Michel Stroot's Little Round Pound Cakes

* Exported from MasterCook *

Michel Stroot's Little Round Pound Cakes

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 c All-purpose flour, lightly
Spooned into measuring cups
1 c Unsalted butter, softened
1 c Sugar
1 Lemon- the grated zest only
2 ts Pure vanilla extract
5 lg Eggs, separated
1/4 ts Salt

Quatre-Quarts or Four Quarters is the French name for
this recipe. It refers to the proportion of
ingredients (one-quarter each butter, sugar, eggs and
flour). In France, the cake is served with afternoon
tea but rarely as dessert.

Source: CLASSIC HOME DESSERTS by Richard Sax Recipe by
Michel Stroot, pioneering spa chef at "The Golden Door
in California" who is from Belgium

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 8 small
ramekins, custard cups or tiny loaf pans; sprinkle
with sugar, shaking out the excess sugar to leave a
very fine coating. Place the pans on a baking sheet;
set aside. Sift the flour onto a sheet of wax paper;
set aside.

2. Beat the butter with an electric mixer at
medium-high speed until very creamy. Add the sugar and
beat until very light, about 6 minutes. Beat in the
lemon zest and vanilla; add the egg yolks and beat for
about 2 minutes longer. Lower the speed to slow, add
the flour and beat just until nearly blended, about 15
seconds, no longer. The mixture will be stiff and
slightly hard to blend at this point; don't OVERMIX.

3. In a bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt at
high speed until nearly stiff, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir a
large spoonful of the whites into the batter; fold in
the remaining whites until blended. Again, you'll have
to work and chop the somewhat stiff mixture slightly
in order to blend in the whites, but don't overblend.
Gently spoon the mixture into the prepared remekins or
pans, filling each about 2/3 full.

4. Bake until the cakes are golden brown and a
toothpick inserted in the centers emerges clean,
usually about 45 minutes (the timing can vary with the
molds being used).

5. Transfer to a wire rack and cool briefly. Run the
tip of a knife around the sides of the cakes to loosen
them from the ramekins; unmold and cool completely on
the rack. You can either wrap the cakes in plastic
wrap, or return them to their ramekins and seal the
tops with plastic wrap.

From the recipe files of suzy@gannett.infi.net



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