All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [17]
6. Grate the rind of 1 Key lime. Squeeze out about 1 tablespoon of the juice. Add the zest and juice to the batter and beat for 2 minutes.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes. This prevents the top of the cake from browning and burning.
9. Once the cake is done (you know when—the toothpick, skewer, or thin knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle), cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove the cake from the pan using our plate-over-pan method and flip it onto a cake rack (see page 28). Put a plate under the cake rack to catch the drips from the glaze. Take a skewer or a toothpick and poke small holes through the top of the cake.
TO MAKE THE GLAZE
10. You can prepare this while the cake is baking. It doesn’t take long at all. Mix the Key lime juice and confectioners’ sugar together in a bowl until smooth (I use a hand whisk, but you can do this in the mixer if you so desire).
11. While cake is still warm, spoon the glaze over the cake, allowing time for the cake to soak up the liquid. After you’re done, you can reuse the juice pooling under the cake on the plate below the rack to further drench your cake.
12. After the cake has cooled, dust with a little confectioners’ sugar and serve.
One of my co-workers, dreaming of getting away to Florida one dreary afternoon, asked if I could bring in a Key lime pie on Monday. “No, I do cake, not pie”, I said. “OK, how about Key lime cake, then?” he asked.
Google is a wonderful thing, which is how I found this recipe on www.cooks.com. It’s a basic yellow cake. You’ll use a toothpick to poke holes through it before drenching with Key lime glaze.
Key lime, named after the Florida Keys, where Ernest Hemingway hung out with his six-toed cats, is also known as Mexican lime, West Indian lime, or bartender’s lime. It’s smaller, seedier, more acidic, and more aromatic than the more common Persian lime. It also has a thinner rind.
To juice the limes, you can buy a not-so-fancy juicer, but unless you plan to have freshly squeezed OJ or lemonade every couple of days, or you have a cavernous kitchen, you can just as easily juice a lime (or lemon or orange) this way: Cut the lime in half and squeeze each half into a bowl. Then, using the back of a metal spoon, press the inside of the fruit against the rind to extract the remaining juice.
This cake is enough for 8 people when baked in an 8-inch round or square pan. To feed more, use two 8-inch pans or one 10-inch tube pan and double the quantities of the ingredients. If you’re using an extra pan, add about 10 minutes to the baking time. For a tube pan, plan on doubling the baking time. And don’t forget to write down how long a doubled recipe takes to bake so that you’ll know for sure the next time.
Travelin’ Cake
Baking can easily expand your waistline. I burn off my extra calories by taking my cake for a walk before work.
I take the Metro, and it’s ten minutes uphill, twenty minutes on the train, and another ten-minute walk through DC’s Chinatown before I reach NPR. My cake tags along in a two-part Wilton cake carry; it’s made of very sturdy plastic and looks like something out of The Jetsons. The plastic cover is molded with a handle on top so it’s extra strong. There are three locks that snap the top and bottom of the carry together. I’ve used my Wilton for years now and NEVER has it come apart in transit. Wilton makes a rectangular one for sheet cakes, too.
Some of my co-workers tell me that their stomachs start growling as soon as they see that cake carry go by, like Pavlov’s dogs salivating at the ring of a bell.
I try to keep paper plates and forks stocked at my desk. I also keep a large cake knife at work, too—it’s one less thing to carry in.
Once I arrive at ATC, I wash my hands, unveil the cake, and cut about 12 slices (about half of a Bundt cake), putting 2 aside for