Thursday, April 24, 2008

Afternoon Lunch



Today my good friend from college days and her husband stopped
in for lunch. It is that same Carpenters singing friend, from my
trip to Japan, years ago! They live in Kagoshima and I rarely have
the opportunity to see them. I took some nice photos of the
food I had prepared, before they arrived, with the intention of taking
more through the afternoon. The conversations flew and before I
knew it, they were on the road again, and I had failed to take more
pictures. Oh well. Anyway, it was a lovely visit with lunch on the patio.
I served ham and mushroom quiche, salad and Mary's
(Across the Pond) Le Gateau Piege for dessert. In case you missed
it, here is the recipe again. Thanks, Mary, it was moist and delectable.
Modgirl, this would be an easy starter cake from scratch...one layer
and no icing...easy, peasy!

Le Gateau Piege

For the pan:
1 fat pat of butter
1 heaping tablespoon sugar
For the batter:
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, really softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 medium orange (about 7 oz.)
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
A good pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of a 9 or 10
inch round cake pan (I use a 9" silicone pan) with the pat of butter.
Sprinkle with the heaping tablespoon of sugar, then shake and tilt and
swoosh the pan around to coat.

Cream together the softened butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a
time and mix until thoroughly combined. Grate all the zest from the
orange over the bowl. Juice the orange and add 1/2 cup of the juice
to the batter, mix until smooth. (At this point it looks a bit odd,
like it's curdled but it's fine).

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk the
flour mixture into the batter and mix until just combined. Pour into
prepared pan and bake 20 mins. until cake is golden and starts to
pull away from sides of pan. Let cool on rack for 10 mins.
(no more or the caramel on the crust will harden and stick to pan),
then flip onto a serving plate. Let cool completely before serving.

28 comments:

  1. Delectable! I was very much into making quiches years ago....even have a whole cookbook of nothing but quiche recipes. They still hit the spot....I wonder why I so rarely make them now.

    The cake looks good and fruity.

    It seems like you passed a lovely afternoon. Thanks for the peek into what was on the table.

    Regards,
    Lavinia

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  2. Willow...I want to live down the lane from Willow Manor...The quiche looks delicious....one of my favorite things to serve ...so simple to prepare and it makes such a lovely presentation...You are quite the hostess...love the plate the desert is on...do you know the pattern name?

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  3. Yum! Glad they stopped and visited! The food looks incredible. I'm starving but am trying to look swimsuit worthy in 17 days. Water it will have to be this evening! sigh! :( Maybe I could sniff the pictures!

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  4. What a delightful way to spend such a gorgeous spring day. I love your menu, do you suppose the cake would work just as nicely in a 9 inch tart pan?

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  5. DeeDee, it's "Brookline" by Woods Burslem (vintage). I won a huge set of it on eBay not too long ago...absolutely love it.

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  6. Kim, I think it probably would, because it doesn't rise too terribly high.

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  7. Any leftovers for a poor little bachelor? "Oh, yummy." as our Maggie Smith would say from "Gosford Park" :)

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  8. Very nice lunch menu, Willow. I love mushrooms.

    Thank you for the Le Gateau Piege recipe. It looks like a perfect light dessert.


    Your trip to Japan? Now I'm jealous...lol!!
    :-)

    Hugs, Pat

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  9. Oh, poor little bachelor...would you believe there was nothing left? It was "yummy, yummy, yummy", in the words of Maggie.

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  10. Pat, I want to go again. It was so, so long ago that I last went to Japan. My friend made me promise I would come for a visit...and I think I might just have to!

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  11. So glad you tried the little orange cake - it's so easy and tasty don't you think?
    The quiche looked yummy too.

    Loved those photos from the last post - can you imagine traipsing through the countryside these days with guys in suits and ties.....what a hoot!!!

    I'm off on a road trip tomorrow - hope to have treasures and countryside to share later.

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  12. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh. Those pictures! I'm so hungry! I love quiche too... must make one forthwith. Well, not right now, it's nearly midnight but, you know... soon. Yum yum! Your crust looks so good as well... what a talented Willow!

    What time shall I arrive for lunch tomorrow: ;)

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  13. Maybe you could fed-x me some of that. It's not nice to show food like that~:)

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  14. Quiche, yummy! Cake looks very good, will print out recipe to try. Do tell about the trip to Japan!

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  15. Quiche looks great. I am going to try out the recipe. Just wanted to let you know I found, The Little Locksmith, in the university library this morning. It is going to be great reading for the weekend. Warm wishes Eleanor at Thatchwick PS Thanks for visiting.

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  16. The cake and the quiche look and sound delicious. I'll be baking cakes from scratch in no time!

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  17. Eleanor, so glad you found The Little Locksmith! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Keep me posted and have a nice weekend.

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  18. Stevie, I touched on my trip to Japan in an earlier post. I spent the summer visiting my friend and her family the summer of 1973. It was an amazing trip...I would love to return!

    I highly suggest going over to Found, Now Home's blog and take a peek at her fabulous photos of her recent trip to Japan. It will make you want to book a trip today!

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  19. I should just make a big lunch here at the Manor for all of you...wouldn't that be too fun? :D

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  20. Yum ! Thanks for the recipe and oh what a beautiful plate le gateau sits on ! I also LOVE checkered lilies and have a small patch in my garden that I must soon check on. xo, S & Winn

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  21. By the count, food is a hit.

    Now, how about a few recipes free of dairy products? Some of us cannot eat the stuff.

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  22. Mmm. Yum, yum. Looks great. Is that your own recipe?

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  23. Bill, no, you wouldn't want to eat that quiche, it's loaded with cream and cheese. We wouldn't want you to have a lactose intollerant episode. Stick with the Tai chicken.

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  24. Wow. Impressive post.

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  25. Ummmm! That looks delicious. If only real men could eat quiche. I guess I could have the dessert though.

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  26. Don't let WT hear you say that! He ate quite a bit of that quiche. ;)

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  27. Yummy and delectable! What a lucky man WT is to have such a wonderful chef!

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Inject a few raisins of conversation into the tasteless dough of existence.
― O. Henry (and me)