Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes (Fool's Gold #12.1)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and lightly flour an 8-inch loaf pan. In a bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt.

2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, cream butter and sugar until light and blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. In a glass measuring cup, whisk sour cream, lemon extract, peel and juice until blended. Alternately, add dry ingredients and sour cream mixture to the butter mixture; beat just until blended. Do

not overmix.

4. Scrape dough into prepared pan. Bake

55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted

in center comes out clean. Transfer to

a wire rack; let cool 15 minutes in the pan. Run a knife around the outside of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely, preferably overnight.

For glaze:

1. In a bowl, whisk powdered sugar and lemon juice until of drizzling consistency.

To serve:

1. Slice cooled cake into 1-inch-thick slices. Lay slices flat on the counter. Using a 1-inch-round cookie cutter, cut tiny cakes out of the slices, staying away from the browned edges of each slice. (Save the edges for snacking.) Set cakes on a wire rack. Drizzle glaze over the cakes until coated. Dot with silver dragees.

TIP: The FDA recommends that silver dragees be used for decoration only.

SPRING

Strawberry Shortcakes

Nothing says spring like strawberry shortcake. Be sure to let the strawberries rest, or macerate, in sugar, in order to create the lovely sweet strawberry syrup.

Serves 10

Shortcakes

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ cup cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ cup granulated sugar, plus additional to sprinkle on biscuits before baking

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 cup cold buttermilk

Heavy cream, to brush on biscuits before baking

Filling

2 pints strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced

¼ cup granulated sugar

1½ cups heavy cream, whipped, for garnish

For shortcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking pad.

2. In a food processor, pulse both flours, baking powder, sugar and salt until blended. Add cold butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk; pulse until dough forms a moist ball.

3. Scrape dough onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead a few times; pat into a ¾-inch high circle. Using a 2- to 3-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 10 biscuits. Push any scraps together to form additional biscuits, if desired. Transfer to prepared sheets. Lightly brush with cream; sprinkle with sugar.

4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden. Let cool

5 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to a

wire rack.

For filling:

1. In a large bowl, combine sliced strawberries and sugar. Toss to coat; let sit 30 minutes, until strawberries release their liquid. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or whisk, whip cream.

To serve:

1. Slice biscuits in half horizontally. Place bottom half on dessert plate; top with a spoonful of strawberries and whipped cream. Top with the top half of the biscuit. Add another scoop of cream; drizzle with juice from the strawberry bowl. Serve immediately.

TIP: For the lightest cakes, handle the dough as little as possible.

SPRING

SPRING

Birthday Party Banana Layer Cake

There’s something springy about a light, fruit-flavored cake. This one is super-rich, so make the slices small.

Serves 12

Cake

2⅔ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for pans

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus additional for greasing pans

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

3 very ripe bananas, chopped

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk

Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Pecan halves, for garnish

For cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of two 9-inch cake pans.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour,

baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined.

3. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla extract; beat until blended. (Mixture will look curdled—don’t worry.) Reduce mixer speed to low, and alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

4. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cakes to loosen from the pans. Invert layers onto wire racks to cool completely.

For frosting: