Breaking Her In

Or more appropriately, she's breaking me in. Isn't it funny how inanimate objects can adopt a gender role? My new oven is definitely female. Can't really explain it, but she is, and I'm hoping that we'll become BFF while keeping the drama to a minimum. Nothing worse than your oven going all Mariah Carey in Glitter all over your whoopie pies. I should know. On Sunday I made Rachel Manley's Almond Yogurt Cake as featured on Design Sponge last week. Now, I could fill a dump truck with all the recipes I've printed off the web with every intention of making, but never do. Perhaps this is why I feel obligated to blog this one. That, and because BD took this beautiful shot of the cake right before I stuck out my tongue and licked up that lemon curd. What? Wouldn't you?

I'm guessing my self-rising flour had passed it's prime because the cakes did not self-rise. Sigh. The recipe actually called for blood orange curd, but my first attempt failed big time. I must have had two very bloody blood oranges because my curd never turned to custard. Or is it that my custard never turned to curd? Either way, the recipe doesn't specify the amount of juice. That's a bad dog recipe. No biggie, I defaulted to a trusty Martha Stewart lemon curd recipe that has never failed me and used the Meyer lemons I couldn't pass up from Whole Foods. Whole Foods did not pay me to say that.

Fact: Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. In other words they are lemons with a little less pucker factor. Which makes them perfect.

I made this cake in part for my sister's birthday and I knew she would appreciate that it contained ingredients such as Greek yogurt, sunflower oil, and ground almonds. She's healthy like that. Maybe that's why she looks 22 and has 3 grand kids. Jody did pay me to say that. Happy Birthday sis! Lastly, I got to use some of my favorite kitchen gadgets like a food processor, sieve, and citrus reamer. Sometimes, it just feels soooo good to dirty an apron.