Healthy Fruit Shakes

After eating Neapolitan cake at 7 am this morning and stowing handfuls of raspberry meringues in the pouch of my sweatshirt for later, I decided an intervention was in order.

Cutting all sugar out of my diet is out of the question.  I need my sugar.  But after experiencing the diabetic coma that followed my morning escapade with the cake, I realized I need some treats with a little less sugar and a lot more nutrition.

I bring you fruit shakes.  Containing just fruit, yogurt, orange juice, maple syrup and cinnamon, they’re a healthy snack or dessert.  They pack just the right amount of sugar to satisfy your cravings, but also provide the nutritional benefits of fruit and yogurt.  Plus, they take less than five minutes to prepare.

Top with whipped cream and heart shaped sprinkles, and you’ve got an easy and delicious Valentine’s day dessert!

Strawberry Shake
2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup vanilla yogurt
3 tablespoons orange juice
4-5 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Banana Shake
1 very ripe banana
1 cup vanilla yogurt
½ cup orange juice
4-5 tablespoons maple syrup
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1. Simply puree all the ingredients together in a blender and serve chilled.  Top with whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!

Daffodil Cake.

Winter eating is heavy. There’s no way around it.

It’s hearty soups and crusty peasant bread. Thick stews and heavy biscuits. Casseroles laden with meats and sauces. Filling pies with buttery crusts. Holiday cookie after holiday cookie. Rich hot chocolate with whipped cream.

Ugh.

Last week I had the misfortune of catching a nasty stomach bug. I was limited to days of drinking coke and eating popsicles and oyster crackers. At first I was devastated that I couldn’t indulge in my afternoon pillage of the cracker jar or nightly rummage through my candy tin. However, as my appetite returned, I didn’t turn to my usual snacking culprits. I even grabbed a piece of fruit one night over a chocolate bar and tin of cashew nuts. A few days away from the over-salted snacks and sugary sweets curbed my cravings and made me feel so much better.

This inspired me to lighten things up a bit.

But not too much, as what’s life without cake?

I bring you Daffodil Cake. This cake is made with no butter and contains mostly whipped egg whites. I like to think of it as a protein shake masquerading as cake (or at least that’s how I justify eating more than one slice). It’s lemony and light, a definite sigh of relief after the pumpkin pies of thanksgiving and fruitcakes of Christmas.



It’s also a much needed reminder that spring is lurking somewhere around the corner. There’s just February and March to get through. So while we’re all waiting for the heaps of snow to melt, let’s just stay inside and eat cake!

Daffodil Cake.
Recipe Adapted from McCalls Cooking School by Mary Eckley (Food Editor) and Mary J. Norton (Associate Food Editor)


White Batter:
1 ¾ cups egg whites (12-14 eggs) at room temp
1 ¼ cups cake flour, sifted before measuring
1 ½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

Yellow Batter:
5 egg yolks
2 tablespoons cake flour
2 tablespoons sugar
grated zest of two lemons
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

To make the white batter:
1. Sift the cake flour with ½ cup sugar three times.


2. Place the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip on high until soft peaks form. Add one cup of sugar, ¼ cup at a time. Be sure to slow the mixer to a low speed when pouring in the sugar or else the sugar will fly out. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.


3. Fold the vanilla into the egg white mixture with a spatula.


4. Add the flour mixture the egg whites in three parts to. Do this by sifting the flour over the egg whites, then folding with a spatula carefully to avoid deflating the whites. Repeat until all the flour has been added.

5. Place one third of the egg white mixture in a separate bowl, and preheat the oven to 375 F.

To make the yellow batter:
1. Place the egg yolks, sugar and flour in a bowl and whisk until thick and pale yellow. Add the lemon zest and juice and mix until incorporated.

2. Carefully fold the yellow batter into the reserved 1/3 of the egg white mixture.

To assemble and bake the cake:
1. Place the batters alternatively in a 10-inch tube pan, ending with all white batter on the top. Spread the top smooth with an offset spatula.



2. Bake at 375 F for roughly 40 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed down. Remove from the oven and let cool upside down, balanced on top of a bottle.



3. After two hours, run a knife around the inside of the tube pan to loosen the cake, and carefully remove.

4. To garnish, sprinkle with confectioners sugar, spread with a lemon juice and confectioners sugar glaze, or frost with icing. Since this cake is so light I opted for the more decadent choice and frosted the top.

Enjoy!!

Celeriac and Lentil Soup

As I mentioned in my previous entry, it’s a bit snowy in New England. The greater Boston area is suffering from mound upon mound of snow piled anywhere there's space. With snow in the prediction for tonight and a bit next week, it seems the snow is here to stay.

There’s less snow up in Vermont, but I assure you, it’s pretty darn cold. Most mornings are below zero, and it's considered a warm day when the temperature rises to double digits. This makes going outside a major production. In addition to a winter jacket, you need multiple sweaters, spandex pants under regular pants, knee socks, boots, neck warmers, scarfs, hats, glove liners, gloves, hand warmers, toe warmers, personal space heaters....

Sometimes it's easier to stay inside.


But when you absolutely must exit your home to brave the elements and waddle in all your layers through blinding snow, it's nice to have a warm bowl of soup waiting upon your return.

How about some nice hot celeriac and lentil soup?





You're probably thinking, ewww, lentils. But I assure you this is not your typical puke green, lumpy lentil soup. This lentil soup benefits form the addition of celeriac, or celery root. The celeriac lightens up the soup and imparts a fresh flavor to the lentils, lifting them from their mushy reputation.

This was the first time I cooked with celeriac. It’s certainly one ugly vegetable.




A trick to working with celeriac is use a sharp knife to peel through its tough skin. I spent a good fifteen minutes attacking it at different angles with my vegetable peeler, and the only surface that felt the sharp blade of the peeler was my fingers. A sharp knife gets right through the skin, so toss your wimpy peeler aside.





The soup is great with crème fraiche and fresh chive on top. If you need some meat with your soup, sprinkle some smoky bacon on top or serve with a maple apple sausage. Yum!


Celeriac and Lentil Soup.

Recipe adapted from The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook by Mireille Guiliano

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 small celeriac
1 ¼ cups dried green lentils
6 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
red wine vinegar to taste
fresh chives (optional garnish)
crème fraiche (optional garnish)

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Meanwhile peel and slice the onion into thin rounds, then cut the rounds into quarters. Add the onion to the pot and cook until softened, roughly 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile peel and chop the celeriac into roughly 1 inch cubes. Add the celeriac, split peas and stock to the pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for roughly 25 minutes until the lentils and celeriac are tender.

3. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return to the pot and add salt, pepper and a drizzle of red wine vinegar to taste. (I usually start with about 2 teaspoons of vinegar then add more if needed)

4. Serve hot with a spoonful of crème fraiche and sprinkling of chopped fresh chive.

Stay Warm!