Leil Lemon - Featuring Lemon Yogurt Blueberry Cake

Let me take this opportunity to disclose my addiction to the Food Network. Don't be fooled into thinking that the channel simply airs cooking shows. Sure, it has a line-up of these offerings (I recommend the pretensious, yet elegant Barefoot Contessa), but it also features other great offerings such as competitions and food- and restaurant-o-graphies. Top picks include Chopped, Diners, Driver Ins & Dives ... and the Iron Chef! Every once and a while I get an itch to host a meal "Iron Chef" style, featuring one particular ingredient that appears in each dish of the meal. Last Sukkot I prepared a meal based on squash, and this year chose lemon (in honor of the fragrant Etrog).

With my mother as co-chef, and additions from a few guests, the menu featured:

• Lemondrop Cocktails
• Artichokes with Lemon Dipping Sauces
• Braided Lemon Bread
• Lemon Salad & Lemon Tabouleh
• Lemon Fennel Tilapia
• Bulgar with Asparagus, Walnuts & Preserved Lemon
• Roasted Lemon Broccoli
• Rhubarb Lemon Mousse Parfaits
• Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake
  

I think the meal was a success - and we certainly featured the lemon in a variety of ways from sweet to tangy, extracting the juice, zest and pulp. The company was also awesome - fun, spirited and hungry. In our attempts to co-exist in the kitchen, we divided the menu. I was responsible for the fillings used in the bread, the broccoli and dessert. Kudos to Rivka Friedman, of Not Derby Pie fame, for her awesome parfait recipe. If you have the patience to hand churn lemon cream it is well worth it and got rave reviews. The Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake was also an A+, adapted from The Barefoot Contessa's Ina Garten. Here's the recipe as I followed:

LEMON-BLUEBERRY YOGURT CAKE

Serves: 8 - 10

1 ½ cups + 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar
3 extra-large eggs
3 tsp. grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 ½ by 4 ¼ by 2 ½-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
2. Sift together 1 ½ cups flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl. In a larger bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about one hour, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
3. While baking, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
4. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping out onto a cooling rack. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, poke holes in the top using a toothpick. Pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in (you might want to use a pastry brush. Cool and serve. 

SHE'ELAH: The symbolic significance of the Etrog is twofold.  Each of the Four Species (palm, myrtle, willow & etrog) is said to symbolize a part of the body, and the Etrog is reflective of the heart.  Another explanation is that each of the Four Species is analogous to a type of person who reflects some blend of righteous deeds and focused Torah study.  This ranges from one who is like the myrtle, lacking in taste and smell and therefore in good deeds and Torah scholarship, to one who is like the Etrog, bold in aromatic smell and sweet taste and therefore in good deeds and Torah study.  Who is your Etrog role model?  Who do you know who balances their good deeds with continued learning?