Monday, November 05, 2007

I made my first Ina Garten recipe, and now I'm sad.

I am a huge fan of Ina Garten, but until last week I'd never made one of her recipes. I don't have any of her books, and the recipes she has either don't appeal to me, sound too rich, or make too much food (like the baked ham for 35).

So I admire her from afar and covet her kitchen and garden and little convertible.

But then last month I stumbled across a blog called
No Lemon Juice and her post about Ina's lemon yogurt cake. Her pictures looked so gorgeous that I made it last weekend when we were still at my parents house. That way there would be more help in eating it.

My very favorite lemon bread recipe is my mom's but this one sounded pretty wonderful too, especially with the yogurt.

So I whipped up the batter and tossed it in the oven, and after the noted cooking time I checked it and it was still raw in the middle. I gave it a few more minutes, checked again. And again. And again. In the end we gave it almost 20 extra minutes. And then when I removed it from the pan (after the cooling period) it sank a bit.


There was also a sort of "band" of batter near the bottom of the loaf that looked uncooked.

It tasted ok, although the tang of the yogurt wasn't present in the cooked loaf like it was in the batter. (Yep, I licked the bowl!) It went fast - I made it Saturday afternoon and it was gone by Tuesday, so it couldn't have been so bad, eh?

Recipe: Lemon Yogurt Cake

15 comments:

Patricia Scarpin said...

I have been meaning to make this cake forever, Sara - yours look great, even though you didn't like the result so much...

The Cookbook Junkie said...

I love Ina but I've not sure how I feel about her recipes. I've had one awful one (a brown rice salad) and a really good one (orange-glazed carrots).

Deborah said...

Now I'm trying to think if I've ever tried one of her recipes - I can't think of one off the top of my head. I have watched her show a few times, though. It's always disappointing when you have high hopes for a recipe and it just comes out so-so. I do love the look of the icing running down the sides, though!

Deborah said...

I just had to go back and read through my blog to see if I had one of her recipes - I did make a Mac and Cheese recipe of hers, and it is one of our favorite mac and cheese recipes.

Anonymous said...

I've made several things from her books that have worked. I will admit, even though it tasted good, that I had to check several food blogs for some tips on how to make her standard "Lemon Cake"...not sure it would have turned out without that help.

Deborah said...

I've never tried her recipes, but I do like to watch her show. Not exactly healthy cooking, but very yummy looking.

Annie said...

I bet it was delicious. I love lemon cake. I too admire Ina from a far. All her recipes look amazing, but I tend to shy away due to the richness as well. My "usual" cooking style is tasty with a healthy twist.
Although I am known to throw caution into the wind at times and make something completely fattening and sinful.

As a matter of fact, I just made the most delicious and comforting Neopolitan Macaroni and Cheese. There was no real way to healthy it up without sacrificing the dish, so I went for it. It was fabulous!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

I did one of her salmon recipes and it was totally awesome. Haven't done any cakes. This was good enough to eat.

Anonymous said...

I have made this cake and I think I too had problems with the cooking times. It was also quite sweet. However, I have made her fruit crostata from the same book and it is excellent. Her pastry recipe is very forgiving.

Katerina said...

I haven't tried this recipe but I have tried several other of her recipes and been impressed. Try something savoury next time and maybe you will have better luck :)

Anonymous said...

I consider myself a gourmet cook, and Ina Garten is the best chef featured on Food Network.

I have her cookbooks, and I watch all her shows. I have yet to make one of her recipes that failed.

She is an excellent teacher!

Revathi said...

Is this coincidence or what ??

I am watching the exact episode where she teaches lemon curd cake...

Oh my God !!!

gay abuel said...

hi!
i'm gay abuel from the philippines. i'm a wife, mother, and a teacher. i ejoy watching barefoot contesa. i admire ina garten way of cooking. i find it rich and delicious. i wish i could watch new episodes always.
i keep on searching her recipes in the internet. i plan to teach them to my students. i wish i could have a copyt of her book.
my whole family watch her show even re runs. we still enjoy.
i wish her good luck and more power.

Glenn said...

I recently discovered Ina. Have been watching her show and recently made her apple pear crisp. FABULOUS!!! Which of her cookbooks is best to buy if I can only get one for now?

Anonymous said...

I found your post looking for another one of my posts and had to comment. I made that cake a second time for my mother while she was recovering from surgery and it turned out awful. Inedible. I don't know what I did between the first time and the second, but man, the first one was so yummy and the second one we threw away after we tasted it. Oh well :)