake and commented several times on how good it is.  All the family likes the cake, but if Hubby is happy, that’s really what’s most important.

This citrusy cake would go well with berries or fresh peaches and a dab of whipped cream.  It would be fun to dress it up next time, and at the rate that everyone around here is enjoying it, I will bake this cake again soon.  Note to myself:  This recipe would also make fun mini bundt sizes.

PROBABLY TOO MUCH GLAZE, BUT THE FAMILY LIKES TO SPOON ON MORE FROM THE MIDDLE

French Friday with Dorie: Coconut Lemongrass-Braised Pork (Chicken)

FAMILY SIZE COCONUT LEMON-BRAISED CHICKEN

 It is too hot for a hot meal here in Phoenix.  I stepped outside this afternoon at 5:00 and it was still 110^.  The photo for Dorie's recipe is beautiful, but not tempting with this heat...it looks like a hot stew over lovely noodles.  

But Dorie does suggest that other meats work well with this recipe method; I chose to use chicken breasts for my meat.  Potatoes, carrots, and onion were cut up and steamed.  For seasonings I used fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt, pepper, ...and when read through the recipe and got the the "coriander seeds", which are often used with curry, I decided to use instead, fresh coriander with is cilantro, and to also add fresh tomatoes and zucchini to the mix.  I also left out the curry with my new mixture.

THESE ARE THE UNUSUAL "STEW" INGREDIENTS I USED

I found wide lemon pepper noodles at Trader Joe's and they are delicious...went well with the fresh squeezed lemon in this dish.  I had coconut milk beverage in my pantry, and read the ingredients which are coconut milk and water...so I just deleted the water from my add-ins.  The fresh cilantro and tomatoes made this dish very summery, and when added along with the zucchini without being pre-cooked, these veges helped make a more summery dish.

 I could have browned the chicken a little more, but did not want it to be tough. 

This recipe pleased the men who were home today...they all went for 2nds,  and I really enjoyed it too.  Fun to try new flavors and food mixtures.  And with the extra veges, this dish was a great summer meal.

MY SERVING WHICH WAS VERY TASTY

Dorie inspired my "stew" and this was a fun dish to rework to suit my family....if I could have found some wild boar in my freezer like Dorie's friend, or maybe an AZ javelina, I'm sure that would have made everyone really happy...ha ha ha!  I've seen many of these "wild boars" running around our desert, and people really do hunt and eat them.

I'm interested to see what you all did with this dish.   Hope you all have a great week.