experimental kitchen: more baking notes
Jan. 23rd, 2016 11:25 amThe other day, I attempted yet another mod of the lime yogurt olive oil cake I love so much because I have a bag of Meyer lemons and wanted to play!
Normally when I make this cake, I halve the sugar and ignore all measurements re: lime juice in favor of juicing an entire lime, or occasionally 1.5-2 limes. This time, rather than juicing and zesting, I decided I'd just toss a whole Meyer lemon in my bullet blender along with a couple slices of chopped frozen ginger and the 1/3 cup of vegetable oil (I don't have olive oil at the moment). I used a packet of "ginger tea" (basically, really strongly flavored ginger sugar) instead of regular sugar that prooobably amounted to ~1/4 c, which is about half again what I usually do for this cake. Also, I used maple yogurt rather than plain or vanilla. (When in Canada...?)
Results: The batter came out thicker than I'm used to, possibly because a whole blended lemon changes the texture a bit, or alternately because I usually ~double the lime juice. The Meyer lemon gives a great smell but not as much flavor intensity; I think I'll double it if/when I try this again. Also, I've finally gone below the minimum re: cutting sugar; 1/4 c was definitely too little given that my maple yogurt wasn't all that sweet. What I ended up with can be more accurately described as "interesting, subtly-lemon-flavored bread" than "lemon/ginger/maple yogurt cupcakes" (I used a cupcake tin this time). xD Sticking to 1/3 to 1/2 c sugar is safest!
Normally when I make this cake, I halve the sugar and ignore all measurements re: lime juice in favor of juicing an entire lime, or occasionally 1.5-2 limes. This time, rather than juicing and zesting, I decided I'd just toss a whole Meyer lemon in my bullet blender along with a couple slices of chopped frozen ginger and the 1/3 cup of vegetable oil (I don't have olive oil at the moment). I used a packet of "ginger tea" (basically, really strongly flavored ginger sugar) instead of regular sugar that prooobably amounted to ~1/4 c, which is about half again what I usually do for this cake. Also, I used maple yogurt rather than plain or vanilla. (When in Canada...?)
Results: The batter came out thicker than I'm used to, possibly because a whole blended lemon changes the texture a bit, or alternately because I usually ~double the lime juice. The Meyer lemon gives a great smell but not as much flavor intensity; I think I'll double it if/when I try this again. Also, I've finally gone below the minimum re: cutting sugar; 1/4 c was definitely too little given that my maple yogurt wasn't all that sweet. What I ended up with can be more accurately described as "interesting, subtly-lemon-flavored bread" than "lemon/ginger/maple yogurt cupcakes" (I used a cupcake tin this time). xD Sticking to 1/3 to 1/2 c sugar is safest!