Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie - Swedish Visiting Cake

I saw my first hummingbird of the season this afternoon! I have had my feeders out since Monday of last week. And watching for hummingbirds every time I looked out the window. Which is a lot, as my window is at the kitchen sink and I spend a fair amount of time in my kitchen.  Actually the hubby saw it first. He was washing his hands at the sink and looking out the window and said "Hello Mr. Hummingbird". And, I said, "What! Really! There's a hummingbird out there?!" And, pushed him out of the way so I could see my first little guy of the season. I have been watching and watching, and nothing.  And, he sees one first. Hmmm. :]

Now that I have that out of the way, welcome to another addition of Tuesdays with Dorie. This week the recipe chosen was Swedish Visiting Cake and Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs  chose it.  Nancy has a great blog. She posts all kinds of wonderful recipes and always has "n.o.e's notes" in which she shares tips and/or changes she has made to the recipe to make them her own, and she always ends with "the verdict", sharing her opinion of the recipe. Not to mention the beautiful photos she shares of each dish she makes.

Nancy picked a real winner (at least in my opinion) with this cake. It was simple to put together. It baked quickly in a cast iron skillet. And, it was delicious! Chewy, moist, crispy, lemony, nutty, delicious!  I left it on the counter in the skillet and each time I happened by it in the kitchen, I cut off a small slice. And, another slice. And, another...and... suddenly it was all gone! Well, it took a couple of days before it was gone , but it was gone far too quickly for me. Fortunately it was easy to make. Extremely so. One bowl, one skillet. My kind of recipe. :)

Nine simple ingredients. Sugar, lemon zest, eggs, salt, vanilla and almond extracts (optional), flour, butter and almonds. I didn't have any usable lemons in the house. I had two, but they had been around long enough that they were more like little baseballs then lemons. So, I used some lemon extract in my sugar. I also added both the vanilla and the almond extracts. My skillet was a 10" instead of the 9" called for in the recipe, but I just baked my cake a few minutes less.

In the recipe Dorie states that her friend says you can start making this when you see guests coming up the road and be serving it when they are sitting down to coffee. That is not too far from the truth. I would say it took only 15 minutes max to mix the batter up and no more than 25 minutes to bake it. Within an hour, I was savoring the first of many slices of this wonderful, chewy, moist,crispy, lemony, nutty cake. (Is there an echo in here?)  And, you could be too! Head over to Nancy's blog for the recipe and swing by TWD and see who else baked this wonderful cake.

And, now, I want to thank Chaya of My Sweet and Savory for the sweet awards she gave to me on Friday the 9th. At least I think she passed them both on to me. :} I "met" Chaya several months ago when she invited me to join Have the Cake  and submit a Red Velvet cake I baked with SMS. She is one busy lady, involved with I don't know how many different blogs and she posts a fabulous recipe just about every day, with lots and lots of step by step photos. Always something yummy! She didn't say there was any rules about the awards or that you had to pass them on to a certain number of people, but I would like to pass them on to a few of my blogging friends.

First of all, Julie of Little bit of Everything. She and I have become friends and not only keep in touch via our blogs, but we email each other at least once a week. I always smile when I see a comment from Julie. Can't wait to hear about the cake classes Julie!

Michelle of Flourchild is another friend who makes me smile. Not only do we share a last name (Murphy) but it turns out both of us are married to men named Steven! We have to meet someday Michelle! I'm willing to come to Idaho for a visit. :)

Leslie, of Lethally Delicious is one of my friends from Tuesdays with Dorie (or was it Sweet Melissa Sundays where we met?). She always has something nice to say whenever she drops by (which is often). Thanks for being a friend,  Leslie.

Lastly, but not least,  is Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures. I get a lot of artistic ideas from the fabulous pictures she takes, tons of yummy recipes to try that she has already tried, and, whenever she drops by my blog she always has something nice to say. I'm so glad we "met" Tracey!

Okay, that's it. I have to get to bed as I have three houses to clean tomorrow. And, when I get home, I have to start making 4 different fillings and 4 different cupcakes for a bride-to-be's cake tasting on Thursday. I have several recipes I have made in the past week, dinners and desserts that I want to post. I don't have to work at Starbuck's until Thursday night, so I am hoping I can post a little in the next day or two. :)

43 comments:

  1. This cake looks wonderful! I love anything I can make in my cast iron skillet. Great pic of the hummingbird too!

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  2. Love the hummingbird picture! Just beautiful. As for the cake, Yum Yum! Love the simplicity. What a wonderful cake to share with friends. So quick!

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  3. I agree, this was a wonderful cake. And you've got to love the ones that only require a whisk and a bowl.

    Your cake looks delish!

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  4. Your cake looks fabulous and I am so glad that you enjoyed it! wow, you are busy with all you have going on! good thing this cake was so easy to whip up!! :)

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  5. oh and that hummingbird photo is absolutely stunning!!!

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  6. I love the hummingbird picture, it's amazing! Im glad you liked the cake as much as I did. It was so good and one I will make over and over again. Thank you so much for the wonderful award. You are so sweet to me! You are welcome to come to Idaho anytime!

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  7. The hummingbird picture is so cool Susan - I love it! I've been meaning to put up a bird feeder here since we moved in and for some reason, it just hasn't happened yet.

    Lovely cake! This one surprised me in the best way possible. Definitely a repeat here and a good recipe to have in your arsenal.


    Thanks so much for the award - you're too sweet :) I love stopping by to see what you're up to over here so I'm really glad we "met" too! Lots of thanks to you for always popping by my site, especially given your crazy schedule.

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  8. Springtime is here, it looks like - what a great header photo! AND a nice looking cake. Glad you enjoyed both cake and hummingbird - I've yet to see a bird but the cake was incredible! Nicely done!

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  9. great color and perfect browning on yours. good job!!!

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  10. I agree this cake a perfect for nibbling. Yours turned out beautifully!

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  11. So much to comment on!

    First, that hummingbird photo is spectacular! I love them too, and sometimes they come right up to me if I have the garage door open and am standing in the doorway.

    Second, you are so kind to share your awards with me! Like you, I have two jobs and don't get to comment as much as I'd like, but I always enjoy visiting you and being inspired by what you're working on.

    And that cake, that cake, that cake! It's lovely, and I especially like that last photo of it.

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  12. Pretty little hummers! I'm waiting for ours to head back.

    Your cake looks great, such a sweet & simple recipe!

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  13. What an amazing photo of the hummingbirds! You must be both persistent and patient, and I don't know how, given how busy you are! I loved this cake too, and I'll definitely be making a full recipe in my cast-iron skillet next time.

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  14. How exciting to have hummingbirds already! Your cake looks beautiful!

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  15. Susan: I am envious of the hummingbirds. We never seem to have many here. Waiting for my first sighting.

    Your cake looks yummy!!! I love making cakes in cast iron. My favorite is to make cornbread in mine.

    Lastly, thanks so so much for the awards. It's been a challenging week here, so they couldn't have come at a better time. Just normal day to day stuff but the awards so made me smile. I am so glad we've become blogging friends.

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  16. Great photo of the hummingbird! Your cake looks so perfect. We really loved this cake too. it didn't last more than an hour. I'm glad I have kids or I would have eaten it all by myself.
    Mimi

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  17. I don't know what to be jealous of: your hummingbird picture, your cast iron skillet or your Swedish Visiting Cake on a fork picture. Glad you enjoyed the cake. It was a hit at my house too!
    -CB
    http://iheartfood4thought.com

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  18. Lovely photos, Susan. This is definitely my kind of cake too. Like you, I always want just a little more of this one.

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  19. Hummingbirds are so fun to watch!
    And yes, a great cake for thinking it wasn't going to be much. I'm glad the fam all liked it and ate it, or I'd have kept slicing off pieces until it was gone myself.
    Looks great!

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  20. i'm glad i'm not the only one who couldn't pass the kitchen without cutting off a sliver of this delicious cake:)

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  21. Your cake looks delicious. Love the color and the almond slices on top. I will have to put this one on my todo list.

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  22. That is the most fabulous picture of the hummingbird! WOW! You gave me a laugh about cutting a sliver every time you pass through the kitchen. This was good stuff!

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  23. Your cake looks fabulous. I need to send mine away so I don't keep cutting slivers...

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  24. I've never seen a hummingbird, I'm not sure if we have them here in The Netherlands...

    You cake looks so perfectly moist, wasn't this delicious??

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  25. The cake was delicious and enjoyed by all but it is your hummingbird passion I really got excited about. I enjoy their visits just like you! Is that a photo of you holding the nectar dish? Wow!

    Kindly, ldh

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  26. I love the picture of the Hummingbird, so pretty!

    My cake didn't last very long either, it was delicious!

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  27. Wow, your picture of the hummingbirds is amazing. We always get excited to see the "hummers" in my family, and my dad goes right inside to mix up the hummingbird food as soon as we see one!
    But, I digress. Your cake looks just lovely, and I'm glad you enjoyed it, too!

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  28. i love hummingbirds! i grew up in virginia, and they would visit our yard, too! your ckae looks great...i can see how you had to sneak a sliver each time you walked by it!

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  29. Ha ha! I laughed out loud at you pushing hubby out of the way LOL! The cake looks fantastic, I loved it too :) I'll admit, I agree with Dorie, was definitely a finger cake, a fork never touched it :-D

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  30. How fun to get to share your hummingbird sighting, just by visiting your blog! Your cake is just perfect, and it does have that slice-off-a-bit quality (the British call this "more-ish" I think) - ours was gone in a flash. Thanks words and for baking along with me this week.

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  31. I want to kow how you get the lovely Hummingbirds to feed from your hand. How wonderful.

    This was a delightful little cake. It was gone by Tuesday. That's how good it was.

    Yours looks perfect.

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  32. Ciao Susan ! I can't believe you get hummingbirds !!! I can't have a bird feeder cause of my cat ! I love your cake and feel sorry for all the work you have !!! Hope some rest too !

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  33. Those hummingbirds are beautiful! Your cake looks scrumptious too. :)

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  34. That's an amazing photo! Well, they're all amazing. But that hummingbird is gorgeous! I want your camera. :D

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  35. Your cake looks lovely! The picture of the bite of cake on the fork looks fabulous - the texture really shows through.
    But it's hard for me to pay attention to your cake when you have that fantastic picture of the hummingbirds! WOW! How'd you do that?

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  36. I absolutely love the picture of the hummingbirds! Thanks for sharing. I've thought about putting out a feeder to attract some. Maybe next year...

    Your cake looks great and congratulations of the blogging awards!

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  37. Congratulations on the blog awards! You deserve them--your blog is well-written and beautiful. I loved this cake too--I think it was one of the best TWD recipes I've made in a long time.

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  38. Great pictures, all of them! I am always completely astounded when I see a hummingbird. They are just amazing to me! And this cake was amazing, too. So simple and amazingly delicious!

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  39. I love hummingbirds too. I need to get a feeder out there. My girls would love to watch them!

    Your cake looks delicious! Great photography. :)

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  40. Cute photo of the hummingbirds-they are tough to photograph. Your cake looks delicious! I love using my cast iron pans so much, I keep one handy at all time, but those suckers are heavy.

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  41. wow i think i am too mesmerized by the hummingbirds to notice the cake - that is so cool! :) (your cake looks great too ;)

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  42. I need to get my feeder set up. We had it out for the first time last year and had lots of hummingbirds!

    The cake looks awesome. I need to make this one.

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  43. Great photos, love the little hummingbird photo and your cake photos show absolute perfection...I loved this cake. Def Top 5 with me.

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