cake | Alaska Knit Nat

My son is becoming quite the cook. Over the winter break he did some baking, so I asked him to write down the recipe for his most recent quick bread, inspired by a different Natasha cook of Natasha’s Kitchen.

This simple bread has a lovely hint of lemon flavor that pairs perfectly with the dried tart Montmorency cherries we always buy from Costco.

Lemon Cherry Quick Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:

¾ cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup milk
Zest of 1 large lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 1/2 cups + 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 cup dried cherries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a glass loaf pan then dust with flour, tapping out the excess flour.

In a measuring cup, combine 1 teaspoon sugar, honey, milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar on medium/high speed, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, mixing until well incorporated.

Add flour mixture in 2 parts, alternating with the milk mixture and mixing on medium/low speed just until incorporated with each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.

Coat the dried cherries in the 1/2 tablespoon of flour and add to the batter just until incorporated. Spread the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then transfer loaf to a cooling rack.

Lately my four-year-old son has been interested in science experiments, which consist of his mixing random kitchen ingredients together into a nasty gloop and watching what happens.

Not that I disapprove of his experimenting but I would rather he make a kitchen mess if we were actually preparing something edible.

I suggested cupcakes but we were running low on milk, so I harkened back to my one-and-only successful baking recipe: pink champagne cake. I didn’t have any champagne but I had a delightful little bottle of sparkling sake my husband had bought for me.

Instead of a whole cake I halved the recipe and we made lovely pink cupcakes. You can too! By using effervescent booze the cupcakes turn out airy and not overly sweet.

Pink sparkling sake cupcakes

Makes about 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg whites
3 drops red food coloring
1 cup sparkling sake or champagne

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. With a Kitchen Aid mixer, beat the butter and sugar for several minutes till fluffy. Mix in the vanilla. Add the egg whites one at a time then mix in the food coloring. Beat for a couple of minutes. Incorporate the flour and sake in alternating batches of three, starting and ending with the flour. This way the champagne won’t curdle (but it’s ok if it does).

Add cupcake liners to a cupcake pan. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely before adding icing. If you’re at a loss for icing, here’s my recipe:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup of heavy whipping cream

Whip together the sugar and cream cheese. When fully combined, add the whipping cream and beat till you get stiff peaks. Slice up fresh strawberries for garnish.