Sunday, February 1, 2009

Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake & Disaster

"It's been a rough day. I got up this morning, put on a shirt and a button fell off. Then I picked up my briefcase and the handle fell off. I'm telling you, I'm afraid to go to the bathroom."


Brilliant.

Right after posting Sauerkraut Soup, disaster struck. Truth is I could sense it coming, but like everyone else I just chose hope over evidence.

Crash. Bang. Boom.

Right after getting confirmation of the last upload, my up-til-now-trusty computer died. Blue screen fading to black. Tried rebooting, but it's always a bad sign when your machine's death rattle is a snicker.

Last words? I swear I heard it whisper, "I told you to back up more often".

After six years the Dell is a goner. I'd been backing up more often, but I'm pretty sure I've lost a number of as yet unpublished photos. Ah well, I'll just have to make the recipes again. Put's a little pressure on me to create some inventory, but no sacrifice is too great for Crab Nation.

It's been a little shocking to live without my own computer. You just don't realize how attached you are to the possibility of communicating with the world. I've taken to borrowing SSSal's and CrabCake2's machines, but it's not the same. I feel like a technology stalker...unwashed, vaguely feral, desperate for a few moments of connectedness; Gollum Jonesing for a laptop.

Well what are you going to do, cry in your scalded milk? No. Life gives you lemons, you might as well try to make lemonade. But that's a recipe for another day. Today let's go for dessert. Early last summer, SSSal and I received a Meyer Lemon Tree as a gift from JeanneBean. It's taken about 9 months for the fruit to actually ripen but I'm not complaining. It's great to look at ripening citrus in the middle of winter. So without further downtime, please enjoy...


Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Pudding Cake with Fresh Berries
from Bon Appetit, January 2005

1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sugar, divided
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unslated butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites

whipping cream
fresh berries (blue- and or rasp-)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter an 8x8x2 inch glass baking dish.

Blend buttermilk, 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, lemon juice, flour, butter and salt in a blender until smooth.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a large bowl until sift peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, beating until stiff but not dry.

In 3 additions, gently pour buttermilk mixture into the beaten egg whites. Note: Batter will be runny.

Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Place dish into a roasting pan and then into the oven. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the baking dish. DO NOT GET ANY WATER INTO THE BATTER. (This is safer to do with the pan already in the oven.)

Bake until the entire top is evenly browned and the cake moves very slightly in the center, but still feels springy to the touch, about 45 minutes.

When done, remove baking dish from roasting pan and allow to cool on a rack. When cooled, refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 6 hours.

Spoon pudding cake into shallow bowls. Pour whipping cream around cake and top with berries.

Serve.


There you go. It sounds a bit fussy but it's truly very easy. Of course we had a cookng tragedy the last time we made this, but that's a story for another day.

Well crablings, I'm off to stand by the front door, longingly listening for the downshift of a UPS truck. Computer should be here soon. Until next time, remember you can do it, you can cook.


Crabby Quiz: Name the opening joke's owner.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love this recipe -- I make it frequently and it's a keeper. Sorry to hear about your computer crash. Given that, and your supposedly usual self-proclaimed disposition, the little crab perched atop the pudding cake looks a wee bit too cheery. I guess he's not representative, though?

Anonymous said...

Sorry about your computer. That is exactly how I feel when I don't have mine.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhhhh, I'm sorry for your loses. I think I am going to run over and back up right now!!! Thanks for the heads up. I also think I am going to make your cake, but with grapefruit. My mom just sent us a box from Florida, where we aren't. Happy new computer buying.

WineWizardBob said...

Mooch the puter, buy more wine for the cellar!

I hate to repeat myself, I hate to repeat myself, but all of you need to find a wine from Italy called Brachetto. A light red, slightly fizzy, semi-sweet wine is a perfect match for berry desserts like this one. The most easily found Brachetto is by Banfi, the Brunello people that started out as the Riunite people. Banfi calls theirs Rosa Regale, and dont confuse this with a very good dry Rose from Sicily! Serve this wine chilled! It is very low in alcohol, just barely wine, and tastes like roses and raspberries.

Anonymous said...

delic. pud! Computers - I'm with you.Each holiday I work from my husbands...things just don't work the same way & I hate it!!

Anonymous said...

I've been making this for years. You can omit the butter completely and it is still fantastic!

www.crabbycook.com said...

danazia,

Wow grapefruit! Be careful, this recipe is pretty tart even using Meyer Lemons. Please come back and tell us how it goes with the grapefruits.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

I just bought a bunch of meyer lemons. I'd love to give this a try.

Sorry about the laptop. I actually just ordered on from Dell on Friday. Overall you were happy with it?
~ingrid

www.crabbycook.com said...

Ingrid,

No complaints about the Dell. It worked well for 6 years which is about 350 in human years.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about your computer. The recipe sounds fabulous, one to keep for the better weather I think though.

www.crabbycook.com said...

Well K-God, I'd have to disagree on waiting. With the weather so miserable, a taste of spring is about all I can grab onto.

muzzyblue said...

I, too, have been laptop-less for more than two months and my son is so weary of my borrowing his that he rejoiced at least as much I as did when I finally replaced my old one yesterday. The meeting was sweet, and I am now in love with someone named Hewlett P.!