As promised, here's the recipe for the Key Lime Bundt Cake. It's looks harder than it is. And the bottled Key Lime juice works well.

Key Lime Bundt Cake
from Eating Well Magazine, March/April 1992

1 3/4 cups white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons margarine (or 2 Tbs softened butter, and 3 Tbs vegetable oil)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lime zest (doesn’t have to be a key lime)
1 tablespoon Key Lime juice (either fresh or bottled)
2/3 cup buttermilk

Lime Syrup:
1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for dusting cake
1/2 cup key lime juice

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease (spray is fine) an 8” (6 cup) bundt pan or 9” (8 cup) springform tube pan. Set aside.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine (or butter and oil combo) with electric mixer until softened and combined. Gradually add sugar, and beat until well blended. Gradually beat in eggs. Beat in lime zest and juice. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, alternately stir in the dry ingredients (the flour mixture) and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Gently spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out from the center clean, and the cake starts to pull away from the sides.

After it’s cooled for a bit, but still warm, loosen the edges, and invert the pan onto a wire rack set over a plate.

To make the syrup:
In a small bowl, add the confectioners’ sugar and lime juice, and whisk until smooth.

While the cake is still warm, poke many holes into it, using a skewer or a cake tester. Slowly, spoon the lime syrup over the cake. Re-spoon any juice that falls off the cake, onto the plate below.

Just before serving, sift a bit of confectioners’ sugar over the cake.

notes:
• The cake can be made up to 24 hours ahead, then covered and refrigerated. Serve at room temperature.
• Forget to take the eggs out early, for that room temperature effect? Place them in a bowl of hot tap water for a few minutes. That will warm them up a bit.
• Don’t want to buy, or waste, buttermilk? In the baking section of the supermarket, there’s powdered buttermilk. Follow the instructions on the package.

Okay. So I've been a wee bit lax (again) with the blog. Oops. I've been busy working on the new website. And cooking, too. And bike riding. But, as promised, here's the recipe for Pad Thai, which I'l be cooking in a live demo on WGBY, Springfield's (MA) PBS station. You can see it on Thursday evening, sometime after 8:15. Meanwhile here's the recipe. All of the ingredients are available in most supermarkets. And even though it looks like a lot of ingredients and effort, it's really pretty easy to do.

Bon appetit!

Pad Thai


1/2# Pad Thai (rice) noodles
2-4 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon paprika
6 shakes Tabasco
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 pound shrimp
1/2 pound tofu, cut into bite-sized pieces
Or any combo of chix, shrimp, and tofu
1/2 pound bean sprouts
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 egg
1/4 cup peanuts, finely chopped
3 scallions, sliced

• Place rice noodles in a large bowl, and cover with water for 30-45 minutes, or according to package instructions. You can even leave them for a few hours. They won’t disintegrate.
• Combine water, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, paprika, and Tabasco in a bowl. Set aside.
• When noodles are done soaking, drain and set aside
• In a wok or large skillet, over a high heat, and 1/2 tablespoon of oil, and cook the egg. Remove from pan. Repeat this process with the chicken, shrimp, and tofu. Remove each item from pan after they’re cooked
• Add the 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the pan, then the garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds.
• Add the noodles, fish sauce mixture, and 3 tablespoons of peanuts to the pan. Cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the egg, chicken, shrimp, and tofu back into the pan to reheat.
• Add the spouts and scallions and combine. Remove from pan, and place on serving platter.
• Spread the remaining peanuts over the top, and serve

Makes approximately 6 servings