It's not surprising. Tea, the way it is taken in Holland, in a glass mug and plain with perhaps a bit of sugar, has something comforting, kind and gentle about it. It's a cup of tea your mom has ready for you, waiting at the kitchen table, for when you get home from school. It's what young girls drink when they get together on a Saturday afternoon to play. It's tea, a big pot of it, that women will brew when their best friend is coming over for a shoulder to cry on. A big pot of tea, and a slice of cake. Besides coffee, we love cake.
The word "cake" in Dutch is used for pound cakes and loaf cakes only. Any other cake goes by the name of "taart". One of the most favorite cakes is citroencake, a lemon flavored pound cake. The richness of the cake goes well with the slight astringent character of tea, and make for a perfect moment of bliss.....
Citroencake
1 cup butter, softened
1 heaping cup sugar
1 1/2 cup cake flour
5 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Cream the butter and the sugar together. Carefully incorporate one egg at a time. Fold in the flour and mix for another 30 seconds. Mix in the lemon extract, the vanilla extract, the salt and one tablespoon of the lemon juice.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan. Scoop the batter in the pan, and bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until the cake is golden brown.
Leave it in the pan for ten minutes, then unmold it and let the cake cool on a rack. In the meantime, mix the powdered sugar with the milk and enough lemon juice to make a thick glaze. Pour the glaze over the cool cake, and sprinkle the zest on top.
By the way, the Pickwick tune that is used in their commercials is very catchy....you've been warned! :-)
Goede middag,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to put some of your pictures on our European Dinner Parties website for the Dutch menu. And yes, we would refer back to your website.
Please advise that this is OK and what to mention on our site.
Hartelijk dank
Wim Nijenberg, European Dinner Parties, Lexington, MA - tvltoeur@rcn.com (If possible please email me)
I made this today it was easy and it came out hands down as the most delicious cake I've made.
ReplyDeleteDankjewel.
Hello. I'm so,happy that I have found this website. I was born in holland, but left at age 3. These recipes have bought back so many memories and I am going to make a lot of them. Can the cake flour be changed with another type of flour?
ReplyDeleteno
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